Freya and Tammy sat in the office in their gym clothes, waiting for their mothers. Officer Edwards, the SRO, had dragged Tammy Daud out of gym class without letting her dress out. She sat with her arms folded across her chest, sniffing angrily, and clicking her tongue.

Freya had on her gym uniform and a set of shower shoes. Her regular clothes were soaked. It was a fight to keep her teeth from chattering. They’d wanted to take her to the hospital. Freya insisted she was fine. It still seemed like they might make her go.

Freya was supposed to be holding an icepack over her swollen eye. She was going to have a real shiner, but she could still see out of it okay. The school nurse said he didn’t think anything was broken.

Officer Edwards filled out a form on his aluminum clipboard, and Mr. Evers, the principal, sat next to him at his desk. Nicholas Evers was an overweight man with a bald head and a fringe of salt and pepper hair just over his ears. He was one of those people who perpetually smiled, but he wasn’t smiling now. He scowled at the set of paperwork. It took a ream of paper to get socked in the eye, apparently.

Twice, Tammy tried to say something, and each time Mr. Evers made a sound in his throat and stared her down. His phone dinged as someone messaged him.

“All right. Your mothers are on the way." Mr. Evers flipped the form face down and set his pen on top of it, looking from Tammy to Freya.

"Do you want to tell me what this is all about before they get here?"

“This bitch hit me in the back of the head. I hit her back, that’s self-defense!” Tammy spat out. Freya rolled her eyes at the obvious lie. She was so bad at it.

"Stop." Mr. Evers held up a hand. "Don't use that language in this office again. Do you understand, young lady?"

When Mr. Evers raised his voice, Tammy cried.

Freya blinked. What did Tammy have to cry about? She was hamming it up, snuffling and sobbing. It was a good thing she’d tried out for basketball instead of drama. Officer Ed pointed to the tissue box on the bookshelf. He could have handed it to her, but he didn’t.

“Freya? Are you with us?”

“Oh, sorry.” Freya realized Mr. Evers had been asking her a direct question. She’d missed it. “What did you ask?”

The principal had that troubled what’s wrong with you look she was so very sick of. Freya realized she needed to snap out of it if she didn’t want to spend all day at Flying Horse Regional Hospital. She clutched the hem of her shorts in her fist and clenched her teeth.

Get it together.

“What happened here? If you don’t feel up to talking, this can wait,” Officer Ed pressed while offering her an out. She nodded in appreciation.

"I think she was just showing off for her friends. They followed me outside the cafeteria. I didn't hit her back."

“She's lying! She-"

"QUIET!" Mr. Evers snapped. Tammy flinched.

"Why were you lying on the ground in the rain?" he asked.

"I didn't want to get up," Freya said.

Mr. Evers’s whole face scrunched up, and Freya knew she'd made a big mistake. She should have lied. His demeanor shifted.

"Mr. Edwards, could you take Tammy outside, please?"

"She's lying! She hit me first! She hit me first!” Tammy repeated, as if that would make them believe her.

Officer Ed grabbed Tammy by the arm and hoisted her out of the seat. The movement seemed as out of place as Mr. Evers’ scowl. Officer Ed was normally so placid and uninterested in everything that didn’t involve football. Now, he was furious, dragging Tammy out of the office. Through the door, he barked orders at her. When he returned, he took out his phone.

"I'd like to take some pictures of your eye, is that okay?"

Freya nodded, and he took several pictures from different angles.

"Does your mother have you seeing anyone, Freya?" Mr. Evers asked.

"I have guitar lessons on Sundays," Freya said, not sure what he was asking.

"I mean, like someone you can talk to. A therapist or a psychiatrist.”

Her cheeks grew hot with embarrassment.

"Oh. No, not since about a month after. That was just for having trouble sleeping.”

“Are you still having trouble?”

“No, they gave me Lunesta. It’s good.”

“Would you like to talk with someone else about it?”

“I really don’t. Is this about me lying down? I was just hurt. It's no big deal."

"It is a big deal, I promise you. My mother died when I was just a little older than you. I was twenty-two. I know that seems like a long way off, but it's not."

"I'm sorry," Freya said, her voice flat. She didn't like it when people tried to relate.

"I had to go to the parish priest every night for two weeks. I cried and cried. I felt like nothing would ever fill that emptiness. If it hadn't been for Father Fry, I don't know what I would have done." Mr. Evers looked at her closely after he spoke.

"We don't go to church," Freya said.

