Day 14: Being Exposed

Renly

Renly was on his way to Stannis' office just before the start of his first lesson that day.

Stannis had called him the night before and told him that they needed to talk about something very serious.

Renly guessed that it had something to do with the school's financial problems and he hoped this meant that Stannis had finally come to his senses.

He just couldn't save the school on his own and Renly hoped that Stannis had learned to accept that he needed help from time to time.

Renly knocked on the door to Stannis' office and Melisandre's voice told him to come in.

He sighed when he heard her voice.

The fact that his brother had called him himself had led him to believe that he was finally going to talk to Stannis without his secretary at his side.

He opened the door and Melisandre was sitting on Stannis' desk like he had expected her to.

She was smiling at him in a strange way, like a cat who had just found his prey.

"Sit down" Stannis said gesturing at the chair in front of his desk.

Renly sat down and looked at his older brother who looked even more serious than usual.

"What's going on?" Renly asked looking form Stannis' frown to Melisandre's terrifying smile.

"Never" Stannis started "Never in my career as head of this school have I been so ashamed of one of my employees as I am today"

Renly didn't know what his brother was talking about.

He hadn't done anything wrong, had he?
"A romantic relationship with one of the students!" Stannis said almost shouting "have you lost your mind?!"

Renly turned as white as a sheet.

How did Stannis know about him and Loras?
They had been very careful in- and outside of school.

"I can explain...!" Renly said quickly and he got up from his chair.

"She is sixteen, Renly!" Stannis shouted "sixteen!"

Renly didn't understand what Stannis was talking about.

Loras was definitely not a "she".

"She?" he asked confused.

"Yes, Brienne of Tarth" Melisandre said with a smile while she handed him a piece of paper "unfortunately her note to you ended up among the tests you handed back to the students"

He quickly read the note Brienne had wanted to give to him.

It was a sweet letter written by a girl who had obviously fallen in love for the first time.

Renly could see why Stannis and Melisandre had gotten the wrong idea about how well Brienne and he really knew each other after reading it.

He guessed that Brienne had placed it among the tests on his desk herself when she had visited him yesterday.

"I've never seen this letter before in my life" Renly said "and I'm definitely not in a romantic relationship with Brienne"

"Can you proof that?" Melisandre asked and he knew she didn't believe he loved Brienne either, she just liked to torture him "It sure seems like you are after reading this"

"No, I can't proof it" Renly said frustrated "you'll have to believe me on my word"

The thought of him and Brienne together was just too ridiculous.

There was no way that Stannis was going to fall for that, was he?
"Then I'll have to fire you, Renly" Stannis said "we have to think of the school's name"

Renly didn't know if he was going to burst out into tears or into laughter.

Melisandre had brainwashed Stannis into believing everything she told him even if it was as stupid as this.

"I'm gay, I'm not even attracted to pretty girls!" Renly shouted and he felt relieved for a second until he saw Stannis' face.

"If what you have done wasn't bad enough, lying about something like this is" Stannis said "you're fired, Renly, I'm sorry but there is no other choice"

Renly got up from his chair and slammed the door behind him.

He wasn't going to let this rest, not in a million years.

Daenerys

"As it seems we have a fourth nominee for Prom Queen... Daenerys Targaryen"

The words kept echoing through her head while she searched her locker for her books.

She couldn't sleep last night.

She kept wondering why she was nominated.

Was it a prank because she was the new girl?

Or could there be something more to it?

Dany wasn't afraid to bet that most people didn't even recognize her name when Stannis announced it.

"So what do you think?" someone asked.

She closed her locker and noticed Jon Snow.

"What do I think about what?" she asked him annoyed.

"About being a nominee for Prom Queen" someone else said.

Daenerys had to admit that she didn't see him at first but she vaguely recognized the boy with the mismatched eyes as Tyrion Lannister.

It wasn't a face you'd be able to forget soon.

"It's a joke" she said shrugging "so it doesn't really matter what I think about it"

"A joke?" Tyrion asked while acting to be surprised and offended "She calls it a joke after all the trouble we went through!"

