“Sit down,” Mr. Beaulieu instructed.

Pepper sat down next to Hannah Davis. He noticed she looked him over. Pepper adjusted his shirt and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Fighting again?” she asked softly.

He turned and looked back at her and finally gave her a slow nod.

She rolled her eyes. “Surprise, surprise.”

Pepper glared back at her, then looked down and noticed her freshly painted toenails. “Sandals again?”

A sarcastic expression snapped back his way. “Yup… one of these days they’ll change the policy.”

“Surprise, surprise,” Pepper mocked back.

He shook his head and leaned it back against the wall. It wasn’t the first time he and Hannah had been in this predicament. He thought back over the multiple times throughout the years they had had these short conversations with each other. They were not enemies, but neither were they friends. The only real time they had ever spent together was the time they’d had to do a group activity for spirit day.

Principal Stephens’ door opened, and Pepper watched as Will Masters walked out. “No more absences from Mr. Olsen’s math class.”

Will glanced at the next two in line and gave Pepper a nod. Pepper returned the gesture. He and Will were not friends, more acquaintances. The two competed in the Golem League Club for their area. Pepper had the better record against him, but Will was no pushover either.

Mr. Beaulieu was about to discuss his situation with Principal Stephens but was cut off. “Hold on, Steve, this will just take a second.” A quick finger pointed over at Hannah. “Miss Davis.”

She stood up and followed the hand gesture, entering the office. Principal Stephens didn’t even waste time closing the door. “Miss Davis… what have I told you?” There was no time for her to even reply. “This school has a closed-toe shoe policy. Now, I don’t understand why you can’t seem to follow—”

To Pepper’s surprise, Hannah cut the principal off. “I have a right to free speech.”

There was a pause for a second, and Pepper couldn’t help but smirk as he pictured the principal’s facial expression as he reacted to the interruption.

“Freedom of speech does not apply to nail polish.” Principal Stephens’ voice was slowing rising in intensity.

“Well, that may be your interpretation, but I have the right to my own interpretation.”

“There is no room for interpretation when it comes to open-toe shoes and whether or not they are allowed. You can have as much freedom of toenail speech as you want. Just … n-n-not in the confines of my school!” Principal Stephens was practically on the verge of a yell, and Pepper chuckled at the angry stutter he heard.

“Sure,” was all Hannah replied.

“Dismissed.”

The two reappeared, and Pepper couldn’t help but notice Hannah give him a playful wink as she departed. He nodded back to her and hoped that her getting Principal Stephens all worked up would play to his advantage. But Pepper wasn’t going to hold his breath. He was sure he was done for.

Principal Stephens stood in the doorway with both hands balled into fists. He slowly shook his head while watching Hannah depart. A long-drawn-out breath and then he motioned for Mr. Beaulieu to enter. “All right, Steve, what’s going on?”

The two entered the office and the door closed. Pepper had kept his head leaning against the wall but finally stood up, knowing the instruction to enter the office was going to come as soon as the door opened. He crossed his arms in front of him and then noticed some movement coming from Vice Principal Harvey’s office.

The VP walked up to him as he adjusted his maroon Status Academy sweater. He finished and put both hands in his front pockets. “Hey, Pepper.”

He was caught off guard. The staff almost never used the first names of the students. The only one he knew who did was Mr. Dean, but even that was few and far between.

“Hey, Mr. Harvey.”

The VP’s voice was monotonous and had almost no inflection in it. Pepper hadn’t really looked at him when he had approached, but when he glanced at him now, he felt a little uneasy. The soft blue eyes that gazed back at him appeared genuine. The VP’s dirty blond hair brushed to one side didn’t seem out of place. But the deadpan expression just kept staring back at him.

Pepper felt his skin start to crawl as the VP didn’t take his eyes off him. He didn’t even notice him blinking, just staring without emotion—or anything, for that matter. “Are you okay?” Pepper finally asked.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

“Of course. Are you okay?”

“I think so.”

“Why do you think so?”

The odd question caught Pepper even more off guard and he didn’t know how to respond to it. He began fumbling his words. “Well, I may have… there was a fight, and I… uhh, yeah.”

“I see,” Mr. Harvey replied. A very long awkward pause remained between them. Then the VP continued. “I got into a fight once.”

Pepper blinked rapidly and didn’t know what to think of the comment. He then noticed that he was taller than the Vice Principal who was standing before him. Pepper let out a huff of disbelief.

The nerve-tingling sensation grew even more within him as Mr. Harvey inched closer. Pepper had already felt uneasy about how close the VP had come to him, but now he felt like his personal space was really being invaded. “You shouldn’t get into fights, Pepper.”

In a split-second Mr. Stephens’ door was flung open and rescued him. Pepper didn’t even wait for the instruction but simply replied, “Coming.” He quickly stepped away from the VP, and when he looked back, he noticed Mr. Harvey had not moved an inch from his spot.

Pepper passed Mr. Beaulieu, and the teacher departed and closed the door behind him. Mr. Stephens directed Pepper to have a seat on the other side of his desk. The principal completely caught him off guard when he kicked his feet up onto his desk and leaned back in his chair.

