Page 12 of Bad to the Bone

I’m in the middle of a lesson when Mr. Brandt knocks on my door and steps inside. He looks at the floor mostly, and shuffles his feet a bit before he talks to me.

“You’re needed in the office,” he says. There’s something about the tone of his voice that makes me know I should be worried. Not that being called to the office shouldn’t have me at least a little on edge, teacher or not.

“Right now?”

“Yeah. I’ll cover for you,” he says, still not looking me in the eye. Of all the people in this school who pretend that I am invisible, he is the only one whose indifference feels like a gift. The man smells like a locker room and his heavy muscles are covered in a thick layer of hair. He has kind eyes, but coarse, thick features that bury them in his head. Still, the way he looks down and shuffles his feet in front of me reminds me of a boy confessing to his crush, knowing he is destined for rejection. I can’t help but feel something like pity for the smelly man.

“Okay, just… finish the chapter and pass out the homework assignment sheets,” I say, checking the clock. There are only 15 minutes left in the class anyway. Why couldn’t it wait? I look at him again before making my departure. A part of me wants to ask him what it is. But with the way his lips are pressed together I know he won’t tell.

Every step I take makes me more and more anxious. It has to be bad news. What else could it be? It’s highly unlikely that I’m getting a teacher of the year award. Even if I were, wouldn’t they wait until the end of the school day to tell me? My heart sinks as I round the corner and see Zayne sitting in the office. And that sinking heart beats fast. So fast.

I walk in, trying to look normal, but feeling quite the opposite. This could be it. The moment of truth that rips me from the slightly raised pedestal I’d been on. Suddenly, I feel like I can’t breathe. But just as suddenly as the feeling comes, I suck in a breath, proving that it’s not true. I am capable of breathing. Capable of staying alive for the length of whatever it is that’s going to happen here.

Although I am careful not to make eye contact with him, I can feel Zayne’s gaze on me. The skin on the back of my neck tingles with awareness of him.

“You can go on back,” somebody says to me without bothering to look up from the computer monitor. I turn, and Zayne’s intense stare locks me in place for a moment. He nods slightly, but says nothing.

When I enter the Principal’s office Shannon is waiting for me, looking like a half drowned rat. Her lovely hair is a wet, stringy mess and her clothes are soaked.

“Is that blood?” I yelp, grabbing the front of her shirt for a closer examination. Panic surges through my veins. It’s the kind of panic that can’t be weighed on a scale and all the breaths I’d proved I could take, I’m not sure I can take anymore.

“It’s not mine,” she says casually and a part of me relaxes. Slightly. Only slightly.

“Then who? What?” the room seems to be spinning. I know better than to think that Shannon is the one in the wrong here. I can’t even blame whoever the hell really is wrong, not fully, at least. If I’d held my head down in this godforsaken town, none of this would have happened.

“It seems like Miss Macmillian, here, decided to mix it up in the ladies room with a couple of students.” The Principal leans back in his chair, looking down at us both.

“A couple of students? As in more than one?”

“Yes, two, in fact. She hit one girl so hard, we called her mother to come and pick her up. We don’t think she has a concussion, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.”

That shocks me and fills me with pride all at the same time. Shannon isn’t the fighting type, but she’s also not the type to get bullied and not fight back.

“What happened?” I’m not sure who I’m talking to right now, I have Shannon’s hands gripped in mine as I examine her for injuries. She’s who I care about. One of two people I care about. I’ll protect her with my life if that’s what it takes.

“Don’t know. I’ve got three different stories, but as far as I can tell it’s about a boy.”

“A boy!”

“Zayne,” Shannon says, rolling her eyes. Just like her mother used to when dad would read her the riot act for staying out late.

“Him?” I point to Zayne’s lone figure sitting outside the office.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding about who his girlfriend is. Miss Walker seems to think they are exes. Miss Pettigrew thinks that he is still dating Miss Walker and Miss Macmillian seems to think that they aren’t dating at all.” The Principal smiles at me as he finishes his explanation.

“They jumped me in the bathroom,” Shannon says, simplifying the situation for me.

“Yes well, I’m going to have to suspend her for fighting. She will also have two weeks detention once she gets back to school,” he says, as if the matter is closed. He leans forward to sign the necessary documents

“Are all of the girls getting the same punishment?”

His hand stills in the air.

“Yes, I think that’s fair.”

“I don’t.”

I watch his face contort slightly as he realizes that something is amiss. As a teacher, I am his subordinate. He leads, I follow. But this isn’t about my job. This is about my niece, and as her guardian, if I don’t stick up for her, nobody will.

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