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"I don't think so Ms. Roxie. You are in some serious trouble." Mr. Wellington said moving to keep her from leaving, "Have a seat on the bleachers." Everyone else in the class was breaking off into groups and whispering to themselves. A few of the cheerleaders went over to Gemini and asked if she was alright. Another cheerleader actually congratulated her for slapping Roxie.

Soon a clack of heels could be heard and the principal walked in. "Alright. What is going on here?! I was in the middle of a meeting with some parents when I was rudely interrupted by a boy dripping wet." Mrs. O'Malley said walking into the room, "All I got out of him was someone had drowned. Mr. Wellington I expect some answers."

Mr. Wellington paled a little but stood tall. "You see we had swim class today and near the end we did a race between Roxie and Gemini. After the race I called everyone to the shallow end to make some announcements. It wasn't until another boy came into the room, I believe it's that Conan boy, and jumped into the pool did I realize something was wrong. Nergüi had somehow fallen into the pool. She wasn't responsive and I had to perform CPR. When she woke up she told Conan that Roxie pushed her in and that Roxie knew she couldn't swim. Everyone knew in fact.... I notified everyone on Friday and someone blurted it out again today."

Mrs. O'Malley nodded and looked at Roxie. "I'll speak to Conan and Nergüi in a bit. I assume they are at the nurse's office? Good. Glad to see someone has some sense. Ms. Roxie. My office now." She then looked at the class, "Those responsible for this will be held accountable. As I'm sure Ms. Roxie wasn't alone in this." She was pointedly looking at the ashamed looking swim girls.

~~~~~~ Nurse's office

"Well she appears to okay for now. She'll probably have a very sore throat so I suggest you don't speak Nergüi. You should have your guardian take you to your regular doctor or the hospital to get a thorough exam. Rest now until she comes get you." The nurse said moving off to deal with an upset stomach kid.

Conan nodded and thanked the nurse. He then sat down next to Nergüi. "I would ask you what happened but she just said not to talk." He paused, "Good thing we ran into Kristopher on the way here. He should be getting Blue by now."

Nergüi nodded and laid back. She wouldn't talk unless she absolutely had to. Her throat so bad. Her eyes were red from the chlorine and crying. She hated that she had cried in front of everyone. Soon her eyes were closing as she drifted off.

Mr. Wellington called the class to order as Roxie and the principal left. "Everyone is to get changed if they haven't already and report back to the gym!" He called out, "You will go about your classes as normal but don't be surprised if you get called down to the principal's office. This is a very serious event and as Mrs. O'Malley said those who were involved will be found out and held accountable." He paused for a moment and looked at the entire class. "You can make it easier on yourself and the rest of us if you come clean now and tell me. I'm sure Mrs. O'Malley will look favorably on that and won't punish you as severely."

~~~~~ Office next to Principle's Office

Mrs. O'Malley paused inside the main office next to hers. "Wait here Ms. Roxie." She said pointing to a seat near her office. She then went to the secretary and lowered her voice. "I need you to call Ms. Roxie's parents and tell them their daughter was involved in a serious event at school and they need to come down here immediately. ..... Also tell them that Ms. Roxie is not harmed but in serious trouble. I'll also need you to call Nergui's guardian Blue and have her come as well. Nergui has been in a serious accident and may need more medical attention then what our nurse can give..... in fact I'm off to the nurse's office to get Nergui's side of the story and see how she is doing." With that the principle left the office heading for the nurse's office. The secretary meanwhile began placing the calls.

