As Sunday went into Monday, Quinlan couldn't help but feel something bad was going to happen as she walked up to Royal Wood's high school. Saturday's slumber party had been so amazing. After their movie, they had decided to go up to Lori's room for medi pedis and girl talk. Lincoln and a few of the more tomboyish sisters had opted out of most of it but gladly sat around for chatting as the rest did. It was a nice, relaxing evening with friends but of course it had to come to an end. The only eventfulness of the evening were the competition and seeing who slept next to Lincoln. Obviously, Quinlan slept to one side of him but she found another contest had secretly occurred between her other three rivals.
Off in a corner Becky, Carol, and Dana pulled straws and with a silent celebration she knew who had won. In the end QT felt she lucked out with the most tame of the three, Carol, being chosen. Tigress would have been obvious trouble while Dana... well, that girl could be strange at times. Care Bear just seemed the most mature of them but she could still be a handful if not kept in check. Still, in the end, Lori's room was filled with snores.
As expected, in the morning Quinlan found she had unintentionally slipped over to Lincoln and held him close to her bosom. Unfortunately, Carol had also done the same. And so did Becky. And so did Dana. Lincoln looked peaceful as he laid like an Arabian prince in his harem of beautiful wives.
QT made sure to scold them once everyone awoke.
Sunday was filled with homework as she departed the Loud home. She made sure to give Lincoln one hell of a kiss to assert her position of girlfriend to her classmates before she left. With the basketball game and sleepover she had neglected her studies. Now it was time for catch up meaning the day was wasted away with her head in a textbook. Nothing happened that day.
But it was the calm before the storm.
Quinlan noticed more eyes than normal as she made her way down the halls of her school. Usually she could pick out a few stares from lecherous boys but today it was everyone. The sea of students parted for her and it went relatively silent. The only sound was a minor rumble of gossip as she saw multiple students point towards her or look at their phones for confirmation of identity.
"QUINN!" A deep voice called out at her.
She froze for a moment as she realized her bad feeling came true. The girl turned to see a tall boy standing at the end of the aisle the students had opened for him. The boy was tall and barely familiar as she only knew him through an ex friend.
It was Winter's boyfriend.
The basketball player's feet were fast as he stalked towards her. A mean look was in his eyes and while Quinlan was tall, a basketball player was taller. Winter's boyfriend stood a foot away from her, emitting an aura of rage.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing up to a school you cost the game for!"
Huh?
"All you had to do was say yes!"
"Like I'd ever do that." Quinlan said in a calm fury.
Several students phones pointed towards the two of them expecting a fight to break out at any moment. A minor murmur of intrigue and fear built up. QT's comment only added to the athletes anger.
"Fuck you!" He shouted out. "You're the one who pushed him down the stairs! You're the one who made us lose the game! You're the one who's a fucking stuck up bitch!"
"Excuse me?!" Quinlan finally showed her anger. "Your friend had it coming! I'd never kiss that jerk!"
"For fuck sake! It's just a kiss!"
"Like hell it is!" Quinlan began stomping towards him. The sudden approach scared the athlete and he felt his feet back up knowing what the girl was capable of. He felt himself shrinking under the pressure of the woman's scorn. "A kiss is not nothing! A woman gets to choose they kiss!"
The boy suddenly thudded against a wall his back peddling ran him into.
"I will not be pressured into kissing ANYONE expect someone I love! So eff you! And eff your friend!" Quinlan ignored the pain in her clenched fist to her side.
The athlete's eyes darted around for an escape from this usually silent girl's fury. That's when he saw cameras and his fellow classmates laughing at him. He had been basically castrated right in front of them. Scared of a girl to the point he ran away. His masculinity called into question just because some bitch began walking towards him.
He wouldn't have it.
Quinlan saw two hands shoot up and push her away. The heel of her leather boot clanked onto the floor at an odd angle causing her to fall on her butt. A gasp came from the crowd. The athlete stood above her with a fist prepared for worst.
