How To Stay Afloat (BxB)

Chapter 59: 4 screw ups sitting in a room

My dad and I eat breakfast together. It's a little awkward because we're both a little stressed.

The car ride is as tense as the breakfast. Minus the chewing, I don't know if that makes it more or less tense.

Harry's mother and Harry are standing outside the school when we arrive.

My dad and his mom get along well instantly.

"I'm scared." Harry whispers as they are focussed on their conversation.

"Me too. But I think we won't get into any trouble, because, well, we didn't hit anyone." I say.

"Right." Harry agrees. "But I never had to talk to the principal before."

It's 7:20, so there aren't a lot of students around yet.

Our parents decide to head inside a little early.

I hope Austin shows up. He didn't reply to any of my messages yesterday.

Our principal Mr Barracado greets us with a kind smile.

He tells us that he wants to talk to 'us boys' at first while our parents just listen and afterwards we need to wait outside while he talks to our parents.

Our chemistry teacher is also here. I guess she was the one to order our parents here. The question is just why Austin was also invited.

_____

Adam and his dad arrive next. His dad is wearing a suit and he looks creepy. Adam's face looks as bad as Harry's. A big purple bruise on his chin and cheek and a second one on the eyebrow bone.

Austin arrives with his dad a minute late. His dad looks presentable, wearing a button up shirt. Austin looks pissed off. His bruise on his chin and swollen lip are also very noticable.

"Hey Sam." His dad greets me with a smile. His face also doesn't look nice with a cut on his forehead, matching mine. "Haven't seen you around in a while."

"On monday." I remind him with a smile. I don't want my dad to think I lied about his car accident. Oh well, his face makes it pretty obvious.

"Oh doctor." Austin's dad says as he spots my dad.

Oh god. Of course my dad treated him at the hospital. So he either treated him for a head injury from falling over drunk or for a drunk car accident. Worst case, he was in both cases.

My dad looks surprised, but greets him with a smile. My dad clearly doesn't remember him. That's lucky.

Now that everyone is here the principal tells everyone that we're here because of our injuries and our conflicts with each other. Then our parents have to wait outside the office because the room is freakingly tiny, but the door is open, so they can listen to us.

There are only three chairs, so Harry is sitting on the middle one, sharing it with me.

Ms Hawk starts by explaining what she knows.

"From what I heard from your classmates Adam put white powder on Samuel's table to make it look like drugs so Dean could film his reaction. He then grabbed Samuel's face and hit it repeatedly against the table's surface. Harry was one of the people who got involved to stop the fight, but he fainted from seeing the blood. Samuel and Harry were sent to the hospital. Samuel had to get stitches and Harry got looked at for bruises on his face and body. The opinion of the class was that he mostly likely got his injuries either from Samuel or Adam." She sighs and looks to the left to Adam and then to the right, at Austin.

"Adam and Austin both left the school after the incident and now they both have bruised faces. I assume you two also got into a fight, but I'm sure you can explain yourselves when we get to it."