Dance In The Rain

~36~ No Remorse

Holden's POV

After I take a few minutes to calm down, I finally leave my room and go down to Lee's office.

In the grand scheme of things, I really did figure I'd visit this office a lot more with Tate, but he went almost 10 months without getting sent to the office once.

I need to put that into perspective, but I'm honestly just too pissed.

When I get in, Tate is sitting there and answering a question Lee asked, not looking at the principal but at his hands in his lap.

"Look at him when he's talking to you," I say darkly, and Lee glances at me in sympathy as he clears his throat and leans back in his chair.

"Have a seat, Holden. How did you cut your forehead?"

"I'm pretty sure it was on Tate's tooth when I tackled him to the ground," I say, and Tate flinches at my tone. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, he looks more nervous than he did.

"You were there. Travis hit him at all?"

"No. He tried after Tate put his hands on him first, but I was able to restrain him. I did put my hands on Travis to do that, though."

Lee waves his hand in dismissal. "You did what you needed to do to diffuse the situation."

I figured, but I still needed him to say it out loud.

"Three day suspension is all I'll give him this time since it's his first offense. I won't be so lenient the next time though, Tate."

Tate nods and I clear my throat in agitation. When his eyes meet mine, I glare at him. "'Yes sir' is the response, Tatum."

"Yes sir," Tate sighs, and Lee nods.

"This better not happen again, young man. We don't tolerate violence at this school. We strive to create a safe atmosphere for all of our students."

"And the verbal assault that Travis did to the girl? That's okay?"

"Did she even hear him?" Lee asks.

"No"

"Tate!" I growl

"No, SIR" Tate says with such an attitude, my palm actually twitches.

"Then it was an unfortunate circumstance that shouldn't have happened, but I cannot punish him for it. At that point, it's your word against his."

"Real cute," Tate snips and I grip his thigh in silent warning, which he heeds as he simply looks back down at his lap.

"I can see if Sylvie will keep him at the bar all week if he can't stay with me in my class. What's the rule with that?"

"If she can't and there are no other options, he can stay with you. But typically, we expect them to be off of school grounds."

"What about the rest of today?"

"That's fine."

"Alright. I'm so sorry, Tim. He will be punished for this."

Tate rolls his eyes as he stands up when I do. Lee simply reaches his hand out for mine, and when I shake it I turn to my brother. "Let's go."

~*~

The walk to my classroom is silent, and when we get inside I shut the door. "Stand in the corner for the rest of the period."

"Are you serious?"

"Do I look serious?" I ask darkly, and he curses under his breath as he walks over to a corner in the back of the room and puts his face in it.

He stands there without saying a single word the rest of the time while I work on lesson plans, and when the bell rings he immediately turns around. "Holden, please don't make me stand in the corner when your next class comes in."