Standard Disclaimer Applies

Word Count: Approx. 30,578 (this part, approx. 1,696)

Rants: Hey, another post at an ungodly hour. I do apologize. My B, folks. Only three more chapters after this!

(Oh, and I use the 'f' word in the first paragraph. My B.)


Rei sunk into his seat in homeroom, staring blankly at the board. Max was glaring holes into the back of Rei's head, and Michael was completely ignoring him. Okay, he deserved that. He fucked up, he got that. But they wouldn't even get him the chance to apologize, and maybe, he didn't deserve to be forgiven.

He bit back bitter tears, and clenched his hand into a fist. God, who could everything go so wrong, so fast?

"Rei, they want you in Dean Tate's office," Mr. Granger said, a hint of surprise in his voice.

Rei looked up confused. A freshman Rei vaguely recognized as being Max's friend Oliver Polanski from his gym class was standing at the door as his escort. The students murmured, and Rei swallowed, nodding his head. He shouldered his bag as he stood up, walked up and accepted the pass from his homeroom teacher.

He turned around to see the cold, unsympathetic looks Max and Michael were giving him. His heart broke into even tinier pieces.

"Lead the way," he muttered to Oliver, who simply ignored him, but did as he was told.

- - -

As Rei stepped into the Deans' office, Mrs. Tate was leading a crying Tala Ivanov out of her office, patting his shoulder gently.

"Go to the nurses office and lie down," She said softly to him, before turning to Rei and ordering, "In here, Mr. Kon."

Tala smirked at Rei as he passed him, shoving him lightly with his shoulder. Mrs. Tate hadn't noticed, so Rei didn't say anything. He just bit his tongue, nodded, and headed into the small office to see Spencer and Ian already sitting there. They both looked nervous, and just as confused as he was.

"What's going on?" Rei asked softly, sitting down.

"Have you seen this before?" Mrs. Tate asked, holding up the Burn Book.

"No," Rei said, then shook his head. "I mean, yes, I've seen it before, but, no, it's not mine."

"You better get your story straight, Mr. Kon," Mrs. Tate warned, in a very serious tone. "Because I'm not messing around here."

"It's not ours," Spencer said, shaking his head as well. "It's Tala's. He's trying to make it look like we wrote it, but he wrote it. Or, most of it."

"Mr. Spencer," Mrs. Tate said, "Why would Tala call himself a-" he paused, to glance at the book. "'A fucking whore prick. Not to be trusted.'?"

Ian bit back a laugh, and Mrs. Tate glared at him.

"Mr. Papov, this is no time to be laughing," Mrs. Tate said, closing the book with a slap.

"Maybe," Spencer pitched, leaning back coolly, "We're not in that book because everybody likes us. I don't want to be punished for being well-liked. And I don't think my father, a very important scientist, would be to please about this either." Spencer folded his arms, and cocked his head angrily. "I won't answer any more questions until I have a parent or lawyer present."

Mrs. Tate rolled her eyes, and turned her attention to Ian. "Well, Mr. Papov?" She asked.

"I didn't think anyone else would see it," Ian said softly, looking away ashamed.

"You better hope nobody else ever does see it," Mrs. Tate said warningly. Startled, she glanced up when a secretary entered the room. "What's wrong, Ms. Kincaid?"

"Mrs. Tate, come quick," Ms. Kincaid said in a slightly scared tone, "They've gone wild. The students have gone wild!"

Mrs. Tate nodded and Ms. Kincaid flew back to her spot at the secretary's desk, attempting to answer all of the ringing phones at once, barely having time to say "BBA, Please Hold".

"Wait here," Mrs. Tate said crisply, standing up and stepping out of her office.

Ian, Spencer and Rei all shared a look. No way in hell were they going to just wait there. They jumped up, and rushed to squeeze out of the office and into the halls to see exactly what was going on. Rei paled when he saw brightly coloured xerox copies of the Burn Book floating around the school. He knelt, picking one up. It was Mr. Granger with the thought bubble that read 'I keep drugs in my desk'.

"Oh god," Rei whispered, crumpling it up in his fist. What had he done?

"Mr. Yamashita, get down from their this instant!" One teacher yelled, only to be attacked by the back swing of a purse.

Two girls were fighting to the death, having successfully already drawn blood.

One male was using his book as a weapon against a smaller male.

A girl was kicking the shit out of an older student.

"Oh, hell no," Mrs. Tate cursed, smashing her hand into a fire alarm. The alarm sounded, and the sprinklers kicked in. Everyone stood in a dull haze, stunned. Mrs. Tate crossed back to her office, and turned on the P.A. "All students please report to the auditorium immediately. Immediately."

