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âMr van der Woodsen, if you would do us the extraordinary pleasure of staying here with your mind instead of looking out the window dreaming about sunny days, could you read the first sentences of chapter five, please?â his French teacher said with dripping sarcasm. Eric quickly changed his gaze to his book, sat up a little straighter and cleared his throat before he started reading. âLa vie intĂ©rieure de M. Myriel Ă©tait pleine des mĂȘmes pensĂ©es que sa vie publique. Pour qui eĂ»t pu la voir de prĂšs, câeĂ»t Ă©tĂ© un spectacle grave et charmant que cette pauvretĂ© volontaire dans laquelle vivait M. lâĂ©vĂȘque de Digne,â he started in a monotonous voice. âYes, thatâs enough,â the teacher interrupted him. âNow, class, when we read this sentence about the the way M. Myriel thinks about life and the people in his town, âŠ.â
Eric drifted off again, still tired and slightly hungover from last night. He should probably be angry at Tom, or at least feel uncomfortable about the whole situation, but in reality, it just made him laugh. Yesterday evening, when Thomas was with him, heâd been nagging about the whole drinking thing again. Tom probably didnât even know he was being a pain in the ass, asking normal questions, but for Eric, they were hard to think about, and even harder to answer. Somehow during the evening, however, Eric had been able to convince Tom that itâd be okay for him to drink tonight, because Tom was there. At first, of course, Tom had declined and said he wasnât going to let him drink, ânot on my watchâ, as heâd so confidently exclaimed, but a bit later, Eric was happily holding a bottle. He couldnât really remember at what point Tom had decided to drink along, or what had caused the two boys to think that they could break in at St. Judeâs in the middle of the night, but Eric had felt invincible last night, and it had seemed like a fun thing to do.
So out theyâd gone, both laughing and happy and planning to break into their school. Eric still didnât know how either of their drunk asses had been able to somehow end up in the library, because from what he remembered, he could barely stand up straight at that point. They never planned to take something or break things, of course, it had just been about the thrill of sneaking in. And so, once theyâd managed to get into the library, and once theyâd stumbled around a bit, theyâd left the same way they got in; through a tiny window in the back.
What the guys hadnât thought of, however, were the cameraâs on the courtyard. They werenât the best of the best, especially not in the dark, but they did catch a silhouette if there was someone running over the courtyard. And while Eric had stayed close to the bushes to make sure he wouldnât fall over, Thomas hadnât done the same. He wiggled from one side to the other that night, enjoying the drunk life.
All of this was a blur to Eric though, and he thought theyâd managed to pull it off, so his penny didnât immediately drop when Tomâs seat was empty in class. However, when first period was over and there was still no sign of the guy, Eric walked up to one of their friends. âHave you seen Tom?â he asked him, still not worried in the slightest. However, Ericâs eyes widened in shock when he heard the answer. âTom? Oh yeah, he was taken to the principalâs office this morning.â
This wasnât good. If Tom was caught for running around on school property at night, then he could get expelled. Tom already had a bit of a bad record. Not that he was such a rebel, it were usually small things, but this added to all those things would surely get him in serious trouble. Eric rushed to the principalâs office immediately and didnât even bother to check in with the secretary, but then right before he was about to burst through the door, he tried to compose himself a bit more. Play it smart, he thought to himself. He knocked on the door and politely waited to open it until he heard the Mr Prescott say âcome inâ.
âVan der Woodsen?â the principal asked in surprise when Eric walked in. With his straight A record and involvement in the school, Eric was usually only here for good things. He looked at the sight in front of him and saw Tom sitting in the chair in front of the principalâs desk, and Tomâs phone on said desk, along with a laptop on which you could see a paused image of a silhouette on the courtyard. âIt was me,â Eric said without blinking. âIâm sorry?â the principal asked confused. Thomas looked up at him in surprise as well, but Eric kept his gaze on the principal. He pointed at the laptop screen and walked closer. âThe one who was at school last night.. It was me, not Thomas,â he repeated, as if heâd rehearsed this a hundred times already. Lying was coming easy to him these days. âOh really?â the principal asked sarcastically. âThen please, Mr van der Woodsen, elaborate. Tell me why the librarian found Mr Sparksâ phone on the ground near the open window, and not yours.â
Shit, Eric thought to himself. He hadnât thought of that. But then he realized, his excuse didnât have to be believable, it just had to make sense. âOh thatâs easy. See, Tom was staying over because we were working on a paper, but a bit after midnight I wasnât seeing straight anymore from all the work, so I told Tom Iâd go take a walk. My phone was dead, however, so he gave me his to lend, in case I needed to call someone, I mustâve dropped it when I climbed in,â he said, knowing that what he said wasnât completely logical, but going with it anyway. âAnd why did you decide to break in, if you were only going for a walk?â the principal questioned. Eric knew that if he said âbecause I was drunk,â heâd get in real trouble. âIt was for a bet. I was supposed to do it a while ago, but I was scared. But yesterday I thought.. to hell with it. Tom doesnât know about a thing, the bastard went to sleep so I had to wake up my sister to get into the house,â he said including a little thing like that to make his lie more convincing.
Mr. Prescott seemed to ponder over that for a minute, thinking of what heâd do, but then he seemed to agree that as long as he caught someone, it didnât really matter who it was. âAlright, Sparks, youâre free to go,â he said dismissing him. Thomas looked over at Eric once more, and then for the first time spoke as well. âEric..â he said, but before he could continue, Eric cut him off. âIâll see you after school,â he simply said. Both of them knew that Eric would get less trouble for this then Tom, so the latter stood up, took his jacket off the chair and walked out. âNow, Mr van der Woodsen, letâs start from the beginning again, before we decide your punishment, yes?â the principal said without any emotion.
