by Ann, Natalie
“Whatever,” Troy said.
“Security is going to escort you to in-school suspension and you’ll remain there until I talk to everyone.” He watched him strut out, told Tim where to take Troy and then called Ian and Sebastian in together. “Have a seat, boys. Allison was too embarrassed to tell me what was said, but she wrote it down.” He tore off two pieces of paper. “Both of you do the same thing. Were you two talking to each other in there?”
“No,” they both said.
He handed over paper and pens and watched them both write, then give the paper back. He read pretty much the same thing Allison said.
“Ian, did you have anything to do with this? It’s the third time you’ve been in the middle. I’m trying to figure out why that is.”
“No. I didn’t.” Ian looked over at Sebastian and finally said, “My older sister is bipolar. I know what it’s like. It’s not Sebastian’s fault if his mother has a mental illness and people shouldn’t judge him on it.”
Would you look at that. He didn’t expect Ian to voice that information. To come to Sebastian’s defense.
“Why haven’t you said anything before?” Sebastian said. “Or are you too afraid your friends will go after you if they knew?”
Ian shrugged. “It is what it is. I just get sick of them being that way. It’s uncalled for.”
“Did Robbie put Troy up to this?” Noah asked, knowing they all ran in the same circles.
“No. I don’t think he knew it was going to happen.”
“Well, you’re both going to be suspended. Out of school suspension for the rest of the week.”
“Shit,” Sebastian said.
“Yep. Paige is going to love that,” he said.
“So you are dating his aunt?” Ian asked.
“Whether I am or not has no bearing on this. But what I am going to do is possibly change this to in-school suspension on the condition that you both create a club. An anti-bullying campaign. You’re going to run it, and lead it, and you are going to get other kids to follow your lead. There is too much bullying in this school.”
Neither boy looked happy with what he said, but Sebastian said, “Why not. It’s not like I’ve got anything else better to do.”
“That’s the spirit. I want a theme, a name, a cause. Whatever you want. You’re going to work on it while you’re sitting in in-school suspension and by the end of the week I want a plan.”
He figured it was a way to kill two birds with one stone. Get Sebastian more involved and have him spend some time with a kid that actually might make a good friend. It’d get the message across the school too.
“Words Matter,” Sebastian said.
“Yes, they do,” Noah said. “And you are going to make sure that is what people hear.”
“No, it should be called Words Matter.” Noah smiled, not surprised the kid’s brain worked that fast. “Whether it’s about you, or my aunt, his sister, the chubby girl at the table next to us. Words matter and they hurt and they can make a difference.”
“They can,” he told the boys. “Show me you can do that too.”
28
Found A Solution
Paige knew there was trouble when Noah texted to say he was bringing Sebastian home with him when he got out of work and he’d grab pizza on the way.
Part of her was annoyed she hadn’t gotten a call at work, but the other part was kind of happy since it seemed she was leaving early a lot because of issues with Sebastian. Her bosses were understanding, but she still didn’t want to make too many waves either.
She was just getting out of the shower when she heard the front door open. There was no laughter, no joking. No talking at all.
Not good.
She dressed as quickly as possible and walked into the kitchen to see Noah getting plates out. “Where’s Sebastian?”
“His room. I told him I’d talk to you first and then we can do it together. Or you can. I shouldn’t interfere.”
“Since you brought him home it sounds like something happened at school and you didn’t call me so that is interfering.”
“You’re right. I made a judgment call and it might not have been the best one.”
“I’m sorry. Just tell me what happened. I know you mean well, but he’s my responsibility and I’m worried.”
“I know. But this had to do with more than just him. It has to do with us.”
“Meaning what? Did someone say something to him about us dating?” It wasn’t a secret but during the holiday break when Sebastian was with her father, she’d stayed that week with Noah and they’d gone out to dinner a few times. There were always kids around, but she never had any clue who some of them were. No one had ever said hi to Noah either.
“Yes. Sit down.”
“It’s bad enough I’ve got to sit?”
“Just do it,” he said firmly. “First off, know there were a lot of witnesses and plenty have come forward and all their stories match.”
“Against Sebastian?”
“Against another kid, but Sebastian did attack this kid.”
She dropped her head. “It’s never going to end.”
“It is. I think I found a solution. Hear me out.” She listened when he told her what Troy said to Sebastian and how her nephew launched himself across the table. Her face was growing redder than the sauce on the pizza in front of them.
“He’s very protective of me. And I’m sorry this is turning into something you need to worry about or be embarrassed of.”
“Wait,” he said, holding his hand up. “I’m not embarrassed about anything. Don’t even go there. It’s out and I don’t care. I date. I’ve always dated. My personal life is my business and I’ve never done anything to put my career in jeopardy. You can’t control your family any more than I can control mine.”
She knew that. She’d said it enough to Sebastian. But this time it just hit closer to home for her.
