While the students were being interviewed one by one to give their accounts of the incident, Mr. Macanzie had decided to pay the principal a visit in advance, before any final decision was made about the matter.
He stood in the hallway alone, right in front of the principal's office. Before entering, he looked left and right, ensuring no one was around, then carefully unlocked the door and stepped inside.
As soon as he shut the door behind him, the principal's voice rang out sharply.
"No one followed you, right?" the principal asked, his tone tense.
"Of course not," Mr. Macanzie replied, quickly making his way to the desk, rubbing his forehead. It was clear the whole situation had him on edge.
"I thought that after everything that happened last time, the students would calm down. And now, something this serious happens again, so soon after?"
"You're the one who's worried?" the principal snapped, slamming his fist down on the desk. His forehead was drenched in sweat, far more than Mr. Macanzie's.
"The school board is going to chew me out over this! They're going to say we can't even keep control of the school, that we've lost grip of our students. Do you know what that means for me?!"
He was shouting so loudly now that Mr. Macanzie couldn't even get a word in edgewise.
"I'm already a principal at the bottom of the list," the man ranted, pacing behind his desk. "Shifted to this dump of a school in the middle of nowhere. If this goes on my record, I'll have nowhere left to go. No one's going to hire a principal who can't even manage their own students."
He then pointed an accusing finger at Mr. Macanzie.
"And don't think for a second this all falls on me. You're part of this mess too."
Mr. Macanzie lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the floor, a look of guilt and shame crossing his face.
"But… aren't we protected?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "They helped us out last time, didn't they? They'll get us through this again, right?"
"You fool!" the principal roared, grabbing a thick book from his desk and hurling it across the room.
It hit Mr. Macanzie square in the side before thudding onto the floor.
"There's always a limit to what they can do, and how far they're willing to go!" the principal shouted. "If you had just paid better attention to your class, if you had done your job, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with!"
The room fell into a heavy silence. Though no more words were exchanged, the tension was suffocating. Both men knew exactly what was at stake.
Then, suddenly, a flash of inspiration lit up Mr. Macanzie's face.
"Wait… I think I have a solution. An idea that might make this all… go away," he said, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
The principal sat in silence, listening with a sharp, discerning ear, fully prepared to shoot down the idea if it even sounded foolish.
"I think…" Mr. Macanzie began, nervously licking his lips, "there's a way we can make all of this disappear."
The principal leaned forward ever so slightly, intrigued.
"Right now, the school board is breathing down our necks because of what happened with Sam," Mr. Macanzie continued. "There are already rumors spreading across the school that he was being bullied. The police might have dropped the case for now, but this incident with Max… it gives them the perfect excuse to get involved again, and this time, it'll be much harder to make them walk away."
He swallowed hard before saying the next part.
"But… what if we connected both incidents? What if we made Max the cause of all of it? If we pin both tragedies, the bullying, Sam's death, and this violent outbreak, on one individual, then maybe, just maybe, we can contain the damage."
Mr. Macanzie's voice lowered, and he stepped closer.
"If we frame Max as the common thread, the source of all the trouble, and expel him, maybe even recommend further action, it'll satisfy the school board, the police, even the parents. It's just one student, right?"
The room was still.
Then, slowly, the principal leaned back in his chair, the corner of his mouth twitching into the faintest smirk.
"I think…" he said, his voice calm and deliberate, "you've come up with a very good solution."
****
And now, at this very moment, sitting across from them in the principal's office, Max was unaware that they had already decided.
They were going to pin everything on him.
With so many eyewitnesses, testimonies, and even adults involved, there's no defense he can come up with, Mr. Macanzie thought confidently. Especially if I, his homeroom teacher, speak against him. I do feel bad for you, Max, but our jobs are on the line. You can move to a new school, it won't impact your life the way this would destroy ours.
The principal and Mr. Macanzie waited in silence for Max to respond. He hadn't said a word in a while, and just as the tension was starting to thicken, they noticed something strange, his shoulders were moving up and down.
Then came the sound. Laughter. A low, amused chuckle that quickly built into full-blown laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Are you alright, Max?" the principal asked, his tone tight. "You do understand how serious this situation is, don't you?"
Max's laughter came to an abrupt stop. He looked up, locking eyes with both of them, his gaze sharp, unwavering.
"You know," Max began, his voice now deadly calm, "I would've accepted it if you just expelled me for what I did today. That would've been fair. But instead, you're trying to pin everything on me? Sam's death, the classroom fight, all of it?"
He leaned forward, the disappointment clear in his tone.
"This is the decision you two, adults, the so-called role models of this school, have made? I expected better."
He shook his head, lips curled in bitter amusement.
"I really should've known better."
Max leaned forward across the desk, getting uncomfortably close to the principal.
"I'm going to give you one last chance," he said, his voice low and firm. "And I mean it. I'm fed up with this f*cking school. If you go through with this... I promise, you'll regret it."
As the principal locked eyes with Max, a chill ran down his spine. It felt like he was staring into the eyes of someone truly unhinged. With everything they'd just seen him do, the principal was beginning to feel genuine fear.
"Look at this, now you're threatening the principal?" he snapped, trying to maintain authority. "You're a child who's completely lost their mind! There's no hope for you anymore!"
Max didn't respond. There was nothing more to say. Instead, he reached into his pocket and calmly pulled out his phone.
"Who are you calling?" Mr. Macanzie asked, narrowing his eyes. "Max, your parents aren't going to be able to save you. The situation is way beyond that."
Max ignored him, letting the phone ring. It only rang twice before the line picked up.
"I have a situation on my hands," Max said into the phone, eyes still fixed on the two adults in front of him. "And I need your help. The principal here is threatening me. They're trying to pin the blame for Sam's death on me... and quite a few other things. Do you think you could help resolve this?"
The principal and Mr. Macanzie exchanged glances, both wearing amused smirks.
They genuinely wondered if Max had finally lost his mind. Did he really think this little performance was going to work? That a phone call would somehow scare them? Desperate people did desperate things, especially when backed into a corner.
"I believe I can handle it," Aron replied over the phone. "However, for this particular matter, I may need access to some of your funds. Do I have your permission?"
"Do what you have to do," Max said calmly.
He ended the call and leaned back in his seat, waiting in silence.
The principal and the teacher remained still as well, watching Max with mild curiosity. When nearly a full minute passed and nothing happened, they exchanged another look, this time more smug than before.
"For a moment there, I thought something might actually happen," Mr. Macanzie said with a chuckle.
BRRR–
BRRR–
The sound of the office phone vibrating on the principal's desk cut through the air like a blade. The two men froze, their eyes slowly drifting to the source of the noise.
It was the principal's personal office line, one that rarely rang. And somehow, in that moment, the smile on their faces started to fade.