CHAPTER 52: My rap sheet will state fratricide

Dedicated to @HotLasagna for lovingly voting and commenting on each and every one of the chapters with her hilarious comments!! Seriously, thank you so much. And to all the readers as well, I freaking love you all for supporting this book so much :)♥

Note: Fratricide is the killing of one's brother. 😂😂

Rap sheet is a person's criminal record.

Okay, read on.

***

I always thought that my violent nature might as well land me in jail at least once, for a while. It's not that I think of myself as murderous, no, but considering I thrashed a girl – actually, the school's biggest contributor – my theory might just come true. Into the bargain, I'm conjuring up a plan to break into the Coach's office and steal the records.

No, borrow.

Yeah, I'm just borrowing the records and trying to prove my brother innocent.

As simple as that.

How I wish it was like that.

Caleb and I are currently seated on the bleachers, waiting for Jason to come as I messaged him a few minutes back to come and meet me urgently.

"Would you stop?" Caleb sighs and asks me, giving me a bored look.

"Stop what?" I snap.

"This." He points towards my bouncing knee and I place my sweaty hand on it.

"Are you nervous?"

"Me? Nervous? For me, no. For Jason, yes. This is an exciting thing to do and I'm all down for it." I smack my lips and give him a tight-lipped smile.

"Uh-huh. I believe you." He rolls his eyes and stands. "You're clearly panicking."

"You know," I stand as well and say, "panicking burns a shit ton of calories."

He furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head. "Who even says that?"

"Me. Now."

Caleb rolls his eyes and grabs my hand, pulling me out of the bleachers. "Come on, we are taking a walk to calm your nerves before Jason comes."

"Summer?"

Both our heads whip towards Jason, who has a scowl etched on his face and a bemused gaze stuck on mine and Caleb's hands. I pull away from Caleb, much to his dismay, and take careful steps towards my enraged brother.

"Hey, Jason." I muster a grin and wave at him.

"Why did you call me here? And what is he doing here?"

Uh oh. Hostility much?

"I'm here to save your ass," Caleb says, putting his hands in his pockets, and narrows his eyes at Jason.

Jason laughs out bitterly before turning towards me, "What the hell is he talking about?"

Moment of truth, Summer.

"Remember how you got stuck in this case of drugs and got kicked out of the soccer team?"

"Vividly." He rolls his eyes and retorts.

"Well, Caleb and I may have a way of getting you out of this mess."

"Hold on a second. You and Caleb? Together?"

"Mm-hmm." I close my eyes and nod.

"Why would this dick be helping you to save me? Unless he and Veronica have something up their sleeve." He glares at Caleb who also balls his fists at Jason's remark.

"Why does everyone have to think I'm with that stupid girl?"

"Jason, we are just trying to help here. Listen to the plan at least." I hold his shoulder and say.

"So, I think you know there is a CCTV camera outside the coach's office. Maybe the footage of that day may have captured the person who planted those drugs in your bag." I explain and glance at Caleb who nods his head at me, assuringly.

"But you know Coach won't listen to us, right?" Jason offers, disappointment evident in his hazel eyes.

"Well..."

"We are breaking in." Caleb finishes and I smack my forehead, rolling my eyes at his bluntness.

"What?" Jason exclaims, dropping his bag on the grass.

"That's the only way to prove you innocent and get you back on the team," I explain, sighing mentally since I knew this would be his reaction.

Good, old Jason.

"I don't want to get back on the team. Look, the principal excused me from expulsion so I'm lucky. If this doesn't go well and there is nothing in that footage, or worse, we get caught...then I think we both know what will happen next."

"But, if it goes well, then you will be back on the team and Veronica will also be exposed."

"This is all because of you!" He points towards Caleb who looks at him like he has lost all his sanity. "You brainwashed my sister into doing this, didn't you?"

"Jason, calm the fuck down. Caleb did not do or tell me anything. This was our idea."

"Why are you believing him in the first place?" Jason clicks his tongue and harshly glares at Caleb.

"Because I trust him."

"Listen, whether you are with us or not, we are breaking into that damn office. And that's final." I declare and walk away from him. I hear his footsteps align with mine before he holds my arm and stops me.

"Summer, think of this, please. This is not necessary at all. We've both been suspended already and adding this..." He shakes his head.

"I'm doing this for you. And well, to satisfy the criminal in me." I smirk at him.

"Couldn't control that criminal, huh?" He smiles.

"Nope. If it ends badly, then my rap sheet will at least be interesting. Broke into the school's record office." I grin and wiggle my eyebrows.

