Chapter 34
Nearly two hundred upperclassmen assembled in Jasper Theater. And although there were worst ways to spend the Saturday morning after finals, this was definitely still pretty bad.
Miren sighed as she took a seat in the front next to Parker. She would have felt better at Jeno and Wallace's side, but then she remembered that she was trying not to feel anything for Parker. And the more time she spent with him, the more likely she'd be able to convince herself.
At least, this was the lie she was most comfortable telling herself.
"Dr. Edsel has all of the cellphones," Parker said. "And the security guard's metal detector test was clear. So we can probably begin." He rose to his feet, and began talking with a middle-aged man, the grief counselor from the funeral. The man clasped his hands.
"Okay, I think we're ready to start," he said as he surveyed the audience of bored-looking boys. Some were even still in their pajamas. "For those of you that don't remember me, I'm Dr. Everts. I am a grief counselor, although I was trained as a psychiatrist. In my years of practice, I have found that tragedy is one of the greatest components of abstract behavior in seemingly normal people. Since you boys are also in varying stages of puberty, this also plays a factor in how you interpret your feelings and actions. And today, I'd like to help you understand what you might be feeling, and how we can make you more productive."
"I'm pretty sure my tuition doesn't pay for a stupid gossip session," Axel said, folding his arms. "If you want to talk to someone, why don't you talk to the jokester responsible for pissing off the Roz girls and their queen bitch? Or better yet, why don't you tell us who they are so we can kick his ass?" A majority of the hall began to cheer, offering fist-pumps and brutish yells.
"Unfortunately, I'm as unfamiliar with the situation as you are," the man admitted. "You may be aware of some rumors, but the information is confidential. However, if the person responsible feels like discussing what they did, we shall. But you certainly will not kick his ass," he indirectly threatened. "For the next few hours this will be a place of honesty and understanding."
Honesty and understanding my ass. Miren fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"Now does anyone want to start?" Parker said, rising to his feet. "The faster we reach a sense of collective understanding, the faster we can get the hell out of here. There's a catered lunch. And if they leave it out for too long, they won't be able to serve it." The males groaned.
"What do you want us to do?" Klondike said, a chair down from Parker, a row in front of Wallace. "Not to be that guy, but this all sounds like Rosemunde's problem. That Miren girl died for circumstances related to her treatment at her school. Then someone tried to punish Penelope. Maybe it's just karma."
"The problem is that everyone thinks the shenanigans that have been pulled are from our school," Parker offered. "The diet cola spill at the Rising Scholar Assembly. The sex-tape video at Penelope's anti-bullying assembly. Now the play thing. This has to stop."
"Although I appreciate your motivation, Klondike's right," Miren then offered, half-wondering why she was offering anything. "It's hard to make progress without knowing where exactly we're starting from. Maybe the other students need more information as to why this meeting was called."
"Okay," Parker said before sighing. "I encouraged this meeting because we need closure. I searched up and down for Miren, only to discover that she was killed in a fire. And I know that I played a part in her disappearance. But know our school's reputation is suffering, and that affects all of us."
"Nice pep talk, but I didn't do anything," Cliff then hollered in the back. "So what if we did a few pranks? We didn't kill anyone." Parker shook his head.
"Didn't you just hear what I said?" There was a collective shrug among the group as Dr. Everts cleared his throat.
"Maybe the group will loosen up if we offer some honest dialogue about how we feel about what's been happening these past few months." The man's eyes narrowed playfully on the boys before him. "Since you're all being as dry as beef jerky, I'll try to share what I think is happening." He when on a spiel about how the pranks may have contributed to Rosemunde's current situation, and how the recent shenanigans could affect alumni donations, prospective student enrollment, and even college admission prospects. "Dr. Edsel told me that at the open house, the potential students seemed particularly concerned about some YouTube video with the girls. Unfortunately, it appears people are attaching Rosemunde's tragedy as some sort of reflection of your institution. And I wasn't supposed to say this, but your headmaster claimed that you won't get your annual spring picnic if these mishaps continue." The boys grumbled. As it began to die down, a student finally raised their hand. He motioned to the boy. "Okay, what frustrations would you like to share?"
"Honestly, I don't like the fact that we're stuck doing a dumb intervention while the Roz girls get off Scott-free," Wallace decided as he rose to his feet. "I also think there needs to be an investigation from their side. Everyone knows that Penelope was responsible for splashing Miren at the assembly. And even if Miren did go all beast-mode of Penelope, I heard she was also bullying Miren before then. Long story short, I think most of us would feel better if Rosemunde also offered their side of the story and showed some remorse for what's been happening. Not just us." The male students verbally expressed their agreement.
Miren nodded, although she felt a slight sting from his words. Beast-mode? "Maybe that's something we can address in our apology—that although we're sorry for what has happened, we still feel both Rinzen and Rosemunde should be investigated. It's only fair."
"And who said life's fair?" Axel said this time, his hazel eyes lighting up. Probably for the sake of stirring conflict. "I mean, I'm all for playing nice with the ladies, but the issue at hand is that we have no real incentive to do so. Fuck the trip. Fuck the apology. We have a worm among us and I'm not going to be satisfied until I know who they are."