"Who do you think you are, you bitch?!" The teen finally looked intimidating trying to play up his masculinity to gain back whatever he could. In a rush of hormones you can make some really stupid decisions, this was without a doubt one he would regret for the rest of his life. His body began rushing towards the fallen Quinlan but someone finally acted.
A small, Asian girl rushed forward and blocked his path with her body.
His hand collided only partially with her frame as he came to some of his senses and pulled back before punching his own girlfriend. The attack was still strong and Winter was sent to the ground right in front of Quinlan. The boyfriend looked down and saw the girl holding her reddening cheek. Regret instantly began filling his heart.
"Winter?!" His eyes were dilated in fear. "W-what are you doing?!"
"I should be saying that!" The Asian girl shouted from the ground. Winter tried to stand but her arm buckled as she tried to push up. Quinlan found herself moving before the thought even hit her brain. They rose together, standing their ground against the shocked teen. "What do you think you're doing to Quinlan?!"
"I-i was just-" He fumbled his words and Winter was not impressed.
"Just nothing!" The Asian girl screamed at him. "We're done! Through!"
"What?! What about prom?!"
"Fuck prom! I never want to be seen with you again!" In less than a minute, Winter's boyfriend had been made into a bumbling fool, trying desperately to plead with his now ex girlfriend. Quinlan was left speechless as she saw Winter yelling in her defense.
"They're down here now!" A strawberry blonde pushed through the encircling students.
Quinlan's other friend, Rachel, broke through the huddled masses with a teacher and a security guard in tow. They all turned to the authority figures and when the security guard saw the girl bleeding from the nose, he moved to intervene. The athlete found himself facing a brick wall, his arms forced to the back of his head. The teacher examined Winter for injuries and looked to Quinlan as well. They were both rattled by the experience and the shock was now kicking in.
The intercom sounded unaware of the situation at hand.
"Would Quinlan Timber please report to the front desk. You are needed by the faculty." Quinlan looked up to the speaker as if it would offer answers. "Would Quinlan Timber please report to the front desk. You are needed by the faculty."
"That's you right?" The teacher looked to the brunette. QT nodded in response. "I think we should all go then."
The security guard escorted everyone through the crowds with authority making sure Winter's ex boyfriend did not lower his hands as he walked in front. His walk of shame was well documented by the student body gossiping around them. Through the sea of students they eventually navigated their way to the front desk where a very surprised secretary called for more assistance.
Winter and Rachel were pulled off to the side to talk to a counselor in a small office where they'd get to tell their story. The ex boyfriend was pulled into another office but for safety the security guard followed him in as well. Quinlan's call had turned out to be coincidental and she was told to enter the principal's office.
The principal's office was typical, it was dimly lit with closed blinds that blocked most of the morning sun. An ornate, gold, replica globe sat next to the principal's nameplate opposite of a fountain pen. In a low sitting, leather chair was the principle. He was a bald black man who could be frequently be found wandering the halls with a smile on his face and trendy bow tie from his past time as a chemistry teacher. Standing behind him to the left was the vice-principal. She was a stern looking woman with mom cut, brown hair and glasses. A polar opposites of strict and silliness that the student body found amusing when not in trouble.
Quinlan's eyes also noticed another figure.
In a seat, that she would disappointingly have to sit next to, was the basketball ace who tried to kiss her.
Understanding the situation quickly, QT grabbed the back of her seat and moved it further to the side, away from the boy. She sat down with a frumpth and upturning of her nose. The principal sighed and was about to speak but was interrupted when a faculty member quickly entered the room. They dipped in and whispered into the man's ear before exiting. His look became more solemn as the news hit him. The extra left the room and closed the door behind them.
"It seems you have been through a lot, haven't you, Miss Timber?" While she knew she shouldn't ignore her principal she only acknowledged the man's question with a humming agreement. "I see... well I have to be honest with both of you." The bald man looked to his two students. "While we only have half of the story at the moment, you will most likely at a minimum be facing a suspension."
