Symbiotic

Chapter Eight

A couple of days passed without incident. Roxie still hadn’t broken up with Chase, but the signs of strain were starting to show in their relationship. Eve knew it couldn’t be long now.

Little had she known just how cataclysmic the explosion would be.

It began with a crowd gathering in the hallway. Eve had at first shrugged it off, noticing that a lot of them were Roxie’s crowd. Her group of friends tended to congregate like this. But as the circle kept growing, and the concentration of popular students became more diluted, Eve started to become intrigued.

Was it a fight? No, it couldn’t be – at least, not a physical one. The circle was too tight for that. If punches were actually being thrown, the kids around the sides would be getting hit too.

As she got closer, she could hear voices. One shouting at full volume, the other almost silent. Finally plucking up some courage, Eve poked a student she recognised from art.

“Hey, any idea what’s going on? I’m gonna be late for home room.”

The kid turned to face her, eyes shining. “Didn’t you hear? Roxie and Chase are fighting!”

“Whoa, what over?” When she had suggested that Roxie leave Chase, she hadn’t been expecting anything quite this violent. But the student’s feverish response left her reeling.

“She found photos on his phone! Like, nudes!”

“Nudes? Of who?”

“A whole bunch of girls, apparently!”

“You’re messing with me.”

“No, dude! You can’t make this stuff up! Check it out!”

Rolling her sleeves up, Eve started pushing her way through the crowd. As she made a path through the screaming students, two familiar voices started to become clearer.

“I can’t believe you! What made you think that this was ok? What the hell was going through your head-“

Making it to the nucleus of the argument, Eve took in the scene in front of her. Roxie was standing with her feet spread apart and the most disgusted glare Eve had ever seen on her face. She was holding a phone – Eve had to assume it was Chase’s – in her hand, and anger radiated throughout every inch of her being. Chase was cowering in her presence, his tail between his legs. Both parties looked over when they noticed Eve.

Roxie was the first to speak, walking over to join Eve and flicking through something on the phone. “Oh Eve, I’m so glad you’re here. You are never going to believe this…” She handed the phone over. Eve took it, throwing Chase a questioning look. He was frantically waving his hands around and shaking his head.

She looked anyway.

Regret surged through every fibre of her being. The second her eyes hit the image on the screen, she wished they hadn’t. For several seconds, all she could think about was erasing that picture from existence.

It was her. You couldn’t see that in the photo, of course, not unless you knew that she had been wearing a green sweater that day, and that below that sweater was a purple bra with white stripes. After the pure shock of finding herself in this position had subsided, several emotions hit her with the weight of a freight train. Embarrassment, pain, fear. Above all, she was f*****g furious.

She didn’t even realise that she had started forwards until her fist connected with Chase’s jaw. He flew back against the crowd of people. Most of them backed away from him, but a couple of boys caught him and yelled at Eve.

“Calm down b***h, it’s just a photo!”

She took another step forwards, and felt a gentle hand close over her arm. Her first instinct was to shake it off, but something about it kept her rooted to the ground. The fog of war started to clear from her mind, and she leaned into the touch.

As they stepped forwards, she realised it was Roxie. Never taking her eyes off Chase, expression still rules by anger, Roxie addressed Eve.

“Don’t. He’s not worth it.”

Nursing his jaw, Chase met their eyes with a venomous glare. He stumbled to his feet, and seemed about to lurch towards Eve when several students pulled him back.

“Don’t hit a girl, man! You’ll get suspended!”

Likely realising they were right and choosing to stick to insults, Chase scoffed. “You’re crazier than I thought if you really think you can punch me and get away with it.”

“You really think you deserve to get on your high horse here? Do I have to tell you how illegal it is to take photos of girls changing?” Roxie cried, incredulous.

“Oh please, like you have the funds to take me to court anyway! We both know your Mom’s being kicked out because she can’t pay the rent! Meanwhile, you’re buying the latest fashions online so you can look cool for your friends, you selfish, stuck up b***h!”

Before Eve had time to process what she had heard, Roxie was halfway down the hall. Chase’s phone lay on the ground where she had dropped it, and he dove for it. As he clutched it to his chest, and Eve started to turn away in disgust, she noticed the crowd parting at an alarming pace. Her confusion turned to terror when she realised why.

Mrs Clarke and Mr Latimer were making their way towards the pair. Hearing rustling behind her, she heard Mrs Clarke call out in a calm voice.

“Don’t even think about it, Chase. I’ve already seen your face, I know it’s you.”

Eve slumped in defeat as she realised that her parents were definitely going to kill her.

Less than a half hour later, Eve and Chase were seated in the principal’s office. Waiting in silence as the tall man stared them down, Eve started looking around the room in boredom.

Warm sunlight played off her arms from the window at the far end of the room. The office wasn’t as prim or proper as she had been expecting; it was clean, but inviting and lived-in. An half full coffee cup was releasing a delicious smell into the air, and several photo frames littered the desk.

Finally, the door creaked open behind them. The principal stood.

“Mr and Mrs Verbeck. Mr Bancroft. I’m so sorry to drag you all here.”

Mr Bancroft rolled his eyes. “Not a problem, Larry. How many times is that this month?”

Eve’s parents rushed to her as if she was lying in a hospital bed. Her mother held her close and kissed her forehead several times.

“Evie dear, what on Earth happened? What did this ruffian do to you? Oh, I’ve always told you to be careful with boys-“

The principal cleared his throat. “Actually, Mrs Verbeck, Eve may be in just as much trouble as Chase. I wanted to wait for all of you to be present before investigating this situation more thoroughly.”

