Begin Again

TWIST

Delano woke up to the sound of his alarm clock ringing on his nightstand. He groaned as his muscles felt pain from the uncomfortable sleeping position he was in the whole night. He jerked his head to his right and cracked his neck. His bruises from six days ago were starting to fade and the scars on his body were already healing. All he remembered was falling asleep on Belle's lap the night before, her mesmerizing smile and glowing eyes were the last thing he saw. 

He reached out to tuck a strand of smooth silky hair behind her ear and kissed her hand gently. 

'Delano.' She suddenly called, and he could see from the dark glow of her eyes that something was bothering her. 

'Hmm?' 

'This girl,' she looked down at herself, and continued. '...sitting in front of you, isn't real.' 

He raised his eyebrows in confusion. The words coming out from her pouty lips didn't make any sense to him at all. 

'Me. This isn't the real me.' She said, as if this sentence made more sense than the previous statement. Delano sat up and looked at her straight in her green eyes. 

'Hey, girl, what are you talking about?' He felt the soft skin on her face under his thumb. 

I...I've done horrible things --- real terrible ones, that you couldn't even imagine I would do. But I can't stop yet, not until everything feels right.'

She finished off the sentence in a hurry and blinked at him. 

'You think that I'm crazy, don't you?' She turned her head away, not wanting him to look at her tear-filled eyes. 

'Belle. Look at me.' He shoved himself closer until their faces were only centimetres apart. 

'I don't think that you're crazy. You're not. I don't care if you've done bad things. I love you the way you are.' He said, looking down at her lips, which he would never hesitate to kiss. 

'But if you knew what I've done, you wouldn't love me anymore. You shouldn't...' she trailed off. 

'I will always love you, Belle. No matter what you did, or who you were before I met you, I love all of you.' 

Delano thought their conversation hours ago. His phone screen lit up, and immediately he reached for it like any other sufferer of FOMO would do (FOMO -- Fear Of Missing Out). There was a new message from a string of unfamiliar numbers. The content of it was simple yet it  stimulates his curiosity. 

There will be special news during assembly. 

It was still an hour away from going to school. Delano kept his intrigued heart in his chest and prayed that nothing shocking was going to happen, and that the text was just a meaningless prank. The twitching in his right eyelid told him that there was going to be something good, but the feeling in his gut was telling him the opposite. This just doesn't seem right. 

He splashed some water onto his face and looked into the mirror. Maybe some kind of holiday would be announced, or there would be a new schedule to replace the boring lessons. He just hoped that none of it had nothing to do with himself. 

He was starting to like the no-drama days, and it would really piss him off if he was to be dragged into another level of mess. 

***

The students in the hallway were doing nothing far from the usual. There were Brooklyn and her cheer squad who liked to gossip about the latest Hollywood news around her locker, the nerdy guy who was always sitting at the bench and typing something on his computer, the basketball jocks gathering at their popular cafeteria table, and the group of junior girls waiting by the school gate to prance on any cute guy they could find. 

Delano moved in the middle of the stream of people, their voices almost covering up the announcement about the weekly assembly. He was involuntarily pushed around by the other students, following their way to the school hall, though it was just based on his instincts as he couldn't even see where he was going. 

'Austin Santora.' The principal called out, his voice strong and accusing. The hall suddenly fell into silence, all eyes were on the school's star boy. His alarmed expression told Delano that he had no idea what kind of trouble he was in. Austin went forward and ascended the stage, his hands clutching tight. 

Delano knew too well that Austin was nervous, he had never seen that guy like this. The usual boastful and confident guy instantly became a frightened and worried little boy. 

'Pr-Principal Weston,' He stumbled. The crowd was quiet. Delano imagined the sound of a pin dropping onto the floor at that moment, which would've been amplified by the absence of students' voices. 

Delano felt his left sleeve being pulled. He turned to look at the culprit and saw Fletcher scribbling something onto a piece of paper. He leaned in to see the words. 

Principal Weston is Austin's step-uncle. 

Suddenly it seemed to make sense -- Austin's fear and the principal's threatening look. The principal's question broke Delano's thoughts. 

'Do you admit that you did it?' The man's voice stormed. 

'D-did what?' Austin stammered. 

'Don't play pretend. Someone found this in your locker this morning.' 

Everyone's eyes followed the half-opened gym bag that was tossed out by the principal. It hit the stage floor with a loud thump, spilling a portion of its contents on the wood. All Delano could see were files. Plenty of them. And they looked like... those kind of confidential files you could find in the office. That's right, Delano thought. He remembered that he had seen those when he registered on the first day of his transfer. 

But what were the files doing in Austin's locker?

'In my locker?' Austin frowned. 'B-but how?'

'Are you asking me?' The principal replied in a sharp tone, and the poor boy in front of him had literally shivered. 

'I didn't do it.' He said with a shaky voice. 

'Then why do you have these disciplinary records?' 

'D-disciplinary records?' Austin's eyes widen. Delano could sense a strong smell of trouble lingering in the air. From what he heard and saw, Austin wasn't really the kind of student with good grades and excellent attitude. He could imagine that Austin's record wouldn't be too spacious. 

'I had already gave you the second warning when you vandalized my car before the winter holidays. That time, it was suspension for three days.' The principal took out Austin's record and started writing something on it. From the cold sweat dripping down the boy's neck, Delano guessed that whatever the principal was writing, it wasn't pleasant.

'It was an accident...' Austin mumbled, but the principal ignored his soft protest. 

 'My patience had already worn thin. I won't be so generous this time. From tomorrow, I don't want to see any trace of you in the school for two weeks.' 

A flicker of anger in Austin's eyes were immediately replaced by a large wave of terror. He stared dumbfounded at the principal, who announced that the assembly was over, and that Austin was a brilliant example of what would happen if any of them tried something funny. 

As the crowd subsided, Delano took his chance and hung back in the hall until he was one of the last ones. He didn't want to get pushed around again. He stood quietly behind the door, observing every student passing his side. Some of them were busy posting about the sudden news, some were making up stories of how Austin could have stole those files, there were both laughter and anger from the crowd upon Austin's suspension. 

For the first time, Delano felt a sense of pity towards his bully. Austin's eyes were straight, looking at the floor and the pile of files, his mouth slightly open but no words were coming out. 

Delano sighed as he walked away. 

This is some kind of a plot twist.