As an adult she could handle things said about her and defend herself or walk away and be content with that. But could Noah do that? Did Noah think maybe she’d snap too?
“Do you worry about those things? That I might have a mental illness that will show up?”
“No. You aren’t your sister. And a mental illness is like any other illness. If something comes up we deal with it as it is. But do I think you’re going to take a knife to me? Not unless I tick you off for doing something completely stupid.”
She narrowed her eyes at his attempt to joke. “Just remember that. So Sebastian is getting suspended?” she asked.
“Yes. Along with Troy who threw those words down and Ian who held onto Sebastian.”
“Ian. Isn’t that the name of the kid who’s been in the middle of the last two instances?”
“It is. He’s been protecting Sebastian, you could say. In my office he confessed that his older sister is bipolar and he understands what it’s like. They keep it quiet in the family and he had some sympathy for Sebastian.”
“That was nice of him. I mean I feel bad the kid has gotten in trouble twice now though because of Sebastian.”
“I don’t think he cares about it. I talked to Ian’s parents and though they are upset they are also proud of their son. Especially once they heard the whole story and what part of the boys’ punishment is going to be. Well, it’s not punishment in my eyes, but it might be in theirs.”
“What?”
“They are going to develop an anti-bullying campaign. While the two of them are on in-school suspension for the rest of this week they are going to work on it and come up with a goal and how they want to get other kids involved.”
“Isn’t that only going to put more targets on their backs?”
“No,” he said. “A girl came forward first that sat at the lunch table with Sebastian. I get the feeling she might have a little crush on him, but we’ll just let that go for now. Then two more kids did too. That’s a start and when you have a start you try to build momentum. Before we were done talking, Sebastian alre
ady came up with a name or a slogan. Whatever they want to call it.”
“What’s that?”
“Words Matter.”
She felt the tears develop in her eyes. “I can see him thinking of that.”
“It’s universal. It’s not going to be for bullying against mental illness. It’s going to be about bullying in general. He needs this in his life. He needs to feel a purpose and he needs to get involved.”
“I understand that and I agree, but forcing him might have an adverse impact on what you’re going for.”
“I don’t think so. He and Ian were already talking about it in the spare office. I didn’t let them go back to class. Make no mistake, the boys are in trouble for what they did, but they are going to capitalize on it. They already asked if they could talk about fighting back and getting in trouble for defending themselves.”
“And you told them yes, didn’t you?”
“I did. Transparency is the key. They can say they fought back and it wasn’t the answer. These two are smart and maybe it’s the start of a friendship. An ally in his corner.”
“I want to be so mad right now but when you tell me these things I understand. It’s the right thing. He has to be held responsible for his actions. Everyone does.”
“Let’s see how this works. Plus maybe it will give him a friend to hang out with and free you up to spend time with me.”
She laughed. “There is that. I guess I’ll go get him so we can eat. The pizza is probably cold now.”
“It’s fine. We’re men, we’ll eat it hot or cold.”
“He’ll eat anything I don’t cook.”
She walked to Sebastian’s room and knocked on the door and let herself in. “How much trouble am I in?”
“I want to say a ton, but I understand too. Violence isn’t the answer.”
“It felt like it at the time. If I could just get one punch in I might feel much better. Ian’s like a nasty infection no antibiotic can kill.”
Her lips twitched. “It sounds to me that he’s more of a friend. Or wants to be,” she said.
Sebastian shrugged. “Whatever. So now I’ve got this big assignment to do.”
He was acting like he was upset over it, but she could see that might not be the case. “I heard you’ve got a good start on it.”
“Might as well get it done and do it right if I’ve got to do it at all.”
She grinned at him. “That’s the spirit. Let’s go eat dinner before Noah has the pizza gone.”
“He’d never do that. He’d save me at least one piece so I didn’t have to deal with your cooking.”
She slapped his arm playfully. “Don’t be a wiseass.”
They walked into the kitchen to see Noah was already eating and reaching for his second piece. “Hey,” Sebastian said. “No fair. You got a head start.”
“I’ve got three siblings, I take my advantages where I can get them.” Noah took a bite of his pizza, then eyed Sebastian. “Your skin still seems to be in place.”
“Yeah, I just got a lecture.”
She laughed. “And the loss of your video games for a month.”
“What?” Sebastian whined.
“You heard me. Besides, it looks like you’ll be too busy to play games anyway.”
29
Watch Out
“Hello, Mom,” Noah said the next day. It was just after seven and he was in his office signing into his computer.
“Noah,” she said. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“You know?” he asked, but figured she did.
“Of course I do. But what I know are rumors so I’d rather hear it from your lips.”
He told her what had happened, how he was resolving it, and what he hoped the future held. “So as you can see, it was a fun day.”
“And you’re conflicted, aren’t you?”
She knew him well. “The principal in me did what needed to be done.”
