Mother and father don’t look happy. Yet what I see in their faces isn’t anger. It’s sympathy. “Your son attacked a girl on campus during school hours. This is not acceptable in the slightest.” The principal says glaring at me. “She’s a murderer!” I shout standing up out of my chair. Mother grabs my shoulder and pulls me down. “I’m very sorry sir it won’t happen again.” She promises smiling sweetly. “Collen your father and I want to talk to the principal alone. You can wait in the lobby, okay?” I don’t even bother to answer as I stand up and walk out of the room. I sit in one of the most uncomfortable chairs ever and try to calm down. I don’t need to hear them to know what they’re saying but I listen anyway.
“We’re very sorry sir. He hasn’t been the same since the death of Isabella. The doctors say he’ll get his memory back eventually. He’s a bit delusional. His mind isn’t stable. He can’t think straight. So please give him a second chance. I’m sure once he is better, he will never do it again.”
“Fine I’ll give him a second chance, but he has to do some community service on weekends, apologize to Rachel and he’d better go home for the rest of today.”
I hear my parents thank the principal before walking out of his office. “Come on Collen we’re going home.” My dad says softly, leading me to the car. We drive home in silence and when we get there, I head upstairs saying I have some homework I need to do. Once I get to my room I don’t even bother to change out of my uniform. I drop my bag on the floor and sit on my bed flopping back so my feet still dangle off the edge. I dull ache throbs in the back of my head. Like an itch I can’t scratch. I end up doing my homework and thinking about how I would confront Rachel when my phone rings, it’s Griffin. “Yes,” I say answering it nonchalantly. “Uh, so I overheard you when you were yelling at Rachel and- “he starts saying before I interrupt him “Don’t worry about it I was just playing around,” I say forcing a laugh “Collen… you would never joke around with something like that. You would never fight unless it was for something you firmly believed in. So, I investigated her, specifically the day… you were on the bridge, she was at a party in the country for her younger cousin's birthday, so she wasn’t around.” Griffin surprises by saying something more “You need to figure out what happened don’t you? You won’t be able to move on if you don’t.” I start to argue with him, but I realize it's true. “Yeah,” I whisper into my phone. Griffin pauses a minute before responding. “I'm going to help you, I know you want to do it yourself, but you need me, ok, so no arguing. I have to do homework, but we’ll talk tomorrow.” He hangs up. I put my phone on my dresser and look at the time. 6:27. Maybe I should go downstairs to get some food. I pull myself off my bed and trudge downstairs. I hear my parents whispering again.
“Tom, how long is this going to go on? He stays in his room all the time and now he’s getting into fights!”
“It’ll be okay, I’m sure everything will be fine once he gets better. I walk into the kitchen. “Hello Collen!” My mother says cheerfully “Would you like some dinner?” I look at the table set for three with a pot of soup in the middle and decide it’s better if I don’t refuse even though I’m not hungry. I sit at the table silently and watch as my parents look at each other worriedly. Mother starts serving up portions for everybody and we start eating. My parents talk back and forth but during the meal I am silent.
“Oh yes, I almost forgot the principal said you’re not suspended but you do have to do some community work and apologize to Rachel.” Mother says cheerfully and my grip tightens on my spoon. I give her a small okay to let her know I heard her before finishing my meal and heading upstairs. My room is dark, and I don’t bother turning on the light and I get ready for bed. I crawl into it after brushing my teeth and think about my day. All the things I heard that I wasn’t supposed to. All the lies the adults believe.
He hasn’t been the same.
He is delusional.
Overreacts
Once he gets better.
“I’m not sick!” I say out loud, surprising myself. I’m not sick. She would never jump. She would never jump. This becomes my chant as I fall asleep.
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