Chapter 6

"Theodore Grey?" the lady at the front desk called loudly.

I looked up from the crack in the floor tiles that I'd been focusing on, stood up and walked slowly over to the middle aged woman at the counter.

"Theodore Grey?" She asked expectantly.

No Lady, I just got up and walked over here because I felt like it. I sneered at her in my head.

"Yep."

"Vice Principal Harrison is ready for you now, just through that door right there." She smiled pointing to the other end of the room.

I nodded again and headed off in the direction she pointed.

With every step I took I felt the sinking feeling in my stomach worsen. I'd never been in trouble before.

You've never even been CLOSE to being in trouble before. My subconscious corrected me.

What do they do to you? I know they don't hit kids anymore…do they?

No. But for you they might make an exception.

When I reached the door, I knocked lightly.

"Come in." A muffled voice sounded through the door.

I opened it and walked in.

"Close it behind you." Mr. Harrison said sternly, stacking up a pile of papers and moving them to one side.

I did as I was told.

"Take a seat Teddy." He said sternly.

I sat down in one of the chairs opposite his desk.

After a moment he took a deep breath, folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"So…What's going on Ted?" he asked simply.

"What do you mean?" I replied innocently.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "I mean, why has one of this school's best and brightest been caught vandalising school property?"

Oh that… What do I say? Do I tell him what really happened?Maybe I should tell him I have no idea what he's talking about.

If I tell him what really happened, then I'll get that girl in trouble…that really pretty girl…

SO?! My subconscious screamed at me. SHE'S THE FUCKING REASON YOU'RE IN HERE!

After a few moments of deliberation I decided on a course of action.

I shrugged.

Mr. Harrison's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Maybe he was expecting some kind of detailed story that would absolve me of any guilt.

"You don't know?" He asked incredulously. "That's your answer?"

I shrugged again.

"Teddy. Vandalism is a criminal offense, you know that don't you?" He continued briskly.

I nodded.

"Now, I never like to get the police involved in situations like this, but I will suspend you, do you understand that?" He asked quietly.

He waited. I said nothing.

"So unless you have anything else to tell me, I am going to call your parents and get them to come and collect you." He waited again.

Tell him. Tell him now.

I shrugged again.

Mr. Harrison sighed heavily. "Okay then."

He didn't waste any more time as he picked up the phone and dialled an extension.

I heard a phone ring from the other side of the door.

"Carol, can you get Theodore Grey's p-"

Suddenly the door burst open.

Ms. Andrews, my home room teacher rushed in, she looked frazzled and out of breath.

Mr. Harrison looked up in alarm.

"Carol – hold on that, I'll call you back." He said quickly hanging up the phone.

"Paige, is everything alright?" Mr. Harrison asked.

"Sorry Bill, one of my students just shared some information with me that I thought you needed to hear." Ms Andrews paused as she tried to catch her breath.

"Well I'm almost finished here, if you'd just give me a mo-"

"The information has to do with what happened on the bus this morning." Ms Andrews interrupted, looking pointedly at me.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, "Why didn't you say so, take a seat." He said leaning back in his chair again.

She sat down, smoothing her hair back into place.

"Penny Michaels, who takes the bus with Teddy in the mornings, told me he wasn't the one that vandalised the seat on the bus. She said it was a girl."

Mr. Harrison looked at me expectantly.

"Ted?" he asked when I said nothing. "Is that true?"

Well I guess the cat's out of the bag now. May as well tell him, you dumbass.

I nodded slowly.

He shook his head in frustration "Why didn't you just tell me that in the first place?!"

I shrugged.

"Did Penny say who it was?" He asked, turning back to her.

"No, she said she didn't recognise her, that she must be a new student." She replied shaking her head.

He took a slow calming breath, "Thank-you Paige, I appreciated it." He smiled, dismissing her.

"No problem." She replied standing up and heading for the door. I watched her go.

When she turned around to close the door behind her, I mouthed 'Thank-you.'

She winked back at me and smiled.

I turned back to Mr. Harrison who was typing something into his computer.

"Well Ted, I don't know why you're protecting this girl. What's her name?" He asked, annoyed.

I realised I didn't actually know her name.

I shrugged.

"If you shrug your shoulders at me one more time, I'm going to put you in detention. Is that understood?" He glared at me until I nodded.

"What does she look like?" He asked.

"I don't know, I didn't really see her." I lied, shrugging my shoulders.

Luckily he wasn't watching me when I did it that time.

He stared at his computer obviously looking for something.

I started fidgeting with a stray thread on my T-shirt.

"Amelia Cooper." He said suddenly.

He turned his computer screen to face me. "Is this her?"

