Chapter 16: Death of Innocence, part 1
Max
Water from the heavy rain outside splashs against the big window, inducing a tapping sound while big droplets rolled down the smooth surface. It could've been a peaceful environment if the room wouldn't be the Principal's office.
Principal Wells sits at his big, fancy desk and flicks through some sheets of paper, writing down some notes from time to time. A minute later he puts down his pen, clears his throat and gazes deeply at Max and Kate, who are sitting right in front of him.
"Miss Caulfield, Miss Marsh. I think you know why I called you into my office," he speaks rhetorically, "To my daily responsibilities as the principal of this school, reading the reports of our security right in the morning is one of my top priorities. And as I read this morning's report I was more than disappointed to see your names mentioned in it." Like he always did when starting a longer monologue, Principal Wells stands up and walks over to the window, looking at the campus outside. "Since every medallion has two sides, I want to hear your version of last night's events before making a final judgment."
Knowing from the start that they would get a lot of heat for their last adventure, and since this wasn't the first time being called to the principal's office, Max takes the whole situation with patience. Kate, on the other hand, is just sitting in her chair, head down, glaring at her trembling hands.
'Dammit! Poor Katie, I wish I could at least hold her hand. She so doesn't deserve to get punished for my stupid idea. Better I'm taking the fall right away.'
"Mr. Wells, we just wanted to have some fun after a really crappy day and…" Max starts to explain, but is interrupted right away as Wells turns around and gives her another deep glare.
"So, breaking and entering school property is considered as fun to you?"
"N-no, we…" Max closes her eyes and inhales deeply, trying to calm down, "Listen, it was my stupid idea, 'kay. Kate just tagged along, that's it. You can blame everything on me, but please," she turns her head to glimpse at her girlfriend, who answers it with eyes wide open, "Leave her out of this."
"Miss Caulfield, are you admitting that you coerced on of our most promising students to such a felony?"
Willing to accept her fate, Max closed her eyes once more, waiting for the inevitable. "Yes!"
"No!" Kate intervenes, drawing everyone's attention on her, "I was in on this, too! We did this together!"
"Kate!"
"Miss Marsh, I understand that you want to protect your friend, but are you aware of the consequences by admitting your complicity?"
For another moment, both girls share a glimpse. Though she slightly shakes her head, Max isn't able to stop Kate.
"Yes, and I'm ready to accept them!" the blonde speaks, holding her head up high.
Sighing deeply, Principal Wells stays quiet for a minute before he continues. " Miss Marsh, since this is your first infraction, I'll ignore your absence during yesterday's classes and only sentence you to detention for the next two weeks, beginning today. Now…" he shifts his gaze to Max again, "to you, Miss Caulfield. Your list of infringements has grown quite vastly for the last week," then back to Kate, "Miss Marsh, I suggest that you go to class now and attend it this time. Have a good day!"
"B-but…" the blonde tries to answer back, but the Principal's as well as Max's glare are telling her that there's no room for discussion.
Seeing her girlfriend leaving the office with her head down, Max would've loved to embrace and soothingly kiss her. She has taken a high risk by sharing the blame and the black-haired girl knows that she has to make it up to her again.
Hearing Wells clearing his throat once more, Max draws her attention towards him, hoping it wouldn't get too bad.
"Miss Caulfield, since last week you developed quite into a troublemaker. And it seems like last night's incident is just the tip of the iceberg," he picks up a list from his desk and starts to read it aloud, "Beside breaking and entering, and breaking the curfew, you committed the following infractions: mayhem, damage to property of fellow students, inappropriate language, blackmailing, bullying…"
"I never blackmailed or bullied anyone!" Max blurts at him as she hears these accusations.
"Is that true?" Wells retorts nonchalantly, arching one eyebrow, "Then why are several students backing up Miss Victoria Chase's complaint against you, which includes every single of these acts?"
From one moment to another, Max frowns, already knowing that Victoria brought their little vendetta onto the next level. "Victoria Chase?!" she scoffs, "I bullied Victoria freakin' Chase?! Are you cereal?"
Staying stern, Principal Wells pulls out some photos from under the pile of papers in front of him. The first one showed the destroyed iPad. "Several students witnessed that you deliberately destroyed this device by ripping it out of Miss Chase's hands and stomping on it multiple times without a warning or reason."
Instead of feeling guilty or showing regret, Max simply shrugs and crosses her arms. "I told her that I would pay for it, and it wasn't deliberately. She purposely ignored me and kept on staring at this thing, so I gave her a reason to spare some of her attention."