"We?" Jon asked laughing "I did all the work"

Tyrion pretended to be offended again.

"I was the one who came up with the plan in the first place" he said.

"And I was the one who decided we should pick Dany" Jon said.

Daenerys felt like she didn't really know what was going on.

"Okay, what did you two do?" she asked them with her hands on her hips.

"We nominated you" Jon said proudly and they both looked like they were expecting a reward of some kind.
"And what made you think I wanted to be nominated?" she asked annoyed.

The two boys looked at each other awkwardly and Dany could see that that hadn't crossed their mind once.

"You don't?" Jon asked carefully.

Daenerys let out a loud sigh and tossed her silver hair.

"No, I just love being made fun of by the entire school because no one is going to vote for me!" Dany said getting angry "You should have asked me if I wanted this before you nominated me!"

"Who says no one is going to vote for you?" Tyrion asked with a meaningful smile.

Dany didn't really want to answer that question because it was too embarrassing.

"Because they don't even know my name" she said softly.

"Which is perfect" Tyrion said "it means that we can present them with precisely the image we want them to have of you"

Dany bit her lip while she thought about what the Lannister boy had said.

"So you want me to pretend I'm someone else?" she asked him "You want me to pretend that I'm some perfect Barbie doll girl?"

Tyrion shook his head

"We have enough of those at our school and I can sense that the students are getting sick of those" he said "they want a strong woman they can rally behind, do you think you could be that?"

"Maybe" she said smiling at him while she let the thought run through her head.

"You'd be the best Prom Queen ever" Tyrion said with a cheeky smile.

Dany shook her head.

"Not a queen, a Khaleesi" she said thinking of Drogo.

...

...

"What?" Jon asked confused.

Theon

Theon was busy running a lap around the football field just like most of the boys in his P.E. class.

One of his eyes was still swollen and the cut above the other one was covered with an ugly scab.

There were bruises on his arms and he couldn't help but touch his new prosthetic tooth with his tongue because it still felt weird and foreign in his mouth.

He didn't even want to know how horrible he must look that day.

Theon could see that Cersei, Margaery and some other girls were playing volleyball on a different field and he had to admit that it didn't look like a friendly match anymore especially not when Cersei smashed a ball directly into Margaery's face.

Robb was helping some younger kids set up the equipment for high jumping and apparently he had decided that he was going to ignore Theon at all cost.

Two boys bumped into Theon's shoulder when they passed him and he knew that they were Ramsay's friends.

Theon was actually pretty good at running and sports but today he didn't feel like giving it his all since everything just hurt too much.

Even eating hurt due to his new tooth which had to replace the one Ramsay knocked out.

Theon had to admit that he was sad that his sister had gone back to college that weekend.

She was the only one he could think of who still talked to him.

The coach blew his whistled and told the boys that their lesson was finished and they could go back to the locker room.

Theon followed the rest of the boys back to the locker room and undressed in the corner as far away from Ramsay and his friends as possible.

He heard someone turn on the showers but Theon was planning on slipping away before someone noticed him.

He didn't want to give Ramsay the pleasure of finding him in a vulnerable position.

Theon noticed that most boys had gotten into the showers and he was just on his way to the door when Ramsay stopped.

"Don't you have to shower?" Ramsay asked him with a grin.

"Fuck off" Theon said with his hand on the doorknob.

"I think he has to shower, right boys?" Ramsay asked his friends.

Theon could hear them laughing.

"Yeah, he fucking stinks" one of Ramsay's friends said and they laughed even harder.

Theon turned the doorknob and was about to leave the room when Ramsay grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"He fucking reeks" Ramsay said.

Theon tried to push him off him but Ramsay's friends were there to help him.

They dragged Theon to the showers and pushed him against the wall while the ice cold water poured down on him.

"Isn't that a good name for him?" Ramsay asked his friends "Reek"

Theon struggled to escape from the two boys who were still holding him under the water.

"You're a fucking psychopath, Snow!" Theon shouted.

Everyone stopped laughing when they heard Theon call Ramsay by his real name.