Mr. Wellington wasn't surprised to see the girls who hung out with Roxie head into the coach's office. He listened to their confession and nodded. "Well then you girls better get changed, grab your things, and head to the office. Mrs. O'Malley will want to hear all of this." He said dismissing them. So it turned out that Nergui had egged on Roxie a bit but it didn't seem enough for what Roxie did. He sighed and walked towards the gym to wait for class to end.

~~~~ Nurse's office

Mrs. O'Malley walked in and looked for the nurse. "How is she doing?" She whispered when she found the nurse. She listened to the nurse say that Nergui appeared to be okay but should go to the hospital for a follow up exam and that she was resting now. "Alright." She replied and then walked over to Nergui, "I'm sorry to have to bother you but I need to know what happened and what lead up to you drowning."

Conan looked up when the principle walked in and frowned. She must be here to ask questions but Nergui shouldn't talk with how sore her throat is. But there was nothing he could do.

Nergui opened her eyes when she felt another presence by her. She saw the principle there and nodded. "I....." She paused to cough and to clear her throat some but that only made it hurt more, "I had been hearing the rumors that Roxie was spreading about Gemini. Nasty things that shouldn't be said. So I decided to do something about it. I made a bet with Roxie to get her to take back all the things she had said and to not say another thing bad about Gem. We would race but since I can't swim I would get a proxy. I made Gem my proxy hoping that having her race people would see how great she really is. Gem won the race and everyone accepted her and cheered her on. When Mr. Wellington...." She paused to get a small drink of water. "Mr. Wellington called everyone to the shallow end and Roxie and her swim team friends pushed me in. Conan fished me out......and Mr. Wellington preformed CPR."

Mrs. O'Malley listened intently and frowned when Nergui was done. "So this all started over a bet. I know you had good intentions but you should have gone to a teacher or a adult about the rumors. We could have handled this more properly." She said. So not only was Roxie in the wrong but Nergui was too. But was it enough to punish Nergui? She didn't think so as Nergui hadn't done anything harmful to another and besides the kids made bets all the time. "Thank you for telling me what happened. I have to talk to Roxie now and speak to hers and your parents." With that she left the room and headed back to her office.

Mrs. O'Malley walked into the office shortly after the group of girls. She didn't see Gemini or she would have stopped and asked her about the bet and race. She saw the group of girls and figured that they had something to do with the swimming incident. "Ms. Roxie in my office please." She opened her door and held it open, "Time to here your side. I do believe your parents will be here soon." No sooner than she had said that and taken a seat behind her desk was her secretary knocking and announcing Roxie's parents were here. "Let them in. They can hear what Ms. Roxie has to say."

Roxie's parents walked in. "What is going on!?" Her father demanded as soon as he was in the room, "We both got a call saying Roxie had been involved in a serious incident but wasn't hurt. I demand to know what happened!" Her mother on the other hand rushed over to Roxie and began looking her over making sure she wasn't hurt. "Where did this hand print come from?! Who hurt my baby!?"

Mrs. O'Malley instantly regretted allowing them in. "Mr. and Mrs. Welburn I need you both to calm down. I am about to ask Roxie to tell us her side of the story of what happened. I already talked to the girl who had been pushed into the pool and drowned. We're lucky she's alive. Now Ms. Roxie. Tell us what happened."

~~~ In the school/Nurse's office

Blue rushed into the school after Kris flew her over from her work. "Where is that dang nurse's office.... WHY ARE THERE SO MANY KIDS IN THE HALLS?!" She all but shouted in rage/impatience/worry. She was given many stares by the kids changing classes but they all cleared the way as she stormed through the halls. Kris directed her to the nurse's office.

"Nergui!" She said in relief as she spotted her deer dream, "How are you? Are you okay? What happened?" The nurse quickly explained about Nergui's condition and how she should get a further check up. Then Nergui explained what happened. "Conan watch her. I'm going to the principle and I am getting something done about this. After that it's to the hospital. You missy are getting checked out." Conan had to nod and obey as well as Nergui. When Blue left to storm her way to the principle's office they exchanged a look. Kris had only stopped in to check on Nergui and had to follow after Blue to make sure she didn't get lost in the school.

Mrs. O'Malley rubbed the bridge of her nose as Roxie began. "Ms. Roxie. Surely more happened that just that. Let's start from the beginning shall we." She said, "And I want only the truth from you."

Mr. Welburn huffed some. "Clearly our Roxie would never do something like push someone into a pool. It's certainly not her fault someone nearly drowned. If you would push for these kids to learn how to swim something like this would have never happened!" He shouted.

Mrs. Welburn cooed over Roxie, tears filling her eyes. "Oh my poor poor baby. We'll make sure this get all cleared up. I know you would never so something like this."

Blue had finally made it to the office, after going in the wrong direction and having to had Kris practically drag her in the right direction. She stood outside the principle's office and took a seat after a minute. The secretary said to wait until the principle was done questioning the students involved.

Kris stayed out of the office and instead noticed a small group forming. It was quite silent and near the middle of it was Gemini. He walked over, flexed his wings and glared at all the other students. "Scram! Don't you have classes to be attending!?" He watched as many of the scattered and he turned to Gem. "So I heard you hit her..... and that you haven't seen Nergui yet."

Mrs. O'Malley had expected such a tale from Roxie. "Thank you Roxie. From what I've heard from the nurse Nergui is going to be okay. She may have to spend some time at the hospital but she'll recover." She said, "Now if you and your parents would mind stepping outside, I have some other students to speak to about this."

Roxie's parents were about to protest and say more but Mrs. O'Malley had already stood and opened her door. "Girls if you would come in. Ah Blue. I'll be with you in a few minutes." Once Roxie and her parents were out and the girls in she sat back down. "Now girls, I want you to tell me what happened from the beginning one at a time. Tell me the truth now."

Kris saw her nod and frowned. Why hadn't she had gone to see Nergui yet, especially if she wanted to know if she was okay. "She's fine for now. Blue is going to take her up to the hospital after this to get a full check up." He said after a minute, "If you care so much, why not go see her yourself? It's not like she's going to bite your head off. It's her own fault this happen. All she did was make you one of her tools for her plan."

