Chiron Academy

Heavy is the Head That Wears the Crown

"Wait," Ryan said as the audio finished, "so Principal Buckingham blackmailed the dean into coming to Chiron? He- They- What?!"

Todd was equally speechless. 

 This had to be fake. Mr. Buckingham wouldn't do that, would he? 

"I don't know," was all Todd could say.

Did anyone else know about this? Miz Krebs? Achilles? 

"And the dean was cheating on his wife, with a student," Ryan said. "Should he be working at a school?"

"I don't know," Todd said absently. "I mean, they said the student was in his late twenties. It's not like it's with a kid."

The world seemed to sway back and forth. The bottom of his stomach seemed to drop out all the way to the floor. All the way to China.

"But blackmail?" Ryan said. "Isn't that illegal?"

"I don't know," Todd repeated. 

"What are we going to do about this?"

Todd took a deep breath. 

Everything was moving too fast. 'What would they do?' What could they do? But deep down, he knew what he had to say. He willed the doubt and fear in his mind to silence. 

"Nothing," he said, a new steel in his voice. "We aren't going to do anything about this."

"What?!" Ryan asked. His voice was incredulous. "How can we not?"

Maybe Todd would have agreed with him once. But now that Todd was 'in charge', he knew that the people in charge had to do what had to be done. Sometimes, you didn't like what you had to do but you did it. When the chips were down, everyone would look to the leader and ask them what to do. A gift Todd did not have at the moment. Ryan could afford to trust Wyatt right now. Todd didn't get anyone. He had to decide what they would do by himself.

"Maybe it's fake," Todd explained. "We don't know."

"But we heard their voices!" 

"We heard voices. Can you swear that this is a real recording? If we tell the wrong person about this, it could end the school whether it's true or not. It could ruin the school. And even if it is true, I trust Mr. Buckingham. I don't have to know all the details to know that I trust him. He wouldn't do anything to hurt the school."

Todd looked hard at Ryan. For a big guy, he shaking like a leaf.

"Are you sure?" he muttered. 

"They would shut the school down, Ryan. Every kid here would have to go home. That's you, me, Cassie, Gary, everyone. Back on the streets like nothing happened. And who knows how many of the other kids here would end up just like Clive Smith. Imagine how many kids that would have attended next year die because there was no Chiron to train them. Or the kids the school might have saved the year after that."

Would Ryan tell Blab? Todd tried his best to size him up. He was a big guy, confident, but right now his shoulders were drooped. He looked lost. Todd could see Ryan nervously licking his lips. Ryan was a kind heart deep down. Simple-minded fellow. It was one of his charms, but he was also an extrovert. If he felt unsure about something like this, he might turn to other people for comfort. 

Todd wanted to trust his friend. He hated to press him. But he had to be sure.

"We don't tell anyone about this," Todd said. "No one. Not Lyndsie, not Gary, not Cassie. Anyone. Okay?"

Ryan opened his mouth to answer but no words came out. He honestly looked like Todd felt. Scared, anxious, nervous. His skin had taken on a clammy look. 

"You can't tell anyone about this, Ryan," Todd said. "Promise me."

Ryan still looked lost. Again he opened his mouth as if he meant to speak but abandoned it before he formed any words.

"Do you trust me?" Todd said slowly.

Ryan nodded.

"Then promise me you won't tell me anyone about this folder. The recording, the transcript. Nothing."

"Okay," Ryan said. "I promise. If- if you're sure."

"I am," Todd lied.

"Well, you boys are in luck," Miz Krebs said, a handful of packages in her arms. "I found you're missing packages."

Todd almost shot out of his seat.

"Yeah," he said trying to sound calm. "Great. Almost done here."

He quickly closed the window and rose to his feet. 

"We'll just deliver these back to the front desk," Todd said, motioning for Ryan to grab the packages from her. 

Ryan was slow to grab the packages from the woman, so Todd reached out and grabbed them instead. 

"Did you find where to post grades?" Miz Krebs tried to ask, but Todd was already leading a dazed-looking Ryan down the hallway.

"Sorry, MIz Krebs, something came up," he lied. "Gotta go."

Todd tried not to look Ryan in the eye as they walked the pile of packages back to the main office. Ryan was trying to hide it, but Todd could see the confusion in his eyes, the betrayal. Well, he would understand. Someday. This had been the right decision. He would see. And even if he didn't, maybe that was for the best. Todd led so that the others didn't have to. 

It was just like Principal Buckingham said, "Heavy is the head that wears the crown."

Todd knew it was a metaphor, but his head felt very heavy at that moment.