Pepper couldn’t help himself. “Mr. Stephens, is Vice Principal Harvey okay?”

A confused look was returned his way, and Mr. Stephens shook his head slightly. “Um, yeah, the last I checked. Why would you ask that?”

It was in that split second that Pepper realized he had never actually spoken to the vice principal before. In fact, he couldn’t recall a single time he had ever heard the VP speak. He had been seen all over the school, but hearing him, that was something he had not experienced. “I just spoke with him outside, and … he just kind of came up into my personal space and started asking me questions.”

Mr. Stephens swiped his hand towards him. “He’s just messing with you. He’s normally the person doing all the administrative paperwork, so he actually doesn’t get a lot of time to interact with you guys.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah, he’s actually a fan of yours. You, Mr. Masters, Mr. Benes, Mr. Pena… all of you who are competing in the local golem league club.”

Pepper leaned his head back in surprise. “Really?”

Mr. Stephens’ eyebrows arched upwards, and he nodded. “Oh yeah. He’s a super golem nerd. He loves all the technical data behind them all. I mean, we both are, really. Why do you think we stop in on Mr. Dean’s class all the time? It’s not because we love y’all.” He stopped abruptly and motioned with his hands in defense. “Okay, we love y’all, but not like that, or at all, like… we… we care about you all, but we also enjoy watching the Golem League videos that Mr. Dean plays for you guys.” He looked really nervous about what he had just said.

“You don’t have to explain. I get it.”

A large sigh of relief came out of Mr. Stephens. “Okay, good.” He paused, rubbed his face, and took a deep breath. “Well… what happened?”

Pepper slouched his head down and rolled his eyes. “You already know what happened, Mr. Stephens.”

“Well, yeah… I know what Mr. Beaulieu told me, but I don’t know your side of the story.”

Pepper lifted his hands defensively. “Doesn’t it really even matter at this point?”

Mr. Stephens shifted his head back and forth. “No… not really. You’re still suspended.”

“Figured,” Pepper replied and slouched in his chair.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

Mr. Stephens motioned with his hands for more information. “Did you hit him good, or was it just a graze?” There was an eager look on the principal’s face.

Pepper couldn’t help but smirk. “Yeah… I caught him good.”

Mr. Stephens started to nod with a grin. “Nice. His eye gonna look like yours?”

Pepper had completely forgotten about his bruise. He reached up and poked at the wound. “I dunno … maybe. This is from my nightstand, so…”

The principal seemed confused. “Oh… so that didn’t happen during the fight?”

Pepper huffed. “Not at all. I tripped him up and then got a few good strikes in as he curled up and started crying out for help.”

Mr. Stephens shook his head and rolled his eyes. “So what started it?”

“He was making fun of Summer and Jackson.”

Mr. Stephens’ eyes dashed from side to side. It looked as if his mind was scrolling through pages of student data. “The Millers?”

“Yeah.”

“They lived with you for a while, if I remember correctly.”

Pepper chuckled, surprised he could recall such information. “That’s right.”

“Okay. Yeah, Jackson is over at the annex for his… situational needs.” Mr. Stephens paused but then motioned for more. “What did he say?”

Pepper shook his head. “It’s not worth repeating. But… let’s just say he shared his thoughts on Summer, Jackson, and me. I tried to ignore it, tried to pick up my pace so he wouldn’t be near me… but he persisted, so I obliged his persistence.”

Mr. Stephens shrugged, leaning back in his chair. “That is a fair point.” He turned his gaze and looked up towards the ceiling.

“I’m kind of surprised you’re not more upset,” Pepper added.

Mr. Stephens scrunched his face but kept looking up at the ceiling. “Life can be hard, Pepper. You above all people know that… all too well.” He quickly glanced at him but then returned to the point on the ceiling. “You know, you did what I would have done. I have no doubt Mr. Harvey would have done the same thing. I’m not upset, but more … disappointed.”

“You sound like my mom,” Pepper replied.

“Oh, I don’t mean I’m disappointed in you but in the situation you have put me in.”

Pepper’s head tilted in confusion. “The situation?”

Mr. Stephens pressed his lips together and nodded. “Yeah… I have to suspend you. I must maintain the discipline around here. Just like Miss Davis. I can only threaten her for so long; eventually I will suspend her for not following the school code. It’s that simple.”

“I get it.”

“Look, Pepper, I think you’re a great kid, and I’m fully convinced that you’re going to be successful at the Golem League. I believe you’ll get promoted out of the club and into the regionals for sure. But you’ve got to help us help you.”

“I’ll try, Mr. Stephens.” He paused for a moment.

“Do you want me to call your parents and have them come pick you up?”

Pepper’s eyes widened and he thought about how his mom would erupt on him. “No … I was going to go pick up some clay from Rhino’s Supply Shop. I can stop by work on the way and ask for some more hours. Then I’ll head home.”

“Okay… so what I will do is delay about an hour, but then I will have to call them. I think that should give you enough time to run your errands and then make it home.”

“Thanks, Mr. Stephens.”

“See you in two weeks, Mr. Walker.”