Long-Distance Calls

19

"So, would you care to explain?" The principal asked Andrew, without hiding his heavy breathing.

Along with Andrew, Josh and I were summoned to his office too.

The room smelled of wood and deodorant. It was pretty small, there were some stuffed birds decorating the wooden walls, some paintings representing either soldiers or hunters, and an American flag right behind the principal. That room was what you'd expect to find in a house in the woods, and it didn't go along with the rest of the school. It felt like a whole different place.

Andrew was sitting on the only chair in the room except for the principal's. Josh and I were standing right behind him, like two soldiers.

The principal, sitting behind his desk, looked like a proper authority figure. His face, his traits, immediately described his personality. He had short white hair and white beard. His eyebrows were constantly furrowed, which made his eyes barely visible.

I was legit scared of him. He looked like someone you wouldn't want to mess with. And I had just messed with him.

I thought about my parents. What if he was going to call them? What were they going to think about me? Were they going to ground me? Were they going to blame it all on me?

I even thought about Andrew's parents. They loved me. What would have happened if they were to know that I had a fight with their son?

I didn't want to be a part of what was going on that morning. I never asked to be picked by the bullies. I just wanted to live my existence without bothering anyone else's.

"These two," Andrew said pointing a finger at me and Josh, standing behind him, "they picked on me for no reason. They pushed me through the door and... into your, er, painting."

My social anxiety hoped that I wouldn't open my mouth, but I just couldn't stand that, so I overcame my difficulties. "What a load of--"

"Yeah, alright," Josh interrupted me, "it's all true. What can I say? We don't like the guy. Me and my boy Pete here," he put his hand on my shoulder, "we rule this school now."

"So you two are the bullies," the principal looked at us with what I think was his only expression, "and you picked on this big guy right here?"

"Yeah, well," Josh was clearly thinking very hard, "he's big and dumb, to be fair."

I heard Andrew gulp. He had his eyes on the principal the whole time. He never turned around. And if he did, I wouldn't be surprised if the principal took a shotgun from under his desk and shot him in the head.

"I see," the principal said in a calm yet deep voice, leaning back on his chair, hands tied in front of us.

There was a moment of silence. I wanted to talk. I wanted to say that it wasn't true. That they were the ones bullying on me. Making fun of me for my emotions. I wanted to speak up. But I was scared.
I was scared of him, and I was scared of them.

The principal looked down during this moment. He was probably thinking of what type of punishment he was going to give us.

Josh kept staring at him. Without even blinking. And so did Andrew. I think. I couldn't see his face from behind.

"Well, now," the principal broke the silence with the same voice as a moment before, "would you..."

Another really brief moment of silence before he smacked his closed hands on the desk and started shouting. My heart skipped a beat. "Would you spare me this load of crap?! Look at him!" He pointed at me. "Just look at him, for Christ's sake! He's probably gonna cry if he does just as much as open his mouth! This guy wouldn't even know how to kill a bug! And you want me to believe that he was picking on him?!"