Lovely Bastards (BxB) (MxM)

Chapter 34 - Suspended

Charles hadn't meant to go out. But he had run out of aspirin, and they really should cook something tonight instead of getting take-away.

So he decided to run to the store very quickly. 

When he got home, he paused inside the door, listening. 

Don't be silly.

Turning around, a shadow shifted at the corner of his eye and he jumped - 

Nothing there. A reflection. 

Laughing shakily, he put the groceries down on the counter and flicked on the electric kettle, dropping his keys and receipt beside it. 

A click sounded at the front door, and Charles spun around, hands flying to his throat as it swung inside.

"Did you forget that I had a key?"

"Christopher Callaghan," the principal began.

"In the the last two years, this is your fifth school. You have been transferred before because of terrible allegations which I did not want to believe - "

The grey-haired man paused, regarding Kit over the tips of his fingers. 

"I have received several emails over the course of the weekend," he continued. "From concerned parents, with grievous accounts of you, Mr. Callaghan."

I should never have gone down on that teacher in his ground floor office...

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kit lied smoothly, sitting straight and relaxed in the uncomfortable steel-and-wood chair, with a bland smile and an alert gaze under carefully half-lidded eyes.

"But if it comes from my classmates, then you should know that they're only trying to mess with me. A prank that's clearly gone too far. Frankly, I'm upset that you're taking action against me, not them."

The principal looked grim. He held out a sealed envelope to the boy, dropping it on the the desktop instead of handing it to him.

It looked heavy, made from thick, structured paper.

"Young man," he said, "Bring this to your guardian. And ask him to arrange a meeting with me. You are suspended until further notice, and I'll have to ask you to go home once you leave my office."

He levelled a stern gaze at him. 

"The reports I've had about you from students, parents, and faculty are very serious."

Well, and what could you say to that?

Realising there was no point in arguing, Kit walked out, hands in his pockets. He planned to just grab a few things from his locker and then head home.

But when he emerged, shouldering the door open with a bit more force than strictly necessary, he found about half the school gathered in the corridor outside. Apparently this was too good a scene to miss.

Looks like I've achieved notoriety. Oh, goody.  

Among the throng, he saw them. Tyson, Corey, Oliver. Standing together. 

People always preferred when you lived up to their expectations, Kit knew. Even if those expectations were low.

Adults looked at him and saw a troublemaker, and they wanted to be right. If you proved someone wrong they felt cheated and disinclined to help you out.

If someone expected you to be dumb, play dumb and they'd like you more. He knew that.

So if everyone here expected him to be nasty, why shouldn't he be?