Weems didn't have proof. But she knew it was you.

It had been Outreach Day today in Jericho. The day when the Outcasts at Nevermore came down to volunteer around the community as a display of the peace between the Outcasts and the Normies. Peace, that was more akin to a fragile mutual neutrality, in which either side would thinly veil their detestation for the other, but neither would dare step across the invisible line.

But then there was you.

If there really was an invisible line, you didn't seem to acknowledge it. You were an Outcast who had joined Nevermore part way through the academic year due to.. special circumstances. And so far, you'd proved.. troublesome, to say the least. Headstrong and determined, you never shied away from making your opinions clear. Or from disobeying what you were told in favour of doing what you wanted. But this time, you'd taken it a step further.

On this Outreach day, the Mayor of Jericho had unveiled the new statue of Joseph Crackstone, the town's founder. Both Outcasts and Normies alike had gathered to watch. Larissa had needed a win with this event; but you had other plans. Plans that involved filling the fountain with gasoline and setting it ablaze. She didn't know how you'd done it. She had no concrete evidence that you had. But she knew.

That was why you now sat in her office, on the chair in front of her desk. Larissa paced in front of the fire, tension threatening to cut through the looming silence like a knife. She was absolutely seething; of course she was. This needed to be perfect. But instead, the Mayor was furious, and Nevermore had never looked worse. But she still had to be careful about how she regarded you. She was still the Principal, after all, and you were still her student.

"Would you care to explain what on Earth possessed you to do such a thing as setting fire to Crackstone's statue in front of everyone?"

Larissa eventually spoke up, her words laced with frustration and disappointment. She was angry of course, this made more work for her. But she also wanted you to do well here at Nevermore. She didn't want to have to resort to expulsion, but you were treading on very, very thin ice.