The principal opened the door to her office and ushered Andrew inside. It looked more intimidating than usual, the ceiling-high mahogany shelves and austere dark wood of her desk seeming to smother any light that crept in past the thick, burgundy drapes. A commanding heaviness filled the room like a hand pressed against the back of his neck, and everything smelled of stale, old books and suffocation. Or maybe he’d just forgotten how to breathe.
Two leather armchairs sat before her desk, and Dr. Reul rose from one, buttoning his tweed jacket. The old professor was known for his grandfatherly smiles and kind words, and he always smelled like something between mothballs and Earl Grey tea. Having him here meant he was playing good cop to the principal’s bad cop. What was goingon? Shouldn’t Dr. Reul be teaching Classic Literature right now? Andrew had only enough time to register the pensive expressions the adults wore before he noticed Bryce Kane sitting in the other armchair.
He looked calm and tidy, uniform blazer spotless and golden hair combed back, and his smile was bloated with self-satisfaction.
“Have a seat, Andrew,” Dr. Reul said.
He felt too light, his skin so thin that if they pulled back the throat of his shirt, they’d see his heart pulsing, raw and bloody, through his glass chest. He slid onto the vacated armchair andlooked anywhere except at Bryce, who reclined in his seat as if he’d been invited to a meeting where he’d be announced king of the world.
The principal sat behind her desk and laced her fingers on the wood, casting a meaningful look at Dr. Reul before she cleared her throat. “There are two matters I need to discuss with you, Andrew, but first I would like to impress upon everyone in this room the need to conduct yourselves with honesty, courtesy, and behavior befitting ambassadors of the Wickwood name. Now, Bryce has brought me some troublesome news, Andrew. Have you been climbing the fence and venturing into the forest?”
Somehow it hadn’t occurred to Andrew to worry this could happen. He’d freaked out very efficiently about everything else, but being caught in the forest? There was no way any students were up before dawn to spy on their return.
And everyone should be grateful.
They were being saved from having their throats torn open by monsters.
They should begrateful.
Everyone stared at him and he didn’t know what to say. His mouth had gone bone-dry and when he tried to speak, the kind of voice-cracking wheeze of a prepubescent teen squeaked out instead. He had to try again, his hands sweaty around his notebook.
“No.”
His word against Bryce’s. It already felt like he’d lost.
“Obviously, I don’t want to be a snitch,” Bryce said, voice earnest and warm. “But I’m kind of worried about Andy. He looks so unwell, and after everything that happened last year—”
“What, like you bullying me?” Andrew snapped, and then closed his mouth, surprised he’d even had the guts to say that. He felt too hot, his whole body starting to shake, and he wanted nothing more than for Thomas to explode through the door and take this battle for him.
Bryce faked the most convincingwho, me?look ever to be seen outside of theatre.
“That is the second matter we need to discuss.” The principal sounded clipped, her gaze slicing the tense weight in the room. “It has been brought to our attention that Bryce has made some concerning comments about Andrew, and this is something we need to address since, as you both know, we do not condone any sort of harassment at this school.”
So Lana had reported him, just like she’d threatened. Relief and panic swept across Andrew’s chest.
Anger flashed across Bryce’s face, but his brow smoothed and he was all benevolent charm again. “I can explain that. It was just a joke out of context. I made a comment about Andy going out with Thomas and they both got super defensive. Like”—he raised his hands in confused innocence—“I didn’t know it was a sensitive topic. Good for them, honestly. I’m not homophobic or anything.”
“No one is throwing around accusations like that,” Dr. Reul added in hastily.
Andrew could not believe this. “That’s not what happened.” But the words came out too small.
“We welcome and cherish a diverse body of students here,” the principal said. “I’m sure some unfortunate phrasing is at fault here and the mistake won’t be repeated. Will it, Mr. Kane?”
“Absolutely not,” Bryce said. “I feel terrible that I came across wrong. I’ve been in class with Andy since we weretwelve. I’m fond of him. I know he’s having a tough year.”
Andrew could almost see himself peeling out of his skin, walking over to Bryce, and hitting him in the mouth. It would be like the night of the dream ravager, Andrew standing atop the table with his heart racing with horrible, wordless elation, butter knife in hand, his head full of screams.
Instead, he sat soundless, his throttling grip on his notebook leaving dents in the cover. He never had words when he needed them. He blinked hard and quick.
The principal looked relieved this was an incident to be tidied briskly and not something that required reports and phone calls to parents. “Well, that’s settled, then. How about you two shake hands and then, Bryce, you can get back to class.”
Bryce bounced from his chair and stuck out a hand toward Andrew, his smile all teeth. “Maybe you just didn’t know the forest was out-of-bounds now. Hope you don’t get in too much trouble, Andy.”
Andrew stared at the proffered hand long enough for the room to grow tense. Dr. Reul shifted with a light cough and the principal looked weary as she rubbed a thumb against her temple. She seemed about to command Andrew to accept the handshake, to throw this littlemessunder a bridge where they wouldn’t speak of it again. It was a reminder of who this school really protected, so he quickly grabbed Bryce’s hand. A firm shake. Release. Bryce did not stop grinning as he sauntered out the door.
After it clicked shut, Dr. Reul moved to take Bryce’s vacatedchair, looking even more somber than he had before. His gray eyebrows drew together in concern.
“Before you deny anything again,” he said, “we have already had several reports from the groundskeeper about finding… disturbances in the woods.”
