I walked past Principal Warner and Cal, making sure to be close to Principal Warner instead of Cal, knowing full well that he would try something against me. I kept an eye on him while I walked past him, not trusting him one bit because I had a feeling that he'd try something while we were only in Principal Warner's and May's presence.
However, he didn't, and I breathed a small sigh of relief when I was fully in the office and away from him.
But I did pause midstep when I saw who was to be in the office with me, Principal Warner, and Vice Principal Triste. "Ch- Mr. Brickson, what are you doing here?" I asked, catching myself from saying "Charlie" in front of Vice Principal Triste.
Charlie pressed his lips into a thin line, but he didn't say a word because he knew that I would call him by his last name in front of other teachers or staff as a sign of respect, even though we both hated it.
"Please, sit, Miss Lanchester," Vice Principal Triste said, not letting Charlie speak and answer my question. She gestured to the seat across from them. "We shall answer your questions when Principal Warner comes in and also get your side of the events, too."
I hesitated but did what I was told to and sat down across from them. I was tense, nervous even because I had no idea what Cal had said, nor did I know if he lied or not.
It didn't help that Charlie was in here, too, and I knew that he would be able to tell if I was lying or hiding the truth from him because I had a hard time doing that in front of him because I cared about him, a lot.
Damn it, Cassandra, I thought, making sure to keep my face blank. Why do you have to care about him and be so bad at lying in front of him?
Charlie didn't say a word and glanced me over, making sure that I was uninjured and didn't need any medical attention.
After he made sure that I was fine and didn't have a scratch on me, he looked me in the eyes and raised an eyebrow in question, silently wondering what happened and what provoked him to attack me.
I subtly shook my head, barely noticeable to Vice Principal Triste, who was watching me with a curious gaze in her eyes, and looked at Charlie to see if he understood my meaning or not.
Subtly, Charlie nodded but made sure that Vice Principal Triste didn't see it. He stayed silent and shifted in his seat while he waited for Principal Warner to enter back into the room so that we could have this meeting.
Vice Principal Triste cleared her throat, and I looked at her. She smiled at me, but it didn't reach her guarded eyes that seemed to look into my soul. "How are you, Dear?" she asked, and there was something in her voice that had me perk up with interest.
There was a spell in it, I think, something that compelled me to tell her the truth and nothing but the truth.
She's not human either, I silently realized while I dismissed the spell, not feeling its entanglement or work.
The use of the spell didn't go unnoticed by Charlie, and he was about to look at her and warn her not to use it when he caught my subtle hand gesture to leave it be. Instead, Charlie looked at me and studied me with a critical gaze, trying to see if I was under her spell or not.
Vice Principal Triste raised an eyebrow when I didn't answer her question. "Well?" she asked with the musical tone in her voice. "How are you?"
I shrugged, deciding to half play along with it because there were some things that I didn't mind mentioning where there were other things that I did. "I've been better," I admitted truthfully. "I am missing my friends where I used to live and still don't understand the reason why I had to move over here."
That was a lie. I knew the reason why they moved me over here, even though I didn't know the full reason.
I knew that it had to deal with Xav, and I had a feeling that I was connected to him in a way that only Fate could break.
Vice Principal Triste slowly nodded, and I had to breathe a sigh of relief because it looked like she didn't know I lied to her. "I am sorry, Dear," she said and cleared her throat. "Have you made any friends here?"
I shrugged. "Only Bryson," I admitted before I wrinkled my nose. "Then again, he left me no choice. He saw me one day while I was hanging out at the community pool, and then poof, he wanted to be my friend."
Vice Principal Triste chuckled and nodded. "Have you two hung out after that?" she asked, and I shook my head no. She raised an eyebrow in question. "Why not?" There was no warning in her tone, for she was only curious since I had claimed that he was my friend and didn't leave me a choice.
I shrugged again. "Parents," I replied, which was a small lie because they had asked me if I wanted to have Bryson over, which I had declined because he made me "nervous" but not in a bad way.
