The Scars

The teacher led us to the school principal office in another building. He suspected us to do indecent thing. We trailed behind him without any arguments. It was unnecessary to protest against the teacher. Slowly, the time would reveal who the suspect was and the reason why he locked us there.    

    

Since it was break time, this issue attracted many attentions from students along the corridor. They murmured something or just watched us in disdain as though those students never did wrongdoing in their whole life. It was Reno I worried about. As the smartest student in the school, this incident might impact on his good reputation. On the contrary, the students would notice that I existed in this school this time but of course with bad reputation.    

    

Angeline and her gangs sneered at me in the crowd. Her eyes brought about some speculations in my mind. It forced me to think that she might be involved or even the suspect of this case. She could be the one who locked us in the store room. But, my heart warned me not to judge anyone. After all, I did not see it with my own eyes.    

    

It usually only took less than five minutes to the main building. Yet, it seemed longer than it used to even though the lift should have made it shorter. The teacher before us kept walking without looking back.    

    

The school principal welcomed us when finally we reached his office. That old fat man with a distended stomached sat in his seat while reading some documents. I had no idea what it was. The teacher instructed us to sit on the sofa. This room was big enough with two light brown sofas and one glass table which separated the two sofas. On the opposite was two file cabinets and one bookshelf. The school principal’s desk faced the sofa where we were sitting. The school principal cleared his throat and called us to sit at the chair before him.    

    

“Why did you lock yourselves in the storeroom?” listening to the question, I almost yelled at him. We locked ourselves? That did not make sense. I eagerly protested him. However, Reno pressed his hand on mine. He signaled not to say anything. “And you, as the best student in this school with the best academic record, why did you do such a bad thing? What came on your mind? What should I explain to your father?” The school principal judged. It irritated me. Yet, Reno did not allow me to defend ourselves.    

    

“Let me clarify what happened. We arrived late at the school this morning and the teacher in charge punished us to do the cleaning. It was the store room on the roof top where were assigned to. In the middle of cleaning, the door was shut. When I switched the door handle, it was apparently locked.”    

    

“Why didn’t you call the teacher? he interrupted.    

    

“I left my hand phone in my bag which unfortunately I put outside since I didn’t expect this kind of thing would occur.” Reno confirmed. “It may be hard to believe, but I could guarantee that we did nothing inside the room.” He paused.    

    

“Well, the witness said the other way.”    

    

“You said the witness? May I know who he/she is?” I eagerly asked him    

    

“Yes. Someone informed me that you both did indecent act. I can’t tell you who he or she is for the privacy reason.”    

    

“This is not fair,” I protested. Reno tapped my hand to stop protesting.    

    

“Everything is fair since you have no any proof that you two are innocent.” I could not read what’s on the school principal’s mind. But, I could not accept his judgment. “What happened to your face, Reno?” That gray haired man with flat nose turned to Reno who managed to be calm.    

    

“I just skidded and hit the wall while cleaning the floor in the store room.” Reno was lying. That made me feels even guiltier.    

    

“Do you think you can lie to me? Someone has punched you, right?”    

    

“Who do you think will do that to me?”    

    

“You are right. No one has a nerve to fight against the son of the school donator,” quipped the school principal. “As a follow up of this case, I’ll contact your parents,” he decided. We said nothing as an objection.    

    

Getting out of the school’s principal office, we exited the main building. The class after break started ten minutes ago. The summon letter was held in my hand. How could I explain it to my mother? It would certainly disappoint her. Thinking about how rueful my mother would be reading this later drove me crazy. How could her daughter do such a shameful thing? My mother was illiterate, indeed. She would have me read it. It was impossible for me to hide this news from her.    

    

“I didn’t do it, Mom. Trust me,” I mumbled.    

    

“Are you talking to me?” Reno’s voice pulled me back to reality. I shook my head.    

    

I could not concentrate on what teacher was explaining during the class. Never did i think that today would be a terrible day for me. Almost being kidnapped by the one my father owed was not enough. Someone defamed me. As the consequence, the school principal summoned my mother to school to discuss the case which automatically would worsen my mother’s life. That frustrated me. It was getting worse as I even failed in Math test.    

    

The students looked down on me. They acted as though I was a disgusting creature. No one in the classroom heeded me and Reno. It was not the first time though. I had ever experienced hell in this school, I consoled myself. The bell ended my day dreaming.    

    

The gate exposed in front of me. It was already ten minutes after the last bell rang. I could not stay at school after the school hours had ended. My job was waiting to get it done. My daily routine kept me from all student activities out of school hours. I had no to time to join extracurricular activities like others. That did not sadden me as long as I could go to school.    

    

A motorcycle stopped. It was Kevin who showed up after the helmed was taken off. That boy walked toward me who felt uncomfortable with his approach. He idly greeted me as if he did nothing evil for I was sure enough it was he, one of the suspects who locked us in the storeroom. Who else?    

    

“Hi, how is it?” I wanted to just ignore him but, he grabbed my shoulder strongly. “How is it to be in the same room with the nerd guy?” he asked in very low tune like a whisper after releasing his grip on my shoulder.    

    

“How do you know that?” He looked nervous and averted his gaze.    

    

“Someone told me.” He looked away to the crowds of the students.    

    

“You are lying.” He did not try to deny. “How could you do that to your brother? No, how could you do that to me?”    

    

“I hate Reno. I hate anyone who is close to him including you.” I stepped back. I almost asked him to repeat what he said. Why? What did Reno do to him so that he detested him so much? I did not know why but their life was full of puzzle