First thing's first, I had to talk to Mr. Hardy. He had to be aware by now of what his overly sympathetic nature resulted in without even empathizing with the actual victims. Someone like Aubrey who was badly affected in the bathroom fight, only to be done over again by the same un-expelled dickhead.

Surely, he'd be feeling bad about it at this point.

What I knew was that I had to talk to him about this and get some things off my chest. It was growing heavier by the minute that I remained helpless in protecting Aubrey. What I didn't know was what I wanted to say or how to say it. Mum would be working, and I knew she'd oppose me saying anything. My next best bet was to call Mel.

It's not often she had a lot to say to me, but it's not like she had anything to oppose when she didn't know the full sitch. Mum would've told her about my latest stories. I was sure she knew at least that much even without hearing from her. It'd be fine if I just called. With that resolve set in my mind, I nodded affirmatively to myself and hurried to first class.

This period was Literature, and I received an uncomfortable scolding from a temporary relief teacher. She was young and awkward and hadn't quite grown into her position yet. Since she didn't have a name tag on her shirt and I'd never seen her before, I assumed she was pretty new.

She gave off a conceited air that I couldn't find myself feeling genuine towards. For that, I vaguely faked an apology. Satisfied with that, she walked over to the teacher's desk before filtering through stacks of unorganized papers.Probably our return mock test results.

My seat was beside Goose in this class, but I looked back and saw Aubrey sitting beside Ikeisha, while Trey sat behind them with their friend Manu. I gave them a little wave, letting my eyes linger on Aubrey's shy response. He pulled his hair back as it slid over his face and shoulders, looking so sweet. I signed, "Hi handsome" and grinned when he looked at me, blushing. Ikeisha smirked, too, clearly amused by my audacity.

The excessively soft-spoken teacher stood from the front of the class, far enough that me along with most of the class couldn't hear much. There were quite a few whispers piling up around the room, but she seemed adamant not to address it.

"I'm gonna call my sis and talk to Mr. Hardy at break," I whispered to Goose. He jumped a little at the sudden sound of my voice, looking at me with some red-faced mixture of surprise and exasperation.

"W-why?" he asked, going ruddy in the cheeks.

"I don't like where things've left off with Horse-Face Hughes and Jesse the pervert. I just need advice from my sister first so I know the right way to approach this."

He nodded understandingly. "Is your sis good at giving you advice, then?" he asked.

"Remember my supreme tactics for getting I.H to notice B.B," I said, lowering my voice and emphasizing Ben's and Ikeisha's initials for anonymity's sake. My whisper was probably louder than the relief teacher, still drawling like a sleep-talker.

"Y'you mean your extreme tactics," he said, looking sheepish.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I defended, feeling like throwing a bit of a huff. "Anyway, those were from a book she'd brought around and she taught me a few key things. I kind of just pieced them together to suit."

"Pieced them together to suit you," he said, nodding respectively. "No wonder it was a train wreck. Why am I convinced that the book had absolutely nothing to do with any of it?"

I felt my own face heat up this time.

In retrospect, he probably wasn't wrong. I vaguely recalled flipping through some pages and getting ideas. And at the time, I thought it'd be wrong to discredit my sister and her book for their contribution... But that was beside the point. I was being creative, and it definitely brought at least one of us attention. Just look at me and Aubrey now.

Then the image of Trey pinning Ben came to mind, making me grin.

Actually, look at the both of us now.

"Anyway," I muttered, "it worked out for the better. Mostly. Maybe I'll get a little more insight after talking with my sister and Mr. Hardy."

Goose nodded, opening his mouth to respond when the relief teacher yelled from the front. "Ex-cuse me," she reprimanded from the front. "Are you really talking in the middle of my lesson? Be quiet, please."

"She finally learns to be loud," I muttered, maybe a little too loudly. The class breaks out in snickers, including Goose beside me.

"Is there something wrong with your ears?" she asked, crossing her arms. "I said be quiet."