It's probably due to Cassandra, and with Bryson being her son, I mused silently. That might be why I was nervous about being around him so often, even though I liked talking to him via text.
"We had to finish getting unpacked and set everything up before school started," I stated instead. "I didn't finish unpacking until a few days before school started and didn't have the time to hang out with him."
That was a small lie, and with a small glance from Charlie, I knew that he picked up on it but didn't say anything about it. I had the time to hang out with him if I wanted to, but I didn't and trained in the shed that my dad had set up for me.
Vice Principal Triste didn't pick up on the lie, and she nodded. "What about now?" she asked. "If he asked to hang out after school or something, would you?"
I shrugged. "It depends on what plans I have that day," I replied. "I am in multiple extracurricular activities after school and have school work because someone likes to give me extra work." I glanced at Charlie when I said that, and he smiled and shrugged.
"It is to make sure that you are prepared, Miss Lanchester," he hummed. "As I stated before, you are allowed to do it during lunch, but you choose not to."
"Most of the time," I replied. "If I know that I have a competition and won't be able to work on it before my bedtime, I will complete it then."
Charlie slowly nodded and cleared his throat to hide a chuckle. He looked at Vice Principal Triste before he looked at me, and I knew that he was displeased that she tried to do a spell on me.
However, he couldn't say anything to her because he knew that it didn't work on me, for whatever reason.
"What about the weekends?" Vice Principal Triste asked. "Can you hang out with him, then?"
I shook my head no. "I still have training those days and try to catch up on what I have missed with school and stuff," I explained. "It's also family time, and my mother takes me out somewhere sometimes."
Again, that was a partial lie.
If I wanted to hang out with someone, then I would hang out with them during the weekends after, or then before, training, if time permits.
I was slowly starting to want to hang out with Bryson more than at school, but I was a bit nervous about what that would entail because I knew that my life could do another 180, even though I had been through multiple of those when I first moved here.
I might be able to meet the other male in the car, I silently said, again making sure to keep my face blank. Then I could figure out what this longing feeling means and how to get it to stop... if it'd ever stop.
However, my mother did sometimes want to take me out places, but she'd take someone else with us if they had decided to spend the night.
She was known as the cool mom, after all...
Vice Principal Triste slowly nodded and pressed her lips together. She studied me, and I could tell that she was wondering if the spell had worked on me or not.
Did I not give her enough information? I silently asked, not knowing what the spell was supposed to do or not do. I made sure to keep my face blank while I looked at them, slowly waiting for her to call out my bluff or try to make the spell stronger.
Vice Principal Triste dismissed her musings after a single glance towards Charlie to see that he "believed" me.
Ya... I am onto you, Buddy.
So, she nodded and cleared her throat while she tried to make it look like she wasn't suspicious of me and trying to find something out from the male that knew me all too well.
I looked at the door and cleared my throat while I shifted in my seat, getting nervous about what other questions that I could be asked. However, I made sure that they didn't know while I looked at them, waiting for Principal Warner. "When is Principal Warner coming back in?" I asked and cocked my head while I stared at the Vice Principal. "I thought he wanted to discuss with me about the incident this morning."
Vice Principal Triste and Charlie looked at each other before they looked at me with matching "tired" gazes on their faces.
Slowly, Vice Principal Triste nodded and cleared her throat. "He does," she confirmed.
I furrowed my brows and cocked my head. "Then... where is he?" I asked. "I am already late for class, and I don't want to be late to another one."
Again, they looked at each other and shared another look before Vice Principal Triste stood. "Of course," she said and smoothed out her skirt while she cleared her throat. "He had gotten busy with some paperwork, but I am sure that he is almost done. I'll go ahead and collect him, though, so that you two can get to class."
She started to walk away but stopped once she got close to the door and cleared her throat while she looked at me. "However, there is no funny business while I am gone. Is that understood?"
I bit back a smile and nodded. "Yes, Ma'am," I said. "There will be no funny business at all."
Vice Principal Triste looked satisfied and nodded. "Good," she said.
And with that, she left, leaving Charlie and me alone in the room with me "still under the spell," which didn't work at all.