All the Little Truths (English Prep 3)

Eric

“Hayley said she’s okay, so calm the fuck down so I can talk Headmaster Walton down a few notches.” Christian’s voice was a low rumble, only loud enough for me and Ollie to hear.

“It’s not fucking Headmaster Walton you need to calm down. It’s that fucker who’s hopefully bleeding out in his office right now.”

His blood was still on my knuckles, dried now, but it was still there. I smeared it on my shirt again, trying to wipe the evidence off, which was no use because everyone in the lunchroom saw the fight. My eye was swelling shut, but I didn’t care. He was worse off than me.

Was he bigger than me?

Not by much, but he was.

Was he stron

ger?

Maybe.

But when someone you love was threatened, you gained undeniable strength.

“Eric.” I swung my gaze forward when my father’s voice boomed through the small office. Mrs. Boyd, the receptionist, paged Headmaster Walton the second she saw my father walk in.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked, standing up.

His eyes immediately went to my eye, and he clenched his jaw tight, putting his hands in his pockets. “They couldn’t get a hold of your mother, so they called me. What the hell happened?” He was angry, but I was angrier. “Is this about me? Are you fighting now to get my attention?”

I scoffed, slamming myself back in the seat. “Yeah, Dad. That’s exactly why I beat a grown man’s face in. Because I wanted my daddy to come save me.” Fucking idiot.

“A grown man? What?” The muscles holding his tight expression fell. “For fuck’s sake. Did you beat a teacher up?”

Ollie laughed under his breath.

Mrs. Boyd spoke up from her desk. “He assaulted one of our board members.”

My father’s face blanched. “Are you—” Just then, the door swung open, and Madeline’s mom walked in.

Just fucking perfect. My father took a step back. “What are you doing here?”

Madeline’s mom took in the scene quickly, noting my swollen face and bloody shirt. Her eyes ran over my father, searching his face with a frantic look, and then down to his knuckles.

“Who?” she asked me, ignoring my dad.

In a stone-cold manner, I answered her vague question. “He drives a red Porsche. Didn’t quite catch his name. You should know that he was one of your boyfriends, though.”

The headmaster must have given her a run-down, because she knew what I was referring to when she asked the question.

“What is going on?” my father demanded, standing up even taller, looking from me to Madeline’s mom. Before anyone could answer him, the door to Headmaster Walton’s office opened, and he stood there, cherry-faced, glaring at me. “Your son assaulted one of the board members, that’s what’s going on.”

I stood up quickly, angry all over again. “Did you catch the reason?” I shouted. “Did you ask him why I attacked him?”

Madeline’s mom’s dainty voice squeaked from beside me. “Where is my daughter?”

“I’d like to know the same,” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest before sending Headmaster Walton a glare. “Where is the actual victim in this situation? Has anyone even fucking checked on her?”

“Victim?” my father asked.

This time, I turned to my dad and answered, “Yeah, Dad. That board member in there? The one threatening charges? He raped Madeline. So I retaliated.”

He held my stare, and I expected him to glower at me or look disappointed, but instead, his shoulders dropped slightly. There was a dip in his cool expression for a single, fleeting second before he turned and looked back at Headmaster Walton.