"Miss Caulfield, it seems to me like you're taking this very serious matter far too easy. What we're talking about is…"
"Bullshit!" she throws in, earning an angry glare, "You said something about two sides of a medallion, so why don't you let me tell you why I did what I did, before we continue to talk about this stupid complaint?"
"Then go ahead," he answers, leaning back in his chair, "enlighten me why all those major infractions are just some triviality."
"You think I'm the one who bullies Victoria, but it's the other way around. Victoria and her Vortex dickheads are the one who bully and harass other students, especially Kate. Listen, maybe I crossed a line back there, but Katie…she's…she's my best friend and a good person. She doesn't deserve to be treated like that."
"Miss Caulfield, these are some very heavy accusations against our most promising students without any evidence."
"Why don't you ask Kate? She could tell you some stories about being bullied and psychologically tortured by Victoria."
"So far nobody, not even Miss Marsh, has filed in a complaint about Miss Chase."
"Because they're all scared and intimidated. Don't you see what's going on under your nose?"
"Miss Caulfield, all I see is, that since Miss Marsh spends her time with you her behavior changed rapidly, and not in a positive way. Breaking curfew, skipping classes…"
"Oh, you wanna know why we skipped class yesterday? It wasn't because we wanted to, but because Victoria went all psycho on Kate right in the morning and I had to stay with her the entire day to calm her down. And the swimming…we just wanted to relax a bit."
"And what about the night before? Miss Chase had been disturbed in her night rest by you and Miss Marsh as you – how Miss Chase testified – came back from a concert. That would be another disobedience of our rules."
"Great, so this bi…Victoria told you that we had been on a concert past curfew and you believe her right away, without asking us?"
"I didn't say that I believe her statement, yet it seems plausible considering yesterday's incident."
"Maybe, but like I have no evidence that she bullies other students, she has no evidence that Kate and I broke curfew."
"If you or if you didn't break curfew that night isn't the main issue the complaint is about," he pulls out another photo, showing Victoria's wrist, having bruises on it, "Miss Caulfield, I need to remind you that Blackwell has a zero-tolerance-policy regarding violence. So, I need to ask you, are you responsible for these injuries on Miss Chase's wrist?"
Max's view wanders from the picture to the Principal's stern face and back, multiple times, until she sighs and averts his gaze completely. "Shit!"
"So I take it that this is true, then?"
She sighs once more, knowing that this conversation just took a serious turn. "Yes, but, again, there's a reason. Victoria touched Kate against her will. In my opinion that's called harassment and I simply intervened."
"It's not that simple, Miss Caulfield! Since the incident with Mr. Nathan Prescott I'm very aware that you are…trained in martial arts and therefore know how to inflict certain injuries to other people, or even to avoid them."
Just burying her face in her hands, Max simply sighs loudly again, not willing to give another answer. She takes a deep inhale to fight down the need to freak our, but it doesn't work that well anymore.
"So, I guess that, once more, you're admitting your guilt." Wells says, a satisfied gaze in his eyes.
That's the point where Max loses it. She drops her hands in annoy with a loud "Ugh!", stands up and blurts at the principal, "You know what, yes! I'm guilty…of everything. Now cut the crap and simply get it over with!"
"Miss Caulfield, please calm…" he starts, trying to calm down the situation, but gets interrupted right away.
"No, I won't, 'cause I'm tired of this shit. Since I kicked Nathan's ass, I'm on your shitlist anyway. It simply doesn't matter what I say, 'cause you already see me as a delinquent. Like Chloe!"
Not impressed by Max's outburst, Wells arches one eyebrow, looking at her quizzically, "I'm surprised that you mention her, yet I have to admit that I see some similarities here. You've been seen together with Miss Price a lot, lately."
"She's my friend, or is this against your rules, too? But yes, there are some similarities. She was befriended with a Vortex Club member, Rachel Amber, who used and coerced her to break the rules, just for her pleasure."
"And another accusation against a former Vortex Club member," he spoke and pauses for a moment, "Miss Caulfield, I don't know why you see the members of the Vortex Club with such prejudice or why you have a personal feud with Miss Chase, but it went too far. I'll hereby suspend you from school for the next two weeks. Maybe you should use the time to think about your future at the academy."
"Yeah," Max scoffs in reply, "I'll think about my future at a school, where trigger happy assholes with guns, psychos, bullies and drug abusing shitheads roaming the halls freely, form a club and getting away with everything without being punished, despite you have your fancy zero-tolerance-policy. But it seems only to apply to unwanted students."
