Meet Cute(26)

“Emme, you need to calm down,” Mr. Proctor says, and Daxton tenses visibly. I like seeing his protectiveness; it makes me second-guess his motives for wanting to keep her in his life. I remove my heel from the tip of his shoe and nudge his knee with mine, hoping he understands what the gesture means.

He clasps his hands on the table. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about this Billy Horton kid?”

“Because he’s an idiot and he bullies everyone. Usually I just let it roll off me, but he wouldn’t leave me alone today, and everything in the house is changing and I just couldn’t take it.” She dissolves in a fit of tears.

“So a known bully is targeting my sister and she’s the one sitting here in the office?”

“Billy is being disciplined for his actions, just as Emme is being disciplined for hers.”

“He pulls my hair all the time! And he trips me in the hall!” she shouts.

“Emme, don’t yell at Mr. Proctor. He’s trying to help you,” Linda says.

Before Daxton has a chance to cut in with some scathing, thoughtless remark, I offer my opinion. “Emme, would you like a break from the meeting?” I turn to Mr. Proctor. “I think under the circumstances, it might be best for this to continue with just the adults. If we need Emme for any further questions, we can call her back in.”

Emme nods, looking relieved.

“You can have a seat in the front office, unless you’d rather go back to the waiting room,” Mr. Proctor offers.

Emme grabs her bag and heads for the door. I wait until it closes behind her before I turn back to Proctor. “Is Billy in Emme’s class?”

“He is.”

“Then we need an action plan to address how to move forward. Emme has gone through a very traumatic event, and being taunted with drawings that make light of what happened to her is absolutely unacceptable.”

“We’ll have the seating chart revised.”

“I’d like that taken care of before she returns to class tomorrow,” Daxton interjects.

Mr. Proctor adjusts his tie nervously. Again. “Emme is not permitted to return to school tomorrow.”

Daxton’s face goes stony. It’s an expression I’m unfamiliar with, and it makes my insides a little zingy.

“Excuse me?”

A bead of sweat works its way down Mr. Proctor’s temple. He may be older than Daxton by a good fifteen to twenty years, but when it comes to power dynamics, Daxton wins. I hate that I find that a little hot.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy for violence.” He clears his throat before he continues. “Emme has a mandatory three-day suspension.”

“I wonder what the superintendent would think about this situation. Especially with how much my family has been in the media. It seems with a little more attention and care, this entire thing could have been avoided. Aside from Linda, who else was on duty in the cafeteria? Surely you have more than one adult supervising all of those students.”

And there he is. Daxton the lawyer, using whatever means necessary to get what he needs for his sister. I might be warming to him just a little.

“Mr. Hughes, I assure you, the staff did everything they could to keep things under control.”

“Apparently not, since Billy got punched in the face and my sister has been bullied by this boy on several occasions, which brings me back to the issue of the suspension.” Daxton taps on the arm of his chair, waiting.

“Protocol deems that there must be a punitive course of action.” Before I can cut in, he continues, “However, under these circumstances, Emme could work on projects from home for the next two days, not including this afternoon, without a formal suspension, provided she’s willing to talk to her guidance counselor on a weekly basis, as well as the school social worker.”

Daxton frowns. “She already speaks with her counselor.”

Mr. Proctor rearranges the papers on his desk. This is the fidgetiest man I’ve ever met. “Well, so far it’s been fairly one sided.”

“Explain that please?”

“Emme hasn’t said very much to her counselor, despite repeated efforts to engage her.”

Daxton pushes up from his chair. “You know, for a school that prides itself on elite education, you seem to be failing where my sister is concerned.”

“I assure you, we’re the doing the best we can.”

“You need to do better,” I say. “Daxton can’t help Emme if he doesn’t know what’s going on, and if your staff fails to communicate, no one can be proactive. Emme will be back on Monday. In the meantime, I suggest you put together a plan to help Emme and her classmates deal with this tragedy in a sensitive, responsible manner.” I push out of my chair, done with the conversation.

“Thank you for your time,” Daxton mutters as we show ourselves out of the office, leaving Mr. Proctor sputtering and Linda slack-jawed.

Emme is slouched in a chair in the main office, hugging her knapsack, another girl sitting beside her, the two of them whispering together.

“All right, Emme, let’s go,” Daxton says, back to being angry.

“Am I still suspended?”

“We’ll talk about it in the car. Do you need anything from your locker?”

She roots around in her bag. “My journal.”