~Althia~

"Can Montgomery De la Cruz, Zach Dempsey, Justin Foley and Althia Knight please present themselves at the main office? Montgomery, Zach, Justin and Althia, main office now, thank you" The secretary announced over the intercom as soon as third period had begun

I looked at Zach with a curious look as he shrugs his shoulders and quickly gathered his things together as I did the same

"Yo do you know what this is?" Justin asked as he joined us in the hallway

"I have no clue" I answered him

"But it's probably gonna be bullshit" Zach rolled his eyes

"If it's with Mr Porter, I'm walking right the fuck out the door and I don't even give a fuck" Montgomery announced as he joined the group

Together we all walked to the main office where Mr Bolan was waiting at his door for us

"Boys" He greeted us "And Miss Knight" He nodded slightly at me

"This is not good" Justin mumbled

"Please come into my office, there are some officers who would like to speak with you four" Mr Bolan gestured to his door

"What the hell?" Zach whispered

"I don't know" I whispered back

"Waste of time, waste of time" Monty grunted as we all slowly walked into Mr Bolan's office

We all took a seat and Mr Bolan closed the door behind him before settling himself in his own seat

"Mr De la Cruz, Mr Dempsey, Mr Foley and Miss Knight, these officers have a few questions for you all" Mr Bolan spoke again

I let out a gasp which soon turned into a sigh as I recognized the two cops who questioned us at the hospital

"I'm not speaking to anyone without the presence of a parent" I crossed my arms and looked at Mr Bolan

"Miss Knight, I can assure you that I've called your mother and she gladly gave these gentlemen permission to ask you what it is that they need" He told me "I have done the same thing with your parents as well, if they wouldn't have given permission you wouldn't be here" He looked at the boys

I opened my mouth to argue but closed it again

"Hello again" Officer Stiller greeted us

"I'm Officer Parrish and that's Officer Stiller, we just need to ask you some questions" Officer Parrish reintroduced themselves since Justin didn't know who they were

"And we're doing this again because...?" Zach questioned

"Because someone is looking to press charges against you and we're trying to get the full story" Stiller answered him "And we'd like the whole truth this time" He added

"Wait somebody wants to press charges against us?" Justin looked at him

"Not on you specifically Mr Foley or you, Mr Dempsey" Parrish told him "They want to press charges against Miss Knight, Mr De la Cruz and Mr Standall who, unfortunately, isn't here to help his case right now" He went on

"And who exactly would that be?" Montgomery asked

"Mr Walker wants to charge all three of you for physical assault" Stiller answered

I scoffed which made all of the adults look at me

"Is there anything you need to say, Althia?" Mr Bolan asked me

"I just think it's kinda funny how Bryce wants to charge us for supposed physical assault, but when he sexually assaults my friend he gets away with probation" I answered "It's pretty ridiculous" I added

"Miss Knight, whatever Mr Walker may have done to your friend is a different case. Right now we want to know all of the details you left out about the party" Stiller told me

"There's not much to say, I was outside with Montgomery for quite a while before we went back inside to get drinks and then Alex came to us in a panic and we saw Jessica running out and then we went outside to comfort her where we shortly left afterwards" I said

"I thought you were with Jeff most of the night and you left not that long after him?" Parrish questioned

"I was with Jeff, but then he said he was heading out for the run and we went to find Montgomery so I wouldn't be alone" I answered

"When Althia joined me, I was almost done playing my game of pong and then we went inside and everything she just said happened" Montgomery spoke

"What about you two?" Stiller looked at Zach and Justin

"I left before Jeff went for his run" Zach told him "I danced and talked with Althia for a bit before I left for the night, she was with Jeff when I was leaving" He added

"Yeah and I left before Zach started dancing with Althia" Justin said

"Why didn't you stay longer?" Stiller asked

"Wasn't feeling the party" He shrugged

"Okay, let's backtrack to when you two went back inside... What exactly happened?" Parrish asked

"There's not much to say, we were headed to the kitchen when Alex came to us in a panic saying he couldn't find Jess anywhere. We all scanned the area and then we saw her running outside and so we went after her and then we left" Montgomery answered

"Why couldn't Mr Standall find Miss Davis?" He questioned

"He told us that they were also on their way to the kitchen when a band member stopped him to ask something. When Alex stopped, Jessica kept walking to the kitchen alone" I told him

"What happened to Jessica to make her run outside and have you three comfort her?" Stiller asked

"That's part of a different case" I shot at him

Montgomery snickered beside me and I crooked my eyebrow at the officer

"Althia" Mr Bolan said in a warning tone

"You're asking us the same questions from the other night, what does any of this have to do with Bryce wanting to press charges?" Zach asked them

"Mr Dempsey, Mr Foley, you two are done here. You said you weren't there during the time the incident occurred and we believe you, thank you for your time" Stiller told them

"That's it?" Justin questioned

"Return to class boys" Mr Bolan nodded at them

Slowly they got up and looked at Montgomery and I

Officer Stiller gestured towards the door then crossed his arms, waiting for them to leave the room

With another quick glance at us, they slowly left the office and closed the door behind them

"You know, I, too, would love to return to class so can we wrap this up?" I questioned

"Miss Knight, I don't think you quite understand the consequences you might have" Officer Parrish told him

"I think I do, you two want me to tell you that I did in fact hit Bryce and well here it is, I did punch him once, though I wish I had done it a few more times" I admitted

"And why would you do such a thing?" Stiller asked me

"Because he touched Jessica and I was tired of his shit!" I exclaimed

"Althia, language!" Mr Bolan pointed his finger at me

"So just because your friend claims that Mr Walker touched her, that gives you the right to punch him?" Stiller asked me

