Flying Too Close to the Sun

Lin

I was a dad, so I couldn't help but worry my daughter was going to get her heart broken again.  I wanted to throttle that kid.  It seemed plain as day that he was a jerk, but Cam seemed to have eyes for him.  She was blinded.

One morning she came out with entirely too much makeup and a very low-cut top.  I'm pretty sure it wouldn't meet the dress code at school, and I definitely didn't approve.

"Cam, go change and take off the makeup," I told her as I got the twins' breakfast ready.

"Why?" she asked.

"It's not appropriate," I told her.  She looked down at herself and apparently didn't see anything wrong with it.

"Pippa?" she tried to get my wife on her side.

"It's too much," Pippa backed me up.  She rolled her eyes and stomped off to her room.  "Trying to impress someone," Pippa guessed.

"Yep," I agreed, setting two bowls of cereal in front of the twins.  The began to eat and Cam came out a few minutes later dressed more appropriately and with less makeup.  "Much better."

Cam and Molly headed out with the twins about ten minutes later.  I worked mostly from home that day and Pippa had some meetings.  Around 11:00, I got a call from the school.  I was asked to come in.

When I arrived 15 minutes later, I found Cam in the main office, an ice pack to her eye.

"Sweetheart, what happened?" I asked, sitting next to her.  I gently removed the ice pack from her eye and saw it was red and swelling.

"America," she told me.  "Taking revenge on getting William back."

I sighed and gently pressed the ice pack on her eye.  The principal's door opened and Sofia and America both walked out.  America looked smug and proud of herself.  She smirked at my daughter as she walked by.

"Mr. Miranda," Dr. Fisher called to me.  Cam and I stood up and went to his office, where we sat down.  He closed the door.

"We had an unfortunate incident today," he began.  "Cam, would you care to tell your side of the story again?"

She sighed, slumped in her chair.  "I was at my locker and I felt a hand on my shoulder.  I turned and America just clocked me in the eye, then she started kicking me and pulling at my hair."

I could hear her voice tearing up at the memory.

"You did the right thing by not fighting back," he told Cam.  She nodded but didn't look so convinced.  "You're not in any trouble, but America's been suspended.  You won't see her for a few days."

"She lives in our apartment building," I informed him.  "I think I'll need to talk with her mother."

Dr. Fisher had a sympathetic look on his face.

"Mr. Miranda, you're free to take her home for the day if you'd like, or she can finish out the day," he told me.  I looked at my daughter.

"It's up to you," I told her.

"I wanna go home," she said quietly.  I nodded, then stood and shook the principal's hand.  Cam trailed behind me as I signed her out and we walked out the front door.  I decided to hail a cab so Cam wouldn't have to ride the subway with a shiner.  We arrived home and she plopped onto the couch.

"Hungry?" I asked and she nodded.  I fixed her a sandwich as she turned on the TV.  I sat with her and we ate in silence.  Once we'd finished, we set our plates on the coffee table.

"Are you doing okay?" I asked her softly.

"I'm humiliated," she confessed, her arms crossed.  I reached over and gently stroked her hair.