Discovery Devotion Destiny

Hiding in A dream

"There is nothing to fear except the persistent refusal to find out the truth, the persistent refusal to analyze the causes of happenings."
-Dorothy Thompson

Today wasn't going to be a good day. Katie had already determined that early this morning when she got the call that the venue for Ari's birthday party was flooded from a busted pipe and would be closed for the next couple of weeks. The party was in a couple days, everyone they invited had sent in their RSVP and now she had to figure out where exactly she would find a place that would accept such a short notice reservation. But that wasn't her biggest problem at the moment.

No at the moment, Katie stood in a very humid classroom, her phone pressed to her ear as Oliver Queen stuck a nail in his coffin.

"So what you're saying is, you're not coming?" she asked and she heard him sigh.

"I'm sorry, I had to come to City Hall to talk to Thea and deal with this whole thing of her deciding to name Quentin as my deputy mayor. We're in traffic now, I think there was an accident, but I'm not sure how long it's going to be."

Katie closed her eyes and dropped her head against the window. Just a few days ago, she and Oliver once again crossed that line in their relationship, and it was all cute and fun, and they had their little romantic bubble for a while, but then real life, and kids and being the mayor and vigilante crept back in and it was taking a toll.

"You're not coming." she sighed lifting her head from the window and looked over to the impatient looks from the boy's parents the school's councilor. "I guess I'm flying solo."

"Twinkie, I'm sorry."

"I know, but it doesn't change anything." she replied before ending the call and walking back over. "As I guessed, Oliver is stuck with work, he's trying to get here, but we should just start." the councilor looked over to the other parents who simply nodded before they all took their seats around the meeting table. Katie sat on one side, while the couple sat on the other, and the councilor took the seat at the head.

"Hi, my name is Mr. Garner. Has everyone been introduced?" he asked with a smile as he glanced around the table.

"Uh, not really." Katie says with a slight smile as she turns to the couple. "I'm Katherine R-" she caught herself. It was taking a bit longer for her to actually remember what her last name was. "Katherine Queen. I am Ari's cousin and her legal guardian."

"Well I am Hazel Burns, and this is my husband Cliff. We're Brandon's parents." Hazel turned to the councilor. "And we're here to discuss why the girl who assaulted our son hasn't been expelled."

"Expelled?" Katie said and they turned to her. "I thought punishment was supposed to come after we actually determined what happened in this situation. At least that's what I was told by principal Harris."

"I think we all know what happened. Arianna hit our son and broke his nose. He had to get stitches. Do you know how traumatizing something like that is to a child?"

"You know what else is traumatizing?" Katie says, her glare now fixed on the woman sitting across from her. "Being verbally abused, and being made fun of for not having her parents in her life."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Queen, but some mean words doesn't justify a physical assault." the woman replied. The councilor opened his mouth to interject and to calm the tensions that were already starting to arise, but he never got the chance. "You should know that better than anyone."