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."
The desperation on his face is enough to make me take some pity on him. I silently point to a desk I keep right next to mine incase I have an unruly student, and he visibly relaxes as he rushes over and sits down before anyone can come in.
Several of his buddies see him, and give him high-fives as they try to get him to talk about the fight. When I clear my throat, they all see how pissed I really am and slink to their seats immediately.
Jade walks in, and Tate instantly stiffens and blushes slightly as he fidgets with the desk. That's weird. He told me he had a crush on Emmerie
Jade notices Tate and smiles at him as she takes her seat in the front row. She brushes blonde hair off of her tanned shoulder and reaches for some gum out of her book bag.
She lifts the packet of gum towards Tate, and he shakes his head once, trying not to catch my attention.
But unfortunately for him, I see all, and I know all.
Does he have a thing for two girls? I'm so confused
Tate surprises me when he doesn't utter a single word, or move a single muscle during the entire lecture. I expected to constantly be getting on him, but for the first time in his life, he's trying to NOT draw attention to himself.
The bell rings as I'm passing out the study guide. "Don't leave until you get this," I yell, and finish passing out the papers. When I glance up Jade is over talking to Tate, and Tate is trying to be discreet as he answers her.
He likes this girl. He doesn't want me to embarrass him in front of her.
I act like I still see nothing as I finish passing, and when I get back up to my desk I refrain from clearing my throat again and pretend like I don't notice.
"Good luck," she says softly as she leaves, shooting me a smile on her way out. When I turn to Tate and lift my eyebrows in confusion, he very darkly says "stop."
~*~
The drive home is eerily silent. Julianne is in her head about Gage I'm sure, Tate is nervous, and I'm....Well I'm pissed.
"Did Gage say anything when you brought the pass?" I ask her as I turn down our little road that leads to the house.
"No. Mrs. Fillman was about to write him a detention for being so late, but when I handed her the passes she just snapped at us to sit down, and he still wouldn't look at me."
"Sorry Annie."
Her silence is all the answer I need and I wish I could take this from her. Being a teenager was rough for me too.
When we get inside, Tate simply puts his bookbag on the table and looks at me.
"Jules, why don't you go to your room." I say as I keep my gaze on my brother and try not to overreact. She does what I say and Tate and I have a stare down for several moments.
"You attacked a guy, Tate. I'm fine with self-defense. Actually, I very much encourage self-defense. But this wasn't. You attacked him."
He is completely silent as he continues to stare at me.
"You have nothing to say?"
"Not really! I'm not sorry and I'd do it again. And I really wish you wouldn't have tackled me because I had a perfect shot to break his jaw."
My own jaw clenches and my damn palm twitches as I try to calm myself back down.
"So you're basically going to get nothing out of any punishment I dish out, huh?"
"Exactly..So there's no point in punishing me....."
I blow out an angry breath as I motion for my bedroom. "Go in my room. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"What? I'm not going in your room. What's wrong with mine?"
"DO IT NOW!" I scream, and he flinches as he turns around and does what I've said.
I grab some Gatorade out of the fridge and drink it as I try to calm my racing heart. I'm so upset with him and his lack of remorse.
I go in my room about ten minutes later, and I catch him staring at the pictures I have on my dresser. Pictures of us when we were kids...Before I left. Until they came to live with me, I couldn't even look at them without hating myself too much, so I kept them in a drawer where I couldn't see them.
He hears me and turns quickly, masking his face to disgust. "You can't ever tell me to clean my room again...This room is gross."
"Yeah well, when you're an adult and pay the mortgage, you can keep your house however you want."
When he has nothing else to add, I shrug.
"Last chance to plead your case. It feels like there's something you're not telling me."
At his continued silence, I nod. He's wearing basketball shorts, so that will make it more painful for him.
"I'm doing it a little different, Tate. Lay down face first on the bed."
His nose scrunches in true disgust. "You and Quinn have sex on this bed. I'm not going to do that."