"And what will that accomplish?" Parker retorted. "They've already been punished. I don't see what more any of you could do to him that wouldn't result in getting in trouble."
"Whatever." Axel rose to his feet, started moving toward the front of the auditorium. "But it doesn't explain why you're being so defensive," the amateur rocker considered. "Makes me wonder if you're the one responsible for all of this. You know, it's really hypocritical for you to be preaching honesty when everyone can tell you're hiding something."
A hundred murmurs filled the air, but Parker was more annoyed than discouraged by the progress of this session. His green eyes, now harsh and confident, narrowed on the reckless boy.
"You want honesty?" Parker said, his voice increasing in volume, "Then I'll give it to you. I was in love with Miren but I blew her off for Penelope. They had a falling out, and I watched how miserable Miren was because of it for years. So when she went missing, I did everything I could to find her. And now every day I think about how stupid I was before, and how tragically she went. I mean, she died in a fire. How fucked up is that?
"After the funeral, I thought I could at least pretend to have closure, but then all these pranks kept occurring. And the video at the musical was the final straw. Even now that we know who is responsible, it only raises a thousand more questions. Like if I can even still trust my friends - my fellow classmates. And if I'm as big as a failure to Miren as I am to everyone else."
"Damn," Axel said, shifting to pat Parker's shoulder. "I didn't even think of it like that. It's been easy to pretend that the tragedy wasn't significant because I didn't know her, but this is almost like a conspiracy."
Parker exhaled, though the pained expression on his face still remained. "At times I still feel her, you know? My heart isn't convinced she's dead, but it's irrational to think otherwise."
Miren's heart started to beat rapidly in her chest. Moments like this reminded her that there was just a fine line between this make-believe and reality. She was just inches away from Parker. A confession a way from revealing the truth. Yet, somehow the girl he was mourning was still a world away.
"Makes you wonder what you'd do if she was still alive." Klondike then pondered. Parker wiped his eyes, which were watery. Her heart plunged.
"I would apologize," Parker said, clenching his hands. "I would kiss her. Fuck it, I'd make sweet, passionate love to her." The crowd started oh-ing.
Miren couldn't stop her eyes from widening. When Parker's gaze met hers briefly, he only shrugged. "What? I'm being honest."
"You couldn't have been honest three years ago?!" she almost retorted. Jeno rolled his eyes.
"What makes you think she'd still want anything to do with you?" Jeno then said, his eyes an unsettling mixture of calmness and disgust. "I think you're seriously overestimating your affect on women." The oh-ing continued.
"Why don't you tell that to your sister?" More oh-ing.
"Naturally, I can't condemn Jemma for exercising her own freewill, even if she decided to fool around with you." He pointed a thumb at Klondike. "But he can."
"What the hell, Parker?" The linebacker rose to his feet. "If you—"
"I didn't do anything." Parker rolled his eyes before narrowing them on his rival. "Happy?"
"Over the moon." Jeno paused, turning toward the audience. "However, I would feel even better if we'd stop beating around the bush and just tell everyone that Soren was responsible for the video interruption at the musical and probably everything else."
"Not cool, man!" Soren called out somewhere in the middle of the audience. He jumped to his feet. "And like I said a million times before, I wasn't responsible!"
"Although I don't agree with disclosing confidential information," Dr. Everts said, rolling his eyes. "I think it offers the perfect stage for the culprit to finally explain himself."
The boys began to "boo" and offer profane choices in words for Soren, but he ignored them, standing his ground. "I have nothing to say. I was framed."
"You know, I could at least consider forgiving you if you'd at least man up and tell the truth." Parker shook his head. "Why the hell did you do it? Weren't you the one complaining to me and Artemis that looking for her was a waste of time? Were you in a secret relationship with her or something? Just tell us."
Soren clicked his tongue as he turned to the crowd. "You really think I'd go out of my way to cheat on Artemis with your fugly little Nubian Princess?"
"You shut the hell up." Somehow Jeno got the words out before Miren could. Despite the bite in Jeno's voice, his demeanor was stoic. Which was the exact opposite of her expression. She was fuming, and she didn't know how much more of this she could take without intervening.
"For once, I agree with Jeno," Parker said, marching up to Soren. "So you want to play dumb? Fine. I was trying to help you by keeping what you did between the student execs, but apparently you're on a mission to piss everyone off. You're the reason we're stuck here on a Saturday morning. And you might have even been responsible for making Penelope suffer the same fate as Miren." His glare was so strong that it was a good thing it couldn't kill. "Maybe you're the only one who needs help." The crowd was roaring as Soren and Parker started verbally assaulting each other. Dr. Everts, even with his fancy psychiatry degree, couldn't seem to reclaim order, especially when Klondike and Axel joined the debate. Jeno and Wallace started conversing with each other, probably just pointing out the stupidity of it all, and then a thousand voices filled up the room.
Which left Miren alone. It was funny; she was the topic of the hour (Or several hours at this rate, Dr. Everts wouldn't let them leave without making at least some progress. And they still had that pointless apology to record), but she was just as powerless as she was before. So she rose to her feet and left.
Naturally, no one missed her.