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Spring - Icy Rain - 2 (Old Grumbly)
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Josie sat on one of the visitor's chairs in Ms. Fennicky's office and waited to be admitted in to the principal; her anger about Caleb replaced with worry about having been called here. The second bell had already rung, and she had dismissed the thought of getting back to the first period on time. Not that she'd mind missing Mr. Spinner's class in general, but the circumstances were - well, unfortunate to say the least, as she had a nagging suspicion.
When the overhead speakers croaked a broadcast message, she knew for sure why she had been ordered to the principal. After a few minutes, a knock on the antechamber's doors announced Caleb and Danny, who entered with mixed emotions on their faces. They mumbled greetings to Ms. Fennicky, but the Secretary just nodded towards the visitors' seats, indicating for them to wait with Josie. When they sat down beside her, Josie decided to go with her tested and true habit of just ignoring them, her gaze fixed on her hands in her lap. Her stomach tangled in the all-too-familiar knot, she tried to even her breath.
Those two. She could've just shaken them both. Stupid boys.
Josie didn't even think that this was all the boy's fault. She was not that self-centered, and she had chosen to get involved yesterday after all. Nobody had forced her to. But the three of them being here right now? All on them, without a doubt. Lies caused problems only.
A moment later, the secretary stood up, went to knock at the principal's door, and notified him of the children's arrival.
“Tell them to come in now," they all heard him say and stood up in unison.
Josie went in first, the boys followed behind at a short distance. Office cabinets and bookshelves lined the principal's office. It wasn't a warm or welcoming setting, more sterile and dry than anything else. Mr. Groveny, the principal, sat at his desk and wrote in some papers.
“Sit,” he told them in his gruff voice without looking up.
After shuffling about a bit helplessly, they soon managed to all get seated across the broad man, almost huddling together on their side of the desk - despite their differences.
The principal scribbled for a few more moments, then set his pen down and looked at them with a very stern expression on his round face, his mouth a thin line between his heavy jowls. The overhead lights cast a bright sheen on his polished-looking, bald head.
“Well. A very serious allegation has been brought to my attention.” Mr. Groveny said in his deep, rumbling voice. His eyes landed on Josie and remained fixed on her. “Josie. I have been told that you have stolen something belonging to Daniel here. If this is true, which we are here to determine right now, you will face harsh repercussions.”
Josie swallowed hard, unsure if she was already supposed to answer.
“Tell me right now; did you take his belongings?” the man asked and looked at Josie with hard and inquisitive eyes.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she said: “Yes, but I didn't steal anything.”
“What are you trying to imply? Explain yourself.” Mr. Groveny frowned and leaned forward with a loud creak of his chair. It sounded like a tortured animal, much like Josie felt at this moment.
“It was a misunderstanding,” Danny blurted out before Josie could answer again and surprised all of them.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Josie saw out of the corner of her eye that Danny glanced at her. She couldn't see Caleb, as he was sitting at the other end behind Danny.
“Well, Daniel, is it not true that you accused Josie of stealing from you?”
“Yes, Mr. Groveny,” Danny said. “But I was wrong. She took my backpack by mistake; she must have thought it was hers. When she realized, she gave it back.”
“Josie?” the man addressed her once again.
In her bafflement, all Josie could do was to shrug and then nod. Why was Danny helping her, all of a sudden?
“Caleb? You and Daniel here are practically joined at the hips. Can you confirm or comment on this?”
“Yes, Mr. Groveny. It was a misunderstanding. Josie gave it back,” Caleb answered, still hidden from Josie's sight behind Danny.
“Very well,” the large man growled, and it sounded like a death-sentence. The principal looked away from them, his eyes narrowed and his mouth downturned in disapproval, and scribbled something on a slip of paper. “Detention for all of you.”
Josie frowned. The boys had exonerated her, why were they being punished nonetheless? “Mr. Groveny, it was all my fault. I deserve detention, but the boys have done nothing wrong,” she tried to argue their case. “I am glad that we were able to resolve our misunderstanding, and I promise not to touch anyone's belongings again.”
“Honourable as your suggestion might be, do you really think they did everything right in this case?”
No, she did not, Josie thought, but did not want to admit it to the principal. The boys had helped her, and she had tried to do likewise. This did not mean that she was prepared to outright lie for them, so all she could do was to stare back at the man in silence.
Mr. Groveny just raised his eyebrow at her and pursed his lips, but did not dwell on the topic. “You will report to your class teacher during recess. I will not waste an employee's time after school to deal with this nuisance and the three of you.” he grumbled instead. “Josie, maybe this will teach you to pay more attention in the future as to what belongs to you and what does not.” Mr. Groveny's intense gaze wandered from her to the boys. “Daniel. Next time, make sure you have been stolen from without a doubt before you make accusations. Laying charges like these on someone may have serious consequences - not just for the accused, but for yourself as well. Do not lightly point your finger, again. My time is not well spent by resolving shenanigans like these.” A deep line furrowed the principal's forehead as he continued to glare at them. “And Caleb. You should spend the time in detention to ponder choosing better company - or, at the least, to better the company you keep at the moment.” The principal waved a hand at them and returned his attention to the stack of papers in front of him. “Dismissed,” he said without regarding them further, and Josie stood up in unison with the boys.
Both of them looked about the same as she felt, glad that the outcome hadn't been worse, yet miffed, that they still got detention. She exited the office in determined strides, leaving the boys in her wake. They had helped her, but that didn't mean she was suddenly interested in talking to them. Quite the contrary, she vowed to keep herself distanced again from now on. Detention messed up her plan to sneak out to the park and feed the cat. Oh well, at least it was just recess detention. Could have been worse. Lost in her head, she didn't hear the boys talking in low voices behind her.
“Danny, you know what still bothers me? I keep asking myself how Mr. Groveny even heard about this. There are no teachers in the group chat.”
“I don't know. I didn't talk to anyone else.”
“Someone must have told on her. How else would Old Grumbly know?”
They continued on their way back to class, Josie had long since left them behind.
“We should apologize to her,” Caleb said just as they reached the classroom door.
“Ugh... can't we just give it a rest? We cleared her and still got detention. I mean, it's nice that she tried to get us out of it, but why would you wanna talk to her again? She's such a Nerd.”
“Because it's the right thing to do,” Caleb stated, finality in his voice.
Danny hung his head, but nodded.
“Yeah, I know.”
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