- - -

The students were now all thoroughly soaked, and were sitting on the seats in the auditorium in an awkward, angry silence. Teachers were stalking the isles, ready to stop a fight before it broke out, with the compassion of prison security guards. Rei searched frantically, but Mr. Granger was nowhere to be seen. He bit back tears, and slumped into his seat.

Mrs. Tate stepped up onto the stage, and tapped a microphone, calling attention to herself. "Never, in my fourteen years as an educator have I seen such behavior!" She said into the mic with a steady voice, but it didn't mask the venom beneath her words. "I mean, I've got parents on the phone asking if someone got shot. I ought to cancel your Spring Fling."

Mixed cries of "No!" and "Who cares?" Flitted from the students, and Rei spotted Max a couple seats in front of him gasp.

"Now, I'm not going to do that, because we've already paid the caterer," Mrs. Tate continued as if there had been no interruption. "But don't think I'm not taking this book very seriously. One of your teachers, Mr. Granger, has already lost his job over it."

Rei's heart stopped. No. No, no, no, no, no! He couldn't be responsible for Mr. Granger's job loss, he wouldn't be. But what could he do?

"This is some serious stuff, folks," Mrs. Tate said, glaring evenly at the students. "The students in this school are in serious need of an attitude makeover. And they are going to get it. From me." A soft murmur in the crowd, but it was too mixed to pick up any single thought. "There will be a full day of workshop for every student this Saturday. Anyone who doesn't show up, won't be allowed to go to Spring Fling, and will be given three consecutive weekends of Saturday school."

"Who cares?" A brave student spat out, over the rest of the crowd.

"Michael Parker, I'd recognize that voice anywhere," Mrs. Tate said with a bitter laugh, "I will see you on Saturday in the gymnasium. Ten o'clock."

- - -

Rei sat at the kitchen table with his grandparents, eating a silent meal. He'd been picking at his meal, too distraught over the days happenings to seriously be able to stomach everything. He bit his lips, and stared at his food, unable to meet his grandparent's eyes.

'Everybody done?' his grandmother asked in Chinese, her tone clipped.

Rei winced. His grandmother always spoke English at home. It was for his benefit, to help him. To hear her revert back to her native tongue in anger was painful. His grandmother stood, grabbing her's and her husband's plates, before grabbing Rei's plate as well and dumping it into the sink.

"I wasn't done-" Rei started, only to be cut off by an angry glare from his grandmother. "Nai-Nai! I didn't do it!"

'I don't know what to believe anymore,' His grandmother replied.

'Believe me!' Rei begged, switching back to Chinese as well. 'I'm your Rei! Your grandson!'

His grandmother ignored him, and reached under the sink to pull out some dish soap. She paused, hesitating slightly, before kneeling and pulling her Buddha out from underneath.

'Why is Buddha under the sink?' his grandmother asked, turning to face him.

"What?" Rei asked, frowning.

'Buddha,' She repeated, holding up the statuette.

He'd completely forgotten about that! It seemed his party had been years ago, instead of merely two days. "I don't know," Rei lied.

'Did you have people here while we were gone?' his grandmother asked, a frown on her normally chipper face.

"Yeah," Rei spat out sarcastically, "I had a huge party and I hid your Buddha because I didn't want anyone to see-"

'Who are you?' His grandmother asked him softly, cutting him off. Her eyes were narrowed, and filled with something Rei couldn't quite identify. Disgust. Disappointment. Shame.

Rei looked away, unable to meet her gaze. She left the room silently.

"She's so happy," Rei muttered, resting his head on the table, "I've been nothing but a bother since I've gotten here. Maybe now I'll finally go home."

'You've never been more wrong,' His grandfather said quietly.

Rei startled, glancing up at him. He'd forgotten all about the older man because of his silent tendencies. He looked at Rei with unreadable eyes, and his tone carried no infliction or hint of a mood.

'Maybe it would be best if I did go back home,' Rei said softly.

'No,' his grandfather said firmly, standing up as well, 'We accepted you here to see the world, and learn. We are not sending you back until you've done just that.'

'I can't go back-' Rei said, struggling to keep his voice from cracking.

'My decision is final,' He said, 'This conversation is over.'

"Wait!" Rei said, standing up, then looked down, humiliated. "Can you sign a paper for me? I'm failing Calculus..."

Rei couldn't look up to see his grandfather's reaction. The old man backhanded him sharply, with a force that Rei never would have thought him to posses. Rei didn't react, just brought a hand to his cheek as it began to sting.

'Thank you,' Rei whispered.

'Go to bed, grandson,' his grandfather replied.

TBC