“I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne. I’ll be in touch with more information after I speak with the board tomorrow morning.” He turns to the secretary. “Mrs. Baxter, will you please give Summer a pass to third hour? She’s missed more than enough instructional time.”
I gulp and glance warily at my parents. “What about Austin?”
“For the time being, your brother has been suspended for three days and will come home with us,” Mom murmurs in a subdued tone.
“What!” I glance at Mr. Pembroke before stepping toward Dad. “But Jasper—”
“The disciplinary action of another student is none of your concern,” the headmaster reprimands. “What remains to be seen is if your brother will have any further sanctions brought against him and if he’ll remain on the football team for the season.”
My mouth drops open. Austin pales but remains silent.
This is total crap!
“Summer,” Mrs. Baxter holds out a blue slip of paper, “your pass.”
With a somber expression, Dad nods. “Go to class. We’ll talk more about this when you get home.”
I glance at Austin to get a read on his thoughts. He holds my gaze steadily as a silent communication passes between us.
Go. I’ll handle this.
I press my lips together in an effort not to argue before straightening my shoulders.
Fine, I’ll go, but this isn’t over. Not by a long shot. How I’ll fix this mess, I have no idea but there has to be a way. I realize Austin wants to handle his own shit, but this is too important to leave in his hands.
Chapter Eighteen
The rest of the day passes by with a few sly looks and nothing more. It’s a relief when the final bell rings and I can get the hell out of here. I grab my backpack from the locker and head to the G-wagon. My breath gets trapped in my lungs as I push through the heavy glass door. Weak sunlight struggles to break through the cloud cover. Any moment, the heavens will open up and dump rain on us.
For once, the crummy weather matches my mood perfectly.
There are pockets of people standing around in the parking lot, but none pay me any attention as I hunch my shoulders and weave through the vehicles. As soon as the untouched Mercedes comes into view, relief is expelled from my lungs with a burst. Thankfully, there won’t be a side trip to the carwash today.
Twenty minutes later, I pull into the drive before grabbing my backpack from the passenger seat and hauling ass inside. The house seems quieter than normal. Instead of announcing my presence, I take the stairs two at a time and beeline straight to Austin’s room. I rap my knuckles on the wood before throwing the door wide. I find my brother sprawled out on the queen-sized bed with his hands stacked behind his head as he stares at the ceiling.
Foregoing a greeting, he asks instead, “Any problems?”
I shake my head, relieved I don’t have to lie. “Nope, none.”
He blows out a steady breath as his muscles visibly loosen. “Good.”
I drop my backpack onto the wood plank floor and settle at the foot of the bed. “You’re really suspended for three days?”
His lips flatten at the reminder. “Yup. Mom and Dad are pissed.”
Join the club. The whole situation infuriates me. “We’re not the ones they should be mad at.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he says, fatigue creeping into his voice.
We’ve been here less than two weeks and we’re exhausted by the constant battle being waged against us.
“Of course, it does,” I scoff. Until this morning, Jasper Morgan hadn’t even been on my radar. Now, he’s public enemy number one and needs to pay for what he did to Austin. It’s the only thing I’ve been able to focus on today. “Here’s what I’ve been thinking, we need to devise a plan—”
“They might expel me, Summer.”
“What?” Disbelief riddles my voice. This is complete bullshit!
“Yeah. And in the unlikely event that I don’t get expelled, they’ll kick me off the team. The headmaster is pushing for it and so is the coach. Dad said that I should prepare myself for the outcome.”
“No! They can’t do that! You didn’t start the fight.” My brother will never survive this hell hole if they take football away from him.
A wave of grief crashes over him. “Haven’t you figured out by now that they can do whatever the hell they want?”
Austin has gotten several looks from major Division I colleges, but the scouting has all been preliminary. No agreements have been made or NCAA paperwork signed. Without a senior season, what will happen to those prospects?
“Can you still get recruited if you don’t play?” I force myself to ask.
“Probably not.” He stares at the ceiling, refusing to make eye contact. “I’ll have to disclose that I was kicked off the team. No one will want to take on a player who can’t get along with his teammates.”