Chapter Thirty Three Meeting Table

I wasn't surprised when most of the college heard about what happened last Friday. I knew someone would spread the incident around until everyone knew about it.

Before I left the house, Mom was trying to get everything cleared up. She didn't want anything negative to get out and potentially ruin mine and Levi's future. She had a meeting to go to this afternoon with the school board.

She acted like we murder someone and she was trying to hide all the evidence. It wasn't that serious. Well...it shouldn't be anyway.

Yes, there was a fight but they had good reasons. But the Dean probably wouldn't see as good. Levi, Chance, Hailey and Anthony were close to graduating. They could get kicked out if they agree to it. Even though nothing was set in stone, Nolan and Jayce were on the football team for next year. They could lose their spots. The same went for Cassidy and I.

I didn't really care if I didn't cheer, but Mom would have a heart attack.

I wouldn't know anything until we went to the meeting and got everything settled, whether good or bad.

I was pretty sure if it was just one person from the college who got into a fight, it wouldn't had been as big as it was now. But since there were nine of us, it was.

I was surprised we weren't all over the news. I could image what KAMC would say to get people's attention.

"Nine Tech students were put in jail last Friday due to underage drinking and a fight breaking out in OHM. We'll have more on that later."

They probably would flipped the story and tell lies on us. We would be the ones to blame while the true starters got away.

That would be great! Note the sarcasm.

Last I heard about Q and her group they were still in jail but I was almost certain they would get out soon. This wasn't their first time dealing with this. They were too comfortable in the jail cell to be first timers.

"How much you wanna bet that Sabrina's freaking out about the meeting?" Cassidy asked as we were walking through the corridor.

"You might be right. You saw how she was in jail."

She smiled. "She's probably in her room putting finishing touches on her essay before she rehearse her speech she's gonna give." Cass joked.

"She has a point. We might get into serious trouble. Possibly even get kicked out."

"Blair wouldn't let us get kicked out. We'll get into trouble but not kicked out. She'll list every positive thing we each have and it'll outweigh the negatives."

I rose an eyebrow. "You have positive things?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not as many as you do but I'll get by."

"What do you think Bill will do?"

Shrugging, she replied. "I don't know. Hailey's been avoiding him and I'm ignoring his calls and messages. What about you?"

"My mom took away my phone, remember?"

On Saturday, Mom decided to take my phone and she hadn't said when I could get it back. So I was now relying on Cass and anyone else to keep me informed on important things.

It's only been one and a half day since I gone without my phone but it felt like forever. I didn't know how much I needed that device until it got snatched from me, unexpectedly.

I was praying, she would give it back to me soon. There wasn't anything bad on my phone but I did have private conversations I wanted to be kept to myself. If she had the chance to snoop through it, she would.

She didn't know about what happened with Jayce, Chance and me and I wanted to keep it that way. She would never forgive either one of them. It wouldn't matter how many times they said sorry or begged for forgiveness she wouldn't cave in. She wasn't like me. She would stick to whatever she said and she wasn't taking it back.

But none of that matter because I had a password on it. I knew she attempted to get into my phone and probably decided to stop before she locked me out.

"Well maybe you'll get it back today." Cassidy said, hopeful. "What if she's just waiting to see how the meeting will go?"

"Possibly."

We cut through the courtyard and immediately we saw her and her friends. She smirked when she saw us and began to walk over to us.

"Look at what we have here. It's the troublemakers."

Cass and I both rolled our eyes. Arianna was the wrong person to tell anything to. She would never let it go and would keep it dangle above your head as a constant reminder.

"We really don't have time for this." I said. "We have to be somewhere."

"Oh! Your meeting." She said, fakely. "That's what happens when you get placed in jail."

"You're about to be place six feet under if you don't shut the hell up." Cass told her.

"I wouldn't threatened me if I were you. Bill is already considering to kicked y'all off the squad."

"Well if that's the case, there's nothing stopping me from kicking your ass." Cassidy said, stepping closer to her.

I grabbed her shoulder. "Don't do it." I said. "Let's go before we're late."

Maybe one day I wouldn't stop Cassidy but today wasn't that day. If she touched Arianna, she would definitely be kicked off the squad and school. She worked too hard for that. She didn't need that but Arianna needed someone, other than Cassidy, to put her in her place.

We got into Cassidy's car and drove over to the administration building. Mom's red car was already parked, along with Hailey's. Cassidy parked on the other side of Hailey's car and we got out.

On the way to the doors, our name was called. We stopped and looked behind us. Nolan was heading our way with Chance behind me.

Nolan walked over to Cass and Chance come to me.

"Are you nervous?" He asked.

"Yeah, kinda." I replied. "Are you?"

He nodded. "Terrified. My dad doesn't know about Friday but if this meeting doesn't go well, he will and I'm scared of that."

Leo, Chance's father, ran a very important business. He was a super busy man. He didn't have any time to deal with his son's life. He expected him to know what to do and how to do it. It wouldn't be a good look if Chance were to get expelled; especially from this college.

A while back, Rhesa had told me this was the college she wanted Chance to graduated from rather than an ivy league college. She said Brown University would be a great college to attend but this college was better for Chance. I didn't know her reasons to why she thought that but Chance did.

But I was assuming it had something to do with having a great time while he was still young and able. If he were to go to Brown or anywhere else, Leo would put a lot of pressure on him and rather than argue about it, Leo agreed to it. It was probably better for Rhesa's health at the time.

Of course, that was all a reasonable guess.