"That's enough!" yells Principal Wells, jumping up, "Miss Caulfield, this list of your infractions would've been more than enough to expel you. You only get another chance, because of your talent and I advise you not to waste it like Miss Price did." Then he sits down again, and continued to speak in his usual, monotone voice, "Now, I suggest that you go back to your room and I order you to stay away from Miss Chase and any other member of the Vortex Club or else I won't hesitate to end your studentship at Blackwell! That's all."
Infuriated, Max just turns around and leaves the office in a fast pace, almost colliding with Kate, who's waiting for her in the hallway. Immediately, the blonde takes her girlfriend into a tight embrace, knowing from her appearance that her conversation with Wells went pretty bad.
Max's anger abates in seconds as she feels the soothing warmth of her beloved Kate. She presses her even closer as salty droplets emerge from her eyes and get soaked by Kate's dark-blue blazer.
Only as a snicker, followed by a singsonged "I told you!" chimes from a passing by Victoria Chase, Max breaks the contact and wants nothing more than to go all ballistic on her. But Kate is faster and holds her back.
"Fuck off, you evil cunt! You caused enough misery, now just leave us the fuck alone!" she blurts at the short-haired blonde, making everyone in the hallway look at them.
Being back talked in front of other students once more, especially by Kate Marsh, Victoria's face turns beet-red out of anger and if Principal Wells wouldn't have emerged from his office, she would've threatened her in order to maintain her authority.
"What is going on out here?" immediately he gazes at Max again, "Miss Caulfield, haven't I just told you…"
"It was me, okay? Not her!" intervenes Kate right away, being aware that Wells wants to pick on her girlfriend again, "Victoria provoked us and…"
"Mr. Wells, that's not true," Victoria interrupts with a fake sweet, pity voice, "I was on my way to Chem as these two verbally attacked me again."
"Verbally attacked my ass!" spoke Kate quickly before Max could say something and turns towards the principal, "Mr. Wells, I wanna file in a complaint against Victoria Chase regarding harassment and bullying, regarding me and Max."
Entirely overwhelmed that Kate suddenly takes a stand against Victoria on her own, she grabs her hand and squeezes it softly, signing her that she's by her side.
"Miss Marsh, I hope that this complaint is not just a scam to discredit Miss Chase and her complaint against Miss Caulfield here," he replies with a suspiciously glare.
"No," she answers, lowering her voice and gaze, "I-I wanted to do it for some time now, but I was so afraid and…" then she looked at Max with a soft smile and returns the soft squeeze on her hand, "…Max gives me strength to do it now; to make this stand."
"Alright," answers Wells with a nod, "Miss Marsh, please come into my office, and Miss Chase," he now gazes at the Queen-Bee, whose face is a mixture of unbelief and anger, "Please take a seat in my secretary's office, because I need to get to the bottom of this and want to have some answers from your side, too!"
The principal turns around and goes back into his office, Kate following him stat after giving Max another strong hug. Last but not least, Victoria walks past Max, hissing a quiet "You're so dead, Cockfield!" Before she vanishes behind a closing door Max flips her the bird. Then, she's alone, only surrounded by nosy students, who where now minding their own business again, since the show's over.
Max now walks back to the dorms, hoping that Wells would believe her beloved Katie. But something else bothers her. Victoria's threat only aimed at her, but not Kate and this detail let a shiver run over Max's spine.
Victoria
Gazing at the ceiling, Victoria lays in her bed, thinking about the messed up events of this slowly passing day and how to survive the next week without any classes.
'One week,' she thinks, her mood darkening a bit, 'This incompetent schmuck suspended me for an entire fucking week, just because Kate couldn't keep her mouth shut. Oh, you're gonna pay for that, Cockfield!'
A wave of lust and pleasure rushes through her entire body, letting the pixie-blonde close her eyes and moan. While her one hand clenches tightly into a piece of her silk bed sheet and the other one digs deep into a bunch of long, straw-blond hair.
"Y-yes…mmh…r-right there…" she moans softly, raises her head a bit to look down her naked body. Her lustful gaze meets with a pair of stunning blue eyes, which belong to Taylor Christensen.
The straw-blonde backs away a bit stopping the tongue treatment, but keeps on caressing Victoria's sex with her fingers. "Are you feeling good?"
Moaning once more and arching her back as her sensitive spot receives some more intense brushes, Victoria manages to glimpse at Taylor again. "Amazing!" she eventually whispers her answer, now stroking through her friend's long hair as she gave her a warm smile, "You are amazing!"
Obviously most satisfied with this answer, Taylor lowered her head once more and continued to use her tongue in order to please her best friend.
