Present
THE LOOK ON her face could fool you into believing nothing had happened. It was passive, possibly bored if it were put lightly. Across from her, the principal's secretary had a disapproving look etched on her face as she hung up the phone. "You broke his nose, miss Campbell, and you don't even seem to care," she tutted in disappointment. Ariel held a certain academic reputation at this school. She, Larson and Tobias was always the top performers, which required them to always be on their best behaviours to keep their record clean to correspond with their grades.
So it was disappointing seeing Ariel in the office for a reason other than to be praised for her academics. "It's because he deserved it. He was being a sexually objectifying prick and I just did what I'm sure many girls of this school wish they could do to him: shut him up." As the words left her mouth, the office door swung open and her father came strutting in, Theo's father in tow behind him as well as the man himself, a white bandage wrapped around his now broken nose.
Ariel smirked. "What a sight," she whistled under her breath. "Mr. Campbell, Mr. Jones, thank you for coming in. The principal will see you guys in a minute to discuss this matter." Fiona—the secretary exclaimed as she motioned to the office door. Ariel's father strutted towards her, "tell me you didn't do this to that young man. Do you want to see Doctor Julian again, Ariel?" He threatened. She unfolded her arms and sat upright, her head narrowing in Theo's direction.
"As a matter of fact, I did. And no, dad I do not want to see doctor Julian again. I humbly decline that invitation." The office door swung open and Principal Brick's head poked outside. At the sight of the parents he smiled, "you guys may come in now." He disappeared behind the wall and one by one they all flooded into the tiny room. Theo and Ariel were instructed to have a seat before the principal's desk. "Mr. Campbell, Mr. Jones, as you know I called you both here for the incident that occurred in the school's cafeteria earlier today.
Many students including our faculty reported the fight that these two were engaged in. Theo was said to have provoked Ariel with an inappropriate comment about her uhm private part as she tried to speak to Mr. Parker Lynn. She then proceeded to slam his head against the cafeteria table in retaliation which led to him breaking his nose."
"So what are we going to do about this? Press charges!?" Theo's father blurted out loud, outraged at the sight of his son wallowing in pain. "P-press charges? Mr. Jones, I don't think that's necessary. They're just kids, they fight like this all the time, taking this to the cops isn't going to help the situation. They should be punished rightfully so, but not that excessively." Principal Brick exclaimed frantically. "They? She was the one who broke his nose."
"And you were the one who didn't raise your son with manners. With all that rubbish coming out from his mouth I wouldn't be surprised if it smells like a sewer dump," Ariel clipped. Theo leaned towards her, one hand protecting his nose, the other gripping the table tightly, "you're a bloody witch you know that? You're lucky my father is here or else-"
"Or else what?" Harry interjected, his eyes piercing through Theo's faltering gaze. "Both of you should be punished and I agree that Ariel's punishment should be more extensive but Theo should be punished as well. He isn't innocent in this situation. My daughter wouldn't attack someone without a proper reason." Before another brawl could arise within his office, Principal Brick raised a hand in the air, halting any further comment.
"Mr. Jones please do not press charges. Ariel is an exceptional student at this school and I can promise you this is not of habit. I am not victim-blaming here but Mr. Campbell is right, Theo did instigate the incident but Ariel escalated it. They are both at fault here and it is unfortunate that Theo had to suffer from a broken nose. With that said Theo will be suspended for one week, Ariel for two with an additional three-hour cleaning service at this school, every day of their suspension for the following weeks."
Theo shot up from his seat, "a week?! I'm the one with the broken nose! Am I crazy o-or am I the one who bled out on the lunch table!?" His father's fingers dug into his shoulders and with one swift movement, Theo went crashing back down onto the chair. "Fine, Mr. Brick. You've convinced me. But if I hear about miss Campbell again I won't be taking further situations lightly."
"Are you saying my daughter will attack your son again?" Harry spat in disbelief as he took a threatening step towards the man clad in a tightly fitted business suit. However, before the situation could escalate once again, Principal Brick interjected with a burst of nervous laughter, "o-okay gentlemen it's settled. Ariel, Theo, your cleaning service starts tomorrow at 3 pm after school until your last day of suspension. Please excuse yourselves so I can have a conversation with your parents."
Ignoring her father's intense glare, Ariel barreled out of the office, wasting no time to swivel on her heels to face Theo the moment they were out of their parent's view. "This is your fault you dirty sexual objectifier. I despise idiots like you who think sexual innuendos are a personality trait. Well, news flash comedian wannabe, you're not funny." Theo cackled humorlessly as he halted in his footsteps in the now deserted hallway.
He jutted out a finger towards her and snarled, "sexual objectifier? It was a joke you sensitive bitch. If you don't have a sense of humour just say so, you don't have to go around breaking people's noses like a psycho. Do you know what's ironic? Your boyfriend was arrested for raping and murdering two women. So spare me with your feminism bullshit and look under your bloody nose."
He flickered his eyes up and down as if assessing her before growing flustered, "that wasn't a pun. Y-you know what? Whatever, screw you, Ariel. My dad should have pressed charges, It would be ironic, boyfriend and girlfriend locked up for being screwed up in the head. You watch too many damn movies, who the hell breaks someone's nose for a joke?" He babbled as he began to saunter away, leaving Ariel rooted in her spot, glaring at his broken nose.
"Hey!" Ariel pivoted on her heels to see Evelyn and Larson approaching her hastily, worrisome looks etched on both their faces. "Are you okay? What happened?!" Larson blurted out, his arms outstretching towards Ariel's face. Before he could touch her, Evelyn slapped his hands away. Ariel chuckled at the sight, "guys, I'm okay. I got suspended for two weeks and on top of that we have to clean the school every day until our suspension is up."