"I know," Mr. Evers said. She could tell he didn’t like that. He began to speak but stopped himself, like there was something he wanted to say but couldn't.

There was a shout outside the office. Mr. Evers nodded to Officer Ed, who went out to investigate.

"Am I going to get in trouble?" Freya asked. She didn't want them to suspend her. She dreaded the idea of being stuck at home all day with nothing to do.

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"No. I haven't looked at security camera footage yet, but I'm confident you didn't start this."

They could hear Officer Ed through the office door, talking patiently in his keep-the-peace voice.

"You don't have to get Tammy in trouble. I'm fine. I just want her to stop bothering me," Freya said, but Mr. Evers shook his head.

“I am going to recommend the school board expel Tammy from Grayson and move her to an alternative school. All the other students will be suspended.”

Oh, no.

“That makes it much worse for me. Everyone will be mad at me.” Freya knew how it would go. She would shift from the ranks of the barely tolerated into the untouchables. She had picked the worst possible way to deal with this.

“I’m sorry, Freya. We don’t have a choice. The kids who get suspended may be a problem, but if any of them bother you, you need to come to me right away. We need to stop the problem before it gets out of hand. Did Tammy bully you before this?"

"She just shoved me some in the halls and called me a cunt. I didn't care. I ignored her."

"I need you to tell me right away if something like that happens again. Please. If I had heard about this earlier, we might not be in this position."

Freya stared forward for too many beats. She realized he expected a response.

“Okay," she said. It wouldn’t have stopped anything, but she wanted this to be over.

There was more talking from outside the office, and Freya recognized Lassa’s voice. Her body locked up. There was no way out. Freya stared out the window at the clouds and the fog drifting over the hills and shut her eyes tightly. The world stubbornly refused to blink away.

She’d asked them not to call Lassa, but they wouldn’t listen to her. Mr. Evers watched her response and looked troubled. The voices outside the office rose sharply, and he got up and out the door in a hurry. Freya followed.

Officer Ed stood between Tammy's mother, Patricia, and Lassa. Patricia was yelling in her face. Lassa’s voice was low and clipped. Her accent got thicker when she was mad. The two women couldn’t have been more different.

Lassa wore a navy Maladrino pantsuit, Patricia, a shapeless dress that looked like it had been pulled out of a pile of laundry. Freya’s mother had a Karen haircut, buzzed on the right with a swoop of black hair to the left. Her eyes were pilot-light blue. When she saw Freya, her mouth fell open.

"Herranjumala! " Lassa cried. She rushed forward and grabbed Freya. "Are you okay?”

"I'm fine," Freya said, unable to meet her stare. When she was upset, Lassa’s gaze was like being caught in an electric current.

“See? She says she’s fine!" Tammy's mother shouted. Patricia Daud was one of those people whose normal speaking voice was almost a shout. Her volume had steadily increased since she’d entered the office.

Lassa wheeled back towards her, and Freya couldn’t understand why Mrs. Daud wasn’t running away. All the warning signs were there, the stiff posture, the Finnish accent getting thicker, the fire in her eyes. There was a look on Lassa’s face Freya hadn’t seen in a long time, but she had never forgotten it. Like nothing else had today, her mother’s fury touched her. That look meant someone was getting hurt.

Patricia Daud stood with her hands on her hips, ready for her to say something. Freya had seen Tammy make the exact same posture. She was ready to get into a shouting match with Lassa.

But Lassa didn't shout. She didn't say anything. She bent down and, as fast as a spring uncoiling, launched herself at Tammy’s mother in a flying tackle. Patricia Daud’s shout rose to a squeal of surprise. She hit the floor with a heavy thump.

It was almost funny. Patricia was twice Lassa’s size, but she spilled onto the floor like a Jenga tower and shrieked with anger. The levity was brief.

Lassa scrambled on top of Patricia and pinned her arms with her knees on the big woman’s shoulders. She rained down strikes with the hams of her fists, mashing Patricia’s face. Unable to defend herself, Patricia tried to lift her head, and Lassa’s strikes bounced the back of her head against the polished floor.

It all happened so quickly that Officer Ed was stunned. By the time he got behind Lassa and pulled her off, Patricia's nose was shattered. As she was yanked away, Lassa snuck in a final stomp, catching Patricia solidly in the stomach.

Patricia gave a wretched gasp as all the wind was driven out of her. She choked, and then managed to roll onto her side. The stink of vomit filled the small room.

