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“They’re not brothers!" I squeak out a little too loudly and then clear my throat. “I mean. They're just friends.”
Givens looks bored with my explanation. “Excuse my mistake, again. Anyway, the point is that we’re looking at a possible suspension for both boys."
"For what?” Luke suddenly speaks up again and his voice is a growl. “They were attacked and they defended themselves. I don’t see why they’re the only ones getting suspended.”
“They were attacked with words, and your son chose to use his fists instead of talking it out. We try to discourage the kids from doing that as much as possible. Besides, Logan looks far worse than they do, and he’s getting suspended too."
"I doubt it," Chase says, and I shoot him a look that instantly silences him.
“Logan is suspended,” Givens says firmly. "And so are the two of you. That's fair."
“No.” I hold out my hands. “No one needs to be suspended. Look, kids fight, that's normal. I get that it's wrong, but I think in this case, especially since it's the first time, we can just give a warning. Maybe extra homework, or detention, or something like that."
She sighs. “I’m sorry. We have a zero-tolerance policy for fights, and it triggers an immediate suspension. What we can do, however, is make sure it doesn’t go on his permanent record. As long as both parties agree to apologize to each other.”
“Over my dead body,” Chase says, and Mikey’s face is set in a similar mulish expression.
"They’ll do it,” I say immediately, and send both boys a stifling look when it looks like they’re going to protest.
“I’ll set it up with the other family,” the principal says, and I nod. “Thanks for that. And again, I'm sorry for the trouble.”
As we head out, I resist the urge to scold the boys. I don’t want Mikey to feel worse than he already is and I understand why Chase felt like he had to jump in, but I want them to understand that fighting is not the answer.
“Fist fighting is wrong,” I say as walk. “You get that right, Chase?"
Chase releases a frustrated breath. “Like I said, I was only defending Mikey. Of course, you would blame me for this rather than him.”
“I'm not blaming anyone, Chase. I understand why you both did what you did, and I appreciate that you thought you were sticking up for a friend. But fist fighting in school is wrong. Period."
Chase doesn't like that. And as usual, when I say something, he doesn't like, he avoids my gaze but says nothing. Instead, he turns to Luke, who has been suspiciously quiet throughout this whole thing.
Luke's face is a harsh mask and unreadable. His gaze is fixed forward. He seems to be very upset about something and like a boiling cauldron as though one wrong move is going to make him explode. And I don’t want to be the wrong move.
So, I let him have his space, wondering at the few times that his eyes flicker toward Chase. His face holds such intensity during those moments as though he’s trying to figure out everything there is to figure out about the boy. And then, when we get to the car, his eyes finally meet mine and there’s an accusation in them.
It’s undoubtable. He’s pissed at me. But why? Is it because of what happened here? Or because I scolded the boys? Is he mad that Mikey got in trouble defending me? What's the look about?
After what feels like an hour, but is probably minutes of a silent ride, a familiar voice speaks out.
"Chase."
My eyes shoot open when I hear it because it’s only the second time I’ve heard Mikey talk. And from the expression on Luke’s face, he’s stunned too.
But no one seems more confused than Chase himself. “Uh…yeah?”
“Sorry,” he says.
Chase gets over his surprise and shrugs. “Nah it’s fine. It’s what friends do."
“Friends?”
"Yup,” Chase says. “We’re friends.”
Mikey nods and gives a little smile to the center of Chase’s chest. Chase smiles back and holds out his fist. Mikey bumps it with a fist of his own and they both relax back in the backseat.
And just like that, something monumental has happened and the whole atmosphere’s changed.
“At last something good came out of this," I comment but Luke doesn’t reply. He shoots me a quelling look and then turns back to driving.
