A SPLASH OF COLOR

Aftermath Part Two

Connor and Evan entered the school together the next day. Ignoring the glares Kleinman shot their way, they marched straight up to Daniel Collins where he was joking with the other members of the football team.

"Hey, Hansen. How's your sister doing?" Collins smirked when he saw them.

"She's awake now, no thanks to you," Evan spat angrily.

Collins laughed, smiling as he fixed Evan with the most condescending look he could muster.

"No thanks to me, huh? And what makes you say that?"

"Cut the act, Collins. We know you talked to her right before she..." Evan trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"Right before she... what? Decided to take my advice? Because if she's awake, she didn't follow through on that very well."

"Your what?" Connor growled, pushing past Evan and getting up in Collins's face.

"My advice. Didn't she tell you? I told her how much of a loser she was and that she would doing everyone a favor if she would just go and off herself."

Before he knew what he was doing, Connor felt his fist connect with Daniel's face. It didn't take long for the fight to escalate, a small ring forming around the two boys and slowly growing. There were cheers and yelling for both boys, some people rooting for Connor and others siding with Collins. There was a flurry of fists and feet as the boys kicked and punched each other. Connor's lip was split and Collins looked like he would have a black eye before too long. Collins tackled Connor to the floor, straddling him as he continued to bash his face.

"All right! All right! Break it up! Boys, I said break it up!"

The Assistant Principal's voice carried over the voices of all the students and suddenly they all dispersed, leaving Collins and Connor alone, still going at each other. The Assistant Principal and Coach Hudson each grabbed one of the boys, pulling them apart.

"To my office! Let's go," Assistant Principal Blanchard said, shoving Connor forward.

He and Coach Hudson herded the boys to the main office and into Blanchard's private one beside Principal Atkinson's.

"Thank you, Coach. You may go," the Assistant Principal dismissed the basketball coach.

Coach Hudson gave a nod before exiting, closing the door behind him.

"Sit."

Connor and Daniel sat in the chairs across from the desk, both still fuming silently.

"Now, who wants to tell me what this is about?"

"He just attacked me for no reason! I was just talking with my football buddies and minding my own business!" Daniel cried.

"Bullshit! You told me and Evan that you told Evalynn to go off herself minutes before she went to the park and nearly did!"

"He's lying. I never said any of that."

"She nearly killed herself because of you! If I hadn't found her when I did-"

"That's enough! Connor, that is a very serious accusation you are making. What happened to Miss Hansen is unfortunate, and we are very grateful to hear she is awake, but you can't go accusing other people of something like that."

"He admitted to it, though! You can ask Evan. He heard him, too. He'll back me up."

Connor stared desperately at Assistant Principal Blanchard, hoping that Collins wouldn't get away with what he had done.

"I will be speaking to Mr. Hansen in a little while. Right now, we need to address you two and your behavior," Blanchard said sternly. "We do not tolerate any kind of violence in the halls of this school, which includes fighting. I'm afraid I'm going to have to suspend you both for two weeks and I will be calling home to both your parents."

"Two weeks? But finals are less than three weeks away! If I don't get good grades, I'll never get into the colleges I want next year!" Collins whined.

"You should have thought about that before getting into a fight, now shouldn't you have, Mr. Collins."

Connor smirked as Collins sputtered and tried to protest his way out of the suspension.

"And Mr. Collins, if we find out Mr. Murphy's accusation is correct, you can count on a much more severe punishment than just two weeks off from school."

The Assistant Principal dismissed them both then, sending them to the nurse to get cleaned up before they left school for the day.