Stricter Rules

Cyrus First Person Point Of View

The morning air was cool as I sat in the car, my father gripping the steering wheel tightly, eyes ahead.

I could still hear his words from last night in my mind—like, all the anger and disappointment. everything. He pulled up to the school door and began speaking without even looking at me.

"You don't have to worry about catching the bus anymore," he told her, his jaw clenched.

"I'll inform the principal that you may be late because of some private issues."

I simply nodded, not uttering a word. My throat started to get all constricted. The last thing I needed today was additional drama.

So, I'm late again—big surprise—and we're both in the principal's office.

My stomach twisted with every step, knowing this wouldn't end well.

The nearer we approached the office, the lower my heart dropped. Hanging out on the benches were Arzhel and the guys with Derick, as relaxed as ever.

As soon as he saw me, Arzhel stood up and his smile changed to a serious expression.

He walked over and hugged me briefly, but that made the tightness in my chest feel even worse.

"Hey," he said, with his arm wrapped around me as if to shield me from what was about to happen. He nodded to my dad. "Mr. Reeves."

My father looked at him with a puzzled face, eyebrows tightly furrowed. "What's the matter?"

Arzhel sort of hesitated, his jaw hardening slightly. "I'm not quite sure yet," he replied, stopping there.

My father looked back and forth at us, growing more perplexed, but before he could continue asking questions, the principal emerged from his office.

The principal sort of flipped when he spotted my dad.

"Hello, good morning! Come in, Mr. J'nott. What would you like to talk about?"

I stood there helplessly as my dad gave me one last glance before he entered the office.

The moment the door closed, I turned to Arzhel.

"What's happening?"

Arzhel sighed and combed his hair with his fingers. "Man, we might get expelled from school for skipping class," he muttered, gazing down.

"There are new school rules, stricter ones."

Whoa, my heart dropped. Expelled from school? And my dad was with me too. the same man who completely freaked out over that hickey last night, the same man who got extremely angry with me.

I couldn't help but become a little tearful thinking about all that happened last night.

I had slipped outside to get some air after the fight and completely collided with Derick and his group.

It was crazy, as if everything blindsided me all of a sudden.

So, Troy and Derick appeared as lost-looking as well.

Derick scanned the room, and when he saw all of us socializing, his face turned extremely serious

My father re-emerged from the office, his face a mask of frustration.

He approached me quite close and inclined his head and spoke all gruffly in my ear.

"You're disappointing me."

I simply couldn't contain myself anymore. The water began welling up in my eyes, and my chest constricted as I attempted to suppress the sobs.

All the guys turned my way, but Marcus spoke up first, his voice slicing through the tension.

Man, honestly, I don't like when good-looking guys cry.

Arzhel stood rigidly beside me with his arm draped over mine as though he were shielding me from all the world.

He seemed really angry but did not utter a word. You could tell he was angry, but not with me; it was with what was happening.

He hated seeing me like this.

The principal returned, completely prepared to spill the whole thing. "Cyrus, look up," he instructed, speaking in an extremely serious voice.

I shook my head, hiding my face in my hands, as the tears continued to roll down my cheeks. I didn’t want to look up; I couldn’t deal with all of this yet.

"Cyrus," the principal said once more, somewhat more sternly now. "Just look up."

Before I could respond, Arzhel snapped. "Just say what you have to say!" His voice was sharp, cutting through the tension like a knife.

"Cyrus can definitely hear you, don't worry."

The room completely fell silent. No one dared move as Arzhel glared at the principal, literally daring him to move.

The principal took a pause, obviously taken aback by Arzhel's freakout. But then he cleared his throat and continued.

"No one is being expelled," he announced.

''But......"