Wanna know how long Prickleberry remained frozen?

Well, eventually I had to be the one to take the picture out of his line of sight. (I'd have gladly left him staring at it, but my arm had begun to ache.)

Prickleberry broke out of his trance shortly after I'd put my phone into my pocket. Slowly, he locked eyes with me and breathed, "Y- you were the one who broke into the school."

Still smirking, I replied, "Guilty as charged. Though I didn't do it so I could get this picture. That just happened to be a random stroke of lu-"

"Get rid of it, and I'll forget all about this taser incident."

I furrowed my brow. "What?"

"Get rid of all copies of this photo, and I'll ensure that this case doesn't spread. In fact this matter will not even leave this room."

"Wait," I chuckled, "you don't understand the position you're in, do you? This photo could not only ruin your marriage, it could ruin your life."

Between gritted teeth, he replied, "I know that, and that's why-"

"-you're offering me this excuse of a deal?" I scoffed. "C'mon, think. Why on earth would I give up leverage like this for a deal like that?"

"So then what exactly do you want?"

I sighed. "You still don't get it, do you? Alright, I'll spell it out for you. You're in no position to negotiate. There's nothing you can offer me that I'd consider even half as valuable as this picture, is there?"

Prickleberry's mouth opened , but no words came out from it for the few seconds it remained like that. When he close it, he settled for glaring at his clenched fists instead.

"That's what I thought. So, here's what going to happen. From now on, you do all you can to stay on my good side.  You can start by transferring my expulsion to Aarav instead."

Mr Prickleberry's eyes raced to mine. "What? I can't do that!"

Frowning, I brought my phone out of my pocket once again. "Sorry, could you repeat that again? I don't think I heard you the first time."

"It's not because I don't want to, it's because I can't ! He hasn't done anything worthy of expulsion yet."

"Really? Well then, what punishment would you recommend he get for beating a friend of mine nearly to unconsciousness?"

Mr Prickleberry's eyes widened. "What?"

After observing his reaction, something occurred to me. "What did they tell you was my reason for bringing out the taser?"

"They said they'd come to confront you to find out why you blasted Andy in the cafeteria, and then you'd suddenly pulled out a taser to threaten them. They didn't mention anything about anyone else being there, I swear!"

Honestly, I wasn't even all that surprised to hear that. It should have been obvious to me even before I walked into the office.

"Well they did come to confront me. With their fists, that is. Seth jumped in to try to speak reason to them. Unfortunately, reason doesn't come easy to apes like Aarav, so he attacked Seth. You can go check out the infirmary if you need confirm-"

"No, there's no need for that! Of course, that sort of behavior is unacceptable in this school. I shall make sure Aarav faces the consequences for his actions."

"Good." I smirked. "Also, Miguel should be suspended. For being an accomplice, if you need a reason."

"Of course! I'd have the same be done to Andy as-"

"No, you can let him go."

After all, what better punishment to give him than to allow him to see his master plan crumble before his eyes?

Although Prickleberry looked surprised at that, he still nodded. "No problem."

"Then our business here is done."

Getting up, I walked over to his office door. Before I left the room however, I took another look at him. He had his head in his quivering hands and was staring down at his desk, rather than at me.

I drawled, "There's no reason for you to be worried, trust me. As long as you stay on my good side, that is."

Prickleberry rose up his head, letting his eyes peek out at me. Shortly after, he cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "O-of course."

"Good. Now, I believe you have some summons to make. Oh, and before I forget-" I walked over to his desk and picked up my taser, '-I'll be taking this!"
.       .       .
The only reason I went back to History class was to see how Andy would react as I walked in. Trust me, seeing the way Andy became bug-eyed when he saw me was more than worth it.

His accomplices didn't take History, so I didn't get the pleasure of seeing their reactions when I walked in, not to mention when they were summoned to Prickleberry's office. It was a shame. I was tempted to actually come up with an excuse to go to the physics lab just so I could see their faces.

The exhilarated buzz that ran through me throughout the class made the lesson seem a lot more interesting than it probably was. Granted, I was barely paying attention to the actual lesson. Most of my attention was occupied by thoughts of Andy. More specifically, how he must have been feeling at that moment. It took every ounce of strength in me not to look over my shoulder to check if he was staring at my back.

The lesson zoomed by, so all too soon we were all bustling out of class and heading to our next classes. I made sure to fall into step with Andy as we both walked down the corridor, but I didn't say anything. Neither did he. Thinking about how he refused to look at me even though I was blatantly​ staring at him still makes me snicker till this day.

Sadly, I had to part ways with him eventually, as I had Literature while he had Geography.

The first person's face I saw when I walked into class was Aimee. She was seated near the back, beside the window. Coincedentaly, one of the only free seats left in the class happened to be the one next to her. My legs automatically headed towards it.

After I'd sat down, Aimee said, "Before you say it, no, I did not save this seat for you."

I frowned. "I wasn't going to say that."

"Yeah, right."

Miss Delane wasn't in class yet, so practically everyone else was chatting with each other about something. I found myself sighing repeatedly to myself as I listened to laugh after laugh, shout after shout, banter after banter e.t.c.

The buzz I'd gotten from being near to Andy had slowly begun to fade after I'd left him, but the constant noise seemed to accelerate the process. With every passing second, I found myself wanting to snap at someone more and more.

