Young Life

Protection Agency

I open my mouth to say something when there's a knock on the door. The door opens and our principal walks in.

"Principle Davis, what are you doing here? It's like-" I check my watch, "6 in the morning." Principal Davis chuckles.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you before I talked to your parents about what happened. How are you, Mr. McLoughlin?"

"I'm good. A little sore but good."

'Well, that's good to hear. I would like you to know Christian has been expelled and arrested."

"That's good to hear. Will we all be safe at school, though?" Thomas asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, like we have our own group, Christian has his own group as well," Felix says.

"So you're thinking that they might go after you for getting their friend in trouble."

We all nod.

"Well, we will watch you guys closely to make sure nothing like this happens again. We will use the buddy system, as childish as it is. I will move your classes so that you all have at least one of the others in your class."

"Well, Nate and I have all the same classes together," I say.

"That's good. If you decide to leave your classroom, then bring the other person along." It's silent for a moment.

"We don't blame the school," Felix says. "None of us plan on suing."

"Well, thank you. I wish we had caught this before anything happened, but alas."

A knock on the door startled us. Oh, boy. My parents are here.

"Mark? Séan? What happened?" My mom asks, tears in her eyes.

"Something happened at school."

My dad sees Principal Davis while my mom checks on Séan.

"You're the principal, right?' I know what my dad is doing.

"Dad..."

"No, if he's the principal, he should've stopped this from happening."

"You are right. As the principal, I feel immense guilt for letting this happen in my own school. We are implementing the buddy system to-"

"Oh, so because my son failed to protect himself in an attack, you're gonna treat them all like kindergarteners?!"

"Dad/Frank!" My mom and I yell.

"We're doing this to ensure all of their safety. We plan on having at least one of the other in all their classes. We will also be announcing this incident to the whole school, but no names will be revealed."

I look behind me to see my mom giving Jack a kiss on the forehead as he rolls on his side, pulling the blanket up to his chin.

"I'm tired. Good night." I walk over and give him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Good night. 당신을 사랑합니다 (dangsin-eul salanghabnida)."

"Grá duit, freisin." He closes his eyes and slowly falls asleep.

"Why and how did this happen?" My dad asks. I turn around to face everyone.

"Remember when I came home with a broken nose?"

"Yeah. You showed us the video of the fight."

"Well, after that, I was suspended for the rest of the day, which is why I was home early. Christain was suspended for a week and kicked off the football team," I tell them. I struggle to continue speaking, so Nate continues for me.

"The next day, we were all walking to our homeroom, but Jack forgot his books, so he want back to his locker." Nate takes a deep breath. "Jack was ambushed by Christian."

Mom and Dad gasp as Mom covers her mouth.

"We don't know exactly what happened," Mat continues, "but when we found him, he had a pocket knife stabbed into his thigh."

Mom wraps her arms around Dad and cries into his chest.

"The only people who know what happened are Christian and Jack," Thomas says.

"He threatened me," I hear a voice behind me say.