Finding Faith

by Anthony Lampe

  “I can’t believe you’d do something this reckless,” Uncle Billy said from the driver’s seat of his car.

  Andrew sulked back in the passenger seat and just stared out the window as they left Bottom Grove. The morning had been a little rushed, since him and his uncle both needed to be at the high school at eight o’clock.

  During breakfast, while Andrew was alone eating cereal, Angela had come into the kitchen. When she looked at him, he glanced away. He knew what she wanted to ask him, but he did not feel like talking about it. Andrew would already need to state his case and claim his innocence to his principal, and he did not want to get into the drama at home with his sister first.

  Uncle Billy had woken up after Andrew was ready to head out the door, which was Andrew’s plan. Be ready, stay as silent as possible, and save it all for the principal.

  Despite Uncle Billy’s attempts at breaking his silence, Andrew shrugged off his comments and focused on what he was going to say in the office. He felt that he would only get one chance at this, and he did not want to lose his cool.

  “I have better things to do, you know,” his uncle said coldly.

  Like what exactly? Andrew thought dismissively. Anyways, this isn’t my idea of fun either.

  As they got closer to the school, Andrew felt his heart beating faster. He rolled down the window to feel the cool breeze outside, which seemed to help some. Since it was a Saturday, the parking lot was nearly empty. His uncle parked the car close to the school and they walked to the main entrance.

  When they stepped into the lobby, Andrew sighed as he pointed towards the right. He looked at the open doorway ahead and saw the principal seated at his desk. As they approached, the middle-aged man with graying hair and a blue suit stood up.

  “You can come inside,” the principal said.

  Once through the doorway, Andrew noticed another man in a chair to the side of the principal’s desk. His dark hair was short, he wore a casual blue polo shirt and black pants, and there was a curious look on his face.

  The man behind the desk came forth and greeted them with a firm handshake. “I am Principal Hart, and this is Senior Counselor Robertson.”

  “Good morning,” Robertson said as he shook their hands.

  As the principal closed the door and returned to his chair, he motioned for them to take a seat in front of the desk. Once everyone was seated, the principal said, “Gentlemen, we are all here because of the vandalism at Westview High School.”

  Uncle Billy turned towards Andrew and shook his head with anger as he looked at him with judging eyes. Andrew ignored him and tapped his foot lightly on the ground out of nervousness and fear.

  “Andrew,” Principal Hart continued, “I heard the police report and have spoken with the Westview principal this morning about the vandalism of their school. I know what happened, and that you were there last night. These are very serious allegations and this meeting, along with Principal Thorton’s decision, will determine if charges will be pressed and what the outcome will be. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” Andrew replied quietly.

  “Very well.” Thorton rested his fingertips on his temples. “Please tell us exactly what happened at Westview High School last night.”

  Andrew looked down for a moment to gather his thoughts. “I was at the Grove High football game and afterwards, my friends—I mean, I went to Westview High School just to check it out, when—”

  Principal Hart’s cold stare made Andrew shift in his seat and lose focus.

  “I know you are feeling nervous,” Counselor Robertson said kindly. “It is extremely important that you are honest about everything that occurred, so we can better understand.”

  The principal nodded and said, “Right. We know more than you may think we do, so I would strongly encourage you to just come right out and tell us everything. The reality is that you could be suspended, or even expelled. Your side of the story, your insights may prevent anything that severe from taking place.”

  Andrew thought about how the guys would react if he sold them out. Then he remembered how they left him stranded at the school to take the blame. They never even called him at home to see if he ever made it back there and if he was okay.

  “Alright,” Andrew said with resignation, “this is what actually happened last night. After the football game, I got back into my friend Johnny McPherson’s car along with Max Stevens and Shawn Wright. Darren was in his car, and we started following him. Now, we were confused when he stopped at Daniel’s Hardware Store and he bought something secret. After we reached Westview High School, Darren told us that we were there to tag the school with spray paint.”

  “Darren Dunlap?” Principal Hart said looking unsurprised. “He’s the football player from our team, correct?”

  “Yeah,” Andrew said swallowing hard. Darren was never going to forgive him for selling him out.

  The principal nodded to the counselor who was already writing all of this down on a legal pad.

  “And, what did everyone do when they found out what Darren had planned?” the principal asked.

  “Well,” Andrew replied, “Johnny, Max, and Shawn were all hesitant at first, but then they took the spray cans and started tagging the outside of the building near the dumpsters and along the wall towards the football field. Darren wanted me to sneak through a window and go around to the exit door to let him inside.”

  Andrew paused and narrowed his eyes. That really made him sound bad. But how could he phrase it so as not to sound bad?

  “And you agreed to do that?” Principal Hart asked shrewdly.

  “I didn’t know what else to do,” he said trying to garner sympathy. “I’ve never been there before, and if I didn’t go along with it, I’m not sure what they would have done. If they turned on me, it would have been four against one. I wouldn’t have stood a chance. So, yes, I agreed to enter the school. Darren lifted me through an opened restroom window, but when I made it down the hallway to the exit door; I saw that it was protected by a security system. I told Darren that I couldn’t let him inside without setting off the alarm.”

  “What did he say after that?” Principal Hart continued to stare hard at Andrew.

  “Darren told me to tag the inside of the school,” Andrew said, “and then escape back through the restroom window.”

  “And that’s when the night janitor caught you ready to spray the wall?” The principal glanced over briefly at the counselor.

  Andrew replied, “No, I mean, yes that’s when the janitor saw me, but I wasn’t going to spray the wall. I didn’t want to vandalize the school at all, but I couldn’t return back to Darren with an unused spray can. So, I was going to spray half of it into a trash can to use up some of the paint.”

  Principal Hart glanced at Counselor Robertson again, and then said, “Just to make it clear, are you stating that you did not vandalize the school at all? It was just your friends?”

  “Yes,” Andrew said in relief, “although I know now that they are not really my friends.”

  Uncle Billy looked at Andrew then the principal and said, “Well, you heard the boy, he didn’t do it. He is a good boy really.”

  Andrew looked at Billy in surprise. He is actually trying to support me now?

  The principal leaned forward and said pointedly, “Andrew still trespassed.”

  “Please,” Andrew said, “I was driven there. I didn’t choose to go to Westview. I couldn’t leave because that’s miles from my home and I wouldn’t possibly have known my way back.”

  Principal Hart sat back in his chair and shook his head. “So, you gave in to peer pressure. You took what seemed like the easy way out. Andrew, I appreciate your honesty and you clarifying many details, especially about what your classmates had done. I hope in the future you can make better decisions in tough situations. I’m going to speak to Principal Thorton this weekend and continue the investigation.”

  “So, what does this m
ean?” Andrew asked fearfully. “What’s going to happen to me?”

  Uncle Billy leaned forward and said heavily concerned, “Could he really get expelled for this?”

  “It is entirely possible,” Principal Hart said. “Andrew, this investigation is confidential and it would be in your best interest not to talk to anyone about it, especially those involved.”

  Andrew nodded tiredly. Nothing had been resolved.

  “Mr. Jensen, thank you for coming,” the principal said to Billy. “Andrew, I expect you in my office a half hour before school starts on Monday, and I’ll let you know our decision.”

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