fín (sequel to Neighbor)

chapter two.

LAUREN'S POV

I had been sitting at my desk all day. I dedicated today to getting files put into my computer because I was behind on them. My back was starting to hurt, however.

The sun was still shining, and it was about noon. The kids were in school and Leo was at work as well.

The keyboard clicks were starting to annoy me and a headache was developing from looking at the computer screen for such a long time. Only a little bit more time left, then lunch.

However, my phone started to ring. I thanked whoever was calling for giving me an interruption from doing these files. No wonder I'm so behind, I hate doing this. I get more and more patients every month, it's crazy.

"Lauren DiCaprio," I yawned into the phone.

"Hello Mrs. DiCaprio, this is Mrs. Hawthorne, your kids principal. Are you busy?"

Oh no, what happened this time?

"No, I'm not busy at all. What's wrong?"

She sighed. "Well, your son, Beau, got into a fight today. These boys were making fun of him and he punched one of them in the face. Now, I know-"

"He what?! Oh my," I was so worried about my boy. These kids make fun of him everyday and it never gets any better. "I'm so sorry, he-"

"I'm just going to need you to come down to the school, Mrs. DiCaprio. I've called your husband as well."

———

It was a bit chilly outside, considering it was the middle of November. I could feel my ears freezing as I walked towards the elementary school building.

I was so worried about Beau. My little boy. He's different, and that's completely okay. Other kids don't understand. Being "different" is never accepted in today's society.

I can't even get Dakota to see that different is okay. She wants to be like the other kids. It hurts to see that she doesn't understand that Beau is not like the other kids, and so she picks on him. I wish she could see past everything.

As I walked through the halls, I thought about what I could do to change that.

I could see Leo standing against the wall in front of the principal's office. Once he heard me, he turned towards me and gave me a wide smile. I felt my heart race at the sight of him. It was like I was still a teenager.

"Hi babe," he pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. "You look as lovely as you did this morning."

"Stop it Leo," I couldn't help but smile. "Let's go talk to them about Beau."

He grabbed my hand and opened the door for me. This office had a weird atmosphere. It was so...bland. Boring. No wonder kids hate school.

The secretary directed us to the principals office, and I was nervous as hell. What if Beau gets in trouble? He was just defending himself!

As I opened the door, I saw the principal sitting there with Beau in the chair in front of her. When he turned around, there were tears falling out of his eyes. My heart hurt at the sight. My little boy.

"Mr. And Mrs. DiCaprio," Mrs. Hawthorne spoke out. "Take a seat, please."

I sat down in between Beau and Leo. Looking over to my son, I saw that his hand was red and bleeding.

"I'm sure you two are wondering what happened today. Two boys in Beau's class were taunting him and Beau decided to solve the problem by punching one of them in the face. We don't tolerate bullying—especially physically bullying other students—here."

"These boys have been bullying our soon for months now! Why has no one done anything?" Leo was the first to say something. "If we are going to talk about bullying, then we should talk about how they have been bullying Beau."

The principal looked confused about Leo's statement, like it was the first time she had heard of this. Of course. The public school system is shit.

"That is no reason to physically assault someone, Mr. DiCaprio. I'm sorry, but we're going to have to suspend your son for three days."

"Three days?!" I shouted. "He was defending himself!"

"Lauren, calm down-" Leo grabbed my arm.

"No, I can't believe this! You're not even going to do anything about them bullying him? This is ridiculous! He comes home crying every day because of those boys! They bully him!"

"Look, I'm not saying I don't believe you, but we don't have any evidence that they've been bullying him. I can't do anything about that."

I was furious. This is complete and utter bullshit. There's all these programs about stopping bullying and all that, yet no one is doing anything about it. What is wrong with society today?

"We're leaving," I growled as I picked up Beau from his seat and held him close to me. His tears began to soak my shirt. "We'll see you in three days, Mrs. Hawthorne."

I didn't look behind me as I walked out of the office and walked into the hallway. I could hear Leo running behind me as we exited the school building.

"Lauren!" He shouted. I turned around, Beau still in my arms. "Calm down, sweetheart."

"I can't Leo! My son is getting bullied by those boys and no one is doing anything about it! You know how hard it is to see him this upset?" I could feel the tears begin to leave my eyes. "All I want to do is protect him."

I put Beau into his car seat and buckled him in. He didn't say anything, he just kept letting tears fall from his eyes. I gave him a kiss on the forehead before I shut the door and turned to Leo.

"We'll talk about this tonight, okay?" Leo said as he wrapped his arms around me. "I love you so much. You're an amazing mother."

"I love you too."

"I'll see you at home. I'll pick up some pizza on the way home. You probably don't want to cook tonight. How about we watch Stuck in Love?"

He always knew how to cheer me up.