"I don't know about this, Summer." Jason looks down and mumbles.

"Jason, you either come with me or my rap sheet will state fratricide." I glare at him until he huffs and mumbles something incoherent.

"What was that?"

"I said, you're too violent for your own good."

"Tell me about it."

"So, how are we doing this?"

"Well-

"I did not ask you," Jason shouts as soon as Caleb opens his mouth, effectively shutting him. "I still don't trust you so you're not coming."

"Oh really?" Caleb takes a few steps towards us. "Well, how are you planning on getting in, captain?"

Jason clenches his jaw and turns away.

"That's right. Captains always have the office's spare key so if you want this back, you're gonna have to swallow your ego and bear with me." He dangles the key in front of Jason and starts walking ahead of us.

"Asshole."

I look around for anyone lurking around in the soccer field, lest we are caught before even trying to break in. Caleb wastes no time in unlocking the door and Jason quickly shuts it before my leg is even fully in.

"Ow! Stop acting like such a wuss, Jason." I hiss and rub my ankle. Caleb chuckles and shakes his head at Jason's behavior, muttering something along the lines of 'chicken'.

Oh no.

"What did you say, dickhead?" He advances towards Caleb until both are face-to-face.

Ugh. Why do boys have to be so...boyish?

"What you heard. Chicken."

"Move out of the way, girls." I sigh and walk in between them, shoving them on opposite sides of the room. I make my way towards the pristine and empty desk, save the computer.

"Hey, you two. If you are done shooting imaginary lasers at each other with your eyes, care to tell me if his computer is connected to the camera footages?"

"Yeah, you'll find a folder on his desktop. Isn't there a password, though?" Jason asks, standing to my left.

"Luckily, he left the computer switched on. Oh, here it is." I move the cursor towards the folder named 'CCTV' and I click it. Several footage videos appear, all labeled with the dates that they were captured on. I scroll down, searching for the date that is still prominent in my mind.

"Here, here." Caleb points and I click on the video. It finishes loading and first shows Coach entering his office early morning. I forward it a little until I see a figure open the door. My eyes widen and my gaze wavers between the two boys on both sides of me who are equally astonished at the scene unfolding in front of us. To some extent, I had prepared myself to witness Veronica do her shit and plant the drugs in Jason's bag. But, right now, actually seeing her rendered me speechless. The shock is still taking its time to settle in.

I gasp when I see her talking to Coach who holds an unreadable expression. She suddenly moves to the other side where he is sitting and seductively touches his arm.

"Oh my god." I move back and lean on the wall, my mind still reeling from the shock registering. What the fuck is she doing?

Jason meddles with the keys on the board and I can slowly hear the conversation taking place between them, albeit their voices are still a little low. Veronica continues pushing herself more and more towards Coach who suddenly looks kind of pale. I blink, trying to push the rising bile down my throat.

The things I have to do for Jason.

After a few minutes, I see Coach shaking her hand meekly while she gives him a sparling, million-dollar smile.

You can literally see the hearts in his eyes.

Veronica suddenly waves towards someone who now emerges from the camera frame and hands a packet to Coach.

No, no, no.

They exchange a few words and she advances towards the door frame. She turns back to Coach and throws him a flying kiss. Caleb and I both gag at the same time.

"I hope you understood your side of the deal, Coach. I'll see you later."

She sashays out of the office, her little accomplice following suit behind her. I recognize her as one of her stupid posse girls.

Coach soon enough starts scrutinizing the package before walking out of his office and entering the boys' locker room. He gets out after a few minutes, empty-handed.

No way.

I close my eyes, thoroughly ashamed for even considering him our coach. I turn towards Jason tentatively, not ready to take in his reaction. I mean, the guy took Coach very seriously and always respected him a lot. Having been stuck in such a humiliating case, that too at the hands of the man you respect is quite devastating and pretty much the shocker of the century.

"Jason..." I mutter and place my hand on his shoulder. He closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath, before snapping them open and standing up straight.

"Let's give this a bastard a taste of hell." He mutters before tightening his hold on his bag and getting out of the office.

"Are you okay?" I ask Caleb who looked a little ashen-faced himself. He sighs and nods, turning towards me.

"I'm okay. Jason, on the other hand, is not. The guy looked up to Coach a lot. I cannot believe Coach would do this. And for that bitch? Ugh." He punches the table angrily and begins breathing heavily.

"Come on. We have to show this to the principal." I take out my thumb drive from my pocket and shove it in the computer.