"What?!" The basketball ace shouted out but toned himself down when he saw the vice-principal's stern look. Quinlan also had a shocked expression on her face. "I-i mean why, she's the one who punched me?" QT looked at him with anger.
"Mr. Lom-" The principal was cut off by his vice.
"Mr. Lom, you don't fully understand the extent of your actions." The vice-principal pushed up her glasses and walked towards the desk. Her hand slammed against the desk causing the teen to shrink back into his seat. "Sexual Assault. Any unwanted touch or kiss fits under the category of Sexual Assault."
Quinlan's eyes were filled with glee watching the boy squirm under the new information.
"If Miss Timber so chooses she can raise charges against you. You not only went behind the school's back and arranged something with Couch Johnson to stage a ridiculous proposal at the school's expense! You also publicly assaulted Miss Timber on a live broadcast!" In her tirade, the vice-principal's glasses slid down her nose forcing her to push them back up.
"Calm down, Mrs. Farrin." The principal finally spared the boy. "Look, Miss Timber please explain your side of the story." The fearful eyes of the basketball ace only fueled her response.
"Yes, Principal Hugh." Quinlan adjusted to appear more presentable in her seat. "I was given tickets to the game by my..." Her pause was for a moment. In QT's mind she found herself debating on what to say. Her heart was unsure and she hesitated. For the sake of the explanation she used the word, but she was unsure if she meant it. "...friend."
"Their name?" The principal asked.
"Winter. She had a boyfriend on the basketball team who gave her the tickets." The principal began jotting down notes.
"Was she the one in the halls just now?"
"Yes, she... she defended me when her boyfriend attacked."
"He what?!" Vice-principal Farrin questioned.
"To inform both of you," Principal Hugh looked forward but everyone knew who he was speaking to. "Just this morning, a fellow athlete confronted Miss Timber accusing her of their loss at the basketball game. In the encounter, Miss Timber was pushed down and another student was punched by the boy... Now Mr. Lom..." The leather chair swivel to face the teen.
"Did you ask your friend to do this?"
"What?! NO!" The basketball ace began denying. What the hell happened?! What the heck was happening?! He just tried to kiss a girl and now he's going to be suspended?! His sports career is going get hit hard, and he doesn't even have a date for prom! He's going to look like a total idiot! Even this morning he tried to ask this hot redhead in a green striped tee seeing if he could get a sympathy date. She laughed at him, legitimately laughed at him saying some garbage of not being better than a white russian? What the fuck?!
"Alright, I'll accept that. Please continue Miss Timber." The principal re-centered the chair to seem impartial.
"Gladly," Quinlan restarted. "We went to the game and I was surprised to be so close to the court. It turns out, behind my back, they planned for him." She wanted to emphasize the him and pointed angrily at the teen. "To ask me out with full knowledge I'm currently in a relationship."
"What the fuck?!" The boy shouted, "Why the fuck were you hitting on me in science?!"
"Language, Mr. Lom!" The vice-principal shouted.
"I have never hit on you!" QT wanted to throw up in disgust. "You're the one trying to stare down my top during lab!"
"Why the fuck do you dress like that then?!"
"Mr. Lom!" The boy shrunk down in his own grave. Vice-principal Farrin gave him a death glare. "Regardless of what Miss Timber wears, it doesn't change the fact you tried to assault her at the basketball game!"
"I did not assault her!"
"Alright stop!" The principal raised his voice. "Miss Timber, please, continue."
"Thank you... after the halftime show I appeared on the jumbotron and he came up from below to show off as he tried to ask me to prom." The ace wanted to speak up but the man's hand already moved to make sure he stayed silent. "I was shocked by it and stood up. He came up asked me on camera and tried to kiss me after saying how he would convince me." The boy stuttered but Principal Hugh's made sure to give him a stern look. Quinlan continued.
