Voiceless Love

29. What rumor?

Zoey came in on time today. Unforeseen.

And she looked nice- fine, she looked fine. She looked comfy, wearing plaid pajama pants that dragged on the ground and slumped over her sneakers. A big, baggy sweatshirt that was long enough to be considered a dress. And her short hair pulled back into a low ponytail.

No makeup either.

Just the way I like - oh my god.

Stop.

She waved, taking her seat next to me. I waved and her face glowed, beaming with this certain feeling I've felt before.

I mean, it's Friday, she must be excited for the weekend.

But the beaming faded when it was interrupted by Mrs. Brown's voice as she came up to our desk. Before she spoke, she handed Zoey a paper. "They want you two in the office now," she said.

I arched a brow, "For what? Why?"

Mrs. Brown shrugged, clasping her palms together, "they didn't say."

Hazy, I looked over at the paper Zoey was reading and it explained what Mrs. Brown just said. Zoey looked up at me, confused as well.

"You guys can leave your stuff here, Ms. Young said it won't take long," Mrs. Brown gestures and I get up. When I walked through the door, I waited for Zoey to come through so we could walk there together.

Thoughts were swimming. I couldn't assume or wonder anything because it really could have been anything.

Zoey:
Do you know what this is about?

Me:
No clue

We got to the front office, I held open the door for her and we walked in to be immediately pulled in by the lady at the front desk, Ms. Young.

"Levi, Zoey, the principal requested you to his office," she directed, pointing towards the back. I felt a pit drop in my stomach. The principal called us in.

I guided Zoey to the back, my grasp around her small wrist and we were soon greeted by our school principal, Mr. Moloney. "Morning, you two, please take a seat."

I nodded, pointed to the chair for Zoey and she understood, following my lead, we both sat in front of his desk. Comfortable in his big chair, he laid his arms on his desk, intertwining his fingers, "My apologies, Mr. Campbell, for pulling you out of class this early but there is something urgent we need to discuss," he started before taking out another paper for Zoey to read. I peeked and there was a lot on it. I wanted to read more but Mr. Moloney brought me back from my trance.

"It has come to my awareness that there was a video posted about you, Ms. Dalton, and Mr. Mack," he explained, "and a lot of what happens in the video had me dissatisfied in a lot of ways. One being Mr. Mack would do such an attempt to Ms. Dalton and two being you, Levi, drinking. You know we do not condone underage drinking here at Yellow Meadows and there will be consequences soon," he asserted firmly as he bored his eyes into mine. I nodded, feeling my chest tighten up a little as he proceeded to use the same grim tone.

"Now, Levi, I want you to know Harrison has already been suspended for a week because of his actions towards Zoey. But that doesn't mean you're off the hook," my shoulders slumped downward, sad. "Now I know you're a good kid, Levi, so I'm going to make this easy for you," he said, giving me hope. "Because of your state in the video, you are drinking underage. Now since you're eighteen, you have the choice to either pay a $500 fine or do jail time for your poor decision," he proposed.

I blinked, feeling relief washing over me. "Y-yeah," I stammered, essentially shocked, "I'll pay."

"Great," he beamed, "the deadline is Monday, you will deliver the money to me by then, I'm hoping."