"Do you think he'll get angry at us? I don't want you two to get into more trouble."

"Relax, Caleb. That oldie better appreciate I upgraded his staff. He really should be keeping an eye on such bastards." I huff and drag Caleb out of the office before anyone could find us here. We rush to the principal's office, Jason still nowhere in sight.

"Hi, I really need to see the principal." I manage to speak out while panting.

Still unfit, I see.

"Has he called you?" The lady grumpily asks me and I shake my head, not really in the mood for any kind of formal bullshit.

"See you later, Miss. I-don't-know-your-name." I smile and run off towards the office, bursting through the doors with the thumb drive dangling from my fingers.

"Morning, sir."

"What is this? How can you just barge into my office?" He stands with a red-hot face.

Mm. Mood swings.

"We apologize for barging in but Summer has something really important to show you, sir," Caleb explains, a calm expression plastered on his face. Principal Coulson continues glaring at us but anyways signals for us to sit. I don't waste any time and I eagerly push the thumb drive into his hand, urging him to open it and see the video on it.

"May I ask, Miss Jones, what this is in reference to?"

I roll my eyes at his words and finally sit down.

"It's regarding my brother, Jason. And the reason why I amazingly beat up Veronica."

"Miss Jones!"

"Please, sir. Just watch the video. Summer, shut up." Caleb presses on and I glare at him for telling me to shut up. I kick his shoe underneath the table and he grunts.

"Why are you telling me to shut up? What the hell did I do wrong?" I whisper.

"At this rate, he will kick us out before even listening to us." He whispers back as I see Principal Coulson in the process of opening the video. He clicks on it and I hear the familiar shuffles and low conversations between Veronica and Coach Smith.

A few minutes later, all I can see are the principal's – obnoxiously huge – flaring nostrils.

"What is this nonsense?"

"What you just saw was Veronica bribing the coach to plant those drugs in Jason's bag. I don't think I need to explain with what." I grimace, nudging Caleb's arm to continue the explanation.

"You clearly observed how Coach entered the boys' locker room and put that packet in Jason's bag. I request you to take action against this, sir. The soccer team needs its captain back."

The doors suddenly fly open and our heads whip towards the two people standing there. Jason angrily holds Coach Smith who currently has a busted lip and looks like he will pass out any second.

"I believe you know everything by now, Principal Coulson," Jason mutters before pushing Coach Smith towards us.

"Mr. Smith, how could you do this? You're a teacher, for god's sake. Oh, what has this institution come to?" Principal Coulson sighs and adjusts his glasses furiously.

"You don't even deserve a chance to explain yourself, Mr. Smith. Demeaning your own student for your personal benefits? You're fired! Get out of my office, now!"

I raise my eyebrows, surprised and amused at how his belly moves when he shouts.

Wow, what a way to handle serious situations, Summer.

"I don't know where to begin from, Mr. Jones. I apologize for the inconvenience you had to go through but you must also know this was not intentional. I think your team will be happy to take you back." Principal Coulson speaks as he gets back to his high chair.

"It's okay, sir. I understand. Thank you."

"As for you two, where did you get this tape from?" He steeples his fingers, exhibiting an interrogative and suspicious expression. I bite my lip and look at the ceiling.

"Uh, we broke into his office...?" I mumble.

"Knowing that was wrong?"

"Um, yes. Look, sir, whatever we did was for the right intentions. We just wanted to save my brother, that's all. You cannot suspend me again!" I exclaim.

The principal just stares at the three of us, his blank face showing no emotion.

"Relax, Miss Jones. I will not suspend you. I fired Mr. Smith and as for Miss Veronica, I will deal with her case personally."

Oh, yes. That tone did not sound so good.

Time to celebrate.

"But," No, I hate buts. "you also broke into a teacher's office. So the much I can punish you with is detention."

I roll my eyes at that torturous name but gladly take it considering it's the principal punishing me.

I mean, the guy can hang you on his wall.

"Thank you for your attempts at proving your brother innocent. We rarely have risk-takers in this institution." A hint of a smile flickers on his lips and I grin at that.

"Thank you!"

"You are free to go."

We excitedly – okay, only me - get out of his office and sigh in relief.

"Welcome back, captain," Caleb smirks and nudges Jason's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah." Jason mumbles.

"I'll just regret not knocking that bitch's teeth off," I say while shaking my head, bringing my fists together playfully.

"You're too violent for your own good," Caleb says while chortling.

"Tell me about it."