Ask Me If I Care (SWAT Generation 2.0 4)

“What’s going on?” I asked. “You the one to make the call?”

She nodded once, her eyes flicking quickly to the side to where a few other cops talked with the principal.

She looked at the principal, who was busy talking to Saint and Booth, a couple of other members of the SWAT team that just so happened to be eating lunch with me when the call came in, and then back to me.

“Can I talk to you in private?” she asked.

My brows rose, then I gestured with a nod of my head for her to lead.

She did, right into her office where she closed the door.

“What is it?” I asked, my eyes taking in the entire area.

My gaze froze on a picture of me and I narrowed them before turning back to Ares.

She licked her lips, looking nervous, and my attention was diverted from my calendar to her face.

“I think that there’s a bully problem here,” she said. “The school is supposed to have a zero-tolerance policy on it, but the principal doesn’t take care of it. I don’t know if you’re familiar with all that went on with Avery…” I nodded my head. “Well, to say that it’s worse would be an understatement. Being embarrassed in front of the school by Derek? That really fucked with Principal Bailey’s ability to control the students. I went and talked with the part-time school resource officer. It’s Officer Toomey today. But seriously, nobody is doing anything. There is no consistency in the position. We have someone new here every other day. They aren’t seeing the whole picture.” She swallowed. “I called the cops today. I’m going to get so much shit for this…but it’s getting out of hand.”

I saw her worry and wished I could do something to help resolve it for her.

Instead, I crossed my arms and said, “What happened?”

She stretched her neck, then leaned against her desk and crossed her feet in front of her.

“Well, as the guidance counselor, I get a lot of students coming in here with their problems,” she started. “And I usually have to abide by the patient confidentiality thing that most psychologists do. But this time, the student gave me permission to speak to someone about what’s happening.”

“And that is…” I urged.

She stretched her neck, then sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I had a student that became pregnant,” she began. “Her and one of the football players had sex. Baby came. Mom decided she couldn’t be the baby’s mother. Dad wanted it. Fast forward eight months and now dad is a full-time dad and mom is back to what she used to be doing. Only, everyone is giving her so much shit for getting pregnant and not keeping the baby. It’s gotten so bad that she tried to kill herself.”

My stomach clenched.

“She survived. Is better now. But…the bullying just won’t stop. And I’m fucking terrified that she’s going to try again,” I admitted. “I spoke with the resource officer last week. Spoke with the principal. The superintendent even knows about it. And nobody is doing goddamn anything. And today, that fight broke out with the baby’s father and another student who was giving the mom shit.” She scrubbed her hands over her face, making the makeup on one eye become slightly smudged. “And I just got fed up. Nobody’s doing anything!”

“And this isn’t all?” I guessed. “There’s more?”

She nodded. “There’s always more. But… this class of students is terrible. I have one student who’s tried his level best to ruin another student’s football career. Avery’s thing. I have another that took over the head cheerleader’s place and is heckling the staff. I mean, they act like they run this school. And to be honest, they do. Because the staff here just don’t give a fuck. I can’t deal with eight hundred students on my own.”

I wanted to pull her into my chest and wrap my arms around her.

“I have a student whose mom is dying of cancer while she goes to school,” Ares whispered. “Another that’s so poor that she can’t put clothes on her body. Another that steals because it’s the only way that she can make her parents pay attention to her. And don’t even get me started on the boys.”

I chuckled. “Boys are always worse, eh?”

She rolled her eyes. “You have no idea. Boys are way worse than girls. You would think the opposite, but I swear to God. They act awful.”

“Let me see what I can accomplish,” I said softly. “And I’ll talk to Luke about Toomey. He’s the most consistent officer in this position. If he’s not doing what needs to be done here, he needs to go.”

She groaned. “Great. Another reason for him to hate me.”

“Another?” I asked. “Why does he hate you now?”

She flushed. “I turned him down for a date. And unfortunately, I was a little blunt and flashy with how I denied him. It also happened to happen in front of a few of his colleagues, and he’s been a dick ever since.”