Octavia had been awake for half an hour when the three girls left the infirmary. Nurse Redheart was nowhere to be seen, but they figured that it would be for the best to inform the principals about their friend’s new condition.
Octavia’s legs were still a bit shaky, but the smile on her face was compensating for that. They walked through the hallway, passed CHS’s huge entrance hall, contemplating the gold-and-blue banners and the shining trophies displayed behind the large glass panels, to finally arrive at principal Celestia’s door. Vinyl never liked principal offices, and neither did Lyra: when they were summoned, it was never a good sign. But there was no reason to be worried here, right?
Lyra knocked on the sky blue door, a venetian blind blocking the view of the office’s inside.
Looking at Octavia’s face, Vinyl realized that her friend wasn’t completely comfortable with the current situation. She probably never had been to a principal’s office.
“Who is this?” said an apparently interrupted-in-the-middle-of-something voice.
“Principal Celestia, this is Octavia Melody.”
“Oh, come in Octavia!”
Lyra turned the knob and penetrated in the room, followed by Octavia and Vinyl. The three girl’s minds paused on a second to observe the decor: unlike most of the school’s rooms, which were painted with different shades of blue and green, this office was entirely decorated with beige wallpaper and light brown wood panels, with old oak (or some tree like this) furniture, filled with small trinkets of all the colours of the rainbow. A giant green flag was hanging on its pole behind the principal’s desk.
“By the way, I know it’s lunch time and all, and she’s probably always eating in her office, but that’s a LOT of cake…” Vinyl thought while looking at the pile of pastries laying on the side of the desk.
“Oh good, you’re awake!” Celestia said, smiling “I was starting to get worried! Nurse Redheart told me-”
“Principal Celestia! It’s horrible!” yelled a terrified nurse Redheart bursting in the room, at the verge of nervous breakdown “Octavia Melody has disapp- Oh, there she is.”
The four persons at the desk looked at the new arrivant with wide eyes. Vinyl and Lyra really had to make an effort not to burst into laughter.
“Well in that case I’ll… fill the papers and leave you to talk… I...hum, good day girls!”
And just like that, she was gone.
“Okay girls, now that our devoted nurse’s concern is out of the way, we can talk about what happened. But first: Mrs. Heartstrings, Mrs. Scratch, could you leave the room, I’m pretty sure your friend can manage to give me her own point of view on what happened.”
“Hum… Actually principal Celestia, I’d prefer if they stayed here with me…”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible Octavia, I had a short talk with Mr. Sombra after your P.E class, and if what he’s saying is true, both your friends will have to answer to me concerning their behavior towards their teacher.”
“What?! Our behavior?! That’s bullshit! What about Mr. Sombra’s?” Lyra yelled, obviously unhappy with the direction things were taking.
“Please change your tone at once, girl. Your future, as well as your teacher’s, will mostly be determined by what your friend has to say. Now, you can wait outside, I’ll try not to keep Octavia for too long.”
“Great, we can’t help Tavi, and we’re in trouble ourselves because of this dickhead…”
As Vinyl followed Lyra towards the door, she gave Octavia a warm smile. The cellist was obviously terrified: the only reason she was confident about going in this office was because her friends were with her, but apparently fate had decided differently…
Vinyl closed the door behind her, as Lyra looked at her with a depressed expression on her face.
“Fuck.”
“Yup.”
}--oO0Oo--{
“Alright, I’ll let you girls catch up. Both of you, watch your behavior in the future. I’m going to have a talk with Mr. Sombra now, so you should leave. Get to the gymnasium and change into more fitting clothes. You’re free to leave school for the afternoon, I’ll inform your teachers.”
Celestia then closed the door, leaving Octavia reunited with her friends.
“So? What did she say?” asked Lyra.
“Um… I think you both are going to be preserved from any punishment, but sit didn’t appear she was convinced about Mr. Sombra’s exactions. Apparently, things like this have happened before, but not in such a way, that’s why she desires to have a word with him I suppose…”
Vinyl took out the paper and pen she had kept in her pocket:
“Is everything good with your parents and all?”
“Oh, I believe, yes. Nurse Redheart apparently told her that you didn’t wish to warn my parents, and after I confirmed, principal Celestia agreed. But I’m afraid that if an event like this one occurs again, I’ll have to face more consequences…”
“Well let’s hope it doesn’t happen, shall we?” Lyra said with an awkward grin.
“Oh, speaking of my parents… I’d like to thank you. For what you did with Mrs. Redheart… asking her not to call them… Even if I’m worried about what could happen if they ever found out, I think it was the right decision.”
“Of course, Tavi!” smiled Lyra. Vinyl made a few signs with a happy expression on her face “She says that it’s normal, we’re friends!”
Octavia didn’t say a word, and just smiled with a slight blush on her cheeks.
“Now what are we gonna do with our awesome free afternoon?!”
“Well… I was just about to get back to my house… After changing of course…”
Vinyl wrote on her pad again:
“Um… You sure that’s a good idea? Wouldn’t your parents ask why you’re early?”
“Oh my… You’re right…”
Suddenly, Vinyl’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She grabbed the piece of plastic, read the small text, and the expression on her face suddenly changed to a mix of joy and panic.
“No need to wonder what we’re gonna do anymore” she wrote “Entertainment has come to us by itself!”
“What do you mean?” said Lyra and Octavia at the same time.
“We have ten minutes to get changed” she wrote again “After that, prepare to face a fucking storm. My brother is waiting for us outside.”