“And Paige’s boyfriend probably wanted to high five Sebastian,” she said.
He snorted. “You know I won’t admit that.”
It wouldn’t solve anything. Violence never did. He might have wrestled and rolled around with his brothers and cousins growing up but not as much as his cousins in Charlotte did. Cade and Brody were always at each other’s throat. Though Wyatt was like Cade in many ways, he and Drake were much more mild mannered.
“So what did Paige think of all of this?” she asked.
“She was upset. Conflicted like me. She was mad at Sebastian for attacking the kid but understood why he did it. Then she asked me if I thought the way Troy said. If I thought she was going to snap and come at me with a knife.”
“I can understand where she might wonder that.”
“Really?” he asked, scratching his head. Guess he didn’t understand women as much as he thought he did.
“Noah. From what you’ve said, Paige’s sister has been causing drama long before she showed any signs of having any illness. Paige has probably always had to worry about this or watch out for what people thought of her because of it. It’s hard when you are hiding in the shadows to not worry if those dark figures were going to follow you around even on a cloudy day.”
“I guess. I told her I didn’t think that though. It hadn’t even crossed my mind. I guess I’m going to have to try to keep convincing her though, huh?”
“It might be the smart thing to do.”
“Well, we know I’m smart,” he said.
“So what does Sebastian think of his new project? By the way, I think it’s great. Definitely something we should have at the middle school level. I’m sure Diane would like it at the elementary too.”
“I thought it was a pretty good thought on my end. I could tell that though Sebastian is fighting it, it’s just on the surface. He was very fast to come up with a slogan. Words Matter.”
“I told you that kid has potential,” she said proudly.
“He does. I’m making Ian work on it with him.”
“Still trying to save the world and get those kids involved in life,” she said.
“It’s part of my job. I think Sebastian was shocked to hear about Ian’s sister. They share something that not many do. Worse case he meets some kids and gets himself out there more. Best case he forges some friendships that he desperately needs.”
“I agree. You’ve always seemed to know what is needed for the kids. It’s what makes you so good at your job.”
“I don’t know about that,” he said.
“Are you worried about what people are going to say? You are entitled to a private life even though you are in the public eye to an extent.”
He’d always kept his nose clean. He felt he had to. Being a leader, a boss, it didn’t matter the title put on him, he had to be a role model. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t allowed to have a life.
“I’m not worried or concerned and I’ll make sure Paige and Sebastian know that. At this point it’s not even a secret that I’m dating Paige, so the bigger concern is to not treat Sebastian any differently.”
“Suspending him the rest of the week and putting him to work on this campaign isn’t giving him special treatment.”
“It’s not. I won’t do that to him. He’s had enough labels in his life. He’s still going to have to call me Principal Fierce in school and he knows it.”
Though Sebastian did slip and call him Noah after everyone had left the building and it was just the two of them.
“I’m sorry, Noah,” Sebastian had said. “But Troy had it coming.”
Noah had narrowed his eyes. “In this building I’m not responding to that the way I’d love to. I can’t do that.”
“Yeah, I know,” Sebastian said back. “But knowing what you are thinking is enough for me. Everything I do is for Paige.”
The kid had almost been in tears when he said that. “I know.”
“I want her to be with someone who feels that way too,” Sebastian said.
“I do,” he said back and t
hey’d let it drop.
“You’d have it no other way,” his mother said. “Why don’t you three come to dinner this Sunday.”
“We were just there a few weeks ago for New Year’s,” he said.
“And it’s your turn again. Everyone else has come for dinner since,” she argued.
“Don’t you think it’s moving a little fast to have them with me for a second time?”
“I thought you were the smart one, Noah. I’d think your actions the past twenty-four hours have proven just how fast you are moving.”
She had him there.
* * *
“Well,” Garrett said when she hung up the phone. “What did he say?”
“Pretty much what I suspected. It’s a touchy situation, but he handled it well. Not that I didn’t expect him to. He’s always been good at defusing situations and turning them around.”
“What is he doing with the boys?” he asked.
She explained it to her husband. “He’s so smart. What a great way to go about it. Make a statement toward anti-bullying and get Sebastian to put himself out there at the same time.”
“I guess he will see how it all works out,” Garrett said, filling his coffee cup up again. She loved their morning routines before they left for work.
“It’s going to work out just fine.”
“And he’s bringing them to dinner on Sunday?”
“Yes. He asked if it was moving too fast,” she said, laughing.
“I heard what you said. I can’t believe our boys have no clue what is going on. It was right under Drake’s nose. This one has taken a bit more work but so far so good.”
“And you didn’t have that much faith in me,” she said. “You should know better than that.”
“We’ll see. Situations like this could make or break their relationship now. There will be eyes on Noah, eyes on Sebastian. I wouldn’t be surprised if things get worse before they get better,” he said.
“Yes, there will be.”