It wasn’t the punch that hit me the hardest. It was thelookin his eyes when he said it. Fury, yeah. But also… shame.
Like he couldn’t take back what he’d done before, but this—this was him trying.
Tryingtoo late, maybe.
But trying.
Teachers burst into the cafeteria seconds later with a school resource officer coming in from the other side. Someone blew a whistle like we were in gym class, which was impressively useless.
Bubba finally wrestled Jake off Derek. Derek was swearing, bleeding from the mouth, and already blaming everyone but himself. But no one was listening.
Especially not me. Jake looked around the room, breathing hard, eyes landing on me as they dragged him away.
“I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely. Then they were gone.
And the cafeteria buzzed like a kicked hornet’s nest.
I sat there, heart thudding in my chest like it was trying to escape, and slowly reached for my coffee.
“I hate Tuesdays,” I muttered.
Rachel handed me half her muffin without asking.
By noon, the story had already mutated into three different versions.
In one, Jake broke Derek’s nose with a single punch. In another, he slammed him into the vending machine and shattered the glass. In the last and most dramatic retelling, he whispered“You deserve this”before delivering a flying kick like some vigilante from a CW reboot.
None of those were true.
The truth was quieter. He’d snapped. Lost it. Let it all out in one sharp, irreversible moment.
And now he was gone.
Suspended.
Coop grabbed my arm on our way out of fourth period. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were tired in that way only people caught in the middle ever really know.
“Hey,” he said, voice low, already scanning the hallway like he didn’t want to make a scene. “You hear?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Suspension?”
“Three days,” he confirmed. “Maybe more. Depends on how Derek’s parents push it.”
I pressed my fingers into my temple. “Of course.”
Coop shifted awkwardly. “Bubba’s dad showed up. He’s advocating for Jake. Said he’d talk to the school board, make sure they keep it internal.”
That surprised me. “Bubba’sdad?” Maybe it shouldn’t have, I knew Jake’s dad and Bubba’s were friends and Jake’s dad was still on a base in Germany.
“Yeah,” Coop said, a little amazed himself. “Said no one should be punished for protecting someone who’s been through enough already. I think he meant you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
The idea of grown-ups stepping into this mess was already foreign enough. The idea that they might beon my side?
It just made the knot in my chest pull tighter.
“Thanks for telling me,” I said, already backing away. “I have to get to lunch.”
