New Boy (A Javid Story)

Problems

Joseph Pulitzer looked out the window of his office, rubbing his forehead. Just over fifty of his students were protesting outside the school, led by his daughters ex-boyfriend and the other boy he had suspended a few days ago. 

Pulitzer had never liked Jack Kelly. He didn't like him before Jack started dating Katherine, he didn't like him while he was dating Katherine, and he certainly didn't like Jack after he and Katherine broke up. The boy was a troublemaker, as were most of his friends. Pulitzer certainly did not want his daughter mixed up with a troublemaker. He ended up being a bit happy when his daughter broke up with the boy. He had never approved of Jack Kelly to begin with. When the two started dating, Jack asked permission to keep dating Katherine. But, when Pulitzer did not give his permission, Jack went on with dating her anyways. 

Pulitzer wasn't exactly a fan of Jack's friends either. Antonio Higgins was in detention every other day, but he had a feeling Antonio would be in much more trouble if he wasn't friends with that redhead. Then again, the redhead didn't seem to be much better, as he had detention at least three times a month. One of them was the biggest flirt Pulitzer had ever seen. The only one Pulitzer actually liked was the one with the crutch, Charlie Morris. Then again, Charlie Morris had never caused any trouble, no matter how many times Jack joked about how much of a pain his brother was. 

But, as Pulitzer looked out the window of his office, he knew this was the worst trouble any of these boy had caused yet. 

"Hannah!" He yelled over his shoulder to his secretary, not taking his eyes off of the scene outside. The young, redheaded secretary shuffled in holding a notepad. 

"Yes, Mr. Pulitzer?" She asked, looking down at the tic tac toe game she had been playing with a kid who was waiting in the other room. 

"Call Snyder's room." He ordered. "Pull Katherine out of class." 

"Well, about that..." Hannah started. 

"What about that?" Pulitzer asked, turning around. 

"Katherine isn't in class." Hannah informed him. 

"Well, where is she?" He asked. Hannah bit her lip and pointed out the window. Pulitzer groaned and rubbed his forehead again. "You're telling me that my daughter is out there protesting with those troublemakers?" Pulitzer almost yelled. 

"Yeah." Hannah nodded. She hated getting Katherine in trouble. The two were almost like sisters, only three years apart in age. 

"What day is it, Hannah?" He asked. It had been a four day weekend, and Pulitzer's sense of time was thrown off. 

"Tuesday." Hannah answered. 

"Damn it. She's with her mother today." Pulitzer groaned. Hannah looked outside at the protesters and had to try and hide a smile. She would have joined them herself, but college was hard and she needed this job. Even so, she would probably still have this job after college. The pay wasn't great, but it could be worse. Along with that, they were relaxed about her having to miss work because of class. But still, Pulitzer could be a bit of a jerk to her sometimes and she had always wanted to be a part of a protest. 

"Well, maybe they'll only do this for a little while longer." Hannah suggested, although she really wanted it to last. "Maybe it's like an until lunch thing?" 

"If my daughter and that Kelly boy are involved then I doubt it." Pulitzer went back over and sat on his desk as Hannah continued to watch from the window. 

"You know his name." Hannah reminded. 

"I also know my ex-wife's name, yet I don't use it." Pulitzer told her. 

"So you think of Jack Kelly as an ex lover?" Hannah asked. 

"What? No! He's my daughter's ex lover!" He jumped back in disgust at the idea. 

"So you admit that Jack and Katherine were in a real relationship?" Hannah raised an eyebrow, remembering the many rants her boss had gone on about how his daughter and Jack hadn't really been dating. 

"No." Pulitzer groaned. 

"But you just said-" Hannah started. 

"Forget what I said!" He shook his head. "Just...what do I do?" 

Hannah felt her stomach fill up with fear when she looked out the window. "I, uh, don't think it's up to you anymore..." She whispered, just loud enough for Pulitzer to hear. The older man rushed to the window and watched as men and women in blue uniforms walked up the the protesters. 

From outside, Jack Kelly felt the same fear Hannah felt indoors. He took Davey's hand and gave Crutchie a reassuring nod before stepping forward. "What seems to be the problem here, officers?" He asked, appearing strong. 

"Mr. Jack Kelly, I presume?" The officer in charge asked. 

"Yes ma'am." Jack nodded. 

"We got a call, Mr. Kelly. From a concerned student." The officer started to explain. 

"Delancey." Race quietly muttered to himself, looking to Albert. 

"The student mentioned kids under the age of sixteen skipping school and distracting others from their education. They also cited being overly loud, trespassing, and vandalism." The officer finished. 

"Nobody here vandalized nothing." Jack told the officer. 

"Would you care to explain that, then, Mr. Kelly?" One of the other officers pointed to a bench. On the bench, the words 'Take that Pulitzer' were spray painted in red paint. 

"Alright, who did that?" Jack spun around angrily, looking at the crowd. Nobody said anything and Jack turned back around. 

Then, before Jack could do anything, he heard a senior yell "Scatter!" The crowd around Jack dispersed into loud yells. The police began to chase after people, and Jack felt the panic in his stomach rise. He looked around and quickly grabbed Les's hand. He pulled the kid out of the way and into the garden behind the school. 

"Stay here." He whispered to Les before running back towards the chaos. He watched as kids got thrown in the back of police cars and tried to get as many people out of the way as possible before the police got to him himself. Jack ran as fast as he could away from them, and ended up getting away. He sent a quick text to his friends in the group chat and told them to meet him outside Jacobi's. 

Ten minutes later, Jack was doing a headcount, trying to figure out who had gotten away. 

"Where's Crutchie?" He asked, looking around. 

"Jack." Davey stood up, trying to take Jack's hand.

"Where's Crutchie?" Jack asked again, a bit more aggressive this time. 

"Jack," Davey bit his lip. "The police got Crutchie."