Ramsay turned even paler than usual and there was something dark in his cold eyes.

Ramsay punched him in the balls while the two boys let go off him and he collapsed onto the ground with tears in his eyes.

Ramsay ripped open Theon's shirt and pressed his knife against Theon's wet skin.

"You'll pay for that, Reek" Ramsay said without any hint of his usual smile.

He dragged his knife across Theon's chest and his blood mixed with the water from the shower while it hurt like hell.

Theon felt tears burn in his eyes again but he didn't want to give in.

"What is your name?" Ramsay asked him while he made another cut just below the other one.

"Theon Greyjoy" he said.

Ramsay pushed the knife further into Theon's flesh and blood came pouring out.

He clenched his jaw while tears ran down his cheeks which was barely noticeable due to the water from the shower.

"What is your name?" Ramsay asked him again.

"Theon Greyjoy" he barely managed to say.

Ramsay stabbed his knife into the wound and Theon couldn't take the pain any longer.

His whole chest was covered in blood and even though he knew that Ramsay wasn't stupid enough to hurt him lethally, he felt like he was going to die nevertheless.

"Reek!" he shouted eventually "My name is Reek!"

"That's a good boy" Ramsay said laughing and he got back onto his feet.

Ramsay and his friends left the locker room and Theon behind.

He couldn't stand up because the pain was too much and he just laid there while the water poured down on him until he passed out.

Robb

Robb slammed the front door behind him and ran up the stairs with a huge smile on his face.

He opened the door to his bedroom, picked up Talisa who was sitting on his bed, twirled her around and kissed her.

"Why are you so happy?" she asked him slightly annoyed.

"I've been nominated for Prom King again!" Robb said still smiling.

Talisa shook her head and sat down on Robb's bed which was now covered in books about medicine.

"Are you serious right now?" she asked him very slowly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked her "aren't you at least a little bit happy for me?"

Talisa was about to throw one of her books at him before she realized that they were probably too valuable.

"I would be happy for you, Robb, if I didn't have to turn in a paper tomorrow about something I don't know shit about yet, if I didn't live in a house full of people who hate me and blame me for ruining your life and if I wasn't FUCKING PREGNANT!" she said shouting the last few words.

Then she broke down into tears and he realized how vulnerable she was right then.

He sat down next to her and held her while she cried.

"I love you, Talisa" he said and he pressed a kiss on her forehead "so if you want me to drop out of the competition then I will"

She looked up at him with big brown eyes filled with tears.

"No" she said softly "I don't want you to give up another thing for me"

He wiped away her tears and smiled at her.

"I would give up everything for you, Talisa" Robb said.

She shook her head and he realized that his words weren't comforting her.

"But I don't want you to give up anything" she said "I don't want to be a burden to you, I don't want to be the one who ruined your youth"

He shook his head with a sad smile.

"You're not a burden, okay?" he asked her "and I'm as much to blame for the fact that you're pregnant as you are, maybe even more"

She bit her lip while she thought about that.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked her.

Talisa nodded and she even smiled at him again.

"You're so sweet" she said "even after I yelled at you"

"You're going through a rough time" Robb said shrugging.

She bit her lip again and he saw a familiar twinkle in her eyes.

"So, Your Grace, when will we start making posters for your coronation?" she asked him with a cheeky smile.

"Whenever My Lady would like to" he answered with the same cheeky smile.

Talisa rolled her eyes at him.

"It would be so annoying if people still talked like that" she said.

"I don't know" Robb said shrugging "it has a certain ring to it"

She laughed at that and they both fell down on the bed.

Talisa snuggled up to him while he played with her hair.

"You're going to look so beautiful at Prom" he said softly.

"I'm going to look huge at Prom!" Talisa said.

"And you're still going to be the most beautiful girl there"

Talisa rolled her eyes at him again but she kissed him nevertheless.

Cersei

Cersei and Margaery walked into the shop where they had been with Sansa a few days ago.

Apart from the gowns they also had a section with more casual clothing and Cersei had bought almost all her clothes from there.

