Chapter 181 - Makai – Assembly Part 2

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Makai

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"Now, I ask that all of you refrain from interrupting me again. We will allow for some questions to be asked once I am done explaining things to all of you. Now, settle down and take your seats."

The principal gave his instructions and waited for the kids that had leapt to their feet to sit back down. There was the sound of shuffling and moving around as one by one those that had stood up sat down again. I noticed that, not so coincidentally, all the ones that stood up had been members of the swim team.

All of them had been there yesterday when Justin and Ocean had had their little argument. They also knew about the fact that Justin had taken a stool and beaten it onto the door of  Ocean's locker in the locker room.

More than anyone else in the entire school, the swim team knew what had been going on and suspected what had happened to Ocean and why Justin wasn't here at school today as well. They weren't accepting the principal's lies.

Damn. I would need to talk to them and tell them that this was all the 'truth'. I needed them to believe the story or things would end up turning out bad for us all.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and started to group thread with the entire swim team. Even Ben and Ryan were in the text group, but I whispered to them before I started to type the words to the group.

"Play along." I didn't say anything else to them, and I knew that they were confused about that cryptic message at first.

[ME]

Hey guys. I know that the stuff the principal is saying may surprise you, but it is all true. Please, believe him and don't cause any more problems.

"Now, as I was saying, the incident yesterday was of no fault of the student that was injured nor the one that he was talking to. Both students suffered injuries during the incident, but one only received minor injuries while the other was more severely hurt. They were both taken to the hospital for evaluation for those injuries."

Yeah, this was all sounding fishy to my ears. Was that just because I knew the truth, or was it because the principal was a terrible liar? I didn't know which one it was, but it was kind of sad to listen to this explanation from him. Hahh! Why did I feel like it was going to fall on me to make sure that everyone believed what the principal was saying? Oh well, what was a little more lying? I mean, I have been lying to them all since the beginning and I have only added to the lies one after the other.

[KATIE]

Come on Kai, we know that it's not true. Justin was after Ocean. We all saw it.

[ALEXIS]

Yeah, he was disturbed and crazy. He did something to Ocean, didn't he?

[BEN]

No, Kai is telling the truth. Don't worry.

[RYAN]

Yeah, listen to Kai, he knows more about it than us.

"I know that all of you have been speculating about who it was that had been hurt and how they are doing. I want to clear some of that up a little bit so that you will all know how your classmates, teammates, and fellow students are doing."

The principal tried to smile but I saw that he was having trouble making it look real or convincing. This was not going well. Would all the students in the school believe that he was just nervous about Ocean's condition? God, I hope so.

"Now, I am sure that many of you have deduced that it was Justin Jeffries and Ocean Shores that were injured yesterday. The two were talking privately, trying to work out the issue that they had had earlier in the morning when there was a partial collapse of the ceiling in the classroom that they were in." 

That was a novel idea. I hadn't known what he was going to say happened. I hadn't actually stuck around this morning when he was talking with the others, so I hadn't been part of the planning process. Still, I guess it could have been a good explanation. Assuming that none of the students had looked in the classroom and saw that the ceiling was just fine.

"Now, during that tragic accident, Ocean was directly below the falling debris. Justin had tried to push him out of the way but he was still struck by the large and heavy objects. Ocean also suffered injuries during the fall when he was pushed out of the way. Justin in turn, had been hit with the debris on his head and back. Both of the boys were taken to the hospital where they received treatment for their injuries."

There were whispers then, but they weren't very loud, so the principal didn't pause to make them be quiet. He just started to speak again, drowning them out.

"Justin was treated and discharged, but he requires follow up care from specialists that he will be seeing soon. For that, he will not be back in school for quite some time, possibly for the rest of the school year. As for Ocean, he is still in the hospital but he is listed as being in stable condition. He will be going home to rest before too much longer. Once he is fully healed, he will return to the school."

The whispering stopped, but this new silence was somehow worse. I could practically hear the curiosity in the hearts of all the people that were surrounding me. Thankfully, the principal didn't pause for long after his explanation.

"I plan to have some cards delivered to Ocean at the hospital, they will be up here for you all to sign soon. There are also cards for Justin that you could sign as well. They will be next to Ocean's. I want the boys to know that we support them both and want them both to recover soon." There was only a slight pause this time before he continued. "Now, is there anything that any of you would like to ask about what had happened yesterday?"

Several hands shot into the air, and this was where the rest of the staff that were standing near the principal came in handy. They were going to help call on the students so that they got the names right.

"Yes, Alaya?" A female teacher called on what looked like a freshman girl.

"I..I heard that Justin had a weapon and attacked Ocean. I heard that the school was put into lockdown because shots had been fired from his gun. Is that true or not?"

"No, absolutely not." Hey, look at that, the principal looked like he was telling the truth now. Well, that was because he was telling the truth now but still.

"OK." Alaya sat down and they moved onto the next kid.

"Go ahead, Riley." Mr. Garret called on a guy that was in front of me. He was on the swim team and seemed angry.

"If Justin wasn't as injured as Ocean, how come he won't be coming back to school this year? Is he being expelled? I want to know the truth."

"Calm down, Riley. Justin received a head injury that requires special attention. I can't go into further detail since it would violate privacy, but I assure you that Justin is seeking treatment. He also hasn't been expelled. Instead, he is switching to the online school format until the year is over. He will be receiving his treatment but still going to school so that he does not fail."

"Does that mean that Justin was more injured? Should we be more worried about him than Ocean? I mean, Ocean will be back soon, but Justin won't be back at all. Come on, tell us." Brittney didn't want to be called on, she just jumped out with her words, but no one seemed to want to validate her words. After a moment, the principal did answer her.

"They received different kinds of injuries. It is not comparable."

"YEAH! OCEAN ALMOST DIED, BUT JUSTIN WAS JUST FINE." I heard someone else yell. Apparently, it was someone else that sympathized with my boyfriend.

"Settle down." The principal called out to the kids that were starting to yell. "This is not the time to let our emotions get the better of us.

"I don't care. I want to know what happened. I don't want to hear these vague explanations and lies. I want the truth of it all." Brittney, now standing on her feet with her hands on her hips, was glaring at the principal.

"And I want you to sit down and behave. You are being disrespectful." This was the coach who had stood and spoken loudly and firmly at Brittney.

There were a few more questions, but it seemed that most of the kids believed what the principal had to say. Even the team was coming around even with what they knew had happened yesterday.

Now that we were all getting ready to leave the gym, the cards were ready for us to sign. I stayed in my seat as I watched the whole school line up to sign the cards. I was also a little happy when I saw that everyone was signing the cards for Ocean, but only about a quarter of the school signed the one for Justin.

Yeah, I know he was actually not at fault here, but I was still salty about it all. I didn't like that he had hurt my boyfriend, even though he had been bespelled and not responsible for it all. He was still the one that did it and I was glad to see that most of the people felt the same way as me.

Now, I  could get back to the rest of my day and then get out of here to see my Ocean.