The class erupted in a series of oohs and ahaha's. I just about choked on my spit and turned to Aubrey, who obviously hadn't heard what she just said. Taking immediate notice, he looked at me questioningly while Ikeisha and Trey looked less than impressed. "Bitch," I cursed in sign, pointing to the relief teacher.

Ikeisha tapped and signed something, nodding. I think it meant, 'agree'.

Aubrey just looked confused.

"What are you doing?" the teacher snapped. "Face the front."

This woman didn't look that much older than any of us. My bet was this was a side hustle while she studied or something. Apparently young people could do relief teaching with a minor qualification or training, but my other bet was that she wouldn't make it to a second call-in. Not if I could help it.

Deciding to screw with her further, I leaned forward and sighed loudly into my hand. The relief teacher and students all simultaneously turned to look at me, although their expressions differed considerably. They looked amused, she looked... less so. She leaned her weight on one hip and crossed her arms again.

"Are you off in your own world?" she asked, sounding like a stroppy cat. "What are you imagining there while I'm trying to teach your class?"

"A world where you get called in again," I said with a lazy smile, staring her deep in the eyes to the point where she started to look more uncomfortable than angry. "Bit too hard to imagine though. I'm done, I'm finished. Carry on, Miss."

This is what she got for making insensitive remarks about people's hearing. It was too irresponsible not to know that one of her temporary students was actually deaf. Plus, she was a twenty-odd year-old prude. It was nice to have some fun with her at the very least. Especially when she registered my insult and her lips pursed tight. Guess she didn't like her authority being challenged.

Woops.

Her arm lifted straight as a plank as she pointed to the door, looking me straight in the eyes with embarrassment and contempt. "Out in the hall. Now. I'll make sure the Principal deals with you later."

"The Dean," I corrected her, standing up and feeling my pants pockets for my phone. It wasn't there, so I leaned down and pulled it from my bag, hiding it away before she could catch me with it. "The Dean takes care of these sorts of matters, so you'd be best taking it up with her."

There was no need to stall anymore, so I grinned and shrugged at my own statement while people around me snickered and whispered. I looked at Aubrey, who kept looking back and forth between me and Ikeisha while she translated our conversation.

"See you, handsome," I signed and wriggled my fingers at him, watching him narrow his eyes at me while he turned pinker than an udder. He looked away in a huff, making his usual delectably pouty expression.

"Out!" she repeated, trying her best to conceal the shaking in her voice.

"As you wish," I said, picking up my bag and swinging it over my shoulder.

"Leave it there," she instructed, still pointing avidly towards the door.

There was still a little under thirty minutes left of this lesson, leaving plenty of time for me to call Mel and gain a little insight before seeing Mr. Hardy at break. It'd be a pain if she came out to check on me at any point, or suspect me of having my phone on me, so I figured a little reverse psychology wouldn't hurt.

I tried to look defensive. "But my pho-"

"Leave it," she snapped, cutting me off, growing more exasperated by the minute. "This is a punishment. Out in the hallway, now."

I turned to Aubrey again, craving another one of his shy and embarrassed looks. I signed "Bye, handsome," this time and almost heard his growl while he turned into a red pasta dish.

Only when I started closing the door behind me did she finally start to look somewhat complacent. This worked in my favor so I could get any information out of Mel before break and not lose any time with Mr. Hardy. Really, this all worked perfectly in my favor. I couldn't wait to hear her opinion.

When the door clicked shut, I turned and looked left and right across the halls for any students or teachers. I heard voices behind neighboring classroom doors, but that was the extent of it. Safe. I leaned against the wall and stared up at the ceiling, acknowledging the nervous and excited palpitations of my heart. Forcing myself to take a deep breath, I picked my phone out of my pocket and pulled up my sister's number.

The numbers stood out on the screen, a number I was once familiar with, a really long time ago, but not for numerous phone calls. Numerous attempts, maybe. But our conversations over the course of my life had been few and far between. My heart started speeding up, anticipating how this could go. Ignoring the most likely possibility.

