Page 29 of Tell Me Softly
I wondered how he would avoid getting expelled, but then, with parents as rich as his were, I knew he wouldn’t have any difficulties whatsoever. As for how the team would react, that was a different story.
The principal was the last to arrive. There was fury on his face as he asked, “What on earth is happening here?” He stared at each and every one of the students, then ordered us sternly, “Hamilton, Di Bianco, Murphy, in my office immediately!”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I hadn’t done anything! But I knew I had to do as he said.
Thiago whispered something to Taylor, who walked beside me and asked, “What the hell did he do to you?” He was legitimately worried.
“Nothing. I’m fine.” I was angry; I’d just wanted to go home. It seemed like the day would never end.
The three of us walked to the office, and the few teachers still in their rooms, along with the janitors, stared at us. How had word of the fight spread so fast? It wasn’t my fault, I kept telling myself. I stared down anyone who caught my eye as I wondered what was about to happen to me. We stood in a line as Thiago and Coach Klebb came in behind us, walking around to the other side of the principal’s desk.
“You can go ahead and tell me what happened,” Harrison said, looking at me first. No one uttered a word, myself included.
“Fine, then,” he said, standing up and pouring himself a cup of coffee from the small pot on his shelf. “That’ll be a week’s detention. And if you don’t pipe up now, we can go ahead and make it two.”
I stepped forward. It wasn’t those guys’ fault, and they didn’t deserve the punishment. But I didn’t want Danny to get in trouble, either. So I made the decision then to protect all of them.
“Sir…there was a misunderstanding,” I lied as convincingly as I could. “My ex-boyfriend and I were in a fight and the guys thought Danny was trying to hurt me. I know they thought they were doing the right thing, but they didn’t need to. It was just an argument, that’s all.”
“No, it wasn’t! He was trying to force himself on her!” Taylor shouted.
I looked at my wrist, saw where it was red and bruised, and hid it behind my back. But Thiago grabbed it from behind me and brought it forward for the principal to see.
“He hurt her, sir. I saw it,” he said.
The principal examined my arms, then looked me straight in the eye.
“Miss Hamilton, is this true?” he asked.
Thiago gave me a soft squeeze, encouraging me to tell the truth, but I shook my head.
“No, my little brother did that to me yesterday when we were playing at home. Danny Walker’s never laid a hand on me.”
“What the hell…!” Taylor exclaimed.
“Why did Mr. Di Bianco get involved, then?” the principal asked.
“We were fighting, that’s true. But he never hurt or threatened me. I promise, sir.”
Why was I covering up for him? Because I knew they might expel him, and if that happened, he’d make life impossible for me.
The principal didn’t seem convinced, but he also wasn’t going to blame the captain of the basketball team if the victim––aka me––didn’t confess.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for fighting at this school, no exceptions. Even if Miss Hamilton was in danger, there were better solutions than taking it into your own hands. All three of you will be punished with two weeks of after-school detention. Since you already have after-school activities, that means you’ll all have to serve it once practice is over, from six to eight every day.”
I couldn’t believe it. That meant I would basically spend my entire day at the damn school!
“Sir,” Thiago said, “I’m sorry for interrupting, but shouldn’t they just not practice for two weeks? Eight o’ clock is really late…” He was clearly upset.
The principal lowered his glasses. “Mr. Di Bianco, I’m the one who decides these things here. This is how we’ve always done it, and I’m going to need you to be a team player about this.”
Thiago looked humiliated. Now I remembered: he was the one in charge of detention. How the tables had turned: back when he was in school, he was always getting into trouble and had to stay late himself. Respect for authority had never been his strong point—not when we were younger, anyway. Having to shut his mouth and nod clearly got to him, and for some reason, I found that amusing.
We didn’t have the chance to say much else before Principal Hamilton waved his hand and motioned for us to leave his office. When we were outside, Taylor asked me, “Why the hell did you have to lie?”
Thiago’s expression was cruel and full of resentment as he walked off down the hall. Julian was the only one who didn’t seem furious. He just looked at his wounded knuckles, which were already scabbing over, with something like curiosity.
“Would you mind leaving us alone for a moment?” Taylor asked.