Cersei noticed that Margaery's nose was still a little bit swollen from when she had hit her with the volleyball and she couldn't help but smile.

She had pretended it was an accident of course but Cersei thought it was her biggest achievement as an athlete.

Too be honest she didn't really like working out and she only did it every once in a while to stay in shape.

Margaery was whistling while she searched the clothing racks for something pretty.

Cersei hated whistling because she immediately associated it with her little brother Tyrion.

Cersei and Margaery hadn't talked about Prom since she found out that Margaery was nominated and she couldn't wait to bring it up at the right moment.

She needed to bring it in such a way that everyone immediately saw what kind of a Turncloak Margaery really was but she knew that was going to be tough since Margaery had perfected the fake innocence look.

"This would look pretty on you" Margaery said and she showed her a tight red dress with a large zipper on the back.

Cersei did really like the dress and she hated it that she hadn't found it herself.

"Should I check if they have it in your size?" Margaery asked her friend.

"What size are you holding now?" Cersei asked her fake friend.

Margaery checked the label.

"It's a size four" Margaery said "I'll see if they have it in a larger size"

Larger size?

"No, this will be fine" Cersei said and she snatched the dress from Margaery's hands.

She went into the changing room and closed the curtain before Margaery could protest.

Cersei put the red dress on and noticed that it was indeed a bit tight but she could make it work.

She looked into the mirror and admired her reflection.

Cersei could just imagine herself walking into school while wearing that dress and she was sure everyone would look at her in awe.

"Marg, can you help me with the zipper?" she asked the Tyrell girl through the curtain.

Margaery entered the changing room and she managed to hide her annoyance well.

Cersei noticed that Margaery was struggling with the zipper and she let out an annoyed sigh.

"Just zip it already" Cersei said.

"I'm trying to but the dress it too tight" Margaery said just as annoyed as Cersei "I can still get the larger dress"

"No!" Cersei shouted as soon as Margaery mentioned the other dress.

Cersei had always had a perfect slim figure and she was not going to wear a dress in a larger size than Margaery's.

"Just fucking zip it, you flowerheaded moron!" Cersei shouted.

"Is everything all right in here?" Jocelyn, the manager of the store, asked when she carefully opened the curtain.

"I can't zip it up" Margaery told Jocelyn.

"Let me try" the store manager said and they both started to pull at the zipper.

Suddenly Cersei heard a metallic *clink* and the pulling stopped.

"What just happened?" Cersei asked angrily.

"The zipper broke" Margaery answered softly.

Cersei couldn't control her anger any longer.

She turned around and pushed Margaery who fell into Jocelyn, who fell into a clothing rack which toppled over.

"Are you telling me you're even too stupid to use a zipper?!" Cersei asked Margaery shouting.

Margaery couldn't control her anger any longer either.

"Maybe it's just because you're turning into a great, big, fat person!" Margaery shouted and her own outburst seemed to surprise her.

Cersei slapped Margaery and took off the red dress in the middle of the store.

She threw the dress at Jocelyn who was still sitting on the ground.

"This is shit quality and your sizes are fucked up!" Cersei shouted crying.

"Cersei Lannister, what is going on here?" a familiar voice asked.

Cersei turned around and saw her father standing in the doorway surrounded by two security members.

"Daddy, I can explain!" she said quickly and suddenly she noticed that everyone was looking at her in her underwear.

She wanted to pray to the Gods for this to be a nightmare but it was terrifyingly real.

"Get your clothes" her father just said and Cersei noticed that Dorcas was laughing behind the register.

She had probably called security and it was just Cersei's luck than she had done so on the day that her father was checking on the mall he owned.

Cersei quickly went back into the changing room and put her own clothes back on.

When she left the changing room she saw that Margaery was laughing at her too, just like everyone she met on her way back to her father's car.

She tried to ignore what people were yelling at her but she couldn't and when they reached the car she was crying.

Her father didn't say a word to her but she was afraid of what he was going to say when he finally did.

Cersei had never missed Jaime as much as she did at that moment.