"What happened?' Carrie asked immediately, looking worriedly at Damien as he came up the stairs. His phone was already ringing for his father, Damien held up a finger to let her know he needed a second, as he made his way out of the building, towards the forest. He needed to think and to plan, and most importantly he needed to figure out where the hell they had taken Oliver.
"Damien?" His father answered a few moments later.
"Father," he replied, trying to remain his usual posh self, it was difficult. He was furious with Principal Updike, but even more so with Oliver for not defending himself!
"What's wrong?" his father asked, fortunately his father knew that Damien would not simply contact him for no reason.
"I need you to talk to the school. Oliver was just suspended."
"For what?" his father asked, sounding surprised. It had only been a day since Damien had told his parents about Oliver.
"He and Tyler got into a fight, I don't even think Tyler's going to get in trouble for this even though he started it. But Oliver doesn't have anyone, and we need to get him out of this."
"Slow down, and tell me everything that happened," his father said. Damien looked nervously at Carrie then, he wasn't sure how honest he could really be with his father, but he knew if he had any hope of getting Oliver out he would have to tell him everything. Sucking in a deep breath, Damien decided he didn't really have a choice and prepared to explain to his father everything that had happened leading up to the fight. His father didn't comment, nor did he seem particularly upset in any way, he merely listened, and allowed Damien to explain himself.
After he finished, Damien paused, trying to catch his breath from speaking so quickly. For his part, his father remained silent, as he processed the information.
"I will speak to the school board about this and see what I can do. In the meantime, don't do anything to get yourself in trouble."
Damien nodded, "Of course not," he said.
"Promise me, Damien," his father said, he knew Damien better than that.
"I promise," Damien replied, he heard his father make a noise that suggested he didn't entirely believe him, but apparently he wasn't going to argue the point. Instead, he merely replied with a 'thank you' and hung up the phone.
Damien sighed and slipped his phone back into his pocket, and scrubbed his face with his hands. It was barely 9 AM and already it had been a long day.
"What the hell is going on?" Carrie asked suddenly, he had almost forgotten she was there. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he had barely registered that his own best friend had been standing right beside him for the majority of the conversation.
"I need a drink," he said by way of reply. Carrie grinned, pulling out a bottle of alcohol from her bag. Damien couldn't help but be grateful. "Always on it I see," he said holding out his hand for the bottle.
"Story first," she said, keeping it just out of Damien's reach.
Damien groaned, he didn't exactly relish the notion of telling the story for the third time in fifteen minutes, especially when he was fairly certain she had heard everything.
"I'm not sure what else there is to tell," he admitted. "I mean what I told my father was it."
"Everything?" she asked a note of disbelief in her voice.
"Yes," Damien replied. Carrie looked skeptical at that. "Carrie please, Oliver texted me last night saying he couldn't sleep, I said 'should I join you?', he said yes, so I did. I planned to get up before anyone else, and I was too comfortable so I went back to sleep. When I woke up Oliver was gone, and so was Tyler, I went out into the living area and they were already looking to fight. I don't really know over what, but I think Tyler had taken a picture of us sleeping in the same bed and was trying to use it to blackmail us."
Carrie huffed, and handed him the bottle, "I mean not that that would surprise me, it's just so... gross. I don't get it, why is he so obsessed with you?"
"If I knew," Damien replied, taking a generous swig. "More to the point I need to figure out where the suspension corridor is," he handed her back the bottle of vodka. Carrie nodded, taking it back. "Maybe your girlfriend can find out for us."
Carrie nearly choked at that, "She's not my girlfriend," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Well she is a friend, clearly, and she would have to know all the ins and outs of this place which means chances are she knows where they put Oliver. I just want to get a note to him, and his homework. I mean I'm sure father will get him out of there soon enough, but it's just not right!"
"I'll do my best to convince her," she said handing him the bottle again.
"How did you even get this?" he asked, taking another swig. It wasn't the worst vodka he had had in his life, certainly not even the worst he'd had this year. If anything it was almost palatable which made it all the more surprising.
"Oliver," she replied with a grin.
Damien smiled, feeling himself fall just a little bit more in love, he should have known really. "He's good."
"One more reason to spring him out of Westlake jail," she said. At this Damien couldn't help but laugh a little, though he realized just how dark the whole situation was.
"I can't even believe that's a thing," he said. In all his years at Westlake, he had never imagined such a horrible thing could exist. He had certainly never known anyone personally who had been suspended. Not anyone who couldn't simply just go home, anyway. Just imagining poor Oliver, looked in some dank corner of the school, lost to all human contact made Damien's skin crawl.
"I can," Carrie said with a sigh. Damien eyed her at that but didn't ask her to elaborate. Perhaps the less he knew, the better.
"I'm still so furious at Oliver for not saying anything. Not that I think it would have helped but..." Damien trailed off, he didn't know what the correct answer was, though something told him that nothing would have gotten Oliver out of that situation.
"Oliver was right to keep his mouth shut," Carrie said. "The less he admits, the better. He has a lot more to lose than we do."
Damien nodded, he hated to think about it, but he knew she was right. "Can you believe the load of bullshit, Updike tried to sell me about him?"
"You think he made it up?"
"Do you know something I don't?" Damien asked. Carrie had certainly become friends with Oliver more than he had, at least initially, perhaps she did know something she hadn't said.
"No, I just mean...it's so odd. Even for Updike."
"I mean he was clearly trying to manipulate me, hoping that I would fall in line. Firstly, he can't tell me any of that. Second, I never saw a name, just a folder, that could be anyone's file, hell it could have been his tax paperwork. It's just interesting that he somehow thinks that you and Oliver are the wrong crowd."
Carrie snorted, "I'm not even going to touch that one. But I will say this, I would lie low if I were you, don't do anything that would get you into any more trouble than you've already been in. The last thing you need is Updike breathing down your neck. I'm sure your father will be able to get Oliver out."
"And in the meantime?" Damien asked, he had never been particularly patient, and this would be a waiting game he wasn't sure he could handle.
"I'll talk to Susie," she promised. "I will do everything I can to convince her to help us. It might actually work better in our favor if I can manage it. She can sneak messages to him more easily, and his homework, and worst case, she could probably make sure he got his midterms, so he could still graduate."
"For someone who's not your girlfriend you seem fairly confident in what she would do for you," he said. Carrie gave him a look, and Damien quickly added. "Not that I'm complaining. I'm very grateful. I'm just worried about him is all," he admitted. He hated admitting it, it felt weak, but he was so past the point of caring about all of that now. Carrie nodded, "He'll be okay," she promised. "He's tough."
Damien had to believe her, he just didn't like the idea of Oliver having to be tough. He sighed, this year was proving to be a lot more dramatic, and exhausting than he had hoped it would be.