After just a single click, I brought my phone to my ear and listened to the ring. And ringing. And ringing. And ringing. Eventually, the ringing was finally replaced by her voice.

"Hello-"

"Mel!" I said excitedly, happy even just to hear her voice. "Mel, I need your-"

"- you've reached my answer phone." I froze. "Sorry I can't come to the phone right now, but please leave your message after the beep."

Beep.

I swallowed the disappointment choking up in my throat, trying my best to still my rapidly beating heart. This whole time I tried to remain optimistic and sure, positive, that after I'd been beaten to a bloody pulp last week that she might consider me a little more. It was normal for her to miss my almost every call and never call back, but then, I never got into any real trouble before this.

I never had to feel the gravity of longstanding disappointment before this. Not so confronting like I was now. I was so sure, and yet I'd have to go in and talk to Mr. Hardy blind. Not knowing what to say, how I should say it, or why I even feel that way. Guess I wouldn't go talk with him after all. The crushing disappointment was one thing, but the helplessness of not having the courage to push forward and stand up for Aubrey was another.

The sound of steps started to materialize somewhere across the halls, but too far to be near me yet. My mind took me places. Back to the bathroom, fists pummeling my face; seeing Aubrey hit and flung to the floor. Donovan's return to school at the same time as us. Jesse's tongue and blood in my mouth, his hands on me and the disgust that lingered with his touch. That same person locking Aubrey in a closet and stripping him of his hearing aid.

Charlie?

All the stuff that I didn't know about either. All these thoughts swirled around in my mind, capturing me so that I didn't notice somebody come up to me until their hand was on my shoulder. I jumped and bolted around, startling Mr. Hardy in front of me as well.

"You alright, buddy?" he asked, letting out a breath. "Didn't mean to startle you, sorry."

"Ah," I looked up at him and scratched my head. Now that he was in front of me, I knew for a fact I wouldn't be able to speak with him. "Sorry. Zoned out a little."

"What'd you do that you're standing out here?" he asked, digging his hands casually into his pockets.

"We have a shitty relief teacher in Lit. She basically asked if I'm deaf," I said.

Mr. Hardy's brow raised, looking speculatively at me. "Oh?"

"I got a little smart back," I admitted, feeling sheepish. "She didn't like it much."

Mr. Hardy sighed and looked back in the direction he must've walked from. He looked to be considering something before turning back to me. God, he's still so sexy. If not for Aubrey, I'd still be ogling at him on the reg. Actually, it was surprising how I didn't really take notice of anyone else besides Aubrey these days. And usually I'm a massive eye-perve.

"My class is doing open book work so I can probably spare fifteen or twenty minutes," he said. "I feel like I should talk to you about Donovan and Jesse."

That's exactly what I didn't want to do anymore, so I shook my head quickly and put up my hands. "N-no, that's okay. Don't worry, I'm sure that-"

He frowned; dazzlingly and folded his arms. "It's an order from your home room teacher and English H.O.D. I'll let your relief teacher know."

He poked his head in the door before moving to the front of the classroom. I watched through the window as they briefly spoke, but also stole glances at Aubrey who was communicating back and forth with Ikeisha. It made me wonder if the relief teacher hadn't called them out for messing around in class, or if I was just particularly good target practice.

Mr. Hardy came back out after a brief exchange with the teacher before leading me to the teacher's staffroom. I'd been in here a couple times already, but it was normally during breaktimes when teachers would be gathered here eating or working at computers. This time, only a couple of teachers I didn't know sat at computer desks while Mr. Hardy sat me down beside him at his.

"You must be pretty stumped about recent events, right?" he asked, leaning forward and burying his chin in his hands. He scraped his stubble with the tips of his fingers, looking genuinely stressed out. The sound of scraping stubble was like music to my ears, especially the way he looked doing it.

I unconsciously felt my own face wondering when I'd reach far enough into puberty to grow my own. Would Aubrey be impressed?