"I saw what he was doing a mile away and covered my mouth. His slobber got on the back of my left hand and I proceeded to break my right on his jaw." She raised up her splint in pride. "He stumbled back and fell down the stairs. In anger, I left with my friends and don't know what happened afterwards."
"I got a concussion is what happened!" The boy shouted. "Look, Mr. Hugh. She just admitted to a punch and this stuff about a kiss is bull crap." The ace's finger pointed at QT accusingly. "Five minutes before she kissed some kid with white hair! How was I supposed to know she didn't want to be kissed?!"
"That kid, is someone I've known for a long time!" Quinlan shouted in anger at him. "And you can see me ask to kiss him and him agreeing! Unlike you who didn't even bother seeing I wasn't interested!"
"Well I guess I'm not fucking young enough for you apparently!"
"Mr. Lom!" The teachers shouted in unison.
"Who are you kidding?!" Quinlan laughed at him. "That 'kid' is more a man than you'll ever be!"
"Fuck you!"
"ENOUGH!" Principal Hugh slammed a fist on the desk.
The room went silent.
The man rubbed at his temples.
"You're both suspended with no set date." Everyone looked shock, especially vice-principal Farrin. "If I do allow you to come back by Prom, you are also both banned from attending."
"What?! It's my senior year!" There was a pleading tone to the boy's voice.
"I don't care," the principal continued. "You are also banned from club activities. That includes sports, Mr. Lom." The basketball ace's world was crumbling before him. "This event was highly publicized so I will be taking this to the board before deciding on the final extent of the punishment. Miss Timber you were mainly defending yourself but in some regards you overreacted. Mr. Lom you have betrayed the trust of this school and publicly assaulted someone. I do not see this ending well for you. We'll be calling both of your parents and inform them of your current suspension. Now..." Mrs. Farrin moved to the door and opened it.
"Get out of my office."
The basketball was the first to stand and left. Several more intimidating male teachers were still around and made sure a scene would not occur. Quinlan took her time before getting up. As she passed the door vice-principal Farrin's hand blocked her.
"Head to my office for a sec, Miss Timber." Her voice was calming, and QT found herself nodding without a second thought.
As she exited she saw the glare of her assaulters, both the basketball ace and Winter's ex boyfriend who was now convinced by his friend that she was at fault. Still she walked with conviction across the room. Her confidence did not wane and it was noted by the student helpers in the room.
Entering the room marked with a plate with Mrs. Farrin, she saw the setup was similar with the principals albeit smaller. She sat down in a solo chair that faced the desk and waited several minutes before the vice-principal came in. She made sure the door was closed.
"Thank you for coming, Miss Timber." The older woman took a seat behind her desk. "Overreacting my ass! Can you believe them?!"
Quinlan stopped her jaw from dropping. During the past twenty minutes she had seen a bit of a reversal in her teacher's behaviors. Principal was usually the one who was informal but she had seen him at his sternest. Now she was seeing vice-principal, known for a stick up her butt, cussing.
"Seriously, Miss Timber, this is bullshit and we both know it." Her hands gripped the desk and she leant back with an exhausted sigh. "Honestly, I tried to make sure Mr. Lom was the only one suspended, if not expelled, but those stupid board regulations on zero-tolerance are terrible."
"What do you mean, vice-principal Farrin?"
"Please, call me Olivia."
"O-okay. Uhh, please call me Quinlan."
"Alright, Quinlan. Let me be frank here," the woman made eye contact with the teen. "You're going to have to sit out most likely a two week suspension." QT's eyes widened at the statement.
"But don't worry," the vice-principal continued. "I'm going to make sure the reason is well documented and give you my personal contact in case you ever get questioned for it for college enrollment. With any luck I can convince the board that you should be left without the mark on your record." She could still see how fearful the teen was at the realization of her record.
"Quinlan, look at me." The teen did, and with all of it hitting her, she fought back tears in her eyes. "You're the victim here, you did nothing wrong." The vice-principal stood up to be able to reach over and lay a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Now, listen," Mrs. Farrin moved around and leaned on her desk. "I would like to make an example of this situation." Quinlan's eye's revealed her shock.
