Author's note: Sorry for the slow update again. I've really just been writing sporadically so I'm not sure how this is really going. Feedback on the flow of this story is really appreciated!
Austin was daydreaming when a knock sounded on the door of his Spanish classroom. Señora Gomez sighed and walked over, opening the door. Mr. Conley stood there, carrying an official-looking binder that said "Marino High".
"Hola Mr. Conley, how can I help you?"
"Can I please talk to Austin Moon?" he asked.
"Of course," she replied, turning to face the class. "Austin! Please go talk to Mr. Conley."
Austin nodded and got out of his seat and walked to the door.
"Austin, please follow me to my office." Mr. Conley said, closing the door of the classroom and leaving Señora Gomez to teach her class with one less inattentive student.
They walked through the empty halls in silence as Austin followed Mr. Conley to his office. As soon as they arrived, Mr. Conley closed the door, sat at his desk, and motioned for Austin to sit down.
"Now, Austin, you're not in trouble, but I would like to know some things from you."
Austin nodded.
"Now, I'm sure you're aware that there are some reports of harassment within our Marino High community that we would like to address." Mr. Conley said. "Unfortunately, we have received an anonymous report from one of our students that points to you as one of these offenders."
He gasped. "That's impossible! Mr. Conley, I know I might not be the best student, but that's just downright nasty! I would never do such a thing!"
"No, no, I'm not accusing you." he replied quickly and comfortingly. "But if this claim is false, would you have any idea who would do such a horrible thing as to lie and say this about you? I'm not saying that they're the ones accusing you, either, but we're trying to see who would likely know more about this."
Austin bit his lip. He knew who it was. Brooke, the little troublemaker, was always out to get him. He never understood her. She was just insane. But telling Mr. Conley wouldn't help him, because she would just find all sorts of ways to lie and get her way, and he would just get in more trouble.
"I'm not sure," he replied at last. "There are some students who haven't been the nicest to me, but I can't see them accusing me just to be mean. Maybe Dez will have a better idea. We always hang out."
"Dez Wade?" Mr. Conley asked, incredulous. "How would he know anything you don't? He's even dumb- I mean, he wouldn't know!"
"Yeah, I guess he wouldn't," he reflected. "Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Conley, but Dez is the most likely person to have any idea."
"Why would anyone say that Austin harassed them? I mean, he's such a cool guy! He's smart, he's athletic, he's funny, and he's smart!" Dez exclaimed.
Mr. Conley sighed and pressed his fingers to his temples. "Look, Dez, I called you here because Austin said you might have some idea as to who sent in this report. Whoever did probably doesn't care if you think Austin's smart."
"But he is!" Dez continued, "And he's a rockstar. Do you think he can really afford that kind of publicity? Whoever accused him is obviously lying. And the only liar I know is Brooke. Hey, maybe it was Brooke who accused him!"
"Look, Dez, this isn't some kind of game or joke." Mr. Conley replied. "If you're not going to give me a straight answer or if you say you don't know, you can go back to class."
"But I gave you an answer!" he protested. "I said, it's probably Brooke!"
"But do you know it was Brooke?" Mr. Conley asked, growing more and more skeptical and doubting his decision to bring in Dez. "You just think it's her, on whatever hunch you have."
"Look, Mr. Conley, it couldn't have been anyone else." Dez replied in full seriousness. "So it's either Brooke, Chuck, Miles, Elle, BB, Trish, Sun Hee, Piper, Aaron, Brittany..."
"Dez!" he exclaimed. "A second ago you said it was definitely Brooke. Now you're naming random kids. What are you trying to tell me?"
"I don't know, Mr. Conley," he replied, seemingly totally serious. "All I know is that I could be anyone!"
Mr. Conley shook his head and sighed. "Alright, Dez, I'll go question every student at this high school. Please go back to class. Thank you."
"You're welcome, Mr. Conley!" he replied cheerfully. "Happy to help!"
Mr. Conley sighed.
"Apparently someone accused Austin of harassment!" Dez exclaimed loudly to Ally and Trish. "I mean, that's ridiculous! Austin's famous! He can't afford to have that kind of publicity!"
"Look, Dez, it's not that simple," Ally tried to explain as she watched a small crowd gather around, whispering.
"Is it true?" Elle asked, walking up to them.
"No!" Ally and Trish exclaimed at once.
"Oh, because there's this huge rumor going around that Austin harassed a bunch of girls at a performance before he stopped performing," Elle told them matter-of-factly. "I had such a crush on him! Who knew he was such an awful jerk?"
"He's not an awful jerk!" Ally defended him. "And it's not true! Who told you that?"
She shrugged. "Everyone's been talking about it."
"Everyone? Like who?" Trish asked, stepping forward.
"Like... everyone. Literally all of the kids in the school." she replied. "I guess everyone's just avoiding talking about it in front of you guys, since you're Austin's friends. But he's actually a jerk."
"Look, Elle," Trish said sternly, "no matter what everyone's saying, it's not true. We know Austin better than anyone else at the school, and it's just some stupid rumor that some jealous guys or girls are trying to spread. Stop spreading it. They're all wrong, and you know it. Don't you, Elle?"
Elle just stared at her, shook her head, and walked away with her friends.
Ally sighed. "Trish, this is terrible! Everyone obviously believes the rumors, and Austin's reputation will be ruined right before his big comeback show!"
"I think it's worse than that," Dez chimed in, looking at his phone.
"What is it?" Ally asked. "Wait, is it something irrelevant that we don't need to know right now? Never mind, Dez. Tell us later."
"No, but-"
"Not now, Dez!"
"Austin's comeback concert was cancelled!"
"I told you, not now- wait, what?" Ally exclaimed. "Cancelled?"
"Yeah, he just texted me." Dez explained, "Someone got the rumor out that Austin harassed a bunch of girls at that club that he was going to perform at, and the manager banned him from ever returning! Jimmy's stopping him from performing for another 3 years now!"
"What? That's terrible!" Ally exclaimed. "That's not fair! Austin didn't do anything!"
"Hey, Ally, I know," he replied. "I'm not stupid. But some people are. Like the club owner, and Mr. Conley, and Jimmy, and everyone else who believes those rumors."
"But... Austin's comeback concert was cancelled?" she said in disbelief. "He's not going to perform for another 3 years? We have to expose the truth and find out who started these rumors!"
"Yeah! Let's be detectives!" he agreed enthusiastically.
"This isn't a joke, Dez!" she said. "Someone's out to spread lies about Austin, and it's endangering his career. The truth must prevail. It's not fair otherwise."
Author's note: Sorry again for the slow updates. Spring break is near, but I'm not sure if I'll have that much time then to write, either. I'll try, but the next update might also take a while. In the meantime, please leave feedback on either this chapter or the whole story in general! Or my writing style, or really anything in general:)
