This incident was no small one, and there would surely be consequences.
As a teacher, I had the duty to protect my students; as an adult, I had enough decency to not go overboard with watching minors suffer; and as a human, I had the obligation to report someone that injured another human cruelly.
But I did neither, saving a young adult from the consequences. A young adult, whose actions could still be corrected with an adequate punishment. What I did was not only irresponsible; I stole Jude's chance to learn from his mistakes, and that was simply wrong.
"Who was that?" The principal roared,
"Playing with fire, do you think I would believe that there is no culprit?"
My eyes wandered through the students. Jude was leaning against the locker, seemingly calm, but the hand that held mine, letting me take the lighter, was trembling beside him. At least he wasn't unfazed by what he did.
