Jayden and all the rest of the kids involved in the fight sit in the principal's office. The students he is stuck in here with include Daniel, Kyle (another football player), and Leo.
Jayden keeps staring at these jerks, giving them death glares. He thinks about poor Isaiah stuck in the nurse's office, bruised and bloody. All he wants to do is hold him, do anything necessary to make him happy, make him feel safe, and make him feel better. But, he can't. Because he's stuck in the principal's office with these fools.
................................................................................................................................................................
Meanwhile, Isaiah sits on the bed in the nurse's office. The nurse, Ms. Hasel is cleaning his cuts on his face. "I recommend that you put ointment on the injuries under your clothes when you get home."
Isaiah sighs, "I'm fine. I don't see why my parents need to come here," He says to the nurse. Looking around to see if Joanna has entered the room with their parents. Joanna is waiting at the front door of the school so that she can lead them to the nurse's office.
Mrs. Brinkley walks through the door, "I heard that, young man. It's because you're injured and they need to talk to the other boys' parents," She pauses looking him up and down, "So, I've been hearing that you got some of these injuries before ending up in that fight. Such as the marks around your neck. Is this true?"
"Yeah," Isaiah replies.
She nods, "Okay, so where did these other injuries come from?"
Isaiah shrugs. Perfect timing, because his sister and his parents come in the room. Matthew looks concerned to anyone who doesn't know what he does to his own family, Beatrice is concerned, and Joanna is sad.
Beatrice looks him up and down, "Where on earth did these injuries come from?" She rushes over to comfort Isaiah, knowing that he needs it, no matter how hard he tries to deny it. He's holding in tears. Joanna stands beside their mom, and Matthew stands behind the women.
"Well, I actually have a question. See, Isaiah has admitted to receiving some of his more, severe injuries, earlier than the fight. Do you know where he could've gotten these from? Or Joanna, perhaps you know. I believe you and your brother come to school together," Mrs. Brinkley explains, sending a suggestive look towards the youngest of the Hardens.
Joanna nods, knowing that she needs to cover it up. As much as she wants to call her dad out, she can't. "Well, Isaiah and I didn't come here in a car like usual. We walked to school. And a guy came out of nowhere and tried to mug us. He attacked Isaiah first, and I stopped him."
Isaiah's face saddens, and tears start rolling down his face, but he hides it. The principal takes the distraught family into the principal's office to discuss the severity of their actions.
Mrs. Brinkley looks over everyone in the room. Daniel's, Kyle's, Leo's, Jayden's, and Isaiah's parents are all present.
"What happened?" Leo's mom asks, concerned, looking at Isaiah.
"Based off of what witnesses have told me, Daniel, Leo, and Kyle all participated in beating Isaiah up. They didn't cause all of his injuries, as he got some of these more severe injuries earlier. But they still caused many of Isaiah's injuries, and I'm not sure that they understand the severity of what they did," Mrs. Brinkley announces. "Jayden is here because, according to witnesses, he was defending Isaiah. Which is great and all, but we don't like to use violence in our school."
All of the parents of the bullies scold their children and look about ready to burst. Jayden's parents give him faces filled with pride for their son defending a victim, but they're a little disappointed that he did it with violence. Isaiah's parents give him comforting smiles, though one of those smiles are fake.
"Now, boys," She looks at Leo, Kyle, and Daniel. "I don't know if you realize that Isaiah's parents can press charges."
All three of the boys' faces change. They look at each other in panic.
Leo mumbles, "We didn't mean it," He looks at Beatrice, Matthew, and Isaiah with pleading eyes. Daniel and Kyle nod along.
Matthew gives the boys a sharp look, like he's an upset dad who actually cares. He acts like he didn't cause most of these injuries, and it disgust Isaiah. "Well, if you apologize, we won't press charges," Beatrice nods. However, Isaiah doubts that she agrees with him. Beatrice believes in apologies; but, she's still furious.
"I'm sorry, Isaiah. It was wrong of me to participate in harming you," Kyle starts.
Leo continues the chain of apologies, "Yeah, so am I. I'm very, very sorry. I didn't think it was this severe, but that's not an excuse for my behavior. Please, accept my apology."
Daniel hesitates, but his parents kick his chair, "I'm sorry, too. None of us should've done that. And I'm sorry for starting that."
Beatrice and Matthew turn their attention to Jayden, and of course, Matthew speaks. "Well, Jayden, it's good to see you've turned over a new leaf. We appreciate what you were trying to do, but don't use violence next time."
Jayden doesn't express his disdain on his face, instead he smiles. He doesn't trust that smile on Matthew's face. What father would say 'don't use violence next time to protect my son'? Jayden thinks a real dad should not care what measures anyone or himself has to go to to protect his child. He's about to say you're welcome, but is stopped by a small voice.
"Thanks," Isaiah mumbles. Jayden looks at him, caught off guard. He always said thank you whenever Jayden stepped into the bullying for him. Like it was something that he isn't worthy of. Although, this thank you felt different; Isaiah said it like they had known each other forever. Jayden couldn't help but feel really happy. Isaiah's face reddens, and he sends Jayden a smile, a smile that Jayden started believing didn't exist because of its absence.
"Yeah, no problem," Jayden replies. He looks at Isaiah's parents like he's talking to them. But he gives Isaiah a charming smile, showing that he was talking to him.
................................................................................................................................................................
The day continues. Leo, Kyle, and Daniel continue to apologize even though Isaiah said it was fine. He wants them to leave him alone, and Jayden gets them to. He walks over to the three boys and tells them to go. They listen to him, because they're tired of apologizing and because they're slightly scared of him.
Today helped the boys form a bond again, but tomorrow won't be a piece of cake.
YOU ARE READING
The Pastor's Son
Romantizm(The image does not belong to me! To any people who have already read it, I decided to change the picture!) *I wrote this book when I was in middle school so please understand that this book is NOT a great representation queer people. It could be d...
