Cole, Danny, Nathan and Lee sat on the bench while Brooklyn stood in between Isaac and Alex. They all waited in silence as Katherine was talking to the principal.
The red haired woman came out of the office looking more pissed than Brooklyn has ever seen her. “Alex and Cole, you have a three- day suspension, and the rest of you are suspended until tomorrow. So I guess we're going home.” She started to walk away but everyone stayed in place. “Now!” Her voice was loud and firm.
Some flinched at the loud boom of her voice and everyone followed. Once they got to the car, everyone realised that there wasn't enough space. Each seat was filled but Brooklyn still stood outside the car.
Katherine couldn't think of an alternative but Alex gestured for her to come in. She did as told and he guided her to sit on his lap. No one said anything to question it but Brooklyn had to hold in the urge to smile when she saw Isaac's glare. It was working.
Alex wrapped his arms around her waist to mimick a seatbelt and she put her hands over his to keep herself steady. The car ride was full of tension, both Alex and Brooklyn could feel eyes burning into their skulls by Isaac in the backseat.
When they arrived, Alex tightly held Brooklyn's hand as she stepped out if the car, making sure she didn't trip. He sent her a small smile to assure her despite the bleak situation at the moment.
Katherine made them sit in the kitchen. Alex and Cole sat as far away from each other as possibly, unsurprisingly. Brooklyn sat with Alex. Lee with Isaac and Nathan with Danny.
George came in and they all received a speech. “Your mother and I don't tolerate fighting. That's not new, is it?” George's voice was calm but Katherine's was the opposite. She seemed more upset. “You're not a bunch of toddlers. You should be able to resolve your differences without resorting to violence.”
Katherine stepped forward, making Alex look at her. “You two are brothers. What you have is precious, and it is fragile, and God knows it can be ripped away from you in a second.”
“You're all grounded for a month.” Everyone complained simultaneously. “What about the play auditions?” Danny asked. “You can do the play auditions but, that is only because they're a part of school.”
“And you'll be doing some extra chores before school until I say otherwise.” George added. “That's not fair. I mean, we weren't even fighting.” Lee spoke up, which was what most of them were thinking. “I'm sorry, do you think this is just about the fight? We know you have all been covering for Cole while he sneaks girls into his room in the middle of the night.”
“You're allowed to have boundaries and some privacy, but you are never ever allowed to sneak and lie. Got it?” As everyone thought she had finished, everyone got up to leave. “I'm sorry. Did we say you're excused?” They all sat back down, many of them resisting the urge to roll their eyes.
“All of you will be staying in this room until these two figure it out.” George said, pointing at Alex and Cole. Everyone at the table glanced at each other, knowing it wasn't happening any time soon.
“Good luck.” “Consider it family bonding.”
Katherine and George said respectively but before they left the room, they looked at Brooklyn. “I know you weren't fighting and that you couldn't have known about Cole sneaking girls in. So you're excused.” Katherine let her off.
Brooklyn saw the faces on the boys' faces. It wasn't fair. She was there, so she'll bare the same consequences. “I'll take the punishment.” Brooklyn sighed, getting comfortable in her seat. Accepting that she was gonna be there for a while.
Alex sent her a thankful look, grateful to have some company.
Almost two hours later, they were still stuck in the room. Danny had been reciting the same lines over and over again like a soundboard while pacing back and forth. Nathan doing homework and Lee sketching mindlessly. Cole and Isaac sat doing nothing. Brooklyn was scrolling through Instagram while Alex just watched her quietly.
“...of good discourse, an excellent musician, and her hair shall be whatever color it please God.” Danny said with emotion. “Okay. Okay, you've got it down. We all could say it at this point.” Isaac said, fed up with hearing the same few sentences over and over again.
“Yeah, I'm with Isaac. Stop.” Nathan spoke up in a much kinder tone, Brooklyn humming in agreement, not bothering to look up from her phone. “And you guys, can you just, like, figure this out? Because like this fight is affecting all of us now.” Nathan continued.
“Really? It seems like it's mainly affecting me though, right? You know, the one with the black eye?” Cole replied, referring to the punch Alex threw at the auditorium. Nathan rolled his eyes and Isaac scoffed.
“It's just a black eye. Actually, it's barely a bruise. With how much of an asshole you've been lately, I'm surprised it isn't an open wound. A little disappointed too.” Brooklyn spoke for the first time in the past hour or two, starting to get aggravated. Alex had filled her in on everything that happened while she was gone. Including the Paige incident, making her opinion on Cole go downhill.
Isaac, Lee, Danny and Nathan gave each other looks, seeing each other's reactions at Brooklyn's outburst. Nathan and Danny seemed concerned while Isaac and Lee were containing their smiles.
“Okay, fine. I didn't spread the rumour of you crying like a little bitch. I wish I had of course, ‘cause you snitched on me to Dad, but I didn't.” Cole started to 'resolve' the issue. “I didn't snitch.” Alex shot back before sighing. “Okay, I should have said 'no' instead of nothing to Dad, but I didn't because of what you said about Brooklyn and Jackie at the bonfire.” Alex explained.
“What did you say about Brooklyn and Jackie at the bonfire?” Lee repeated. “Yeah, Cole. What did you say about Brooklyn and Jackie at the bonfire?” Brooklyn put her phone down and sat up, her eyes squinting. Her voice was low and laced with an intimidating tone.
“Yeah, I kind of want to know too.” Danny added. “What'd you say about Brooklyn?” Isaac pushed the question, to his luck, nobody seemed to catch on to the protective tone besides his brother. Cole refused to answer any of them. “You guys, can we focus?” Nathan tried again but no one listened. “You know what, Alex? I forgive you for punching me. But I'm really sorry that you can't get over how jealous you are of me.”
“Jealous? Who would be jealous of someone who clearly peaked their sophomore year of high school?” Alex seemed to hit a nerve because Cole shot up from his chair, trying to get to him. Alex stood up to, ready to defend himself. Brooklyn and Isaac stood too but before a fight could break out, Nathan collapsed from his seat.