Like most people, Victoria has always been in need for some distraction and relaxation after such a shitty day. And Taylor is exactly the person who could give her this treatment in form of a most pleasing orgasm. Sure, Victoria has already done it with a lot of people, girls and boys. But Taylor is special.
Though she'd never show or admit it in public, Victoria actually does have deep feelings for her blond friend. Feelings which are going way beyond being friends with benefits. Since they first met, Victoria had found Taylor very attractive and nice, and more than once she'd thought about asking her out and starting a real relationship with her.
However, there are two reasons which are speaking against such a bond. Firstly, as Queen-Bee of Blackwell, being in a relationship with and dependable on someone could easily be used as a weak spot, and Victoria liked Taylor way too much than to let her pay the price for her bitchiness. Secondly, Victoria had once decided for herself that she is too young to be bound into a serious relationship. She wants to use her time at Blackwell to experiment and to become aware of her true sexuality, and Taylor supports this.
As she receives another intensive treatment of her nether region, Victoria groans out loudly, her well-deserved orgasm approaching. She now grabs Taylor's head with both hands and presses her even more against her crotch while moving her hips to get as much friction as possible. Eventually, as Taylor additionally caressed one of her breasts, the pixie-blonde comes intensively, biting hardly on her lips to suppress the need to scream out her lust.
After the last wave of pleasure has passed her body, Victoria relaxed, breathing heavily. Taylor immediately lays down beside her, starting to brush with her fingertips over her friend's soft, yet trembling, body. Silence fills the room for a long moment until Taylor's whispered word breaks it.
"Vicky?"
"Hmm?" the pixie-blonde returns, flinging an arm around her friend.
"I-I know that we have an agreement…a-and that we talked about this, but…I love you! I-I really do."
Right away, Victoria's breathing falters. Slowly she shifts her gaze towards her shyly away looking friend. Almost expecting her to go all ballistic, Taylor is even more surprised as her friend relaxes again and starts to caress her back.
"I know," she answers, her lips forming a warm smile, "And I think I'm feeling the same, but…"
"I know," Taylor replies with a sigh and a faint smile, "You still wanna finish Blackwell first and…"
The straw-blonde hasn't even finished her sentence as Victoria takes her in for a long, intimate kiss, enjoying the mix of Taylor's scent and her own taste on her red lips. But it isn't for long, because shortly after, Taylor breaks it.
"Say, why are you so interested in Kate? I-I mean she's not really your type."
Taken aback by this question, Victoria simply stares at the other girl, averting her quizzical gaze a moment later to fix her sight at the ceiling once more.
"It needs to be."
"Vic," Taylor speaks with worry, brushing through her messy pixie-cut hair, "You need to stop this! That war with Caulfield already brought you a suspension for an entire week! She's not worth it! And Kate…dammit, this Christian cunt's not even worth the effort!"
"Yes, she is!" blurts Victoria back, already regretting it a minute later, therefore she inhales deeply and continues in a normal tone, "Kate is Caulfield's weakness, so making her my bitch will give this dyke the rest and teach everyone that they shouldn't fuck with me!" Then she gives Taylor another intense glare, followed by soft strokes over the straw-blonde's body. "And as soon as this is over, my Sweet T, we're gonna make our relationship official!"
Hearing this commitment from her beloved Victoria, Taylor's eyes sparkle and became watery. Both girls' lips collide once more, and this time it is the straw-blonde's turn to receive a well-deserved orgasm.
Max
Being suspended from school for the next two weeks, Max uses her free time to practice her martial arts, taking some pictures and, in order to surprise Kate one day, even plans on playing guitar again.
Right now, the young girl is sitting on one of the campus' picnic tables, meditating. Unlike at the beginning of the semester, Max doesn't care anymore if someone sees her practicing or meditating. At this point, everyone at this school knows everything about her anyway, accept her relationship with Kate.
'It still bugs me what Victoria said,' she thinks as she recalls the Queen-Bee's last words towards her, 'She blames me for everything, but not Katie. And the way she sometimes looks at her…ugh, I just hope that I don't have to beat the shit out of her bitchy brain!'
"Max," Mr. Jefferson's voice chimes, ripping the girl out of her thoughts.
'Ugh, not this fucking asshole! Can't I catch a freakin' break?!'
"What can I do for you, Mr. Jefferson?" Max speaks emotionlessly, not even feeling the need to open her eyes.
"I need to talk with you under four eyes about the Everyday Heroes Contest. Can you please follow me into my office?"
