"Suspended?" Lynn Sr. looked at his daughter. The principal shrugged.
"She got into a fight on school property. Your daughter bit two of the older boys, Mr. Loud, as well as inflicting various other injuries."
"I was just standing up for Lincoln!" Lynn protested, looking out the window at their car. Her brother waved, shooting her a thumbs-up that she didn't return. Lynn bit her bottom lip, looking at his black eye. Lincoln didn't deserve to be picked on. He was ten years old. He was still a little kid. She didn't regret standing up for her baby brother, even if she was being punished for it. Wasn't that what she was supposed to do? She couldn't just stand by and watch her family get beat up, could she?
"As much as we love how you stood up for your brother, you can't bite the other students." the principal sighed. "Maybe you should have the school nurse look at that cut."
Lynn shook her head, covering the scratch on her arm. "These are battle scars." she proclaimed valiantly. Her father shook his head in disdain.
"What happened to the other boys?" Lynn Sr. asked, and the principal clasped her hands.
"That's not my place to tell you, Mr. Loud. All I know is that a member of our staff heard your daughter call some of the eighth grade boys some vulgar names and instigate a fight."
"Vulgar names?" Lynn Sr. asked, looking at his cowering daughter. "Lynn, what did you-"
"I called them assholes." Lynn grumbled, looking at her cleats. "I mean, they were, so it's not like I was wrong."
"You see our problem." the principal replied, shaking her head. "We can't permit fighting, and we can't permit such foul language on a campus around younger students. As one of our older students we expect Lynn to set a good example. Suspension seems like a viable option to rectify her behaviors. We'll send Lincoln home with her homework so she doesn't miss anything."
"Junior," Lynn Sr. sighed, putting a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You can't just go around calling people assholes, even if you think they deserve it."
"Mr. Loud." the principal said abruptly. "I expect that the proper measures will be taken at home during this coming week. And you, young lady, have a lot to think about. I hope that a week away from school will keep your attitude problem in check."
Lynn had to bite her tongue to refrain from telling the principal to screw off, and that she didn't have an attitude problem, and that she definitely didn't deserve to be punished for defending her brother. Those older boys had gotten off with a single detention each - all four of them. And here she was being suspended just because she called them assholes? That was definitely fair, she thought, sarcastically rolling her eyes.
"Come on." Lynn Sr. motioned to his daughter, holding the door open as they exited the school office. They walked down the hallway in silence, reaching the parking lot before either spoke up.
"Dad, I was just protecting Lincoln! I saw the one boy harassing him and I couldn't take it. I'm sorry I'm a bad example for the younger kids." Lynn murmured, feeling tears welling up in her chocolate eyes and trickling down her freckled cheeks. She hated crying, it showed weakness in her mind, but she was just so fed up with the happenings of today that she couldn't take it anymore. Her father knelt down in front of her. He put his hands on her shoulders, halfheartedly smiling.
"You didn't do anything wrong, kiddo. Maybe you could have gone without the violence and the swearing, but what matters is that you protected your brother." Lynn Sr. said, ruffling her hair. "And as for being suspended, you could probably use a week away from those bullies anyways."
Lynn sniffled, wiping her nose with her shirt sleeve. "What about Linc? What if they start picking on him again?"
Lynn Sr. sighed. "Hopefully they won't, but we can't control it if they do. Your brother is smart. He'll figure it out."
"I guess." Lynn mumbled, kicking a rock down the sidewalk and wiping her eyes. "Do we have to tell Mom?"
Her father ran a hand through his thinning hair, thinking. "I forgot about your mother," he said, "but we do have to tell her."
"Damn it." Lynn replied, and covered her mouth. "Sorry."
Her father shrugged, brushing it off. "When we tell your mom, we don't have to mention the swearing." Lynn Sr. winked, and his daughter let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank goodness." she said, wiping under her eyes a final time, putting a hand on the car door. She tugged on the handle, climbing into the front seat of the car and buckling her seatbelt, looking over at her father hopefully.
"Can we also not tell Mom that I rode in the front seat?" Lynn asked, and her father shrugged, which she took as a yes.
"Lincoln? You okay, buddy?" Lynn Sr. asked, and his son looked up.
"My eye kinda hurts, but yeah, I'm fine. Lynn, that was awesome, the way you took out those guys. You were like a karate ninja!" Lincoln said, reveling in the past events.
Lynn turned around in her seat. "Really?" she asked, and Lincoln nodded.
"You were like Ace Savvy in Issue 14 of the Deck of Clubs series! Did you see the one guy who started crying and ran off? They're never going to pick on the fifth graders again! I talked to some of the other kids who those boys bullied. You're a playground hero." Lincoln smiled, and Lynn noticed a little chip in his front teeth.
"A hero, huh?" she asked, putting her feet up on the dashboard. "I like that."
Maybe the school principal didn't like her for taking care of those bullies, but her brother was happy and safe, and that's all that really mattered to Lynn.
And he called her a hero. That had a nice ring to it.