Eventually, I decided to just rest my head on my desk and try to block out the noise as I waited for Miss Delane.

A few seconds later, I heard Aimee say, "Hey, are you okay?"

I sighed inwardly, but rose up my head to look at her. "Yeah, I am. Why?"

"I don't know, you just seem... different. And I'm not just talking about the lack of your usual snarky jibes. There just seems to be this... general vibe around you."

I couldn't quite think of what to reply to that. On the one hand, I couldn't deny the hostile thoughts that plagued my mind. Nor could I deny the way it irked me when I saw someone smiling too widely, or heard someone laughing too loudly.

It all felt... fake. Like I was seated in an audience watching a group of people put on masks and tell each other scripted conversations. And I know for a fact that a bunch of people that were all smiles around one another talked shit about each other behind their backs.

On the other hand, I could see Aimee's point. Usually, even though my thoughts towards those relationships remained largely the same, I didn't mind them. In fact, I sometimes found them entertaining. In any case, I  certainly hadn't ever felt the need to break up the charade.

Also, it wasn't Aimee's fault for not understanding. Maybe she would have if I told her about what happened on that New Year's Day...

... but there was no way that was happening.

I let out an exaggerated sigh. "So now I can't even stick to my resolution, can I?"

Her brow furrowed. "This is your New Year's resolution?"

"Yes," I lied. "But since you have such a problem with it, I guess I'll-"

"No no, keep it up!"

I smirked. "Sorry, too late."

She groaned and turned away to face the window. However, I'm pretty sure she did that in order to hide her smile.

That brought a bit of a genuine smile to my face.
.       .       .

Miss Delane arrived to class a few minutes later, shouting out apologies for being late as she unpacked everything she needed for the lesson.

The lesson basically consisted of her asking the class how our holidays were, and a brief introduction into what we were set to study (poetry).

For most of the class, Aimee and I discussed with each other about how our holidays went after Christmas. Well, she did most of the talking, while I did more of the listening (save for a few prompts here and there).

Despite the fact I was constantly worried she might try to pry too deeply into mine, I did enjoy listening to her recount the events of the rest of her holiday. I even found myself sniggering when she told me that Machivelli had welcomed them in a Santa suit when they had arrived at his lodge.

All in all, she made a dull lesson a lot more bearable. So much so that I was surprised when the bell rang, signifying the beginning of lunch break.

Instantly, people all around got up and began gathering their things. When Miss Delane noticed this, she exclaimed, "Wait, there's something I have to say!"

People ceased in their movements, although not without a significant amount of grumbling.

"Thank you. So, I have some wonderful news." A grin came over her face. "I hope you all haven't forgotten your lines, because we'd be starting rehearsals for the play this Friday!"

My stomach dropped.

Ever since that fateful New Year's Day, I'd never even had a single thought about the play. I could feel my heartbeat quickening as I thought about it then. Various scenarios centered around the rehearsal began chaotically flying around my mind, disrupting my sense of reason.

"Don't worry, Romeo. You're ready for this."

I latched onto Aimee's words as they broke through the chaos. Without looking at her, I replied, "Yeah, I- I know."

I repeated that several times to myself mentally, trying my best to truly believe that.
.       .       .

Aimee most likely was no more convinced of my reply than I was, because she made it her mission to distract me from my thoughts for as long as she could. She stuck to me like glue all throughout lunch break, barely giving silence the chance to surface as she jumped from one subject to another. (I didn't eat lunch that day, so we spent most of our time in the library.)

Even when she was forced to leave me after break due to conflicting class schedules, she still kept up communication by messaging me during class.

I'd admit, her efforts weren't in vain though. By the time I was heading home, I felt a buzz similar that which I felt after leaving Prickleberry's office (although that was possibly influenced by the fact Seth seemed to be fairly okay when I went to check up on him after school).

When I got home, I was once again reminded about Annie's absence. Not because of Pierre, or even because of how quiet everywhere was. The environment generally just felt... weird.

I went straight to my room, rather than the dining room like I usually would have. After tossing my bag in a corner of the room, I walked over to the mirror as the day's events replayed in my head. A smirk came to my face when I  got to the part where I showed Prickleberry the photo.

The reflection that stared back at me looked domineering. Powerful. Like that of a person who could successfully manipulate a figure in power and get away with it.

And yet, as the buzz of the day's events wore off me, the force of Andy's betrayal struck me like a blow in my guts. So much so that I staggered forward, clutching onto the dresser in order to hold my balance. I could feel my lungs constricting as my lips began to tremble-

No.

I bit my lip, then rose my eyes and glared at myself. "There's no fucking way you're going to cry about this! Since when did you give a fuck about Andy? He can go rot in hell. You're okay, alright? You. Are. Okay!"

With each word I let out, I could feel myself shoving down the rush of emotions once again. I struggled as they lashed out and bit me, but nevertheless I remained resilient. At last, I managed to push them back in their chest again.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath then looked back at the mirror, meeting the eyes of the composed individual staring back at me. "You're okay."
.       .       .

At this point, I feel like I'm writing about a real person lol. It's actually heartbreaking to have write about Angelo like this 💔.

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Till next time!