"What the hell is that?" Carrie asked as Damien sat down at their usual table for lunch. Damien sighed, trying to bury his face in his arms and cover his face with his hair.
"Please don't draw any more attention to it," he replied with a groan.
Carrie leaned over, lifting his head from his arms. "Why do you have 'asshole' written across your forehead?"
"Why don't you ask your brother?" Damien spat, leaning back over to bury his face in his arms once more.
"Tyler did this?" she asked, clearly surprised.
"I mean, I sort of woke up with that on my forehead; this is after spending the last half hour trying to scrub it off, but if I had to take a wild guess, it would be Tyler every time."
"Ugh," Carrie groaned. "I have half a mind to kick his ass."
"Don't, it would only make it worse," he didn't look up from his food, but he knew she was glaring across the room at Tyler. Not for the first time, he wished he could just disappear into a hole in the ground. It seemed to be an increasingly frequent occurrence, he noted with a sigh.
"He had no right," she said. "Tell me you're at least going to bring it to the Principal's attention."
"No, I'm not. I'm going to keep my head down, and take a shower, and hope that eventually, this will come off," he replied. It wasn't as though the Principal would do anything. The Benson's were as influential as his own family, they could simply throw money at the problem and it would go away. That was assuming the Principal bothered to do anything in the first place. It wasn't worth the added headache.
"Damien, you can't possibly think that this is okay or that you somehow deserve..."
"I'm not going to make a big deal of this," he snapped. "If I go to the Principal it's only going to make this into a thing, and then he's only going to get worse. Plus I have no way to prove it was him."
"At least you could get sent to a private dorm or something."
"Yeah that'll make people hate me less, getting a private dorm because I can't handle a little joking around?" Damien shook his head. "I appreciate the concern but trust me, you have no idea what it's like being a boy, if I say anything I'm only bringing more shit upon myself."
"So what, you're just supposed to laugh it off and pretend like it doesn't matter?" she asked. Damien really wanted to change the subject. The last thing he wanted to talk about was Tyler, and the writing on his forehead.
"Obviously," Damien said.
"That's ridiculous."
"That's being a guy," Damien replied. Carrie folded her arms across her chest, looking like she wanted to argue further. Damien tried to give her a beseeching look to just drop it. The last thing he wanted was to talk about it any more than they already had. It was better to just pretend like none of it had happened at all.
"At least get something to eat," she said. Damien nodded, getting to his feet and made his way over to lunch queue, keeping his head down and trying desperately to blend into the background. The last thing he needed was to call attention to himself right now.
To Damien's dismay however, it seemed fate was not on his side.
"Hey Carmichael, nice face tat," Tyler shouted from across the Dining Hall. Damien groaned, several eyes turned towards him then, and Damien felt his face burn in embarrassment.
"That's it," Carrie got up from the table, tray in hand and stormed her way over to where Tyler was sitting. Damien's eyes widened, before he had a second to even realize what was happening, Carrie had approached Tyler and slammed the tray hard into the side of his head, knocking him out cold. Several cheers echoed around the Dining Hall, much to Damien's surprise, as Carrie dropped the tray on the floor beside Tyler's limp body and made her way back over to their table. Phi sprang up, and ran out of the room, presumably to get a teacher, while Maddie leaned over Tyler trying to revive him. It was all Damien could do not to burst out laughing.
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.
"What's gonna happen now?"
"Principal Updike loves me," Carrie said with a shrug. "Our parents give a shit ton of money to this place, nothing's gonna happen, save maybe detention for a few days which, totally worth it." Damien snickered despite himself.
The door opened then, and Mrs. Finch stared at them for a moment. "Both of you, inside," she said. Damien and Carrie made their way towards the Principal's office, walking past the secretary, who eyed them both.
"Thank you Mrs. Finch that'll be all," said a voice from the interior of the principal's office. Principal Updike was a gruff, foreboding looking man whom Damien had done his best over the last four years never to interact with more than was strictly necessary. Outside of the usual informal meetings every Christmas when the Principal would attend one of the holiday balls of whatever family happened to be throwing it that year.
It had circulated between the Five. The five wealthiest in Westlake. Namely the Carmichael's, the Benson's (Carrie and Tyler), the Montgomery's (Phi), the Klein's (Maddie), and the Greenwood's (Gavin). Most of them had known each other since birth, though the Greenwood's had only come to Upstate New York for Westlake around the fifth grade. They had gotten lucky. Most of the families at Westlake had to have their child's spot reserved for them, near since birth, they were also almost exclusively generational. The Montgomery's for instance had been attending Westlake for almost as long as it had existed. And Damien's father and grandfather had both attended Westlake.
"Have a seat," Principal Updike said as the two followed the teacher in. Carrie took a seat first, for a long moment Damien merely stared at the chair beside her as if debating whether or not he actually had a choice in the matter. Principal Updike gave him a look, and Damien withered instantly, all but melting into the chair.
