Gracewood Academy (Hope and Secrets)

Chapter 15- Suspended

I am late for homeroom. Again. This sucks. It is Monday morning and Jess went back to hogging the bathroom. I also had to miss breakfast. Again. And I have detention this afternoon and tomorrow. And to top it all off, I have lessons with Matt this morning, Spanish with Kyle and Chemistry with Chase. So I will say it again. This sucks. By the time I get to homeroom everyone is already sneaking passed Mr Stevens. When Matt notices me, he walks over.

"Hey, can we talk?" he asks. "Please?" Tyler is standing behind him giving me a look that asks if I am okay. I nod.

"Fine." I say bluntly. I follow Matt onto the roof. We both stand there in silence.

"Well? Matt I really don't have anything to say so if you are going to just stand there in silence then I'm gonna go."

"No. wait. I'm sorry." I can't really tell if he is sorry, as he is wearing sunglasses that cover up his face. Why is he wearing sunglasses anyway? I've never seen Matt where any before. He runs his has through his hair and sighs. "I am sorry for what I said on the beach. We are friends. In fact you are one of the best friends that I have ever had even though we have only known each other a few weeks. I know that you and Jess don't exactly get along, and I shouldn't try to force you guys to get along."

"It's okay." I smile. "But you get a warning. If you ever try to force us to be friends again then our friendship is over. Okay?"

He smiles. "Okay. I missed you." I walk up to him and give him a quick hug.

"I missed you too."

"Great. Now let's go to English." He pulls of his sunglasses as we are about to walk inside.

I gasp. "Matt! What happened to your face?" I turn to look at him. He has dark black and blue bruises all over his right eye.

Matt sighs. "Don't freak out."

I frown. "Why would I freak out?"

"Chase-"before he finishes I storm off leaving Matt alone on the roof. I cannot believe that idiot broke his promise. Once I get to the hall I realise that I don't actually know what class he is in so I text him

Me: Where r u?

Chase: Why Carter? Miss me? ;)

Me: need to talk

Chase: crossing the quad

Instead of replying I head to the quad. As soon as I spot Chase I walk right up to him and punch him in the face.

***

I am sitting in the principal's office holding an ice pack to my swollen hand. Next to me Chase is sitting in the chair next to me holding a towel to his nose in attempt to stop the bleeding.

"So let me get this straight." The principle continues. "You, Miss Carter, walk up straight up to Mr Evans and punch him in the face?" I nod. When he says it that way I realise that it may have not been my best idea. "And you," He looks at Chase. "Are saying that it was completely provoked?" Chase nods. "And neither of you are going to tell me why?" we both nod. "Fine. Then I have no choice but to suspend you both for the rest of the week. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. You will both be banned from class and are unable to participate in extracurricular activities. That means that you are unable to play Friday's game Mr Evans." Chase looks like he is about to protest but remains silent. "You are both also banned from leaving campus this week, including the weekend. Understand?" we both nod and he dismisses us.

As we cross the quad towards our rooms I turn to look at Chase. "Why did you break my promise? You swore you weren't going to do anything to Matt."

He looks at me angrily. "That asshole deserved it."

"Why did you tell them it was provoked?"

He shrugs. "I guess I kind of deserved it too. If I hadn't they probably would have expelled you." How can he be so sweet and yet a complete idiot at the same time?

"Well next time, don't worry about me. I can take care of my own problems."

"Well, sorry for trying to help you!" he yells.

"I didn't need your help!" I growl back and then turn to walk back to my dorm. Anger filled my veins. Never in my life have I ever encountered someone who gets under my skin like Chase does.

I go back to my dorm and change into some running clothes. I put on a white tank over a navy blue sports bra and navy blue running shorts. My hand may be sprained, bruised and bandaged up but I can still run. I grab my phone and earphones and head for the path to the beach.

When I am sure no one is looking I sneak through the bushes and stroll down to the beach. We may not be able to leave through the front gate, but there is no way of them stopping me from escaping through a secret path. I guess it is a perk of having such a large campus. It is hard to keep track of us all. I run down the beach for a while.

After a while I get to hot so I quickly take my shoes off and drop them in the sand next to my phone and jump into the ocean to cool off. The water is freezing and immediately refreshes me.

I get out the water and walk over to my phone and see I have a message from Kyle which instantly puts a smile on my face.

Kyle: heard about what happened with Chase. U okay?

Me: yeah. Went for a run. At the beach :)

I slowly stroll along the beach back towards school when Kyle turns up.

"Hey? Shouldn't you be at school?" I grin.

"Nah, its free period." He shrugs as he walks over to me. He then looks me up and down. "Why are you all wet?"

I laugh. "I went for a swim." I stand there awkwardly. I still don't really know what's going on between us. "So..."

"So?"

"What's going on?" I blurt out. "Like with us? Cause I like you, but I don't know how you feel about me, about us." I continue to uncontrollably ramble nervously.

He laughs. "Hope, calm down." He takes a step closer to me and pulls my hands into his and gazes into my eyes. "I like you too."

"Really?"

"How about this for an answer?" he leans in and kisses me. He pulls back. "So how about we go out? On an actual date?"

I kiss him briefly. "I would like that." I then groan. "Ugh. I can't." Kyles face fell. "I'm not allowed to leave campus." I quickly explain.

"Damn. Then I guess we are going to have to wait for that part."

"But you don't have to wait for this." I kiss him again. We make out for a while until he has to go back for his next class. I walk back up with him. Before he goes I stop him.

"What about Tyler?" I ask.

"We need to tell him." He sighs.

"All of it?" meaning Heather.

"Will you tell him with me?" he looks worried.

"Sure." I give him a quick peck and then go to my room to shower.

***

Heya! So what do you think? Please comment and vote! xx