Unsound Devotion

III

After a nearly sleepless night, Jess hurriedly bandaged her arm and headed to school. It was Monday and the day was already looking bad. It was raining so hard that Jess arrived at school drenched. They were all giving her strange looks more than usual, and some were even stepping out of the way with a slightly horrified expression on their faces. Jess ran to the bathroom, already late, and quickly changed clothes, glad she always had dry ones in her backpack. She went to class and of course she was late. Mrs. Trenton gave her a searching look, a concerned look at her hand, and wordlessly let her through the door. Jess took her seat, ignoring the whispers of her classmates and the whistles of the gang.

"Calm down, please. Let's continue the lesson." Mrs. Trenton said, and though Jess was working with her head bent over her books, she felt eyes on her. Especially one - chocolate eyes.

The day passed quickly, and Jess headed off to practice, glad to have some energy to spare, though she'd probably have to spare her hand for a while, which was sore after a day of note-taking.

"Hi coach." Jess greeted as she entered the field with the ball in her hand.

"Hunter. Come with me to the office."

With a bad feeling, she followed the coach. The principal, Mrs. Smith, was also waiting in the office.

"Jess, sit down please." Jess fell on the chair.

"You probably know why we're here. We saw the tape of the meeting at Jake's."

"So what am I doing here? Half the school was at this party." Jess murmured.

"But it's you in the video. You can see how... you are massacring these boys." The headmistress said dryly looking at Jess as if she were a wild animal.

"Maybe the video omits the part where the two boys rape the struggling girl on the bed. Did you miss that?" Jess growled, and the headmistress looked down.

"It is not known what happened there, because the main victim did not testify. For now, we presume that you beat those boys. The video shows your aggression. As teachers, we must ensure the safety of students, and many of them after watching this video will not feel safe in your company..."

"To the point." Jess growled, losing patience.

"You are suspended from the team. You cannot participate in training until further notice." Jess sat motionless in the chair hearing the headmistress's words.

With nothing more to say or even to defend, she got up, dropped the ball and left. On the way, she slammed the wall with her already damaged hand. She wanted to scream in rage, but they knew that the principal would kick her out of school for good. When she started walking towards the parking lot, she bumped into someone around the corner and that person landed on their ass.

"Sorry." Jess murmured, offering her left hand to the person.

Only when she felt the familiar tingling as her hand touched the person did she look up.

"Is everything OK?" Mrs. Trenton asked, looking worriedly at Jess.

"Excellent." Jess replied dryly and wanted to pass the redhead, but she stopped her.

"Your hand, you're bleeding." The teacher said and dragged Jess, who no longer had the strength or inclination to argue, to the side entrance and into the math classroom. She sat Jess down at her desk and disappeared for a moment, reappearing with a first-aid kit.

Jess watched her dispassionately as she cut open the old bandage, washed the wound gently, and applied a fresh dressing. Then she sat across from Jess, staring at her expectantly.