Breaking Her Rules

Chapter 14

'I've called this assembly to address the act of defamation on Saturday night, of which most of you are already aware,' Principal Hosmer says in front of the school on Monday morning. 'I understand the video on the internet has gathered a few thousand views, which means it's not just Hilverton students aware of this vile criminal act. This will damage our reputation severely, and as such, someone must be punished. Hilverton is of a higher morale.'

There are whispers throughout the body of students. I sit silently, picking at a loose thread on my navy skirt, but I can hear someone behind me saying, 'Didn't you see the video? The oval on fire?'

'For those of you who don't know,' Hosmer says, and a hush comes over the students once again, 'last night the school field was burnt. The fire was filmed and that footage was put on the internet. In the film it is very clear the fire spells out "Prisley". As I understand it, Prisley students are celebrating a win in the cricket cup after Saturday afternoon. However, if this is how Prisley students conduct themselves after a victory, then I do not foresee too many victories for them in the future. The cricket cup shall be returned and a tie between Landor and Cernette houses will instead be agreed upon.'

There's uproar from the Prisley students in the crowd.

'Quiet,' Hosmer says shrilly. 'Every Prisley student will be interrogated, starting with the senior cricket team. The rest of you may go to class.'

Watson whoops as we leave the hall. 'Duncan and Lucas are going to get interrogated by Hosmer! I bet they were the ones who actually did it. When they left the party on Saturday night they probably walked straight past the school on the way home and thought it would be a great idea to burn Prisley into the oval. Did you see the video? The guy in the video was wearing a wolf mask, so it was definitely someone from our party. Man, I hope Duncan gets expelled. If he gets expelled I'm definitely going to get the dux award.'

'He'll never get expelled,' I say dryly.

'There's Taylor, I'm going to walk with her to class. See you guys later,' Watson says.

I scoff as he walks off. 'Run off to Taylor.'

'Give it a break, Em,' Julian says.

Julian, Harrison and I have history class together, so we walk off in the direction of the building.

'What is it with you and Watson, anyway?' Harrison says. 'You haven't talked to us about what happened on Saturday night.'

'Watson seems to think I'm in love with him, and that's the reason why I hate Taylor. Because it's not as if she's an annoying bitch who's cheating on him,' I say spitefully.

'Wait, backpedal,' Harrison says. 'Taylor is cheating on Watson? Does he know?'

'Does he know,' I scoff. 'I told him and he doesn't believe me.'

'How do you know she's cheating?' Julian says.

'Because I saw it!' I say. 'Taylor and Duncan Forrester have a thing behind Watson's back.'

Julian frowns. 'Duncan? No way. Taylor went out with Duncan last year. Didn't they have a massive break up? Remember she took a week off school because she couldn't stop crying? Why would she get back with him?'

'Obviously because she loves him, even if he is the biggest asshole in the history of the world,' I say.

'Hey, I thought we reserved that spot for Lucas,' Harrison says.

'Yeah, him too,' I say.

The history classroom is still mostly empty when the three of us walk in. We take a seat in our usual place underneath the map of the world and I look up, admiring the pastel colours differentiating countries. I wonder what country I'll visit first. A trip around the UK and Europe seems inevitable, but I want to see more than just the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. I start imagine backpacking solo around the continent and learning bits of languages as I go, when our history teacher comes in and starts her lecture.