Beautiful Secrets (Cranksepticeye Fanfiction)

~12.16~ When the Saints Go Marching In

Jack was sitting on the porch when I pulled up. I insisted on driving because Mark wanted to ride with us, and he couldn't risk being seen in the hearse. And I didn't want Jack to have to walk in alone. I didn't even want him to go, but there was no talking him out of it. He looked like he was ready for battle. He was wearing a black turtleneck sweater, black jeans, and a black vest with a fur trimmed hood. He was about to face the firing squad, and he knew it.
It had only been three days since the dance, and the DAR hadn't wasted any time. The Jackson Disciplinary Committee meeting this afternoon wasn't going to be much different than a witch trial, and you didn't have to be a Caster to know that. Emily was limping around in a cast, the winter formal disaster had become the talk of the town, and Mrs. Fischbach finally had all she needed. Witnesses had come forward. And if you twisted everything everyone claimed they saw, heard, or remembered far enough, you could squint, slant your head just right, and try to see the logic: that Jack McLoughlin was responsible.
Everything was fine until he came to town.

Mark jumped out and opened the door for Jack. He was so riddled with guilt, he looked like he was going to puke. "Hey, Jack. How ya doin'?"
"I'm okay."
Liar.
I don't want him to feel bad. It's not his fault.
Mark cleared his throat. "I'm real sorry about this. I've been fighting with my mom all weekend. She's always been crazy, but this time it's different."
"It's not your fault, but I appreciate you trying to talk to her."
We drove past the Stop & Steal. Even Fatty wasn't there. The roads were deserted, like we were driving through a ghost town. The Disciplinary Committee meeting was scheduled for five o'clock sharp, and we were going to be right on time. The meeting was in the gym because it was the only place at Jackson big enough to accommodate the number of people that were likely to show up. That was another thing about Anston, everything that went on involved everyone. There were no closed proceedings around here. From the look of the streets, the whole town had all but shut down, which meant just about everyone was going to be at the meeting.
"I just don't get how your mom pulled this off so quickly. This is fast even for her."
"From what I overheard, Doc Asher got involved. He hints with Principal Harper and some bigwig on the School Board." Doc Asher was Emily's dad and the only real doctor in town.
"Great."
"You guys know I'm probably going to get kicked out, right? I'll bet it's already been decided. This meeting is just for show."
Mark looked confused. "They can't kick you out without hearing your side of the story. You didn't even do anything."
"None of that matters. These things are decided behind closed doors. Nothing I say is going to matter."
He was right, and we both knew it. So I didn't say anything. Instead, I pulled his hand up to my mouth and kissed it, wishing for the hundredth time that it was me going up against the whole School Board, instead of Jack.
But the thing was, it would never have been me. No matter what I did, no matter what I said, I would always be one of them. Jack never would. And I think that was the thing that made me the angriest, and the most embarrassed. I hated them even more because deep down, they still claimed me as one of their own, even when I dated Old Man Ravenwood's nephew and took on Mrs. Fischbach and wasn't invited to Savannah Snow's parties. I was one of them. I belonged to them, and there was nothing I could do to change that. And if the opposite were true, and in some way they belonged to me, then what Jack was up against wasn't just them. It was me.
The truth was killing me. Maybe Jack was going to be Claimed on his sixteenth birthday, but I had been claimed since birth. I had no more control over my fate than he did. Maybe none of us did.

I pulled the car into the parking lot. It was full. There was a crowd of people lined up at the main entrance, waiting to get in. I hadn't seen this many people in one place since the opening of Gods and Generals, the longest and most boring Civil War movie ever made and one that half my relatives starred in as extras, because they owned their own uniforms.
Mark ducked down in the backseat. "I'm gonna slide out here. I'll see y'all in there." He pushed open the door and crawled out between the cars. "Good luck."
Jack's hands were in his lap, shaking. It killed.me to see him this nervous. "You don't have to go in there. We can turn around and I can drive you right back to your house."
"No. I'm going in."
"Why do you want to subject yourself to this? You said it yourself, this is probably just for show."
"I'm not going to let them think I'm scared to face them. I left my last school, but I'm not going to run away this time." He took a deep breath.
"It's not running away."
"It is to me."
"Is your uncle coming at least?"
"He can't."
"Why the hell not?" He was all alone in this, even though I was standing right next to him.
"It's too early. I didn't even tell him."
"Too early? What is that about, anyway? Is he locked up in his crypt or something?"
"More like, or something."
It wasn't worth trying to talk about now. He was going to habe enough to deal with in a few minutes.
We walked toward the building. It started to rain. I looked at him.
Believe me, I'm trying. If I let go, it would be a tornado.
People were staring, even pointing, not that I was surprised. So much for common decency. I looked around, half expecting to see Boo Radley sitting by the door, but tonight, he was nowhere in sight.