Surfacing - Book One in the Swans Landing Series

Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Lake arrived looking as if he hadn’t slept in a week. His skin sagged, making him look older. He wore the same clothes he had left the house in last night and he brought the strong scent of saltwater into the room with him.

“Fighting?” Lake asked, letting out a long sigh.

I stared back, not responding, as the school counselor’s door opened and Mr. Richter stepped out. “Mr. Westray, Mara, please come in,” he said, opening the door wider for us.

I followed Lake inside and collapsed into one of the hard chairs in Mr. Richter’s office. Lake sat stiffly next to me, his hands gripping the armrests.

“So,” Mr. Richter said as he shuffled through a folder on his desk, “Mara was caught fighting with Elizabeth Connors during lunch.”

“I’m sorry,” Lake said. “I’m sure this isn’t like her.” He shot me a look like he was waiting for me to agree.

I crossed my arms and didn’t say anything.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t an incident that we can overlook,” Mr. Richter said. He pressed his fingers together into a steeple below his chin. “Fighting is a serious offense here and it means suspension.”

I had missed a lot of school in the past year, but never because I’d been suspended. My stomach twisted as I absorbed Mr. Richter’s words. Maybe I’d never been the best student, but I did want to make it through high school in one piece, with a diploma, if for no other reason than that I could escape this island and go to college far, far away afterward.

“How long?” Lake asked.

“One day,” Mr. Richter said. “But I have to warn you, Mara, that anymore fighting incidences will result in a much longer suspension or possibly even expulsion.”

Lake visibly stiffened next to me, as if he were holding back an explosion of words.

“Don’t I get the chance to defend myself?” I asked. “I was minding my own business when Elizabeth found me.”

“From the looks of things, Elizabeth is the one with the bloody lip,” Mr. Richter pointed out. “I don’t think she did that to herself.”

“Maybe she was asking for it,” I told him.

“That may be,” Mr. Richter said, and I detected the hint of a smile curling at the corners of his lips briefly before it disappeared, “but you cannot punch another student in school. I know things have been extremely difficult for you, but there are rules that we all have to abide by. You may not get along with some people, but you can’t use violence to solve your problems.”

Not getting enough sleep the night before had caught up to me and Mr. Richter’s soft, monotone voice put me in danger of drifting off. “Fine,” I said, letting out an exhausted sigh. “Next time I’ll make sure we’re not on school property when I give Elizabeth a fat lip.”

Lake glared, warning me with his eyes that this was not a joking matter. Why he was even here in the first place was a mystery. Was he trying to pretend he was actually a father?

“I think,” Mr. Richter said, turning toward Lake, “that Mara could benefit from some counseling sessions, to talk through any anger she may have about recent events in her life. I already counsel a few other students and I would be more than happy to schedule Mara in as well.”

“I don’t need counseling,” I said.

“I think that would be a great idea,” Lake told Mr. Richter, ignoring me.