"We've also had sex on the couch and you still sit there," I snap. Damn I shouldn't have said that
His face flashes so much horror, it would be comical if I wasn't so frustrated.
"Now...." I say quietly, and it must have spooked him because he quickly walks over to my bed and lays down face first.
I walk over and pull his hips until only the top half of his body is resting comfortably on the bed, and reach for a wooden hairbrush on my nightstand that Sylvie left. I place it in his line of sight, and he literally clenches his butt.
"At the end of the spanking, I'll be giving you five with this."
When he says nothing I look over to make sure he's listening.
He just looks at me and rolls his eyes. "Fine"
"You're not gonna argue with me?" I ask in shock.
"There's no point. Can we just get on with it?"
Damn he's acting weird
I stand so close to him, my leg is brushing up against his as I take my left hand and push it into his shoulder blade to keep him in place.
Being at this angle, I'm able to somehow bring my hand down harder and when it meets his right cheek, I feel it clench under the fabric.
He lets out a groan as the second smack comes down and he realizes what type of a spanking he just earned, and as my harsh slaps hit all over his bottom, he begins to fist the comforter until his knuckles turn white.
"You're gonna tell me why you attacked him...Emmerie didn't even hear!" I say as my swats hit him so hard that he grunts during each one.
"Still doesn't make it right," he grinds out through bated breath as he breathes deeply through his nose.
He's got me there
"Talking to him would have been the first step," I say as I push him down harder as he starts to wiggle, and really hammer down on his ass.
"Told him to shut up," he rushes out in one breath as he grunts a low, guttural groan and I can tell he's about to cry.
"You're not gonna knock out every asshole that makes a rude comment, Tatum,"
"If I call you Ernie will you just shut the hell up and spank me?" He grinds out in a shaky voice, and when I land a HEAVY smack on his bare thigh, he finally lets out a cry.
Damn he's getting nothing out of this at all....Is spanking him the right answer this time?
I stay silent and spank him for another couple of moments since he asked so nicely, and my silence is replaced by his tears. But something just doesn't feel right, so after three more harsh spanks on his bare thighs, I stop.
I know he thinks I'm reaching for the hairbrush, so he grips the comforter and smashes his face deeper into the mattress as he visibly clenches.
I just sit silently and wait, watching him.
After at least 30 seconds, he finally lifts his head slowly and turns until his tear-filled eyes reach mine.
"What are you d-doing?" He hiccups between his tears, and as I continue to watch him he finally flips over and sits carefully on his butt.
"Have you finally snapped?" He asks as he wipes at his tears.
"When I spank you, I'm expecting you to be learning a lesson and have remorse for what you did. You have neither and I want to know why. Right now!"
He just stares at me and I blow out a frustrated breath. "Tate, you attacked someone! And yet, I feel like I'm in the wrong somehow and I don't understand why. You INSTIGATED AN ASSAULT ON SOMEONE."
He remains silent and I'm getting angry all over again.
"Ok, spanking you doesn't feel right and until it does.....shit.....Give me your phone. You've lost it."
"For how long?" He snaps
"FOR HOWEVER LONG I DAMN WELL WANT!" I scream, and when he flinches I take a deep breath and try again.
"I'm sorry, you just....You don't care and it's seriously pissing me off! You know what? You are going to do chores all night...And the whole time you're suspended. You EVER put your hands on someone again, and I'll belt your ass and have NO plans on stopping early like I just did. I'm so disappointed in you."
He glares at me and I stand up, dragging him with me by his bicep. "Get in the bathroom and start cleaning it."
"Holden!" He gasps in horror like I asked him to lick the damn toilet seat.
"And after that, the oven needs cleaned."
When he crosses his arm in defiance, I bend down to his level, which honestly is only a couple of inches, and give him an unamused grin. "You wanted me bossy? I'm here. Move!"
Something flickers in his eyes and as he pushes past me, I breathe a sigh of relief.
I really didn't think he'd clean the toilet