Lovino glared at his feet as he sat impatiently and waited for his dad to arrive.
Stupid teachers, sending me to the stupid principal's office. What did I do that was so bad?
The young boy growled and kicked the chair next to him.
"Knock it off, Lovino," the receptionist, Ms. Hedervary, said from across the room. "You're already suspended for the rest of the day because of that fight. You don't want your suspension to be extended just for making a scene, now do you?"
Lovino crossed his arms and narrowed his hazel eyes at the woman. "And what do you know, miss bossy-pants lady? All you do is answer phones all day!"
At first Ms. Hedervary was taken aback by the third grader's effrontery, but then she simply sighed and shook her head. Even though she didn't say another word, her body language screamed one very lucid message: That boy is hopeless.
So what if that lady thinks I'm hopeless? That just means she's like all the other stupid adults I've met.
Whether it be a roll of the eyes, an annoyed groan or a forced smile, every adult he had ever met had a way of expressing how much they disliked the short-tempered child. Most adults conjectured that Lovino was misfit and a virulent influence on their own children within minutes of meeting the boy. As a result, Lovino had few friends and was picked on a lot at school. However, Lovino wasn't one to sit around and be bullied.
Normally, the skirmishes Lovino got in didn't attract too much attention so he rarely got in actual trouble for them. But today, was different. He was sick of getting teased and everyone just pretending it hadn't happened. He wanted to draw attention. He wanted to make a scene.
Needless to say, he succeeded. And wound up in the office because of it.
And all it took was a couple punches. Lovino thought as he studied his scraped up, knuckles. I didn't think it was that easy to get in trouble. But I've never been suspended before. I wonder if Papa will be mad at me.
"Lovino!" The young boy looked up to see his father rush over to his side. "Dios mio, what happened to boy? You look terrible!" His father placed a gentle hand on his son's cheek, studying the bruise that was forming there.
Lovino scoffed and pushed his father's hand away. "Please, Papa. You should see the other guys!" He said with a large grin.
Lovino's grin was met with stern glare, his father's green eyes void of their usual brightness. "This is not funny, Lovino. You're in big trouble when we get home."
Lovino gulped and tried to sink back into his seat.
"Ah yes, Mr. Carriedo." Both Lovino and his father glanced back to see the principal, Mr. Edelstein, enter the office. "I'm glad you were able to come so quickly."
"Please, call me Antonio," Lovino's father responded, standing up straight to shake the principal's hand.
"Alright, Antonio then. The situation is quite simple. Your son initiated a fight on school grounds that injured a number of students. We cannot condone this kind of behavior. Therefore I'd appreciate if you promptly took your child home." Mr. Eldelstein then turned and left without waiting for a response.
There was a beat silence before Antonio looked back at his son.
"Well," he said, holding his out. "You heard the man. Let's go home."
Lovino reluctantly grabbed his father's hand and followed him out of the school, through the parking lot and into the car. Lovino got situated in the back seat and expected his father to turn on the car. When he didn't, Lovino glanced up and found that his father was looking at him through the rear view mirror.
"Hey, Lovino?" Antonio started.
The young boy gulped. This is it, he thought worriedly. The terrible scolding.
"If there's something bothering you, you'd tell me, right?"
"What? I mean, yeah, sure. I guess I would."
"Good." Antonio seemed to think carefully about his next words. "So you're sure there's nothing you need to tell me? Nothing at all?" he pressed.
"Nothing's wrong, papa," Lovino lied.
A tense moment passed and it looked like Antonio was going to say something more but he settled for finally putting the key in the ignition. As they pulled out of the parking lot, however, he spoke up once more.
"By the way Lovino, I can't believe I never noticed it but that principal of yours? He's a real ass."
Lovino couldn't help but laughed out loud. "You got that right, papa!" he responded and just like that the air was cleared. The two started a new, light conversation but all the while, Lovino couldn't help but think about what his dad had asked earlier.
"If there's something bothering you, you'd tell me, right?"
It sounded like he meant it too. And here I thought all adults didn't care about kids like me. But maybe there's one adult that does care. One adult who doesn't think that I'm just a misfit. That I'm a bad influence. Maybe there's just one adult who doesn't think I'm hopeless.