Chance looked to his right, my left, when a black truck pulled into the parking lot. My eyes followed it until it parked behind Nolan's car.

Jayce.

"Have you talked to him?"

"Yeah. He texted me that Friday..well Saturday really. He just wanted to know if I was okay."

Chance gave me a look. "I meant in person. You need to talk to him."

"And say what?"

"Say how you truly feel or at least allow him to."

I glanced at Jayce as he walked over to the building with his hands shoved in his basketball shorts. He was looking down but he glanced up and met my eye contact.

"I will." I told Chance. "Just not today."

"If he were to ask you to be his friend again, what would you say?"

Yes.

That would be my anwser. I would say it in heartbeat. But only in my head. Aloud, I didn't know what I would say. It seemed like I had everything figured out but I didn't. I wished I did but everytime I saw him, I hear his words echo throughout my mind. And even though he didn't mean them, I couldn't erase them but that didn't mean I didn't hear what he said next.

I think I might be in love with her.

Those nine little words, made it somehow better. I held on to them and I would always until he said otherwise. And maybe that's the reason why I was scared to approach him. I was scared he would change his mind and tell me it was all a mistake.

I looked at Chance. "I think you already know the answer to that."

"Guys." Cassidy said, interrupting our conversation. "C'mon. Let's get this meeting over with."

We walked inside and cramped into the elevator. It stopped on the top floor and we were directed to the last door on the left. Nolan opened the door and behind it were Levi, Hailey, Anthony, Sabrina and my mom.

They all sat at the meeting table, waiting for the main man to walk in and start the meeting. The one that would determine our futures.

We took a seat and sat in silence. Mom had a thick folder in front her. I was betting that it was all the good things we had done and what we could offer to the school. She probably had another case that was far worse than ours to use just in case things went south.

Sabrina even had her typed essay laying in front her. I was pretty sure she was going over her speech for good measures.

A few minutes later, the door opened again and The dean and two other people entered the room and sat on the right side of the room, closer to the head of the table.

The dean swept his eyes across the room, taking all of in and he stopped on my mom.

"Mrs. Jaxon, pleasure to see you here."

"Eric, let's get to the point, shall we?" Mom said, smiling. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, seeing as this is their first offense, we won't talk about expelling them. But since there was a fight and underage drinking involved, there are some consequences."

Mom nodded her head. "Okay. What are they?"

"Seniors. You will graduate this year and there's really nothing we can do about that. Chance, Levi, Sabrina, and Anthony you don't have anything else to do but community services for the next two months. Hailey, you have one month of community services but Bill wanted me to tell you, you will not be able to cheer for one month."

"What!" Hailey exclaimed. "I have Nationals coming up. I have to cheer."

"I know. You will still be able to cheer for Nationals but you will not be allow to go to practices or anything that involves cheering."

"No. I'll do anything else but that. I'll do community services for the next three months. Please let me cheer."

"Sorry, Ms. Alaina, all decision are final."

Hailey slouched in her seat, crossing her arms, frustrated. Nationals were coming and she was the only one who knew the whole routine. Taking a month off, was a huge risk for us. We needed all the time we could get.

"Cassidy and Colby, that goes for you as well. Since this is the last day of January, you may resume cheering again that first week of March." Mr. Dean looked at Nolan and Jayce. "Next year, if you two get your spots back, you two will not be allowed to play the first two games."

Mom was writing down what was said and she looked up as she spoke.

"Just to clarify, Chance, Levi, Anthony, and Sabrina have two months of community services. Hailey, Cassidy, and Colby are banned from cheering for a month along with one month of community services. Nolan and Jayce are not allowed to play the first two games of next year and they also have one month of community services."

Eric nodded his head. "That is correct."

Mom nodded her head accepting our punishment.

"That seems fair to me. Thank you, Eric." Mom said while she stood up gathering her thick folder.

Eric looked away from Mom and glanced at us, sitting in our seats.

"Starting next week, I'll have one of my secretaries check up on you all. For community services, you will either be at one of the nursing homes or at the hospital. You don't have to stay very long at least an hour or two. Any questions?"

When we didn't say anything, he spoke again.

"If there's no questions, you may leave."

We all stood up and followed Mom as she exited the room. We squeezed into the tiny elevator and walked out the building.

"I hope y'all know how lucky you are to get away with a slap on the hand." Mom told us. "It could've been worse. Be grateful this was your first offense. Do not let this happen again. As far as your parents finding out, I don't see the need in telling them."

No one mentioned it to my mom but they were worried she would tell their parents about what happened. A sigh of relief slipped out of everyone's breath. They didn't have to worry about Mom telling them but they might have to worry about finding out from someone else.

Mom was about to walk to her car when I stopped her. She glanced back at me.

"Can I have my phone back?"

"No you may not."

I frowned. "Why not?"

"Because you're still in trouble."

"What do I do about work?"

"Have Wes text Cassidy your schedule. Once you get it, let me know so I can get your brother to give you a ride, if needed."

I sighed. "When can I have it back?"

"I'm still deciding." She told me before walking off.

I walked over to Cassidy's car and got in. I might be nineteen and didn't really have to listen to my mom but I was going to be respectful and try to stay on her good side.

She was the one who paid for my college and got me where I needed to be. And my phone was under her name so there wasn't much I could do about that.

Cassidy looked at me sideway. "I know you didn't get your phone back but at least we didn't get kicked out, right?" She smiled, slightly.

I didn't say anything. I just laid my head against the window and prayed for these two months to fly by.