"It's okay to have questions," he said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "What I did by helping Donovan Hughes completely goes against the trust you and Aubrey have always placed on me, and I have deep regrets."

Well, I expected this much at least, but I didn't know what I wanted to verbalize. Taking a few partially deep breaths, I decided to mellow out and try to look at things objectively. I could at least that much.

"Did you not think Horse-Face might've screwed up as soon as he was let off the hook?" I asked, surprised by my own audacity.

Mr. Hardy looked like I'd pricked him, but not surprised in the least.

"You didn't think about his already dangerous and troublesome reputation and what coming back to school might mean for us? For Aubrey?"

He looked like his mind was wracking with guilt, I wanted to keep my mouth shut. But now that I'd spoken up, there wasn't any way to take it back. Now that the surge of anger and betrayal had finally bubbled to the surface, it wasn't as simple as putting a lid on it.

The only way now, was out.

"It was disgusting, y'know?" I sniffled, rubbing the bottom of my nose as I felt an inch develop. "Everything he did to me. Then... then not being able to tell Aubrey, 'cause why would I want to place that fear and stress on him? And then... and then to find out they trapped Aubrey, locked him away. Did something so that he won't even touch his hearing aid anymore, and I don't even know what. Used me as an excuse. Aubrey blindly trusted me, and they used that against him.

"Donny... shouldn't be here. Jesse shouldn't be here. You shouldn't've helped him stay."

It was hard to look Mr. Hardy in the eyes during my outburst, but I fell quiet when I heard his defeated sigh. When I looked up at him, I saw how troubled he looked. Of course he took a risk by helping Donovan, and it just didn't pay off. It's not like he'd be feeling good about it. I shouldn't be so hard on him when he's Aubrey's uncle.

"Yeah, you're completely right," he said. "Police are on the case now and it goes well beyond me or Principal Atkinson anymore. The boys will absolutely-"

The door burst open, startling us along with other teachers whose attention snapped towards the new arrival. My face must've gone white because I felt the blood drain in an instant when I locked eyes with Donovan Hughes. The way his body filled the entire doorway only served to remind me how powerless me and Aubrey are against him.

"Charlie, I need a word with you."

"Toss off," I answered, swiveling my chair so he was no longer in my line of sight. The idea of him being here made me ill.

"It's just gonna be a minute," he said impatiently. "It's gonna help you, I swear."

"Don't wanna hear it," I said.

"Even if it'll get Jesse's ass thrown in jail?" he asked.

That was a bold declaration. I spared a glance at Mr. Hardy, watching his eyes narrow as he stood up from his chair. "I think that's a conversation for-"

"Nah," Donny interrupted him. "Charlie only. I got a proposition."

"How do I know you're not full of shit?" I asked.

"You wanna know or what?" he asked, leaning on the doorframe. Ugh, I should've let Trey and Ben beat him to a pulp after all.

Mr. Hardy didn't look pleased. He gave me a look, as if instructing me to tell him every single thing that came out of Donny's mouth after the talk. Hearing his gaze loud and clear, I nodded and followed Donny out. He took me just outside the door where we could see anybody coming from a long way off, knowing it was safe to talk quietly amongst ourselves.

The nerve he had to drag me out here and made such bold statements dumbfounded me. I didn't have the patience for it.

"What?" I snapped, folding my arms and glaring up at him.

"I can help you throw that guy in juvey but you gotta get me out of expulsion."

It was an outlandish request. I scoffed. "Ha, good one. Why the hell should I?"

"'cause what I know is worse than what you think you know."

Today after school would mark my first sign language class as a full-time participant. At the end of this final term, I'd help erase every bad memory caused by those two recreants; and I had the perfect surprise planned to make it happen. If there was anything that could speed up the process of getting rid of that perverted waste of oxygen then so help me God, I was willing to listen. Shifting my weight, I crossed my arms and continued to glare up at him.

I said, "Try me."

*