Eve’s father remained stoic, but she noticed that his hand landed on her shoulder and gave a quick squeeze. “Just what are you accusing our daughter of? She’s a model student.”

“Model student or not, several witnesses have accused her on punching Chase Bancroft in the face.”

That was it, the one thing she had been hoping wouldn’t come to light. She flinched as her mother’s face scrunched up in horror.

“Oh no. Not Eve. She’s not that kind of girl.”

“Actually, Mom,” Eve used a gentle tone as she silenced her mother. She crossed her legs and sighed.

“Ok, I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. I did punch him, and I’ll accept any punishment you have for my actions. But he-“ she pointed at Chase “needs to be stopped.”

The principal’s eyes darted between the two students. “And what exactly needs to be stopped, Eve? What did Chase do to provoke such an attack?” Out of her peripheral vision, Eve caught the threatening glare Chase threw her.

If you’re expecting that to fill me with terror, afraid you’re mistaken.

“He’s been taking photos of girls from school. Sometimes half naked. Stalking them to their homes to do it, too. He even took one of me; I saw it myself.”

Eve’s mother swooned, and Mr Verbeck deftly caught her. Chase’s father gave him an annoyed look.

The principal looked over to Chase. “Is this true?”

He stared at the ground. “Of course not! Art freak is lying, like she always does.”

“Check his phone.”

Chase’s eyes widened. The principal looked back at Eve.

“Excuse me?”

“Check his phone. That’s where the photos are. Bet he hasn’t had time to delete them yet.”

“Alright. Chase, please hand over your phone.”

He froze, hand in his pocket. “What? No! I didn’t do it, isn’t that enough?”

His father spoke to him softly. “Chase, just do it. If you’re innocent you have nothing to fear.”

“N-no. I don’t want him going through my phone. It’s personal!”

The principal frowned. “Chase Bancroft. Might I remind you that you are being accused of a crime? If you refuse to hand your phone over, that may be grounds for me to request the involvement of the police. With that in mind, are you certain you don’t want to just let me check now? I can assure you that nothing I could find in a teenage boy’s phone is capable of shocking me.”

Mr Bancroft and Mr Verbeck issued light chuckles at this. For a moment, Eve swore she could see the debate going on in Chase’s mind. His eyes darted back and forth like he was a caged animal surrounded by hunters. Finally, he stood.

“You’re not getting my goddamn phone.” With that, he stormed from the room. Mr Bancroft pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled deeply.

“I’ll discuss this whole situation with him at home, Sir.” He turned and left at a swift pace. The principal turned back to the three remaining people in the room.

“In the meantime, we have other things to discuss. Eve, I’m sure you’re aware that whether your claims are true or not, your actions were unacceptable.”

Eve lowered her head. “Yeah, I know. I-I wasn’t thinking.”

“So now, we need to discuss what your punishment will be. Usually, the protocol is to give a three day suspension for the first offence-“

“What?” This came not from Eve, but from her father. Looking up, she saw his brows drawn together and his teeth gritted in frustration.

“Of course she wasn’t thinking clearly! The circumstances aside, her best friend died only a few days ago. I hardly think a suspension is constructive right now.”

“Excusing her behaviour-“

“Oh, I’m not excusing it. Our daughter will receive consequences for her actions, at home. She’s been raised to be fully aware that violence is wrong, and we as her parents plan to reinforce this lesson. But I think it’s very clear that the bigger issue here is young Chase Bancroft’s criminal behaviour, and not a slightly over the top response from a grieving girl who was being victimised and antagonised by Mr Bancroft.”

The principal folded his hands together and levelled a calm expression at Mr Verbeck. “I assure you that I plan to investigate this accusation further. But we don’t know the truth of what happened, at this point in time. For all we know your daughter is lying.”

“With all due respect, are you accusing us of raising a liar for a daughter?”

Mrs Verbeck chimed in, timid and unsure. “This is a first offence, Sir. Up until now, Eve has been a diligent and hard-working student. Are you sure you can’t be lenient on her, provided she makes a clear effort to improve her conduct? Like you said, we don’t know what happened – so it seems premature to punish her if it’s too early to punish Chase. And as you have been made aware, she is currently grieving over the death of a very close friend. If ever she can be excused for not thinking clearly before she acts, I would say that time is now.”

The principal seemed to consider this for a moment. He watched Eve over his thin rimmed glasses with a passive expression.

“I suppose you have a point. No one can deny that Eve is a highly talented and yes, hard-working student. And up to this point, her behaviour has been exemplary. I’m willing to reduce her punishment to one week’s detention, on a strict probation. If there are any further incidents of this nature, I will have no choice but to pursue further action. Have I made myself clear, Eve?”

Eve nodded. “Of course, Sir.”

The principal gave her a patient smile. “Excellent. I’d better not see you in here for the rest of the year unless you’re accepting an award. Got it?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Very well, that will be all for now. Thank you all for coming in. Eve, you can go back to class now.”

Eve stood, and the three started to make for the door. Eve stopped as a thought hit her, and turned back to the principal.

“Sorry. I almost forgot, Sir.”

“Yes?”

“I wasn’t the only one who saw the photos on Chase’s phone. Roxie Amor saw them too. I thought that information might assist your investigation.”

“Is that so? I was already planning to talk to her about this whole debacle; I had heard of her involvement from a few of the witnesses. I’ll make sure to discuss that with her. Thank you Eve, that will be all.”