PART 8
"Lessons"
"Mr. Abrams, you stand before the High Council, accused of cheating on the time honoured tradition of the football team's initiation. How do you plead?" asked Kyle Travis, the Class President and leader of the High Council.
"Not guilty." I said through gritted teeth.
I was so angry that it was hard to contain myself. The night of the party, Vivian and I had sex in my friend Eric's van. And in doing so, I should've passed the Initiation, but, for some reason, I didn't. Maybe one of my fellow new recruits had made up some sort of ridiculous story that made it seem as though I had cheated.
"Not guilty?" asked Kyle, sounding a little surprised.
"I thought I followed the rules of the Initiation exactly. I don't understand why I'm even here." I explained slowly.
"Then allow me to explain," said a voice in the back of the class, "Your Honour, my name is Ryan West and I am one of the new recruits to the football team, like Mr. Abrams here."
Looks like I was right. Ryan probably accused me in the hopes that I'd quit the team out of shame if I was found guilty, leaving a spot on the team available.
"Permission to approach the bench?" asked Ryan, walking forward through the desks.
Kyle nodded and beckoned him forward.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have barring evidence that I believe can prove that Mr. Abrams cheated to pass the Initiation." said Ryan, opening up his backpack and pulling out a large envelope.
"You lying son of a--" I began, but didn't finish after I heard Kyle bang his gavel three times.
"Mr. Abrams, please hold all arguments until Mr. West states his case in full." said Kyle.
"Thank you, Your Honour," said Ryan, puffing out his scrawny chest pompously before opening the envelope, "Exhibit A. Mr. Abrams admitted before the High Council that he brought the cheerleader he chose into the van of Mr. Ostreicher."
"The record confirms that." said Kyle, urging Ryan to continue.
"Now, had Mr. Abrams been paying attention, he would have known that he was supposed to take the cheerleader into one of the many "Sex Shacks" that the rest of the team had prepared ahead of time."
The jury, as well as everyone in the audience started whispering and muttering under their breath.
"Exhibit B," said Ryan, taking a disposable camera out of his envelope, "This is the camera that was given to Mr. Abrams so that he could take a picture of himself in the act to prove that he actually did make it to at least 3rd base with his chosen cheerleader."
Ryan was holding the camera at a certain angle so that everyone in the room could see the small dial at the top of the camera that shows how many more pictures you can take.
"As you can see, there is still one shot left on this camera. When this camera was given to him, it had only one shot left."
"Crank the wheel on the camera you idiot. Then we'll see whose lying." I barked, resisting the urge to throttle the little weasel.
"Mr. Abrams is right, Ryan. Maybe he just forgot to turn the wheel. If you're right, then it won't move." said Kyle.
"Alright, if you say so." said Ryan.
Ryan's finger moved over the wheel, and I waited to hear the clicking as it moved. But nothing came.
"It's not moving. Care to verify it, Your Honour?" asked Ryan, handing Kyle the camera.
Kyle tried to turn the wheel, but it wouldn't budge, confirming Ryan's accusation. That made no sense. I know I took a picture of Vivian and I together. I might not have wound the wheel, but I definitely took a picture.
"Exhibit C," said Ryan, shaking the last item out of his envelope, "This is the picture that Mr. Abrams provided the team to use as proof. They were willing to pass him, but after I saw it, I knew that in order to keep the competition fair, I would have to step forward."
Ryan held up the picture. But I couldn't see anything on it.
"Mr. Abrams. Let me tell you what I think happened that night," said Ryan, smirking, "You chose a cheerleader to spend the evening with and seduced her. You then brought her into your friend's van, which you must have known was not an approved location for the test. Then once there, you used your own camera, maybe the one on your phone, to take this picture. But you were in a hurry and forgot to use the flash feature."
There was a period of silence, during which the jury and the students in the stands started murmuring to each other quietly.
Thank you, Mr. West," said Kyle, seriously, before turning to face me. "Mr. Abrams, if you can disprove his statement, please do so now."
"Don't mind if we do!" said another voice from the back of the class.
