Chapter 2

Ray

I was in a pretty good mood, even though I was in the principal’s office. It’d been a while since Stoner and I last fought. Like last semester maybe? It felt great to win… again.

Mr. Call, the principal, tapped his fingers on his desk. He had a round face and a permanent frown. At least whenever he’d looked at me in the past, all I’d ever seen was a frown. Figures. He looked especially irritated now as he thought about what to do with the loser, Michael Stone—whom I’ve proudly nicknamed Stoner—and me.

The afternoon sunlight seeped between the blinds of the office window, setting a dreary mood in the room. Or was it Mr. Call’s frown that made the room dreary? Anyway, I was ready to get this done with and get out of here. I had better things to do, like sleeping through Mr. Thompson’s history class.

“Young men,” Mr. Call said, lacing his fingers together in front of him. “Fighting is terrible behavior. It is the worst way to resolve conflict. Physical contact is never the answer. Blah, blah, blah…”

Okay, so I may have zoned out during that last part. I’d heard it all before.

“Mr. Call,” I interrupted, leaning back in my chair. “I was just defending myself. Stoner attacked me out of nowhere. I don’t know what his problem is.”

“He’s lying!” Michael yelled. He sat in the chair next to me, and I’ve got to say, he didn’t look so good. I’d definitely left my mark on him. In my defense, he deserved it.

His left eye was already swollen shut. He had a tissue up his nose to keep it from bleeding. He hugged his ribs with one arm as if they were broken. I may have gone too far with the kicking… oh well.

Stoner always had a knack of making my life miserable. He just always seemed to be in the way. We were both popular, athletic, and we hated each other’s guts for as long as I can remember. This school just wasn’t big enough for the both of us. This wasn’t our first fight, but it may have been the worst.

“I didn’t attack Ray!” Stoner whimpered. “He was bullying my little sister. I tried to stop him, and that’s when he came in swinging.”

Mr. Call massaged one of his eyebrows as if he were suffering from a migraine. “I can’t believe we’re doing this with you two again! Both of you have different stories. So, one of you must be lying. Since I can’t tell who’s telling the truth, and I don’t have the patience to investigate it further, I’m going to suspend both of you from all extracurricular activities for a month!”

My eyes widened. “What?”

Stoner gasped. “You mean we can’t play sports for a month?”

Mr. Call nodded. “We take fighting very seriously here at Sahuaro High School. My hope is this suspension will teach you a lesson to never fight again.”

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“But I didn’t do anything wrong!” Stoner said.

“I can’t verify that,” Mr. Call stated.

“Our first game is this Friday!” I said. “I’m the starting quarterback!”

“Looks like you’ll be sitting the bench for a month.”

Stoner looked at the floor and shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”

Neither could I. I had to do something about this! I stood up and ran to open the office door.

“What do you think you’re doing Mr. Simmons?” Mr. Call asked.

I ignored him. Outside the office, standing in the hallway, was the exact person I was looking for. “Coach Jones!” I said. “Come in here. I need your help.”

Coach Jones looked up from under the baseball cap he always wore and hurried inside the office. He wore sport shorts and a whistle around his neck. After he came in, I turned to Mr. Call. “Coach Jones saw the whole thing. He can tell you that I was just defending myself in the fight, and that I don’t deserve a month-long suspension from football!” I emphasized the last part mostly so Coach Jones would sense the gravity of the situation.

His eyebrows rose.

Mr. Call exhaled and rubbed his eyebrow again. “Dan, I didn’t want to involve you in this, but I guess you were the only teacher who saw the fight. Both Michael and Ray claim that they were just defending themselves from the other, but what did you see?”

Coach Jones stole a quick glance at me. I knew what he was thinking. He was considering the possibility that he could lose his starting quarterback for a month. Our backup quarterback was terrible. The team would likely lose without me, and Coach Jones hated to lose. He needed to make sure I could still play. At least I hoped that’s what he was thinking.

“I saw the entire fight and got there just in time to break it up,” Coach Jones said in a deep voice. “Ray’s right, he was just defending himself. Michael was the one doing all the fighting.”

Inside my head I did a double fist pump and a few backflips. Go coach! Way to back me up!

“What are you talking about?” Stoner said in his wimpy voice to Coach. “You saw him kicking me on the ground—”

“I saw Ray defending himself!” Coach said matter-of-factly. “You’re lucky I’m not your coach, son. I’d have you running laps till sundown!”

Stoner gawked for a moment, and then turned to the Principal. “He’s lying, Mr. Call! He just wants Ray to be eligible to play in the football game this Friday! Ask any other student who saw the fight! They’ll tell you that Ray—”

“You calling me a liar, boy?” Coach Jones stood up and glared down at Stoner with venom in his eyes. Stoner shrunk in his seat. I squirmed and held a fist over my lips, trying to contain my laughter.

“Michael,” Mr. Call said. “I trust Coach Jones more than anyone else on campus. If he says you were the one who started the fight, then that’s how it happened. You both get a week of detention for fighting, but you, Michael, get the suspension from soccer for starting it.”

Stoner began to stutter. “But…but that’s…but…”

Mr. Call rolled his eyes. “So, how’s our team looking Dan?”

“Pretty good,” Coach said, returning to his seat. They went on talking about the football team while I released a few snorts of laughter.

Stoner glared at me. I couldn’t tell if he was about to cry or about to bite my ankles. I gave him the smuggest smirk ever.

“Mr. Call,” I said. “I’m missing my history class right now, so can I go?”

“Yes,” he said. “You’re both dismissed. Practice hard for the game on Friday, Ray. Bring us home another Cougar victory, son. And Michael, use this suspension to learn something. I don’t want to see any more fights between the two of you.”

I stood up to leave. “Sounds good, boss.”

Stoner walked out and glared as he closed the door behind him. “I can’t believe that just happened!”

“Believe it, Stoner!”

“Stop calling me that, Ray! It’s Michael Stone. Not Stoner.”

“What are you going to do? Fight me? How has that turned out for you so far?”

He narrowed his eyes, his veins bulging.

I laughed as I walked away from the loser. “See you in detention, Stoner!”