“What is going on here?” a voice screeched from behind me.
I cursed under my breath as Ms. Mason ran toward us. I am so screwed. Unlike these assholes, I was here on a scholarship, and they could take that away from me any time they wanted to.
“Ms. Mason! Thank God! My friend and I were walking down the hall, and he just attacked us. He’s crazy!” Todd yelled.
“You’re fucking lying. Your two friends and you tried to corner me. You’re just pissed off that you couldn’t take me down even though you outnumbered me.”
“Enough!” Ms. Mason yelled. “Both of you, follow me to the office now.”
We followed her as she hurried through the hallways. The secretary looked up and gasped when she saw us.
“Call an ambulance immediately. James Thrones is knocked out in the English hallway!” Ms. Mason yelled as she stomped past the secretary.
She knocked on the principal’s door before throwing it open. “We have a serious problem, Principal Thompson. These two and another student were brawling out in one of the hallways.”
Principal Thompson was older, probably in his mid-sixties, but he had an air of authority about him that made him seem younger and even a bit scary. He was around six feet tall with a lean build and a thin mustache that was as white as his hair.
“Son, I think your nose is broken,” he said as he looked Todd over.
“I believe it is, sir,” Todd said as he grabbed a few tissues off the desk to wipe away the blood.
“I had Lauren call an ambulance for the other boy. He’s knocked out cold,” Ms. Mason said.
“Todd needs looked at, too. Why don’t you take him out so that he can get that taken care of? I’ll deal with him later,” Principal Thompson said.
Great. That meant that it would be just the two of us to battle it out. Ms. Mason herded Todd out the door. Principal Thompson waited to turn to me until she closed the door behind her.
“Want to tell me what happened?” he asked.
“We got into a fight. There were three of them and one of me. Imagine their shock when I actually won.”
“Who started it?”
“They did. I left lunch early, and they waited to approach me until I was on the other side of the school.” Maybe if I stayed calm and told the truth, he would believe me. I wasn’t holding out much hope though.
“And what was the reason they started this fight with you?”
I hesitated. If I told him it was over Emma, he might call her in or call her mom. I decided to go with the truth, but I’d leave her name out of it. “It was over a girl. He thought I was interested in the same person as him.”
“And who is she?”
“I’d prefer to keep her out of this. He had his facts wrong. I have no interest in her.”
He watched me carefully for a moment. “Fair enough. Now, here is my problem. There are two of them—”
“Three. There were three, but one ran when he figured out that his friends weren’t doing too well.”
“Who was he?”
“I have no idea.”
“I see. Well, if Todd and James both say they were the only two involved, there’s nothing I can do about the third one. Anyway, here is my problem. There are two of them and one of you, and I’m sure they will have the same story. Do you see where I’m going with this?”
“Two against one, so I’m automatically the bad guy. Why did you even ask me what happened? What I say doesn’t matter anyway.”
“It always matters, but in this case, it won’t be enough. Was there anyone else around?”
I shook my head. “Nope. They waited until we were completely alone.”
“This looks bad for you. You’re here on a scholarship, and you fought with two private-pay students. Both of those students are on the varsity football team, and they have never been in any kind of trouble.”
“Look, I know I’m in trouble. Just tell me what my sentence is,” I said, not bothering to hide my anger. I didn’t see the point in staying calm when I was going to be persecuted anyway?
He stared at me. “You’re telling the truth, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“I believe you, but it doesn’t change anything. Todd’s father gives several generous donations a year, and the board will have my head if I don’t punish you. I’m going to suspend you for a week.”
That wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. I’d walked into this room assuming that I would be expelled. I could live with being suspended for a week.
“Thank you,” I said.
“I just suspended you. Most students don’t thank me for that.”
I laughed. “We both know you could have done a lot worse. Will either of them get in trouble?”
He shook his head. “Doubtful. I’ll have to talk to the board before I do anything to either of them.”
I’d assumed as much, so his words hadn’t surprised me. I stood and walked to the door. There was no reason for me to hang around here. Maybe if I were lucky, Rick would give me a few extra hours at the shop since my schedule had just opened up.
“Jesse...” Principal Thompson called as I opened his door.
“Yeah?”