the Secret Life of Damien Carmichael

5. the Final Straw

Carrie sat down at their table, and finished the rest of her lunch, while Damien merely stared, impressed.

Moments later, several teachers swarmed into the Dining Hall and made their way over to where Carrie was sitting innocently eating her lunch. Damien groaned, running out of the lunch queue over to the teachers who were currently interrogating her.

"Yeah, I knocked him out," she said simply.

"Ms. Benson you are aware that's considered assault, and you could be expelled," one of the teachers, Mrs. Finch asked. She was an English teacher; she had liked Damien during the class he had had with her during his Sophomore year. He only hoped that would help them in this situation.

Carrie merely looked at Damien. "If I get expelled for that, then Tyler should get expelled for that," she said pointing at him. The teachers all turned and Damien's face burned even darker. What he wouldn't give to disappear right now, or for a fire alarm to go off, or anything to make this all go away. Fuck, fuck, fuck! This was not how things were supposed to go, he thought with a groan.

"Did Mr. Benson do this to you?" Mrs. Finch asked examining Damien's forehead. Damien sighed, nodding his head. "I'm going to need both of you to come to the principal's office with me," she said, escorting the two of them out of the Dining Hall. Damien walked silently toward's the atrium. The Dining Hall was unusually quiet and Damien felt like some sort of criminal. This was all Carrie's fault! His mind screamed. If she had just left him alone in the first place none of this would have happened. But of course, Damien knew it was more Tyler's fault than Carrie's. Carrie had only been standing up for him, as she had done from the moment she had decided to become his friend several weeks earlier. Even when he didn't necessarily deserve it, she stood up for him.

Damien sighed, desperate though he was to avoid confrontation and even more desperate though he was to avoid dealing with the principal at all costs, he refused to let her hang out to dry for what was essentially Tyler's doing. He'd been tormenting Damien for months now, and frankly, it was only a matter of time before someone lashed out. He supposed he was just fortunate it had been Carrie hitting Tyler instead of Tyler hitting him.

Beneath the spiral staircase, was a small alcove where students sometimes liked to hide, usually to make out; against the backside of this alcove were a row of offices, mainly for the staff, and administrative personnel. At the far end of this row of offices was a doorway and a narrow stairwell which led down to the teacher's lounge on one side, and the Principal's office on the other.

Damien had always avoided this particular part of the hall, instead only crossing as far down as he needed to reach his locker. His heart raced with every step they took.

Mrs. Finch stepped in front of them as they reached the door, and pulled out her keycard, swiping it to let them in. Taking a deep breath, Damien followed her down the stairs, he had almost forgotten entirely about Carrie, being behind them, as they walked down the stairwell towards the Principal's office.

It was deathly silent down here, save for the sound of their shoes echoing on the stone surface beneath their feet.

"Wait here," the teacher said, as they reached the outer office. Damien sighed, leaning against the wall. Mrs. Finch made her way back into the Principal's office, leaving the two of them sitting with the secretary, who was currently on the phone, barely paying them any mind. He had half a mind to run, but he knew it would only make the situation worse, and he figured it was better to just face it head on.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he hissed under his breath.

"I've been wanting to do that since we were six," Carrie said with a smirk. Damien both wanted to laugh and vomit in equal measure. For her part, Carrie didn't seem all that riled up about the whole situation. Actually she seemed almost calm, and disaffected. As if she hadn't a care in the world that she had just hit her brother with a plastic tray. If he was honest, it had been rather cool to watch, and if the two of them managed to make it out without getting into trouble, Damien knew he would remember it fondly for the rest of his life as the greatest thing he had ever seen. The smug look on Tyler's face had been erased the second Carrie had stormed over to him. It was clear he hadn't a clue what was happening, and by the time he saw the tray, it was far too late.