I leaned closer to have a look. There was a small school photo on the top left of the screen.

Yep. That's her…She really is ridiculously good looking. Amelia…pretty name.

"I don't know." I lied again.

Mr. Harrison sighed, turning the screen back towards him.

"Okay, well I guess that's all I need from you then."

Finally.

"But I'd like you to see the school counsellor before you head to class."

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Because this kind of attitude isn't like you at all, and I think it would be beneficial for you have a talk with her." He said looking at me critically.

"No." I said simply.

"Would you rather I called your father and explained this to him instead?" He threatened.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" I yelled at him.

He look taken aback by my outburst and to be honest, so was I. But I didn't want to go and talk about my feelings with the school councillor/career advisor/9th Grade English Teacher…she smelled like curried egg.

"You're going to go and see her. And that's final." He said quietly after a few seconds.

I just glared at him as he wrote my name on a green slip and handed it to me.

"Head over there now, I'll let her know you're on your way." He stated, tilting his head toward the door.

I got up without so much as a backward glance and wrenched the door open. I grabbed my bag off the bench where I'd left it and headed into the hallway. It took everything I had not to slam the door to the office on my way out.

I leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths.

This is bullshit.

The school councillor's chambers was right next to the front office…how convenient.

Wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible, I walked through the small waiting room, straight up to the door and knocked.

"Take a seat Teddy, I'll be with you in a moment." Her voice came through the door.

Sure. No problem. Not like I have anything better to do with my time.

I threw my bag down and sat on one of the hard plastic chairs outside the door.

I resumed my fidgeting with the thread on my shirt.

I sensed rather than heard someone enter the waiting room. I looked up, expecting Mr. Harrison.

"Well if it isn't Theodore, Ted, Teddy Grey!" Amelia laughed, walking towards me.

I just stared open mouthed at her as she sat down beside me.

"…Who is still having trouble with his words apparently?" She rolled her eyes and crossed one leg over the other causing her already short skirt to ride up revealing even more of her perfect legs.

I swallowed reflexively, my throat was suddenly very dry.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to make my voice sound like I was annoyed at her, and failing miserably.

"Ah he speaks!" She said smiling. "I'm jumping the gun." She responded.

"You're what?" I asked not understanding.

"Well, by now I'm pretty sure they know it was me who vandalised the bus. Even if you didn't tell…which judging by your presence here, I'm going to guess you didn't…" She glanced at me expectantly.

I shook my head no.

She smirked, then continued, "But by the look on that prissy girl's face this morning, and the way she was glaring at me before homeroom – I'm guessing she's a fan-girl of yours- I'm sure she told on me the first chance she got."

"Penny." I confirmed.

"Ew, really?" She asked. "Of course that's her name."

I chuckled.

"Anyway, the best defence is a good offence." She finished with a shrug.

"So…you're what? Going to turn yourself in?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Sort of. I'm going to plead insanity." She shrugged again. And when I still looked confused she continued in a whisper, "I'm going to cry to the councillor about my home life and hopefully she'll give me a free pass."

"You sound like you've done this before." I guessed.

She smiled, "A few times. It works pretty well until they figure out you're full of shit."

"Are you full of shit?" I asked curiously.

Her smile dropped slightly, only for a second, but I saw it.

She shrugged and continued lightly "Who doesn't have problems with their parentals?"

I opened my mouth to tell her I knew exactly what she meant, but the door next to us opened.

"Okay Anabelle, I'll see you tomorrow morning." Mrs April's voice drifted out, as a short girl in a red dress stepped into the waiting room. She turned the same colour as her dress when she saw me, turned and quickly hurried away.

Amelia watched her go shaking her head. She rolled her eyes at me and mouthed 'fan-girls'.

I grinned at her and shrugged my shoulders in a 'what-can-I-say-the-ladies-love-me' kind of way.

"Okay Teddy, why don't you come in and have a seat," Mrs April said as she appeared in the doorway, writing something on a small notepad.

Amelia smirked at me, winked and then put her head in her hands and started to cry inconsolably.

I had to give it to her, she was a good actress.

Mrs. April looked up from her notepad in alarm.

I looked from her to Amelia and back, and inspiration hit me.

"I think she needs you more than I do miss….I'll come back later." I assured her.

"Okay, yes, thank-you Ted," She nodded, looking at Amelia with concern. "Come in sweetie."

I got up, grabbed my bag and watched as they both disappeared into the office

I smiled once the door was shut, shook my head, and headed off to class.

Jesse is going to flip when he hears about this.

XXXXXXX

Hey Guys! I'm sorry this one took me so long, but I hope it was worth the wait.

Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading xxx