I bounced my toes on the leg of my desk impatiently, watching the clock as the second hand ticked by. Three minutes left until class was over. Why hadn’t I been called to the office yet? I had been planning on getting called on the intercom at the most ten minutes after I covered Principal Mckee’s office with glue and feathers. When I hadn’t been caught immediately, I went back to class expecting to be called in a short amount of time. It had already been ten minutes since I left the principal's office. I checked the clock again. One minute left. “Ryan, is there a problem with the clock?” Mrs. Velez asked sarcastically. “No, no. I think it’s still working, it’s just a little slow.” I replied with a straight face. I’m a good kid but one thing that always gets me in trouble is my temper. “Attitude like that will get you busted.” She said with an edge to her tone. That’s exactly where I’m trying to go, I thought to myself. What in my brilliant plan that I had worked so hard on, had gone wrong?

I jumped out of my seat when the bell rang, signifying the end of my last class. Why hadn’t I been called to the office? I made the plan to bee line past the principal's office to my locker. As the hallways filled with everyone rushing to leave, I saw the door to the principal's office open. I expected to see Mr. Tucker the principal to wave me over but instead I saw a crying Cecelia walk out. Why was Cecelia, the homecoming queen, the “Miss Three Rivers”, the Senior’s president  coming out of Mr. Tucker's office? A few small, white feathers flew out from behind her. They rose and twirled around her ankles. She wiped the tears from under her eyes. When she saw me standing frozen in the middle of the busy hallway staring at her, she burst into tears again and ran towards the back of the school. I could do nothing but stare with my mouth open at her back as she ran, bumping into multiple people as she went. Rumours and questions swirled around me as I was not the only one that had seen the crying blonde run from the principal's office. Mr. Tucker never came out of his office.  

“Hey, did you hear what Cecelia did?” Brad asked me when I reached my locker. He continued when I didn’t reply. “People are saying that she filled Mr. Tucker’s office with feathers.”

Rosa added. “I think it was a stupid thing to do. I mean I can’t believe she was dumb enough to actually do it and then get caught.”.

Brad nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I heard that she might get expelled for what she did.”

Diana joined in, overhearing our conversation. “She probably did it for the attention.” Diana extended.

“I told you guys she went crazy after Daniel dumped her for that Fruitland chick.” Lisa added. Lisa was a known hater of Cece so no one took her seriously.

“You okay, man?” Brad asked me when I still hadn’t added to their conversation. I hadn’t even looked up from my shoes. What could I say? They talked about Cece like this was all a game to get attention to her.

“I’m fine.” I lied to Brad. “I’m just confused about it all.” I told the truth there.

I was confused about everything. I had no idea how Cecelia had gotten herself framed for what I had done. I had never planned on anyone but me getting into trouble. But now that someone else had taken the blame, I was scared. Would everyone call me dumb and attention-needy if they knew I had done it? Would my friends turn their backs on me just as they had on Cece? Why had Cece ran when we made eye contact in the hallway? Did she know I was the one who really did it? And the rumour of Cece being expelled scared me the worst. I had never arranged the prank for anyone to get expelled. I thought I would get suspended for a week at the worst but expelled? That would burn itself into my application to any college I applied to.

I decided one thing was for sure as I emptied my locker. I had to go talk to Cece to clarify what actually happened. Brad grabbed my arm as I turned to walk towards the back of the school were Cece had ran. “Where are you going? We have football practice.” Brad asked with his eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
“I feel sick. I think I’d puke if I got tackled right now.” I lied to him once again, hoping that he’d take it. He let go of my arm as soon as I said I was sick.
“Alright, I’ll tell coach that you’re sick but you better feel good tomorrow because we have a game Friday.” He replied. I felt guilty that he was being nice when I was lying to him.
“See ya later.” I answered.

The air seemed to hug me with warmth as I walked towards the back of the school. I took the long way to avoid the football field. I heard muffled sobs when I turned the corner towards the back. I didn’t see anyone at first but eventually spotted Cecelia sitting in between the wall and the dumpster. There are no better words to describe how she looked than “a hot mess”. Her mascara had left a black line under her eyes where she had obviously rubbed tears away. Her nose was running uncontrollably and wrists looked wet. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were blotchy and red.

She didn’t raise her head to look at me until I was sitting right in front of her. “What?” She asked impatiently, obviously not enjoying my presence. I had so many questions for her but I didn’t want to intrude at the same time. I started out with possibly the dumbest question possible.
“How are you?” I asked stuttering. She looked up at me like she was questioning my IQ level.
“Do I look happy to you?” She asked.
“I’m sorry, I’m just not sure what to say.” I tried to apologise.
“What do you want?” She snapped. “I know what everyone is saying so just go ahead and ask.” She got to the point.
“I know the rumours aren’t true.” I told her. She looked surprised.
“You know that I’m not the one who did it?” She questioned. I shook my head clarifying yes. “Do you know who did it?” She was now eager to talk. This question scared me. Should I own up to what I had done or could I blame someone else.
“Cece, don’t kill me when I tell you who did it.” I started.
“Of course.” She replied, anxious to know.
“It was me. I’m the one who filled Mr. Tucker’s office with feathers.” Cece’s mouth opened in shock. “I was planning on getting caught but when you got blamed and expelled I’m afraid that if I admit that it was me, they’ll expel me.” I rushed on hoping that if I explained myself she wouldn’t kill me.

Silence squeezed itself in between us making things terribly unbearable for me. She finally closed her mouth but this seemed to be the only thing she could do. She finally said something but instead of the screaming I had prepared myself for she was quiet, almost whispering. “They’re going to take away my title.” She said staring at the sky so her tears wouldn’t spill.
“Which one?” I replied.
“All of them.” Her small frame shook when she said this. “They’re not going to expel me but they are going to take away all my titles. Homecoming queen, Tip Off queen, Miss Three Rivers, President of the Seniors, High Honor Society.” It felt like she had kicked me in the gut which I would have preferred to this. Her next sentence was filled with venom. “All the things I’ve worked so hard on, gone because some imbecile pulled a stupid jape!” She called me these names like I wasn’t sitting right in front of her.
“I-I’m sorry, Cece. I didn’t plan on anyone getting hurt.” I said this with so much truth but it meant nothing. Who cared if I hadn’t planned on anyone getting hurt. Someone had gotten hurt and now I needed to fix it.

I stood up but before I could walk away she grabbed my wrist. Her fingers cold and still wet from wiping away tears. I expected her to cuss me out so what she actually did say shocked me. “Thank you for telling me the truth.” She said so tenderly it hurt. We made eye contact and then she looked down and let go of my wrist. I felt her words hit me in the gut. I would have taken a beating better than this. Better than having her thank me when that’s the last thing she should be doing. I had ruined her reputation and she thanked me for my honesty? I walked with new determination away from Cece. I headed straight for the principal's office. I didn’t care if I got expelled. It was better than the guilt of knowing that I had ruined Cecilia's high school life. A few feathers drifted down the hallway from Mr. Tucker's office. I felt the cold metal of the handle underneath my hand and pushed the door open, facing the end for me but hopefully the resurrection of Cece.