Mrs. O'Malley nodded and dismissed the girls. They would all be suspended for their part for several days. She sat in her office for a moment, rubbing the bridge of her nose, and sighed. So far all of the stories matched up besides Roxie's. Maybe she would change her tune if she could talk to her with out her parents.... but that would be seriously impossible. She stood up and opened the door. "If you would come back in Mr. and Mrs. Welburn and Ms. Roxie." She waited until they were in and closed the door. "Now then I've spoken to everyone involved and all of the stories match up besides one. Now then Ms. Roxie I want you to know the seriousness of this all. What happened to Ms. Nergui is a very serious offense. It could get someone suspended or even expelled. Are you sure that what you told me is correct, the truth?"

Mr. Welburn puffed up at that suggestion. "Are you saying that my daughter lied!? She would never do such a thing! I don't even see how you could be accusing her of doing something like that! What kind of place is this?! Why the board will hear about this!"

"MR. WELBURN!" Mrs. O'Malley quietly yet sternly said, "I am trying to get all the facts. So far only Ms. Roxie's story hasn't matched up, which leads me to believe that she is lying to me about what happened. Nergui and those girls who helped pushed her in said that it was Roxie who had done it, even knowing that Nergui couldn't swim due to her nature."

Outside of the room Blue heard the rising voices and began tapping her foot. Finally growing tired of waiting she opened the door and walked in. "Mrs. O'Malley I waited patiently but I have to get Nergui to the hospital as soon as possible and I would like to know what is being done to punish the one who nearly killed my ward!"

"Ms. Blue....." Mrs. O'Malley sighed, "Yes your right. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. In light of what I've heard from those involved I would have to say that suspension is highly possible."

Kris looked at Gem for a moment before laughing out loud, like fully blown laughing with his head thrown back. In fact his laugh made several passing students look at him and then quickly rush away. It even made a teacher think twice about asking them what they were doing out of class. "That's priceless. Gem the guardian of Nergui." He said finally calming down, "You know you aren't her keeper. She's a big girl and she can look after herself. She doesn't need you to be watching her every step. So get rid of that little notion."

"Girls you can go to the secretary and she'll give you your suspension notices to take home. I expect you to finish today up with no more trouble." Mrs. O'Malley said when Roxie began to try to talk to the guilty girls.

"Suspension?! I hope you are kidding. For what that girl did I would think a expulsion is more likely." Blue said outraged. And when that Roxie girl began wailing she wanted to slap the kid. It seemed she got no discipline from her parents.

"Oh don't worry Roxie dear. They won't expel you." Mrs. Welburn said to her daughter then she turned on Blue and yelled, "Roxie did nothing wrong. It's that... that dirty beast's fault. You should have taught her to swim like any responsible parent!"

"MRS. WELBURN! There is no call for that kind of name calling!" Mrs. O'Malley shouted in shock.

Blue froze when she heard the words out of Mrs. Welburn's mouth. "Nergui is not a dirty beast, you bigoted.... bigoted person!" She certainly wouldn't swear in front of a kid, "And you should be thanking your lucky star I'm not pressing charges or suing you for what your daughter did!"

"Now see here! You can't talk to my wife that way!" Mr. Welburn said rather loudly, "You just need to see the fact that your.... your child was in the wrong and is just trying to blame ours out of simple spite." Mrs. Welburn however had stepped away from her daughter and next to Blue. Next thing you knew her hand was flying and a loud slap could be hear. "How dare you!" She shouted.

Blue's head rocked back before she could even think of a reply to Mr. Welburn. She had been slapped quite hard by his wife and she barely heard Mrs. O'Malley yelling for Mrs. Welburn to calm herself and to step away from Blue. However that never happened as Blue hand went from rising up to her stinging cheek to curling up into a fist. It was soon connecting to Mrs. Welburn's face sending her down to the ground.

"How dare I?! HOW DARE YOU! You can now expect to hear from the police about this as well as my lawyer! I swear if you and your rotten family come any where near my family I will have you thrown in jail!!" And with that she stormed out of the room, nearly ran into Kristopher, and snapped at him, "Come on we're leaving." And then she was storming towards the nurse's office to get Nergui and Conan.

"No you don't get it. You don't have to worry over Nergui like that even if you are friends. What you should be doing is visiting her....." Kristopher stopped when the heated voices began to grow louder. He walked towards the door but had to stop when he saw through the window that Blue had been slapped..... and then punched the offending lady. "Wow....." He was in awe. He never knew Blue could do that. And soon was she was running into him and stalking through the halls to the nurse's office. He quickly followed leaving Gem all alone, having forgotten her in the aftermath.