A Secret on Raven Block - Raven City Part Two

21

Kendall waited outside Principal Banks's office as her parents talked to him about the fight. She knew her parents were going to be so pissed at her. It was one thing to tell off Mrs. Wilkins, but this was another completely different matter. She did provoke the fight after all.

Yes, Ashley and her friends had been bitches but she should have tried to ignore them and sit back down like her friends had been telling her to do. Because of her, Hannah and Stephanie were getting suspended as well and Jade. . .fortunately, Jade wasn't getting in trouble, but she was going to be all alone and she had no one to be there for her.

A few minutes later, her parents walked out with Principal Banks and both of them looked pissed. They had to be called from work and they always made it clear to her they didn't tolerate any fighting so she knew it was going to be bad. She gulped as her nerves got to her and stood up as they approached.

"Kendall Warnell," Principal Banks said disapprovingly. "I'm very shocked you would do this, young lady. You've always been a model student and I hope you learn something from this. You will be suspended for two weeks and it's up to you to make sure you catch up with all the school work you're going to miss. Go get your stuff from your locker and come back to school with a different attitude."

Her parents didn't say anything as they followed her to her locker and watched her get her backpack and supplies out. She could feel the other students that were in the hallway staring at her and felt her face flush with embarrassment. She had never, not one time in her life, gotten into a fight before and knew she would never live this down and Ashley wasn't going to let this go.

Great. She got herself suspended and made an enemy.

She could feel her parents seething as she got her stuff though they didn't say anything until they got outside. They walked into the parking lot and Kendall started toward her car but her father stopped her with a hand on her elbow.

"No," said Dad. "I'll drive your car back. Give me your keys."

Kendall bit back the retort that was on the tip of her tongue and begrudgingly handed her car keys to her father.

"Ride back with Mom. We'll talk about this at home."

She nodded and got in her mother's car. The ride home was filled with tense silence and when they stopped at a red light, Kendall was so tempted to jump out of the car and bolt as far away from there as possible but knew it would only make things worse.

It felt like an eternity before they got to their house. Dad had arrived before them and the three of them sat in the living room. Kendall sat on the couch and her parents stood in front of her with their arms crossed over their chests.

"Spill it," said Mom. "Tell us everything that happened."

Kendall told them everything about the fight and what led up to it. She wished she would have listened to Hannah and Jade and sat back down and ignore them.

Mom sighed and sat down in the chair across from Kendall. "Kendall, we understand you were trying to stand up for your friend, but you know you cannot go around and provoke fights. You should have listened to Hannah and Jade and tried to ignore them the best they can."

"And try to walk away from it," her father added. "I know it's tough to let things go when someone is bullying your friend, but it will on escalate things if you engage with them."

"I know that now," said Kendall. "Any other day, I would have ignored them and walked away but I don't know how to describe it other than I got so angry I couldn't control it. I just want people to quit picking on Jade."

Dad crouched in front of her and took her hands. "We understand that and we're proud of you for sticking up and helping this girl but you can't get involved in fights like this. I agree with the way Jade and her family have been treated for years but there has to be a line drawn. You can't put yourself in situations like that."

"I understand. I promise I won't ever do that again."

Dad stood up and looked over at Mom. Something passed between them and Kendall felt her anxiety spike.

They looked back at her. "Here's what we're going to do," said Mom. "Since we know you were sticking you for your friend, we're not going to ground you, but this is your only warning. If something like this does ever happen again, then there will be severe consequences. Do you understand?"

"Yes," said Kendall. "I understand completely."

***

Kendall called Hannah and Stephanie later that evening. They were suspended for two weeks as well. Stephanie's parents were pissed but hadn't grounded her but Hannah was grounded. Her parents were mad at her regardless of why she got into the fight and she won't be able to go anywhere other than school and work and couldn't invite anyone over, though she at least was able to keep her phone.

Kendall apologized for involving Hannah in the fight but Hannah assured her that it was only for three weeks and she would do it all over again.

She called Jade and Jade tried to apologize but Kendall would have none of it. She told Jade it wasn't her fault and that it was all on her. She promised she would talk to her soon.

After Kendall got done speaking to Jade, she called her sister, Taryn. Usually, she waited to call Taryn on Fridays or the weekends since Taryn was so busy with her job and school she didn't have a lot of free time on her hands and wanted to wait until she had more free time to talk.

But for some reason, she wanted to hear her sister's voice and tell her what happened. She had this sudden, overwhelming urge to talk to her sister and wished she was here with a deep, deep passion.

She almost thought Taryn wasn't going to pick up but then she heard her sister's voice. "Hey Ken, what's up?"

Kendall was surprised to feel tears well up in her eyes. "Hey, uh, I just wanted to tell you I got in a fight today."

"Wait, what?"

Kendall launched into the whole story and Taryn was laughing hysterically on the other end.

"Oh. My. Gosh," Taryn laughed and Kendall started laughing as well.

"Damn, I always knew my little sister was a scrapper. I'm glad you taught that bitch a lesson. What did Mom and Dad say?"

"They're not too happy with me. They said they understood I was trying to help Jade but they said I can't be getting into fights like that and if I ever get into another fight like that again I'll get grounded. I should have walked away because everyone was telling me to let it go and I got Hannah and Stephanie involved."

"Were they mad at you or something?"

"No, but I hate that they're suspended with me."

"I mean, they chose to jump in."

"Because Ashely's friends were trying to jump me too."

"I mean, there's nothing you can do about it now. Just try to avoid that other girl and keep your head down." Kendall heard Taryn yawn at the other end and knew Taryn needed to get some sleep.

"I'll let you go, Taryn. I know you're tired."

"Yeah, I am. I promise I'll call you soon, okay?"

"Okay. Love you, T."

"Love you too. Try to enjoy your two-week vacation, okay?"

Kendall rolled her eyes. "It's not a vacation, but thanks anyway."

Taryn laughed again. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

They hung up and Kendall took a deep breath. Damn, it's been a long day.