"Just because Bryce's parents are rich and he's a white boy with an athletic career waiting for him in the future, that gives him the right to walk away with 3 months of probation after raping an unconscious girl?" I shot back

"Althia that's enough! Another word and I'll suspend you!" Mr Bolan hit his desk and I sunk back in my chair crossing my arms

"Mr De la Cruz, let me ask you again... How did your bruise your hand?" Officer Parrish asked him

"I told you, it was from boxing" Montgomery answered

"So tell me why, Mr Walker would waste his time to come into the station with his father and say that he wants to press charges against you, Mr Standall and Miss Knight here if you didn't do anything and Miss Knight said she only hit him once" Parrish continued "I saw his face and I know he didn't get that bruised up from a single punch" He added

"Well you can tell Mr Walker and his father that I didn't do shit and that he can press charges against me all he wants" Monty said

"You do realize that if you be honest with us you may not get charged with anything at all or you can continue and lie and end up getting charged at least 1000$ with maybe some jail time or a couple months of probation if the judge decides to be nice" Officer Stiller spoke again

"Well it's good to know that a rapist can get away with only 3 months of probation but if I throw some punches at a guy who constantly makes my friends uncomfortable, I'm looking at jail time because my parents can't pay my way around. That's a great system you've got going there" Montgomery snorted

"Why do you mean constantly makes your friends uncomfortable?" Parrish questioned

"Commenting on their Instagram posts saying things like, 'show me more' or tagging his friends and being like 'are we gonna try and hit this soon', coming up to them in person and asking if it's their turn with them yet. Basically treating them like objects and nobody deserves to be treated that way" Monty answered "It was one thing to harass them online and say some comments here and there in the hallway but it's a totally other thing to grab them sexually when they're alone and choosing someone that you already made a victim so yes I hit Bryce, multiple times but it was about goddamn time I did and now maybe finally he will leave Althia and Jessica alone" He went on "Now if you could please excuse us, I believe it's time for us to leave" He finished by getting up and giving me his hand to help me up

"Mr De la Cruz, may I remind you once again that we get to decide when this is over and when you two get to leave. This is not finished yet" Stiller told him

"You are wasting our time, Althia has a chemistry class that she needs to get to and she's been missing far too much of it for nonsense like this and I have a workout class that I need to attend in order to stay on my sport teams" Monty said as I grabbed his hand and got up as well "And to be completely honest we have bigger concerns to worry about than Bryce Walker wanting to charge us. Our friend is in the hospital after getting in a terrible car accident and our other friend is at the police station most likely getting a restraining order because of the assault she had to go through by the same predator that assaulted her before so yes we're finished here" He added

"Montgomery, I highly suggest that you sit back down and let these officers ask you everything they need to or else you'll be in serious trouble" Mr Bolan spoke

"Mr Bolan, I highly suggest that you don't pull me or my friends out of class for this again, next time have these officers come to our houses to question us instead of during school hours" Montgomery said

With that being said, he opened the door and gestured for me to walk out

I did as he wanted and took a quick glance over my shoulder to see Mr Bolan shaking his head while Officer Stiller mumbled something. The only one who looked decent and somewhat guilty was Officer Parrish

"I'm getting so fucking tired of talking to those two" Monty growled as we walked out of the office

"Do you really think we'll get charged?" I asked him

"At this point I don't give a fuck and if we do, I'll take the whole blame" He answered "You and Alex don't need that kind of shit" He added

"Mont, Alex and I knew what we were doing when we hit Bryce and if he wants to play dirty, we'll play him a thousand times worse" I started "You don't need that kind of shit either and if Jess gets a restraining order against him again, it'll help our case" I continued

"I don't think he'll go any further than this, it's just his dad being afraid for his own reputation. He doesn't give a fuck about what Bryce does and doesn't do, he went to the station to scare us and I just showed that we're not bothered. Everything will get dropped, don't worry Al" Montgomery reassured me

I took a deep breath and scanned the hallways as we walked through the 9th graders lockers

"We're not actually going back to class, are we?" I asked him, hoping he would say no

"Hell no, I'm bouncing" Mont answered "I didn't think you would want to come with, but you can if you want" He added

"Oh I'm tagging along, there's no way I could concentrate with everything that's going on" I told him

"There you guys are!" Zach exclaimed as we turned into our locker hallway

"What the fuck happened after we left?" Justin questioned

Montgomery and I walked closer to them

"Nothing important happened, just empty threats and bullshit" Montgomery shrugged

I nodded in agreement

"You okay?" Zach looked at me

"Yeah I'll be fine, Mont and I are skipping the rest of the day though" I answered him "You two are free to join us" I added

"I can't skip anymore classes or else coach will bench me for five games" Justin replied

"Yeah and I better get back to chem, one of us should be there to take notes" Zach responded

"Zach you don't have to feel the need to take notes for me anymore" I told him, regretting my words as soon as they left my mouth and his face dropped

"Come on, Thi, of course I'll still take notes for you" Zach said "You deserve some time off with everything that happened this weekend" He added, whispering softer as his sentence ended

"Thank you" I whispered

"You ready to go?" Montgomery asked me

"Yeah I just need my backpack" I answered him as I started walking towards my locker

"Text the group chat if you hear anything about Jeff" Jus pointed at me

"I will don't worry, now you two get to class" I told him and Zach

They both nodded and waved us goodbye

I grabbed my bag out of my locker and closed it

"Let's fucking go" I told Montgomery

He grinned as we started walking towards one of the side exits