The One (ReaderXJohn Mulaney)

Chapter 8

The late afternoon sun filtered through the blinds of the window in the principals office. It illuminated the dust and made everything I saw feel warm.

This situation was not warm at all. 

My cheek hurt and my eyes were red from crying. I hiccuped and chewed my lip. 

Krissy was currently talking to Principal Logan.

She had been for the past half an hour.

If Krissy was only a bystander and she had been in there for half an hour, how long would I take? 

Hannah was currently in the nurses office, and Mia, and I'm not lying, insisted she had to be taken to the hospital. Samantha and the other two girls were waiting in a different room, as the faculty had decided it was best to keep us all separate for now. 

I agreed. 

Suddenly the door opened and Krissy came out, eyes red and puffy from weeping. 

"I'm sorry." she said quietly.

Krissy had always been the gentler friend. I remember when we were kids, she started crying once when a group of boys wouldn't stop tormenting this poor rabbit that had made its way onto school property. She would leave out sugar water for the bees and make sure the caterpillar cocoons were always left undisturbed. I knew she probably felt bad about not doing anything to fix the situation. I also knew she probably was too scared to even take a step forward. It probably felt like a nightmare to her. Any way you put it, I wasn't mad at her. If anyone was to blame, it was  Mia. God, that dumb cow could never keep her mouth shut. She berated us for everything, and waved John in my face like a dog toy. Oh, John. I'd never felt as warm and soft as I did than when I was in his arms. I wondered where he was now, what he was doing. I wanted to see him again. 

The principal stood by the door and beckoned me come in. 

When I sat down, the crinkling of the leather chair felt like the loudest sound in the world. Principal Logan sat on the other side of the desk and folded his hands together.

"You don't need to be stressed, I just want to talk. I want to hear your side of the story. Once I've heard from everyone, we'll have a collective meeting together and decide an appropriate outcome once we arrive to that point. I cannot accept such behaviour on my property, but I won't jump to conclusions on what went down until I've heard the full story. Take your time, there's no rush."

Despite what he said, it all came out in one blob of incoherence. I rambled about the bathroom, and Mia calling Hannah a dyke and the fight, and not meaning to get tangled up in the fight. I told him everything.

Except about John. 

I couldn't tell anyone about that. 

By the time I finished, it was already well past 4 in the afternoon. I had been talking for 25 minutes. The principal nodded when I finished my statement. 

When I arrived home that evening, I told my parents I wasn't hungry and that I just wanted to go to bed. They had picked me up after the school had called them about the fight and they had spoken briefly with Principal Logan, and I assumed that he told them the same thing he told me. 

I lay in bed and went through my social media, observing the content that was projected onto the screen in front of me. So many clips of the fight, and me, and me hugging John. It made me feel weird. I had butterflies in my stomach. No, not butterflies.

Maggots. 

Suddenly I felt sick and rushed to the bathroom, keeling over the toilet. My head swam and tears pricked my eyes.

I sat back against the wall, crying.

What was my life.

It was all too much. I cleaned up and took a hot shower, trying to wash away the day. I put a new band-aid over the cheek Mia had clawed open and changed into pajamas. 

I stared at myself into the mirror. 

I drew a smiley face on the band-aid.

Quirky.

The temporary feeling of relief was short-lived. 

Mere moments after curling under my comforter and turning my phone back on I was bombarded by texts from Krissy, Hannah, and worst, Mia. Procrastinating, I saved Mia's for last and went through the ones from my friends first. Krissy asked if I was okay, if I had heard about the news. I frowned. What news? Hannah had sent the bulk of the messages, but mainly asked the same thing. I was more confused than ever. I opened the ones from Mia.

-My parents are real mad.-

-This is your fault, and you gotta pay.-

-So get ready.-

-My daddy's a lawyer, and I'm taking you to court.-