Fire and Freedom - Book One of the Café Latte Trilogy

Chapter Twelve - Ross

Harper interjected, looking at me and explaining, "Tom and Jasper got into a fight at school. Jasper had come out, and a kid was causing trouble. They kicked ass at first, but they were outnumbered three to two, so they got the shit kicked out of them after a bit."

Lucie suddenly screwed up her face, and I thought she might be crying, but I realised she was angry. I hadn't seen her angry in a while, and it startled me into silence while she muttered, "Tom's nose is broken - it's only a small fracture so he doesn't have to have a splint, thank Christ."

"What the hell?" I blurted out suddenly, as Cherry dropped off my cake. "Is it just his nose?"

"He's got bruises and scrapes elsewhere, but most of the damage was to his face," Lucie held up a photo. "I took photos so that I'd have evidence of the fight when I went to report it to the school or the police."

The photos looked brutal. Tom's lip was split, his nose was swollen and bruised, with an obvious break in the bone, one of his eyes was swollen shut, and he had bruises around his throat. "What the fuck," I muttered, feeling anger swell within me. "Who the fuck are these kids? What are their names?"

"Easy," Raven warned. "I don't think Jasper's lover turning up to beat the bullies up is going to help the situation at all."

I ignored her. "Is Jasper okay?"

"He got the brunt of it," Lucie winced, putting her phone away. "They mostly hit Tom to get him out of the way, but Jasper... it was pretty bad. They went to the hospital together, but Tom was out after his nose was set - I think Jasper needed taping up for a broken rib."

I stabbed my coffee cake, thinking about the dusty-blonde haired kid with his blue eyes. He'd texted me a few times during the week, and we'd spoken about different topics, but this had never come up. Which meant he was purposefully not telling me, because I'd asked him how school was and he'd flat-out lied to me that he was there.

"Fuck," I muttered.

"I'm just glad they got a few shots in before they went down," Lucie looked almost vindictive, which was a bizarre expression on her face. "At least one of them had a black eye. I've got a meeting set up for after their suspension, and I cannot wait-"

"Whoa," I said quickly. "They got suspended? They're not just off sick?"

"They all did, for fighting," Lucie looked miffed. "Clearly, Tom and Jasper weren't fit to be going into school anyway, until they healed up a bit - but yeah, officially they're all suspended. The meeting is complicated as well - the school wants to speak to Tom and Jasper's parents, but Tom and Jasper are adults in their own right and don't need parental supervision. We've agreed to come because Tom hates formal meetings, it winds him up and he needs someone calm to help out. We'll sort it there."

I felt indignant. "They should have sorted it all out before deciding who got suspended - I think broken noses and ribs speak for themselves in terms of who were the victims!"

Lucie smiled, and squeezed my shoulder. "I know, dear, but we were a little busy to argue. I'll keep you updated, but for now I think the main plan is for Tom and Jasper to get a lot of rest, and avoid as much stress as possible."

I didn't like it. I would go and see Tom later, to check up on him, but I didn't have much of an opportunity to go and see Jasper, given that I didn't know his family. It didn't sit right with me, not being able to go. I wanted to see him, to make sure he was alright. I took out my phone and fired off a text to Tom.

Hey. Just spoke to the others. Are you okay? Is Jasper okay?

A few moments later, Tom sent a grinning photo with an ugly bruise across his nose, one eye swollen shut, along with a message.