Will sat still, with his face down, alongside a stern looking Rayla and another woman.
After he snatched the knife from Kenny, resulting in him being slashed, a few teachers had arrived the scene and separated them. They were now in the principal's office.
Will wasn't fazed by the principal's stare or the imminent punishment he would receive. He was, however, worried about his mother.
No matter how hard he tried, he kept getting into trouble and making her worried.
"You do understand the consequences of what you did, don't you?"
Will snapped out of his thoughts and looked straight at the principal; who seemed like he would explode if poked, though he still maintained a calm voice.
When he didn't say anything, the principal sighed and turned to his mother, "Mrs. Rayla Aeres, you son could face expulsion for this."
"Expulsion for fighting?" Rayla asked a little bit agitated. Fights were common right?
"Your son pulled a knife, and used it to hurt another student!" The principal pressed firmly.
"It wasn't my knife! I took it from one of the boys who attacked me!" Will tried to defend himself, "you can ask the other students who witnessed the fight."
"I already did. None of them agrees with you!" The principal said slowly.
"Is this how you're going to decide on his punishment? By asking questions?" The next woman suddenly spoke, "this boy injured my son!"
"You need to calm down ma'am." The principal spoke with an air of authority.
"There must be some mistake, I know William, he doesn't carry knives around or start fights unnecessarily." Rayla ignored the other mother's deadly glare.
It was difficult getting her son into this school; she didn't want to see that effort go to waste. If he is sent away, it would be hard for him to find a new school.
"I didn't cut his arm. He came at me with the knife and when I pulled it, it cut his arm!" Will stated. He didn't have much of a reaction on his face as if he didn't care.
"You call that a cut?" Kenny's mother hissed, "Also, are you accusing my son of being a barbarian who carries knives around?"
"Okay, stop." The principal finally intervened, "you will be punished according to the school rules."
"You know why the other students didn't say anything? Because they want to get rid of me. They feel happy to twist the story just to see me get sent away from school." Will said as if those were his final words.
The principal took a deep breath. It was true. Ever since he was admitted to the school, he had maintained a solitary state.
Everyone believed that he might just be the introverted type who enjoyed his own company, but now, it occurred to him that maybe the other students didn't want to associate themselves with him.
Yes, he was seen with the knife but that doesn't mean he brought it, if this was true, then he would be punishing him wrongly and he didn't want that.
The principal looked again at Will and fell into deep thought. Another reason he didn't want to send him away was that he was a very intelligent student and the school couldn't afford to lose such an excellent student.
He couldn't force the other students to tell the truth and he didn't intend on punishing anybody for the knife anymore, what he intended on doing was turn his back. As he thought, an idea surfaced in his mind.
"Will Aeres, you will be suspended for two weeks and the rest of the boys, after they leave the hospital, their punishment will be decided."
"That's it? Suspension?" Kenny's mother was fuming by now.
Rayla was relieved. She threw the other woman a look and thanked the principal before taking Will away.
She didn't know what to do with him and they would have a very long talk about this at home.
She knew that Will was aware of the hostile feelings almost everyone in Haston city had towards them and as such she had expected that her son would be able to maintain a peaceful life as long as others kept avoiding them like they did now.
She didn't know why most people poured out so much hate on them after her husband's scandal. She knew it wasn't only embezzlement and bribe; he was associated with so many other crimes. So much so that he seemed like he was the embodiment of crime himself.
Of course Will didn't know about these other crimes and she didn't intend on telling him about it.
She didn't want his little mind to start bearing such pressures but apparently the pressure be was suffering now was worse than knowing the truth.
As she thought about this, she felt hurt that her child had to suffer for a crime he knew nothing about. That Will had to endure being treated like a piece of trash.
...
After talking with his mother, Will felt really lonely and needed someone to talk to. He didn't feel like going over to the neighbour who liked telling weird stories, neither did he feel like walking down the street.
He decided to contact someone.
Someone who might have a chance of understanding what he was going through.
He slowly went to his room and took out an old ring box and looked at it with sad swollen eyes.