"That's horrible." Larson muttered, "two whole weeks, seriously?" He seemed distressed at that thought as equally as Evelyn who gripped Ariel's hand tightly, her deep blue eyes penetrating through her best friend's nonchalant gaze. "What am I gonna do without you for two weeks?!" Ariel brushed a strand of hair away from Evelyn's face, "you'll figure something out." The office door swung open, interrupting their conversation.
Theo's father came barrelling out as if he were a bull prepped to knock down his target. At the sight of Ariel, he scowled before stomping away. "Larson, Evelyn, how are you two?" Harry exclaimed as he stepped out of the office. Larson lowered his flustered gaze to the floor and cleared his throat, "g-good Mr. Campbell." Evelyn smiled brightly, "we're great, sir!" He nodded his head in acknowledgment before motioning for Ariel to follow close behind him. "I'll see you guys soon?" Both Evelyn and Larson agreed with a thumbs up, watching as Ariel disappeared from their sight.
Past
"I mean for a walk, don't you think you're a bit overdressed?" Tobias scoffed as he eyed his outfit, "that's so insulting. Every time you see me you just can't stop taking shots at my clothes now can you, little mermaid?" He threw a hand over her shoulder and dragged her to his side, "plus it's not just a walk. We're having lunch then a romantic walk as the sun sets."
"First of all. . ." Ariel chuckled as she wrapped her hand around his waist, "you have a weird taste of style, okay? Secondly, I don't wanna eat at a fast-food restaurant so don't you dare think of taking me to that new Diner that opened up. And lastly, the sun has already set." Tobias narrowed his head upwards, "no sun huh? Well, fast food is still on the table." Ariel's mouth fell agape; she scoffed in disbelief, "didn't you just hear what I said!?"
"No, I'm legally deaf."
"You are not making me eat fast food today!" Tobias halted in his footsteps, forcing Ariel to stop along with him. He titled his body to fully face her and smirked, "oh yeah? Not even if I carry you there?" Before she could comprehend his further action, he wrapped his arms under her butt and hoisted her into the air and over his shoulders. Ariel squealed in horror when her head was met with the sight of his lower back. Tobias whistled, "you have a pretty butt."
"Tobias!" She cried out as he slapped his palm against her butt, "that hurt!" She then proceeded to do the very same thing but a lot harder than he initially did, prompting him to use the same amount of force. Yelp after yelp from both their mouths, Ariel finally gave up as she slumped against his back. "I'm gonna throw up on your butt," she lied, hoping that he would set her down. Her plan worked like a charm, just not as she expected.
He loosened his grip around her legs which sent her forward with a sharp jerk. When her forehead was just inches away from the concrete ground he tightened his hold and hoisted her back onto his shoulders, "TOBIAS!" She wailed, her fisted hands failing to punch his leg, "that's for insulting my clothes." If she wanted, she could have easily freed herself from his hold but it was these moments in a relationship that Ariel truly enjoyed; she didn't want it to end.
"Will you put me down if I buy you ice cream?"
He tilted his head back, "depends."
"On what?" She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Tobias smirked knowingly, "if you eat a burger and fries today then yeah, I'll put you down." Ariel braced herself as blood flowed to her head rapidly. "I–you still have to put me down so I can eat the burger and fries so that doesn't count." Tobias burst out laughing, his body rumbling in amusement, "who said anything about putting you down?" He questioned as he began to trek down the sidewalk.
Defeated, Ariel's hands hung low, nearly brushing against the concrete ground. With her slumped over his shoulders and with little to no escape (not really) she decided to enjoy the scenery upside down. "Tobias!" She squealed as something caught her sight. "What?" She motioned towards the animal sprawled out on the sidewalk, "Is that a dead cat!?" Tobias stopped abruptly and without another word, he settled her down onto her feet.
Side by side they etched towards the trampled dead cat. Ariel grimaced as she witnessed the poor cat getting devoured by maggots: its guts spread out underneath it, out in the open for any and all onlookers. She gagged in disgust and threw her head back in an attempt to swallow the bile that climbed up her throat. "Human nature man, it's so cool." Ariel snapped her head towards him, "excuse me!?"
He lowered himself down in a crouching position and motioned to the cat, "when you see stuff like this you always wonder, do maggots just live in these animals' bodies? Do they grow? Do they sense the stench of death and crawl all the way here? I mean only an idiot will ask such questions but it's still interesting to think about." Ariel grimaced, "are you high?" Tobias' lips tugged into an amused smile, "it's pure curiosity, babe. You wanna know why I love Biology? We get to dissect animals but it was always exclusively baby pigs, frogs and rabbits. They never added cats to the curriculum so I was always curious to know what the insides of one looked like."
He narrowed his head to the side, "fascinating." He whispered under his breath. Ariel wrapped her arms around his biceps and tugged him onto his feet, "can we go before I lose my appetite?" Tobias fished out his phone from his pocket and navigated his way towards his camera. Before Ariel could protest he snapped a photo. "I–did you just take a photo of the cat?" He shoved the phone back into the folds of his faded black jeans, "yeah, I'll never get a chance to see another—kind of—dissected cat. Come on, let's go."
He wove his fingers through hers and tugged her at his side as he began to trek away. Ariel shot one last glance at the cat before peering up at Tobias, "you're sick." She said as if just coming to that realization. Tobias was far from that, he just had a curious mind like any other human. However; his curiosities were far more peculiar.
~~~