Drowning

Back to School... Again

It had been 2 weeks since the fight at the school. As all of the higher ups scrambled to figure out what counter measures were necessary in light of the karate brawl, they had decided to postpone school for a two week period and they would officially be going back to school this coming Monday. There would be an increase in security, including a bag check every morning when you walked in. They were also working to get rid of any and all items that could be used as weapons - which Finley honestly thought was incredibly stupid. Anything could be used as a weapon, just ask Jason Bourne. All of the new methods in place were going to be discussed with the parents at an open board meeting/discussion tonight.

Finley was currently sitting on the couch, waiting for her parents to get home to hear about how it went. Her parents weren't huge on school meetings, but they both figured this was a pretty important one to go to. Finley opened her messages and found herself opening the text thread with Hawk. The most recent text to her was almost the full two weeks ago when he had told her Miguel was in a coma and was in the ICU so only family could see him. Other than that, there weren't any texts from him considering nothing had changed for Miguel.

Both of the dogs started barking, cueing Finley that her parents had arrived home. A minute later they walked through the front door and Finley clicked her phone off, looking up at them.

"So how was the meeting?"

Her dad laughed lightly. "Oh it was great. Everyone yelling over one another and blaming everything from teachers to students to karate itself."

"Sounds productive." Finley hummed.

"Very much so." Her dad matched her sarcasm. "Oh and you'll love this. Their main solution is enacting a new program called 'Hugs, Not Hits'."

Finley's eyebrows raised. "Well that sounds horrible."

Finley's mom sighed. "They're just trying to have kids talk things out and express their emotions as a healthier way of dealing with things than duking it out."

"Like I said," Finley looked over at her dad again and grinned. "Sounds horrible."

Her dad snorted before nodding his head. "To quote your counselor: 'It's like DARE, except it actually works'."

"Oh good, good. Glad we're basing it off such a sound example." Finley's mom sat down on the couch as she took her shoes off, and Finley became serious for a moment. "I know there's gonna be the additional security, but is there anything else new they're adding?"

"That seems to be the main thing. They're also going to have more security walking the halls and they are actually allowed to intervene if another fight breaks out."

"It took them two weeks to come up with this?"

Her mom shrugged. "I don't know. Let's just hope it works."

Finley nodded her head and stood up. "I'm going to bed. Junior year round two tomorrow and all."

Her parents both said goodnight and she headed up to bed. Tomorrow she was going back to school, and quite honestly she was happy to have the distraction. Not having school these past 2 weeks had meant that she had very little to distract her brain from worrying about Miguel. Her church was praying for him, and Anna and Belle constantly would check in to see if he had improved and how she was doing, but so far Miguel was still in a coma. After a lot of googling, she only became more concerned as she realized most people who went back to a normal life woke up from their coma within a few days, Miguel had been in one for weeks. She closed her eyes, wishing sleep would take over so that it would be tomorrow and she could finally distract herself.

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The line for baggage check was moving faster than Finley had been expecting, but it was going to take her awhile to get used to. Outside, they had signs up everywhere asking students to please have all of their zippers opened so that security could check through it as efficiently as possible. Most kids read the signs, others clearly had lost their ability to read over the two extra weeks of summer vacation they had had.