Page 20 of Grin and Bear It

“That’s Nash.” Nash smirked at the introduction, his eyes twinkling. “The big guy there is Lin.” He was a blond-haired guy with a thick beard whose biceps looked bigger than my head as he leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk. He shot me a cheeky grin at the sound of his name. “And that’s Cole.”

Cole was probably the leanest of the lot, though I got the feeling he was a lot bigger than me. He had shaggy black hair and pale blue eyes that met mine from behind a set of wire-framed glasses. He didn’t look happy though, to meet me or to be in this room.

“Lovely to meet you all,” I said, not meaning it for a second. “Can I get anyone a drink?”

I was taking their coffee orders as June walked in, something she noted with a nod.

By the time I returned with several mugs in tow, she was in full flight.

“We just wanted to let you know that the Greenbank community was beside themselves when they heard news of your loss.” June was doing a very good facsimile of seeming concerned, or maybe she really was? It was difficult to know what she was capable of. “We appreciate it’s been a difficult time—”

“It has,” Nash said, all smiles gone now. He nodded when I passed him his coffee and then continued. “But we didn’t realise how much so until now. El… Ms Jennings let us know what the boys have been up to.”

“It was an unfortunate event, yes,” June replied.

“And how many others have there been?” Cole asked with a growl. His brows drew down as he looked at each of the twins, then June. “What’ve they been getting up to? As far as we knew, everything was hunky dory and then Nash gets a call–”

“The boys have been going through a difficult adjustment period, but that’s to be expected,” June said in a soothing tone, but it wasn’t working. Each man leaned forward then and I almost felt sorry for my assistant principal. They looked like big, scary motherfuckers right now, and she was trying to hold her own.

“But that process isn’t going to be helped if they’re getting away with shit at school.” Tyson’s voice was firm, his gaze intent. “We’re doing our best at home, but if we only have part of the picture–”

“Of course,” June said, her tone going a little higher. “We will strive to ensure all communication is much more prompt going forward.”

“So how are they doing?” Lin didn’t ask June that, but me. He shot the boys a look, then sighed. “Are they failing?”

It was then that I saw the boys’ facade crack. They looked at each other, their gaze holding for several seconds, long enough to reveal the panic there.

“The boys aren’t failures,” I told them. “Before…” Shit, how did I phrase this? “Before the accident, your nephews were diligent students, who I felt were doing their best in my class.” I watched the boys’ spines straighten slightly as they shot me a quick look before glancing away. “They were really enthusiastic about the topic we’re on, World War II.”

“Did you talk about Pa and what he did during the war?” Nash asked them. “You know the stories.”

But the boys didn’t say anything, just continuing to stare at the table.

“They did,” I supplied for them. “They brought in some photos and your grandfather’s medals. The other kids really appreciated the talk they gave. I know it was pretty nerve-wracking for them, but hearing a personal story like that was really valuable to the class.”

“Good.” Nash nodded slowly. “That’s good.”

Was his grandfather the other men’s as well? I didn’t see a lot of family resemblance between any of them but… I blinked. I knew that the boys’ parents had an unconventional relationship, but what if…? Women always say the hot guys are gay. What if that was the case here? The boys had moved in with their blood uncle and their uncles-in-law. I didn’t have an issue with any kind of relationship, as long as it was legal and caregivers had the kids’ best interests at heart, though… I wondered what that might be like for two young men, as male students were curiously fragile about sexual identity.

“But if you’re asking if they’ve completed all the required classwork,” I continued, “then the answer is no.” Cole muttered something under his breath. “But I’d like to ask if that’s really a reasonable request right now.”

Oh shit, I had everyone’s eyes back on me again.

“You want the boys to succeed so they can have the best possible opportunities when they leave school.” I wasn’t looking into a crystal ball here. Most of our parents wanted this passionately, even if they weren’t sure how to get there sometimes. “I think the boys have a bright future ahead of them.” Each man seemed to relax then, as did the boys. “But right now? They’re hurting.” I turned and focussed on the twins. “Aren’t you?”

This was the difficult thing about male students sometimes. Boys are just as likely to cry, get down, frustrated or angry as girls, but there were few means to express that which other boys supported. It made dealing with them so much harder. I saw a flash of anger in each boys’ eyes as they stared at me, their jaws tightening and a familiar mulish expression forming on each of their faces.

“Isn’t that what this was all about? You showed a photo of me to the class, one I didn’t share with anyone and would never bring up at school. You did that for a reason. Do you want to tell me why?”

Chapter11

My tone was soft and gentle, but as they stared at me, I think they knew I wasn’t going to let this go. Their uncles shifted beside them, getting restless as the silence stretched on, but then Knox straightened up.

“We…” He shook his head. “I wanted to embarrass you; make you feel bad in front of everyone.” He dared a look at June. “It didn’t have anything to do with grooming or whatever. She didn’t give us the photo. We found it on her friend’s Instagram account.”

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

“I figured it’d make her feel bad, so we showed it during morning share.”

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