Hot Cocoa

13

For a couple of weeks, everything seemed to be calm. No car accidents, no coworkers trying to get your classes canceled or retaliating after the parents supported you...they were still assholes, but you could deal with it, and you hoped the rest of the year was going to be calm like that.

One day, though, as you walked to the teacher's room during the lunch break, you heard some commotion and rushed to it. You froze for a moment when you saw that another teacher, Gary, was dragging Sam away from three kids, one of them you recognized as the kid of Rachel, one of the teachers, and a year older than little Dixon.

"What happened?!" You asked, scared, looking from Sam, who had a bruised cheekbone and tears in his eyes, to the other teachers.

"Dixon got into a fight," Gary said, holding Sam's arm. "I'm taking him to the principal's."

"And the other kids?! What with them?" You looked at them, but they didn't seem hurt, and one of them was smirking but stopped when another teacher looked at him.

"Dixon started it, so he's the one I'm taking to the principal's," Gary said.

"He started it?" You didn't know if it was true or not, but still... "So he went and picked up a fight with three older kids, out of nothing?"

"Yeah...it doesn't sound right," Naomi said, reaching you all too.

"I saw it, I was at the other side of the corridor," another teacher said. "He threw the first punch."

"Because he's stupid and feral like all his family," one of the other kids said, and Sam, who had been looking down, tried to go for him at that again, but the Gary dragged him back.

"Stop it!"

"Hey!" You looked at the kid who had said that. "That's a mean thing to say, yeah?" The kid just looked at you like you were an idiot, scoffing.

"Yes, stop it, the three of you," another teacher said, and at least she wasn't agreeing with the kid openly. "Go to the classroom."

"I think they four should go to the principal's, not just Sam, so we can speak about this, all together, see what's going on, fix the problem and-" You began, trying to sound professional.

"Sam started it, I'm bringing Sam," Gary told you without letting you finish. "If you want to talk, do it yourself."

"This is bullshit...Sam started it? Yeah, sure those other kids did nothing," Naomi muttered to you. "You go with Sam, I go to try to talk to those other three?"

"Yeah...thanks." You nodded.

"There's no need for that." Rachel, the mother of one of the kids, seemed to come out of nowhere, stopping in front of Naomi when she was going to follow the kids. "I'll talk with my kid and his friends myself..."

"Sure you will," Naomi scoffed.

"I'm not his mother here, I'm his teacher," Rose said, and you almost rolled your eyes at how full of bullshit you knew she was. You were about to turn around and follow Sam and Gary to the principal's, when Rachel got closer to you. "If your boyfriend's kid has hurt mine, I'm getting him and you too kicked out of here, don't think I can't make it happen," she whispered to you.

You had never felt the urge to punch someone as you did that moment, didn't even bother saying that Daryl wasn't your boyfriend, but Gary was already walking, dragging Sam to the principal's, and so you glared at Rachel but headed to the principal's too, Naomi following you.

Gary almost closed the principal's door on your face, but you held it, and you and Naomi walked in too.

"What's this and why is everybody here?" The principal said, seeming annoyed.