Page 31 of What Maple Heard

Principal Davis was behind her desk. River was in a chair against the wall, arms crossed, shoes very interesting to him apparently. The principal looked at me when we came in. Her eyes went from my face to the leotard to the glitter on my hands to my face again. She raised an eyebrow. River looked up.

He saw me. Then he saw Maple. Then he looked back at the floor.

“Hey, buddy,” I said. “You okay?”

River nodded. He didn’t look up.

I sat down. Maple sat down next to me, arms crossed, jaw tight. She was furious. She was also the most scared I had ever seen her, which she was hiding behind the fury.

Principal Davis cleared her throat.

“So. River and three other boys skipped out after lunch and were found tagging a wall off Route 9, right near the town hall. Police got called because Noah Walker drove them there — he blew a point-one-two.” She looked at Maple. “We’re talking community service, possible fines, and they’ll need to appear before the town council.”

“I’m so sorry.” Maple’s voice was tight. “I’m so sorry about this. This is — I should have—“

“This is not your fault,” Principal Davis said firmly.

“I know, I just—“ Maple stopped. Pressed her lips together.

River looked up for the first time. He looked at Principal Davis, and his eyes stayed on her, as if he was deliberately avoiding looking at Maple in the eye.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Davis,” he said quietly. “I made a bad choice. That’s on me, not her.”

Principal Davis looked at him for a long moment.

“River.” Her voice softened. “You are not a bad kid. I want you to hear that clearly. You have potential that most kids in this school would trade for in a heartbeat. But potential means nothing if you keep handing it over to the wrong people.” She leaned forward slightly. “Your sister works herself to the bone every single day so your life is not an everyday struggle. The very least you owe her is to not throw that away on a dare and a can of spray paint.”

River’s jaw worked. He nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

“Community service. Every hour. No exceptions.”

“I’ll do all of it,” he said. “I promise.”

Principal Davis held his gaze for a moment longer, then nodded once.

“Take him home,” she said to Maple. “And River — I don’t want to see you in this office again.”

I sat through all of it without saying a word.

I watched Maple apologize for something that wasn’t her fault, the way she always absorbed responsibility for everything around her, the way she had been doing it her entire life.

And I sat with the weight of knowing that the woman next to me, who was holding herself together through sheer force of will, was carrying this alone partly because of me. Because I had been another person in her life who made her feel like facing life alone was the safest option.

I wanted to put my arm around her so badly it was almost a physical ache.

I didn’t.

I just stayed in the chair next to her and made sure she knew, without touching her or saying anything, that I was not going anywhere.

After River went to get his bag, I leaned toward Maple and kept my voice low. “Let me take you both to lunch. Somewhere quiet.” I paused. “Please.” She looked at me. Then at River across the room. “I can’t talk to him right now,” she said. Her voice was very controlled. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Then let me talk to him,” I said. “If that’s okay. Please, Maple.” I begged.

She nodded.

I turned to River.

“Burgers?”