Rebel at Spruce High (Spruce Texas Romance #5) - Daryl Banner Page 0,14

to me. Vann got involved when—”

“Vann?”

I sit up straight. “Donovan Pane. The … The new guy. He goes by Vann. He got involved when he told Hoyt to stop.”

“And then?”

“And … well … Hoyt didn’t stop.”

“And so?”

He really likes it all spelled out. “And so Vann threw his cup of yogurt at Hoyt, and then I guess a fight broke out, but I was on the floor by then.”

“You were … on the floor …” the principal repeats, slowly, his voice measured and even, as if to get it right, “because … the cup of yogurt … hit you instead? Is that correct, Mr. Michaels?”

I bristle with irritation. “Vann was trying to help,” I explain. “He was sticking up for me by—”

“The cup of yogurt hit you instead, is that correct?” Principal Whitman repeats himself, his tone the exact same as before, not a fleck of a difference in his expression or obvious insinuation.

I feel my insides tensing up. Why do I feel like this is going all wrong? I’m explaining exactly what happened, yet I feel like the principal is hearing something completely different. “Yes,” I get out finally. “Yes. That’s what happened.”

The principal adjusts something on his desk, clears his throat once more, then takes a more flippant tone. “Thank you, Toby. I’d be remiss to keep you from class any longer than you’ve already been kept, as it’s still your first day, and I think I’ve gathered all the information I need. You are dismissed to your fifth period already in session, and are permitted a trip to the bathroom on your way to … clean up, of course.”

I stare at him, bewildered. “That’s it?”

He’s already in the middle of filing something into his desk, moving on. “You are dismissed, yes.”

“Did you get the part about Hoyt trying to force-feed me?” I’m on the edge of my seat. “And how Vann was standing up for me? Hoyt started it all. He instigated. Am I in trouble? Is Vann?”

The principal finds that amusing somehow. “Your parents won’t be called. None are necessary in your case. It simply got out of hand, and yes, I’ll have a word with Coach Strong ‘bout his boys. You are quite alright, Toby, there’s no need to fret on it. My bigger concern is how the fire alarm got pulled, but as I can clearly tell from your story, it couldn’t have been you.”

Inside, a million of my nerves are restless and dancing and prickling with dissatisfaction. Who pulled the fire alarm is really his biggest concern? Not what Hoyt was doing to me?

“On your way out, please send Donovan Pane in,” he instructs me as he continues filing things into his desk. I think he means to sound kind, but instead he comes off just as cold as his eyes.

I rise from my seat in a fog. My head spins as I leave the office. Vann is still staring down at his boots like he hasn’t moved an inch since I left him. He doesn’t even seem to breathe.

“Vann,” I mutter quietly, dipping a toe in the figurative water. “The … The principal wants to see you now.”

Without even a glance of acknowledgement, Vann stands up and moves toward the door.

I can’t stand it another second. “Thank you,” I blurt out.

He stops, grows still, then turns his gloomy eyes onto me. His eyebrows pull together with questions, his face clouding over.

I’m taken aback. “I mean, for … for standing up for me. In the cafeteria. No one’s ever done that before.”

“No one should have to,” he throws back coldly. “Stand up for yourself next time.”

I open my mouth to speak, then can’t.

That … wasn’t the response I was expecting.

“I was just—” My face is turning red. I feel an indignant twitch in my lips. Is he mad at me for getting him in trouble? “I didn’t mean to make you—I mean, I was just thanking you for—”

“Save your thanks for someone who cares.” And with that, he continues into the principal’s office, slapping the door shut on his way in, causing my short bangs to flutter off my forehead.

I stare at that door, baffled.

My bafflement turns into annoyance. Then it turns into anger. Then it turns back into bafflement all over again as I walk past a quizzically-staring Becky, leave the main office, and make my way for the restroom to clean up, just as the principal suggested. It’s in the reflection of that boys’ room mirror that I stare for too