Just imagining to follow Jefferson into his office and to talk with him alone somehow sends a shiver of disgust along Max's spine. She feels that something's off here, but what's the alternative? Since she's been suspended and isn't allowed to sit in class right now, Max has a lot of spare time and not really a reason to neglect his bidding. So, sighing in annoyance, she jumps smoothly off the table, grabs her bag and follows Mark Jefferson into his office.
Her feeling that something isn't right intensifies even more as Jefferson locks the door behind her right after they've reached their destination. While Max just stays in the middle of the room, ready for everything that might come, her photography teacher leans against his desk right in front of her, so that they looked eye-to-eye.
"Max, I wanna be honest," he began, gazing at her deeply, "I'm more than disappointed that you're wasting your talent by messing up and getting suspended. You'll miss a lot of important classes and a great opportunity."
'Ugh, please not a stupid lecture right now! This day's already been shitty enough!'
"Max, your entry for the contest is way above every picture I already received. It's high-class photography, but sadly…since you're suspended, you're not allowed participating in that contest anymore."
'Ooh, what a shame. Now I'm feeling really sad…NOT!'
"But, I'm willing to give you a chance. If I can convince Mr. Wells to make an exception – and I definitely can – then you'll be able to still win the contest and therefore boost your career. Of course, this comes with a little catch."
As Max hears the word catch, she eventually focuses on Jefferson, gazing at him with a frown. "What catch?"
"The art-world is a hard place, with little chances to be successful in it, and sometimes you have to…let's say, you have to make some sacrifices and need to go the extra mile, if you know what I mean."
Now a devilish smirk appears on his face, and it didn't take Max long to figure out what he wants…and it disgusts her. Anger and hate starts to boil inside of her, begging for release, but if she'd beat the crap out of him, nobody would believe her. Like Chloe, Max now is a delinquent and on everybody's shitlist. Therefore, she tries to play it cool for the moment and hopes she could simply tell him in a nice way that he can eat shit and die.
"So, you're saying, if I wanna participate the contest, I have to fuck with you?"
Just the thought of having sex with someone like Jefferson almost makes Max vomit in an instant and as his grin grows even wider, she almost loses it, feeling the need to ram his nasal bone into his shitty brain.
"No," he scoffs, "But there are some other services that would bring the same satisfaction for me." Then he licks his lips. "You've very beautiful lips, Max!"
Her hands are clenching into fists and dark memories begin to seep through the barricade, which Max had built up over the years. As she scoffs, it's more out of hysteria than amusement.
"So, you want me to suck your dick?" Her voice starts to tremble, almost revealing her true emotions, "B-but you know th-that I'm lesbian, right?"
He tosses away the argument with a shrug, "So? I told you, sacrifices have to be made to be successful."
This nonchalantly comment lets something snap inside Max. But instead of going rampage, the black-haired girl closes in on Mark Jefferson with a seductive smile. "Lemme get this straight," she says tenderly, biting her bottom lip, "If I give you a blowjob," she opens Jefferson's pants, "you'll make sure I win the contest?"
"Y-yes," whiffs the photography teacher, clearly surprised by Max's response. He even moans as the young girl reaches inside his pants and touches his cock, already feeling it swelling in her tiny hands.
"Mmmh…sounds tempting, but…"
Suddenly the strong girl tightens her grip around Jefferson's sex and twists it 180 degrees. If Max wouldn't have pressed her other hand on his mouth, he would've screamed, but instead only a muffled whining escapes his mouth. She leans forward, hissing directly into his face while her expression is simply cold and without any emotion.
"Listen closely, you perverted little fuck! I don't care about this fucking contest and I'd rather jump off the dormitories' roof than to take your ugly dick into my mouth or even let you stick it into my pussy!" She tightens her grip even more and pulls him closer, "And if you EVER try to sexual harass Kate or any other girl at this school, I'll rip off you fucking junk and stick it so deep into your fucking throat that you'll choke on it! Got it?"
After Jefferson manages to give her a faint nod, Max releases him and stumbles backwards. First tears emerge from her eyes as she sees her teacher crumbling to the ground, holding his crotch with his hands, whining and whimpering.
A new wave of dark memories and disgust flushes her body. Her lips tremble and a sob escapes her mouth. She turns around, unlocks the door and runs out of the main building towards the dorms. As soon as she's entered the building, Max immediately heads for the showers, lets her bag fall to the ground, enters one of the stalls and turns on the water, not caring that it's ice cold. Hastily, hyperventilating and under tears, she literally rips the clothes off her body and starts to scrub her skin with her bare hands, sometimes leaving red scratch marks with her fingernails, until she embraces her shaking body and cries out her emotional pain.