Page 31 of The Mentor
I shrugged and turned to Pearl, angling my head. “Pearl, you’re a kind Motlander; surely you would let me join you and Khan when you hang out together.”
Pearl looked uncomfortable and Khan lifted a warning eyebrow.
“That’s not how it works!” Kya said, irritated.
“Okay, then you explain to me where the inclusion rules apply in real life, because I can’t think of a single situation where I can expect people to include me just because I feel like hanging out with them. Didn’t you say that children needed to develop social competence?”
“Yes.”
“Why? What’s the point if they’re entitled to be included in any group they feel like being part of?”
“What are you saying?” she asked.
“I’m saying that being disappointed, feeling rejected, and having bad days is part of life. It’s not our job to shield the kids from that. We’re supposed to teach them how to cope with it and how to get through it.”
“Yes, but…”
“No buts, Kya. If we don’t teach them resilience and strength, therealworld is going to chew them up and we’ll have failed them.”
Kya opened her mouth, but she didn’t get a chance to speak before a loud scream from outside brought us all scrambling to our feet. Marco and Shelly were keeping an eye on the kids and they were supposed to be enjoying a bonfire, but the scenario that met us when we rushed outside was complete chaos. Children were screaming, and the sound of a boy howling in pain cut me to the bone. Sprinting toward the sound, I found Marco rolling William on the ground.
“What happened?” I shouted.
“He fell into the flames.” Marco’s eyes were narrowed with determination as he picked up William and started running toward the school. “Water,” he called out as he passed me.
Sprinting ahead, I turned on a shower and helped Marco hold the crying boy under the cold spray.
“We need to take him to the hospital,” I shouted to Khan, who’d popped his head in.
“Just keep him under the water for now,” Khan ordered. “I'm calling the doctor.”
I returned my attention to William, anger pulsing through my veins. “How the hell did this happen?” My voice dripped with blame.
“It happened so fast. All I saw was William teasing one of the girls and then she pushed him.” Marco spoke loudly to override William’s screams.
“One of the girls did this to him?” I asked in disbelief. “Who?”
“It was Sky.” Marco’s brow narrowed.
“Sky?” I was stunned; Sky was so quiet you hardly noticed her at all. Out of the eight girls, Sky was the one I knew least about. She kept to herself, hardly ever smiled, and I couldn't remember ever hearing her say anything. “We’re going to punish her for this, trust me, William; she’ll regret it,” I promised the boy.
The minutes it took until help arrived seemed like an eternity. Finn, a physician and personal friend of Lord Khan and Magni, came rushing into the shower room.
“Okay, let's see what we have here,” he said and kneeled down beside William to carefully examine him. I had met Finn before and found him very likable with his easygoing personality and great sense of humor. Right now, however, it was a more serious side of him that took charge of the situation.
“Yeah, that hurts, champ, but luckily I can help you numb the pain a little.” Finn rummaged around in his bag and brought up a small bottle and a syringe.
“It's a second-degree burn,” he muttered to Marco and me.
“Do we need to get him to the hospital?” I asked.
“No, I can treat him here.” Finn gently peeled what was left of William’s shirt off him. “The pain should lessen in a few minutes,” he said in a calm voice and put the bottle away. “I'm going to cover the wound with tilapia patches. It’ll reduce the pain significantly and speed up the healing too.”
William was the youngest and smallest of our boys, and the part of him that was burned the worst was his ass, lower back, and left hand.
“How did this happen?” Finn asked the boy.
“I fell,” he cried and the rest was too hard to hear with the thickness of his words.
