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“That’s not possible.”
“I don’t appreciate being called a liar, even less so being lied to.”
“Nancy, is there any chance I can persuade you not to expel him? Sure, we had a bad break-up and I think he’s the ultimate asshole, but you’ve caught the problem, and if you hadn’t, I would have and corrected things with my teachers. I don’t think expulsion is necessary.” I smile sweetly, earning death glares from Cohen, Matteo, and Noah.
They know I’ve set this up just to fuck with them, and if you look closely enough, you can see the hint of curiosity as to why I wouldn’t follow through. The problem is that I want to hurt them, yet I can’t seem to let even myself become a real threat to them because on some sick level, I still consider them mine.
“I really do think expulsion is the right way to go. Unfortunately, if I don’t nip this in the bud now, it could escalate and I couldn’t live with myself if any harm came to you under my watch. We have a zero tolerance policy on bullying as you well know. This is beyond the standard level of pranks,” she states, doing a fantastic job at keeping her cool facade in place.
“I can hold my own, Headmistress. I’d highly urge you to consider lessening the punishment. I’m not worried about these guys in the slightest.” I smirk.
“I’ll take the rest of the day to consider what you’ve said. In the meantime, Cohen, I think it would be best if you gathered your things and left the academy for the remainder of the day,” she urges.
Before he can turn to go though, there’s a knock on the door.
Nine
Alessandra
“Knock, knock!” Coach Malloy yells as he pops his head into Nancy’s office, interrupting us ahead of schedule. I’m not worried though. This will be more fun. “I heard Noah was in here and I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news that requires both his attention and yours, Headmistress.”
“What did you do now?” Noah turns his gaze on me.
“Why do you guys keep accusing me of doing things?” I ask innocently.
The more I play dumb, the more pissed they get. It’s the little things in life that keep me going.
“I can come back when you’re finished here, I’ll only need to discuss things with you and Noah.” Coach Malloy says, reading the violent tension in the air.
“You may as well come in and lay it all out on the table Coach. I have a feeling almost everyone here already knows what you’re going to say,” Noah says challengingly, glaring daggers into me.
“We really do—” I start but get cut off.
“Stop lying. I know it’s what you’re best at and all, but for once in your life just cut the bullshit, Alessandra.” Noah growls, cutting me off. And fuck if it doesn’t hurt like a bitch to know that he’s got me pegged in all the worst ways. He’s making it sound like I do nothing but lie, which isn’t true and it’s sort of messed up that he’d call me out so callously.
I hid one damn thing from them, not even outright lying and I’m condemned to hell for eternity? They started our whole relationship based on their deceit and I’ve not held them in contempt all this time over it. I’m not a terrible person… am I?
I always thought myself superior to everyone I was surrounded by growing up because I’ve always called it like it is, not really caring if the truth hurts people because I was never taught to care about other people’s feelings. I grew up thinking about me, me, me. All I had was me, myself, and I so all I knew was to do anything and everything I could to protect myself or push myself toward a better life.
I grew up trash, but I was always real. Now I wonder if I’ve always been this shitty kind of person and too broken to see it, or maybe too ignorant to accept it. My truth is exactly that, mine. It may not be someone else’s though and it’s shitty of me to be so stuck in that mindset. These guys have always deserved better, everything I’m doing to them now just proves it. My stubbornness and pride won’t let me back down and I hate myself for it.
“Please, come in Coach Malloy. It seems this group is airing all their dirty laundry today. We may as well get to the bottom of it now while everyone is present.” Nancy commands. She’s doing wonderfully as the leader of this school. I’m proud of how far she’s come.
“Ah, well, okay then.” He shifts inside the room uncomfortably. He’s never been a great coach, but I think he cares about his players in his own way. I also think he works harder for the football team than anything else he coaches. His shoulders droop in defeat before he speaks, preemptively warning us that something bad is coming. His voice is morose when he finally takes a deep breath and speaks.
“Noah, I’m going to have to cut you from the football team as well as the MMA team for this season,” he states, and it’s like the room drops several degrees all of the sudden as the boys listen to the news. “We’ve gotten our test results back for the physicals and drug screenings. You passed your physical with flying colors as per usual. However, it’s your drug test that you’ve failed,” he informs Noah. “I’d rather cut off my right arm than lose you but rules are rules. We’ve been hammering in the no drug policy from day one and you were honestly the last one I was worried about,” he says disapprovingly. “I’m pretty disappointed in you son. I understand the pressures of senior year,I do. I only wish you’d have talked to me if you felt like you were struggling. I thought we had a better relationship than that. Even I can’t look past our zero tolerance policy though, not even for my best athlete.”
“This is a joke, right? I don’t take steroids. There’s no way I failed the drug test. There must’ve been some sort of mixup,” he chokes out in disbelief. He’s looking at me like he’s never seen me before and it cuts into me with his desired effect. It’s that look that almost has me putting a stop to this whole dumb prank thing. Maybe I’m taking it too far. His next words nearly gut me and I have to physically force myself to stay upright.
“We loved you, ya know. We’d have moved heaven and hell to keep you happy, but you can’t stop getting in your own way long enough to see the truth of things—to let happiness win. You’ll forever be stuck in the darkness because you refuse to let your light shine. We may be monsters, but we were your monsters, willing to commit to a lifetime of the dark and gritty. Now though, now we’re nothing to each other and not a thing can change that. Clearly you don’t want it to either.” He gives me one final look of disgust, leaving me confused about the meaning behind his words, before turning to Coach and saying, “fine. If you really think I’d do something so stupid then it is what it is. Don’t bother asking me to come back for any other teams for the rest of the year. I’m done.” Then turning on his heel, he stomps out of the room, Cohen following in his wake leaving me to wonder if I finally broke them as deeply as he broke me. And more importantly, is it worth it? Because it doesn’t feel like it is.
“Two down, one to go. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for me,” Matteo taunts, pulling from my miserable internal musings. Just the sound of his cocky voice has me rebuilding walls faster than I thought I could. My hackles rise and I’m immediately defensive once again.
“Remember this when you all are looking for someone to blame for your misery, I didn’t start this. You guys were looking to ruin me from the day I stepped foot in this place. You can’t be mad now that I’m winning your game.”
* * *
It’s the end of the school day and the entire academy is buzzing with rumors of what happened in the Headmistress’s office. Apparently we were all filmed via live stream walking into the meeting earlier and the person behind the camera camped out long enough to see Noah and Cohen leave in a huff, followed shortly after by a pissed off Matteo.
