Page 10 of The Venom We Bleed

Principal Long turns her eyes on me, a mixture of colors swarming in their depths. Browns, greens, and a hint of gold. Her slate-brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail, making her face look more severe than the rounded curve of her jawline would suggest it normally is.

Unlike Coach Danley, she doesn’t have any obvious signs of hostility—at least not directed at me. Her irritation is purely saved for Coach Danley.

The principal blows out a breath and sets down the file she’d been reading when I’d been unceremoniously launched into her office. She pinches the bridge of her nose for a moment before pointing to one of the twin chairs in front of her desk. “Take a seat.”

Coach Danley moves forward and she holds up a hand, stopping him. “Not. You.” She glares at him. “I meant thestudent.”

Rounding the chairs, I drop into one of them. As uncomfortable as the seat is, unlike the stools I’d seen in the cafeteria, the faded cushion under my ass at least gives some barrier against the hardwood underneath.

“She caused a fight in the cafeteria,” Coach Danley states. “There’s surely security footage to prove it. I recommend expulsion.”

Principal Long looks up at him, her mouth turning down in a scowl. “We do not expel students on the first day, Danley,” she snaps, dropping the coach title. “And if a fight was all it took, you know very well that half our student population wouldn’t be in school.”

“But she?—”

“Where’s the other one?” Principal Long cuts him off with a harsh look.

Coach Danley frowns in confusion. “The other one?”

One eyebrow lifts. “You’re not telling me that Miss Donovan got into a fight all on her own, are you? There should be two students in front of me, Coach Danley.”

“I-I sent Megan White to the nurse’s office,” he stutters out. “This one”—he jams his finger at me, using the same tone as before—“attacked her and left her with a bloody nose.”

Long looks at me and then frowns. “Seems like she’s not the only one.” She reaches forward and shoves a tissue container closer to me before pointing to a spot beneath her nose. “You’ve still got some blood here,” she tells me.

I grab a tissue and dab it against my nostrils before glancing back at the coach whose face is quickly growing purple. “It’s interesting that you send one girl to the nurse’s office for a bloody nose but not the other,” Principal Long comments.

“Megan White’s injuries were more serious,” he defends.

I don’t even bother to hide the smile of pride that comes to my face.

The principal sighs and waves towards the door. “Go back to your morning duties. I will handle this,” she snaps. “Next time, unless the other student is unconscious or in need of emergency medical care, you will send thembothto my office.”

The fact that at least someone is attempting to be impartial shouldn’t give me hope. It doesn’t. All it makes me feel is the sinister creep of distrust crawling up my throat. I clench my hands into fists and direct my attention forward, not even flinching when Coach Danley turns and storms out of the principal’s office. I tighten my features when the door slams in his wake and the pictures and certificates on the wall rattle with his exit. I’m not sure who my dad fucked in Coach Danley’s family, but I’d bet my last remaining dollar it was someone he cared about.

Principal Long waits a beat. I’m not sure why—maybe to make sure Coach Danley won’t come stomping back in or to give the tension in the room a second to ease. After that beat, however, she directs her focus to me.

“So, first day at Silverwood Public and you’ve already gotten into a fight?” She shakes her head and reaches up, peeling her glasses off and setting them on the scarred surface of her desk.“If I were a gambling woman, I’d have bet it’d take at least a week.”

I shrug. “Guess the animosity of the people can’t be changed in a few short months.”

She snorts. “I was really more relying on the intelligence I know you to have.”

My upper lip curls back. “You don’t know me,” I snap.

Long arches one of those brows at me and the sight of it makes me realize exactly why Coach Danley had gone quiet when she’d done it to him. It’s a strange sort of expression—on someone else, nonthreatening, but on a woman like her? It’s a little unsettling.

Long turns her head, a curl slipping loose from her ponytail.

“Regardless of what I know or don’t know,” she says, sliding into the main conversation with ease, “do you have anything to say?”

I cross my arms. “Does it matter if I do?”

“Of course it matters,” she replies. “I’d like to hear your side of the story first before I track down Megan White.”

“You heard the coach,” I say, pressing my back against the hard spine of the chair. “There are security cameras in the cafeteria. I’m sure you can draw your own conclusions.”

Principal Long eyes me for a moment more. “Interesting,” she murmurs.

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