Everything was a jumble of confusion. Tammy wailed, and Officer Ed wrestled Lassa back. Mr. Evers fought to keep from gagging. Patricia couldn't get up. She gasped for breath and cried. She looked like she’d gone ten rounds in ten seconds.

"I'm done," Lassa said though her chest rose and fell hard, and her whole face was red and gleaming with sweat. Freya saw the hint of a smile beneath the exertion.

"I'm going to put you in handcuffs, okay? I'm going to put you against the wall here, and when I let go, you put your hands behind your back with your palms facing outward. Do you understand me?"

"I understand," Lassa said. Her voice was dispassionate, at odds with the excitement on her face. The danger had passed.

Freya watched Officer Ed put her mother in handcuffs as Mr. Evers tried to get Patricia back on her feet.

"I'm very sorry. I just saw my child was hurt, and I snapped," Lassa said. She didn't sound sorry at all. There was hate in Patricia's eyes.

Patricia Daud honked something about a lawsuit, her voice all choked with blood.

“Good luck,” Lassa said, still smiling.

Patricia lost it. She stomped forward and slapped Lassa, with a crack as loud as a whip.

"HEY! HEY!" Officer Ed shouted, his attention diverted from Lassa.

A second crack, and then Patricia was on the floor again. Everyone was confused. It took a moment for Freya to realize Lassa had headbutted Patricia. There was an angry red spot just below her mother’s hairline and an animal look on her face. Officer Ed grabbed her and struggled to hold on. Freya was certain, if Lassa wasn’t handcuffed and restrained, she would kill Patricia Daud.

Instead, Officer Ed cordoned her in the Principal’s Office. Then he tried to get Patricia to sit up so he could handcuff her, too, but she was too heavy.

"She do MMA or something?" Officer Ed motioned towards the closed door of the principal's office.

"She does yoga," Freya said, and he gave her an incredulous look.

"Oh, I mean, she used to be in the army. In Finland."

“Wow. Jesus. Mrs. Daud, can you sit up, please?"

He finally got Patricia Daud up. She'd fallen in the vomit and was a complete mess. Her eyes wouldn't focus.

After she was in handcuffs, Officer Ed got on his radio and called for two squad cars and an ambulance. Freya realized everyone here was about to go to jail.

"Can I…" She motioned at the principal's office, and Officer Ed nodded.

Behind the closed door, Lassa was upset, on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry, Freya. I don't know what came over me." That was a lie. She knew exactly what had come over her. She was putting on a show for Mr. Evers.

"It's okay," was all Freya could think to say.

"Can you call Paul and ask him to come bail me out?"

Freya winced. She didn't like Paul. She hadn't liked any of her mother's new boyfriends.

"We have to get child services involved, Mrs. Jokela," Mr. Evers said. Lassa looked like she might headbutt him, too, but then her face fell, and she cried for real.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"Is there a relative Freya can stay with tonight?"

"My friend Paul will take care of everything," she said.

"There's no blood relative nearby?"

"No one."

Mr. Evers hesitated, then nodded.

"Well, this is a tough situation we have here. I think it might be best if Freya stayed home for a few days."

"I don't want to,” Freya interjected. "I didn't do anything wrong. I shouldn't get punished."

"This isn't a disciplinary action. It's just for a few days, until things cool off. You won't be marked absent. I'm going to speak with everyone in that pack of kids and make it clear anyone who takes this further will be expelled."

"What's going to happen?" Lassa asked. The tears had been very brief. She'd gone cold and turned to the business of the situation.

"I'm going to ask Freya to stay home until next week. We'll have her schoolwork sent to her, so she won't fall behind. Child services will most likely interview you and Freya. They'll come and look at your home. Please, make sure it's in good shape.”

Freya snorted, and Mr. Evers stared at her.

“It’s nothing.” Freya waved it away.

“I'm going to recommend Freya see a therapist.” Mr. Evers sounded like he’d said all this a hundred times before. Maybe he had.

"I will get her one,” Lassa promised.

“You’ll probably both be charged with battery. Maybe you can work with the police and get charges reduced. I’ll try to help, but if a lawsuit is filed, this will all be out of my hands."

"What about the girl who hit Freya?"

"This isn't the first problem we've had with that student. I’m going to recommend expulsion.”

"Good."

"I have to ask you, Freya, do you feel safe going home tonight? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. I’m sorry about all this," Freya said. Things had gotten so much worse in a single afternoon.

"This isn't your fault." Mr. Evers looked despondent.

"I'm still sorry."