"Mrs. Finch informs me there was a bit of ruckus in the Dining Hall?" he said. Damien swallowed, he almost wanted to laugh. Ruckus almost made it sound playful.
"Just a family spat," Carrie said with a shrug, seemingly totally indifferent to the whole affair.
"You hit your brother with a serving tray," Principal Updike said.
"He deserved it," Carrie replied. Damien turned to face her then, eyes wide. You're not helping! He wanted to shout. "He wrote on Damien's head while he was asleep then called him out in the Dining Hall in front of everyone," she opened her mouth to continue but the Principal held up a hand to stop her. Damien was grateful for it. He could only imagine how much further she'd be willing to go. Her lack of self-preservation made him decidedly more anxious than he already was.
"Is this true Mr. Carmichael?" Principal Updike asked. Damien swallowed, he had mostly managed to cover the writing with his hair, lifting his fringe he revealed the word written on his forehead. Principal Updike frowned. "I see."
"I was defending my friend," Carrie replied.
"It really wasn't her fault," Damien pipped up surprising himself with this sudden display of confidence that was more manufactured than actual confidence. Principal Updike raised an eyebrow at this, clearly surprised by Damien's outburst. "She doesn't deserve to be punished I mean," he added.
"She physically attacked another student," Principal Updike said. "If Mr. Benson wished to press charges, we would have to expel you... however, considering this is a family matter, I believe it is best left within the family. You will serve two weeks detention Ms. Benson, and I'll have to talk to your parents. See to it that it doesn't happen again." Damien stared first at Principal Updike, then at Carrie. She didn't seem particularly bothered by the threat of bringing it up to her parents. "You may go," he said. Damien shot up quickly. "Not you, Mr. Carmichael, Ms. Benson may leave, I'd like to speak to you alone for a moment." Carrie shot him an apologetic look, as Damien sat back down feeling rather like he was about to be put on trial. "You needn't be worried, you're not in trouble," Principal Updike said, as soon as Carrie had left the room and closed the door behind her. Damien laughed nervously, he only wished he could stop the nerves that were currently overtaking him. "Would you care to tell me why Mr. Benson felt the need to write an obscenity on your forehead?" he had softened his voice considerably, though this did little in calming Damien.
"I broke up him and his boyfriend," Damien replied quietly.
"I see," Principal Updike replied in a voice that said, he very clearly did not see. Before he could ask why Damien spoke up again.
"I didn't mean to. I saw him and Gabe from the lacrosse team very clearly fu..." he paused mid-word, censoring himself at the last moment. "Having sex and I felt that it was my duty to tell my fellow teammate and friend what was going on."
"You witnessed them having sex?" Principal Updike repeated, sitting up in his chair at that.
Damien swallowed. "Yes," he said.
"On school grounds?" the Principal clarified.
"Er... yes?" Damien replied, suddenly feeling as though he shouldn't have said anything.
"Mr. Carmichael, students are not permitted to be having sex on school grounds, and doing so would be grounds for expulsion. Furthermore, the bullying of yourself by Mr. Benson only underlines the very serious problem here..."
"I wouldn't call it bullying," Damien said. The last thing he needed was for this to get worse.
"I would," Principal Updike replied. "Of course there will need to be a formal investigation into the mater. "We'll have to pull Mr. Benson in here as well as Mr. Crenshaw, in order to get their side of things." Damien swallowed hard, just like that he had ensured the remainder of his year at Westlake would be hell. Did Tyler have anything on him? Damien's mind was suddenly racing with a million thoughts at once. He hadn't meant to say anything, he hadn't even meant to be here, how had things gone so wrong so quickly? He groaned.
If Principal Updike had said anything else, Damien didn't hear it, he was quickly beginning to spiral. There were two possible outcomes. In the best case scenario, Tyler would be expelled, in the worst case, Tyler would get away with it, and make Damien's life a living hell. Damien sucked in a deep breath, willing himself not to panic.
"You're free to go, Mr. Carmichael," Principal Updike said, knocking Damien out of his own thoughts, writing himself a note.
Damien nodded quietly and made his way out of the Principal's office, where Carrie was waiting for him on the other side.
"What happened, what did he say?" she asked.
Damien's stomach roiled. He bolted from the Principal's office, running as fast as he could back up the stairs, Carrie chased after him. Pushing the door open hard, Damien ran down the hall towards the entrance hall and out the double doors, barely making it off the stone steps and into the grass before he vomited hard at his feet.
Carrie stood over him, trying to comfort him the best that she could as he doubled over dropping onto his hands and knees wretching.
He groaned, pulling himself to his feet a few moments later, "What happened?" she asked.
Damien shook his head, he was going to need a stiff drink before he could talk about it, he thought. And soon.