CHAPTER 8: The Principal’s Version
Principal Whitaker clapped his hands once, the way he did when trying to turn chaos into schedule. “Students, back to the bleachers. Phones away.”
Nobody obeyed quickly.
“Phones away,” he repeated, sharper.
Hannah lowered her red phone but did not stop recording. She turned it slightly, hiding the screen against her sweater. Her thumb trembled, yet it stayed exactly where it needed to stay.
Mr. Whitaker approached Ethan with a disappointed expression already prepared. “Ethan, we need to discuss why you used force during a school event.”
Claire’s eyes flashed. “Used force? That boy was grabbing him.”
“We are still gathering information,” Whitaker said.
James looked around the gym. “Then gather it honestly.”
Blake sat up, emboldened by the principal’s tone. “He attacked me. Everybody saw it.”
Some students looked down. Fear returned to the room. It was amazing how quickly truth could become lonely when power stared at it.
Whitaker nodded as if Blake’s words carried more official weight than Ethan’s bruised wrist or the dozens of silent witnesses. “Blake, we’ll get you checked by the nurse. Ethan, you’ll come with me.”
“No,” Claire said.
The word was small but solid.
Whitaker blinked. “Excuse me?”
“My son is not going anywhere alone with you until I know what happened.”
“He threw another student.”
“After being grabbed.”
“That is not confirmed.”
Hannah’s voice broke from the crowd. “Yes, it is.”
Every head turned.
Hannah stepped forward, red phone in her hand, face pale but determined. “I recorded it from the beginning.”
Blake’s expression changed instantly.
Whitaker’s did too, but only for half a second.
“Hannah,” the principal said carefully, “this is a student discipline matter. Recording may violate school policy.”
James gave a humorless laugh.
“You’re worried about the recording?” he asked. “Not the assault that happened in front of your entire gym?”
The room sharpened around that word.
May you like
Assault.
It was the first honest name anyone had given it.