"Hear me out," the woman re-insured. "I mean you should press charges so this isn't swept under the rug. The world's changing, it's okay to speak up. Stuff like sexual harassment and assault are no longer a taboo to talk about. More and more women are speaking up. I would like you to be one of them."
"I-ii" QT looked like a deer in headlights.
"I know, I know. I've been informed you aren't much of a talker. A silent beauty by what I'm told." She gave the girl a cheeky wink. "But by what I just saw back there... you're a bit feisty as well."
"I-i mean..." Many thoughts were rushing through the teen's head. It's not like the idea of pressing charges didn't sound appealing but that would draw attention to her. While she did want some retribution she felt the school was already doing it. On top of that, what if they looked into her relationship with Lincoln? What would happened to him in all this? "I-i don't think I can."
"Quinlan... I know you're scared. Maybe it's because your afraid of an attack like today. Or maybe it's because you just don't want the public eye to be on you. I get it. It's big and scary but I insure you nothing bad will happen to you." Mrs. Farrin risked ripping her pantyhose as she knelt down to be closer to sitting height with QT. "I know the Loms, they are heavily involved with the school district. They are prominent figures in the community. They'll want this to be quite publicly but rumors can still flow through out the school. I'm not trying to turn you into a figure head for feminist everywhere but I do want you to inspire the girls of the school."
The teen looked up to her vice-principal. A single eyebrow quirked up.
"I believe by standing up, you'll show the girls here that it's okay to stand up for themselves. Not be so placid with 'innocent flirting'. Dress how they want and it be taken as hitting on their lab partners." Quinlan could feel her annoyance build up again. "If you let people know it's not okay, I bet you'll see a lot more girls stand with you. Have you seen the game's comment feed?"
Vice-principal Farrin stood up and went into her desk to produce a laptop. She awoke the device from its slumber before typing in a password. She began clicking away as she navigated to a folder that contained what she desired.
"Now I wasn't able to catch all of it before the board forced us to remove it, but please look at these." She spun the laptop around allowing her student to see it. Quinlan leant in to read.
Several screenshots opened to what had been the school's social media about the final score of the rival game. The first one she saw was from a player from Royal Wood's team writing about how that bitch lost the game for them when she punched their ace. Directly afterwards was a statement from 'literally_lori' that told off the guy for his words. Then another from 'carolp' that mentioned the guy tried to force himself on QT. Then she saw an unknown name of a user she didn't know also supporting her. Another called out that they shouldn't depend on one player. As her eyes scanned through the screenshots it became clear their were more people who supported her than those who didn't. Her expression must have been obvious as Mrs. Farrin spoke up again.
"The backlash from a few players' comments caused the dam to break. Our board saw the out cry of the students and rather than support them, they silenced them. Don't let them do it, Quinlan. Be a voice."
A voice.
That's not something Quinlan was used to.
For the longest time she didn't even speak...
Then Lincoln happened.
Even with her school friends she didn't speak much. With Winter and Rachel she could get by with gestures, they didn't mind. Then Lincoln entered her life. Suddenly, she found herself having frequent conversations with him, the Louds, or Lincoln's admirers.
She still had fears for Lincoln but he had done so much for her to be able to voice herself.
Now she was given a chance where it would make a difference.
This would not pass her by.
"Okay, I'll talk to my parents."
"Thank you, Quinlan." Mrs. Farrin gave her a smile. She reached for a sticky note and began writing down several numbers. "This is my personal contact but this is the contact of a friend of mine who is a lawyer. She specializes with cases involving women calling out sexual harassment. You tell her I sent you and her name alone will strike fear into the Loms."
"Thanks, vic-"
"Unuh."
"... Olivia?"
"Mmmhmm."
"Thank you, Olivia. I'll make sure to call her."
"Please do."