We Come Alive 5

Mentor

Monday morning Ricky was sitting in his office in the athletic building like he usually was every morning, but he had to make the walk through the cloudy day to get to the school when he got a call from the principal.

"Not even in high school and still being summoned into the principal's office." Ricky mumbled to himself, walking through the back doors of the school to make his way through the school.

By the time he eventually made it to the principal's office, Ricky walked into see the principal, Mr. Simpson, and the back of Baylor's head sitting in a chair in front of Mr. Simpson's desk.

"Ricky, thanks for coming so soon." Simpson smiled, motioning to the chair next to Baylor.

Ricky flopped down in the chair and put his hands on his thighs. "Didn't really have a choice. But what's up?"

Mr. Simpson motioned to Baylor. "Some of the teacher's were concerned about Baylor here and how he came to school."

Ricky frowned, looking over at Baylor only for his features to soften instantly. Baylor was badly beaten up with a black eye and cuts covering his face.

"Are you kidding me?" Ricky whispered. He glanced at the clock on the wall then back to Baylor. "It's 8:20 in the morning. No one gets into fights this early."

Baylor just clenched his jaw, but didn't reply back. He just looked away from Ricky and at the floor, pulling on his hood to his black sweatshirt in the meantime.

"Well, Ricky," Simpson interrupted, "Baylor says he's more comfortable talking it out with you than the social worker. Is that alright?"

Ricky tried not to smirk, knowing exactly the trick Baylor was pulling. "Yeah." He breathed. "That's perfectly fine."

Ricky stood to his feet and nodded his head towards the door when he looked a Baylor. "Come on. We can talk in my office."

Baylor got up when Ricky told him to and followed him out into the hallway. Ricky shoved his hands into his jean pockets and yawned from how early it was in the morning.

"Clover told me to tell them I'd talk to you." Baylor spoke up, his voice nearly echoing through the empty halls.

Ricky nodded his head slowly, walking out the back doors of the school. "I know. We use to always pull that move. Mateo would cover for us when we were in trouble. All we had to do was explain it to him."

Baylor trailed behind Ricky as they made their way to the athletic building. All they had was small talk for the rest of the walk to Ricky's office. When they walked in, Baylor sat down in the chair across from Ricky's desk.

Ricky flopped down in his chair, glancing at his computer screen seeing the e-mails he needed to answer sometime today. Ricky kicked his feet onto the desk and stared at Baylor across from him.

"What happened?" He asked simply. "It can stay between me and you if you want. Unless you say you're being threatened to be killed, then I'll have to...call...someone. Or something like that."

Baylor shook his head, dropping his head down to look at his bruised fists. "Nothing." He whispered.

Ricky felt an all too familiar feeling of nostalgia hearing that answer, having that word left his mouth plenty of times throughout his lifetime. He remembered all the things Mateo, Sam, Victor, and the social workers would say back to him.

"If you don't tell me, I can't help you."

"Something happened, why not just say it?"

"Nothing doesn't cause for you to look like you've been hit by a car."

"Do you want us to call for someone to pick you up? Talk to a parent?"