But when he lowers the ice pack and I see the swollen, bruised skin around his eye, I lose all my cool.
I kneel down in front of him and pull him into my arms, squeezing him tight. Tears sting my eyes. “Are you okay?”
His voice is muffled against my shoulder. “I’m okay.”
“What happened?” I pull back and cradle his face in my hands. “Was it the same group of boys again?”
He nods. “They followed me into the bathroom. Two of them held me back while the other one hit me.”
Those little shits.
The woman sitting beside Avery leans forward and holds out her hand. “Hi, Ms. King. I’m Monique Landry, the school counselor.”
I shake her hand, blinking back the tears. “Hi.”
“I’ve been talking with Avery, and he said this has been going on since September.”
“He hasn’t wanted to disclose who the students are, because he’s afraid they’ll come for him even harder if he gets them intotrouble.” I glance at Avery. “But we’ve tried it your way, and now it’s time to try a different tactic.”
Monique nods. “It’s common for students to retaliate after they get in trouble for their actions. But Avery, it’s their actions that got them into trouble—not you. You have every right to stand up for yourself and put a stop to this.”
“They won’t stop.” Avery’s voice is flat. “They’re never going to stop.”
He’s not wrong. From what I’ve seen growing up, the only thing that’ll stop a bully in his tracks is when someone bigger and stronger puts him in his place. But that’s not Avery.
Monique turns her attention to me. “I explained to Avery that we can’t lose hope. Things can always change; things can always get better. He’s not alone in this.”
“No, you’re not alone.” I squeeze his knee. “We’re going to figure out a solution together.”
I just don’t know what that solution is.
When I pullup to the curb at home, Alyssa flies out of the back seat. “Chance is here!”
I can’t help the way my heart skips a beat at the sight of him sitting on my porch, but my head falls back against the headrest with a groan. After everything with Avery today, I don’t have the energy for my love life—or lack thereof.
“Looks like he brought dinner,” Avery says beside me.
“Thank God, because I wasnotin the mood to cook tonight.”
Avery’s eyebrows pinch together. “You don’t have to cook every night, you know.”
“It’s important to me to make sure you and your sister are eating healthy foods.” I hike a shoulder. “Your mom hated fast food.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “We don’t expect you to be like mom.”
“I just want to do right by you guys. I want to do right by her.” My bottom lip trembles as I struggle to keep it together. “Sometimes it feels like I’m failing.”
“You aren’t failing. I’m really glad we have you, Aunt Pres.”
A lone tear rolls down my cheek and I lean over the console to wrap my nephew in a hug. “Thanks, kid. I’m really glad I have you too.”
He gestures out the window. “Let’s go save your friend from Alyssa.”
I chuckle, and some of the tension rolls off my shoulders.
Alyssa pops up when I get to the bottom of the stairs. “Aunt Presley, Chance brought us Thai food. There’s shrimp and noodles and vegetables. And he said he would listen to me play the trumpet after dinner.”
Avery scrunches up his nose. “That’s because he doesn’t know how awful you are at it.”