I turned around and saw my best friend, Eric Ostreicher. He was walking down the aisle with Vivian Eckhart, my... almost girlfriend.
"Your Honour, we are here to act as witnesses to help confirm Mr. Abrams' statement." said Vivian, sitting in the chair to my left.
"Don't worry buddy, that asshole has been trying to join the team since freshman year; he's all talk." said Eric, sitting in the chair to my right.
"Very well then." said Kyle, urging me on.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, everything Mr. West has said is a complete lie. He set this whole thing up to frame me. And I can prove it."
Ryan had been about to say something, and I'm pretty sure I beat him to it.
"Eric, uh, I mean, Mr. Ostreicher, did the rules of the Initiation say that I HAD to use one of the Sex Shacks?" I asked.
"No. The Sex Shacks were completely optional. Mr. Abrams did everything that needed to be done in order to pass the Initiation. He picked his cheerleader, he was within the time limit and he used the camera we provided him." said Eric.
"Then why is the camera still full?" asked Ryan.
"It isn't, that's a different camera. It's probably the one we gave you, but since you failed the Test, you never had to use it." said Eric.
"And as for whether or not I really made it to at least 3rd base with my cheerleader, well, just ask her yourself." I said.
"So, you chose the Nun, did you?" asked Ryan, "Well, alright then... Ms. Eckhart, did you and Mr. Abrams have sex in that van for the purposes of the Test?
Vivian froze with fear. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead a little squeak came out. I gently grabbed her hands and looked her right in the eye, hoping to calm her down, but she was petrified. Whether she didn't like being under pressure or whether she didn't want everyone to know about us was irrelevant. She was too scared to admit it.
"I see," said Kyle, standing up, "We will take a quick break so that the jury can make its decision."
"I'm s-s-sorry, Xander..." said Vivian, "I blew it. All I would've had to say was "Yes" and I couldn't do it."
"Don't worry about it, Eric made some really good points," I said, "We can still win this."
But then Kyle and the jury returned ten minutes later looking solemn. It seemed that Eric's argument wasn't good enough...
"We, the students of the jury find Mr. Abrams guilty of all charges!" said one of them.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Abrams, but he has too much proof," said Kyle, "There's nothing we could do."
Ryan walked over to me and whispered in my ear.
"How'd you like a second chance to pass the test?" he whispered, "But this time, I'll be picking the cheerleader and the location for you, so there'll be no funny business this time."
"There was no funny business last time either and you know it." I said.
"Yeah, but that's not worth anything now that I've proven you to be guilty." He said.
"But I'm not!" I said, angrily.
"Tell it to someone who cares." said Ryan.
"Like me?" asked Eric, tapping Ryan on the shoulder.
Ryan turned around and Eric punched him right in the face.
"I accept your challenge, Ryan. Just tell me when and where."
"The detention room on the top floor, 5:00pm." groaned Ryan, getting back to his feet.
"Isn't that the one you can see into from the hall?" I asked, confused.
"That won't be a problem, will it?" asked Ryan.
"No, of course not." I said.
"Good to hear," said Ryan, moving his hands away from his face, revealing a large black eye, "Then I'll see you there."
"You know, that black eye suits you. Would you like another one?" teased Eric.
Ryan took off running, no doubt going to set things up for later.
"How the hell did that guy make the team?" I asked.
"We just let him think he did for a while so that he'd shut up," said Eric, "I never thought he'd have the balls to do something like this though."
"He must think you'll let him back in if there's an opening." I said.
"In his dreams..." said Eric, "That guy sucks at football. The only reason we even pretended he was on the team was to humiliate him when he failed the Initiation."
"How did he do at it anyway?" I asked.
"He bought a blow-up doll and took a picture of him doing it," said Eric, "He can't be that smart if he actually thought we'd fall for that."
"Xander, you're not really going to do what he wants, are you?" asked Vivian.
"Of course I am," I said, "He's up to something, and I want to know what it is."
"But what if it ends up being another one of his tricks?" asked Vivian.