Chapter Forty-Nine (Pt. 2)

                                    

                                          
There was a beat of silence in which nobody moved, before all five of them complied. Seth picked his bag up from the floor and dragged his feet behind Carter, as they followed Coach Mason to the principal's office.
                          
The young woman behind the desk looked up from her paperwork to look at them. She smiled openly at Coach Mason, before reigning it in once she saw the grim look on his face.
                          
"Principal Trevino is on the phone. It shouldn't be long if you don't mind waiting a couple of minutes," she said.
                          
Coach nodded, gesturing for Carter and Seth to take a seat in the shabby chairs pushed up against the wall. In his three years of high school, Carter had sat in those chairs maybe twice, tops, waiting to go into the next room. He had never had Coach standing before him, with a piercing look of stern disappointment, though.
                          
"I get that you boys have your problems," Coach started in a low voice. "You're entitled to your divergences and disagreements. I even accept that you handle your feuds your own way, outside this building," his voice started to raise slightly as he continued. "But the school has a very strict no fighting policy. I expect my players to follow the rules. It's bad enough to learn there was a fight inside the team—but to see both my co-captains involved doesn't really sit well with me. It makes me feel like I'm owed a serious explanation."
                          
Carter felt a little queasy. Still, he opened his mouth to say, "I'm sorry, Coach."
                          
Unsurprisingly, that didn't seem to be enough.
                          
"I need to know what happened," Coach told them. "What you did was still a violation of the rules, and I will still have you both go into that office and stand responsible for your actions, but I expect an explanation."
                          
Neither of them answered. Coach's eyes widened, urging them to speak up.
                          
"Well?"
                          
"It was just a fight, Coach," Carter said. "They taunted us, we responded."
                          
"I responded," Seth corrected.
                          
"Because he was standing up for me," Carter was quick to add.
                          
Coach didn't seem charmed by their words. The look he gave Carter bordered a little on exasperation.
                          
"Why did you need standing up for?"
                          
Carter clammed up at that. He didn't know what to say. Where to start? What to leave out? Johnny still seemed really firm about not wanting his dad to hear about his problems at school. Even though Carter knew Coach was aware, and probably even had his suspicions. He could just tell the man everything and end the whole thing, right there. But something told him Johnny wouldn't forgive him.
                          
One glance at Seth, who was staring at him attentively, was enough to tell Carter he understood. So they both stayed quiet.
                          
"I'm not dumb, Parrish," Coach said. "But I can't do anything to correct a situation if no one tells me what happened."
                          
"I acted rashly and I will accept the consequences of my actions," Seth spoke up, drawing Coach's attention to him. "Carter didn't do anything. He tried to stop me."
                          
"I didn't, actually."
                          
"He did," Seth asserted. "It's on me. I got into a fight with Meyers and Gonzalez."
                          
As he said that, the door to the principal's office swung open.
                          
Principal Trevino was a middle-aged man with snow-white hair and a sun-tanned face. Adjusting the glasses on his nose, the man invited them to come inside. Carter and Seth followed Coach in and sat down on the leather chairs placed in front of the principal's desk.