Page 17 of On Thin Ice

There was no point in me heading to hockey practice now. I’d missed the start of it, and when the news hit about what happened, I doubted the coach would hassle me for it. I’d hung around, watching from afar, hating what happened to Jonah, and regretting getting even a hint of a backbone where Jonah was concerned. Look where it got me.

Look where it got Jonah.

I turned to face the principal. “Sir,” I responded, calm, collected, and waiting for the advice. I’d been waiting since for the incident to be connected to me, and to have to listen to the advice that the principal liked to dispense.

“Could we talk?” He didn’t look all bluster like he usually did. If anything, he seemed nervous. “In my office? Your mom is on her way here.”

My heart sank. Why did he call my mom when I wasn’t the one at the end of the fist? Nope, that had been poor Jonah with the split face and the blood.

“Why?” I blurted, and he winced. “Never mind.” I strode after him, and we took a left, then a right, and went straight into the office where I’d been more than a few times over the past year. It was a room full of hopelessness, and what made it worse was that the principal didn’t sit behind his desk.

“I want to apologize for what happened in my school,” he said, and gestured for me to sit. “It’s no excuse, but I didn’t realize just how far this had gone with Miles to take it out on someone I thought was his friend.”

“Jonah and Miles aren’t friends,” I offered quickly, and he did that whole wince thing again.

Mom slammed open the door. “Tyler!” She went straight to my side, cupping my chin and scrutinizing me.

“I’m okay, Mom. It wasn’t me who got hit.”

“Who hit who?” someone else asked, and I peered past my mom to see Jim, Felix’s dad, and wondered why he and my mom were here together, and then…

Oh shit. Really? Was JimfreakingMaxwell-Sinclair pulling the dad card just because he was dating my mom? I never wanted the dad I had, let alone a replacement one. Close behind him was Felix, his face like thunder, Soren right next to him.

“What did Jonah do?” Felix snapped and attempted to dart around his dad, but Soren used all his hockey blocking moves to keep him out of the room.

It was chaos, and I stood sharply and waved my hands in front of me, then pointed at Felix first. “Jonah did nothing apart from take the hit that was supposed to be for me, so go away.” He didn’t move, so I turned to Soren. “Take him away.”

Soren nodded and tugged Felix hard out of the doorway. Felix shot me angry glances as he stumble-walked away with his boyfriend. One down…

Then it was Principal Foster’s turn to hear what I really thought. “I don’t need apologies from you or the school. You have a rule saying there’s to be no bullying and everything should be sunshine and rainbows, but that isn’t real life. Something needs fixing.” I inhaled and winced inwardly, but the principal was quiet and chagrined, and not at all giving me a lifetime of detention.

And next I turned to my mom and her… her whatever… “I don’t need you here, Mom. I love you, and I’m happy you came to find out how I am, but I’m grown up and I can handle this on my own.”

She made to say something, then hugged me, and I returned the hug with emotion.

Finally, it was Felix’s dad’s turn. “You’re good for my mom, Mr. Maxwell-Sinclair. I get that, but I don’t need a new dad. Okay?”

“I’m sorry,” Jim apologized immediately and looked stricken, and there went my guilt button again.

“I need to go visit Jonah and thank him for getting in the way of Miles’ fist.”

Principal Foster nodded, Jim copied him, and Mom gave me one of her thoughtful, loving smiles that meant we’d be talking more on all of this later.

But for now, I had one place I wanted to be. Checking on Jonah.

I left the office at a run, realizing, belatedly, that I didn’t know where Jonah lived, then hunted down Felix, hoping he and Soren hadn’t left like the rest of the kids, as the day was well over now. As soon as Soren saw me heading their way, he shoved Felix front and center. “Do it,” he demanded.

“I’m really sorry,” Felix said. “I don’t mean to make you think that… I don’t think that you… shit…”

“He knows you can look after yourself; he’s just a possessive, overprotective, guilt-ridden prick,” Soren finished on a sigh.

I waited for him and Felix to tussle after that, but all Felix did was nod with an unhappy expression.

“What he said,” he finally broke the awkward silence.

I didn’t have time for this. I needed to see Jonah. “Okay then.”

“So, I’ll try not to do it again, but if Miles… if he…”

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