A/N: Last chapter, finally! I know I promised that Cordell would appear in this chapter, but I didn't include him. I just couldn't make him fit well in it. He will, however, be in my next Sophie story, the synopsis of which appears in this chapter. Enjoy!

Sophie

The time had come.

The time had come, and Sophie was more nervous than she thought she'd be. It was Friday, and her parents had agreed to let Sophie and Liam stay out of school for the day. Liam sat on the left of Sophie, holding her hand to comfort her. Abeline and Bonham sat on her right side, both scowling. Principal Adams sat behind his desk, listening to the tape for the fist time, his scowl matching her parents almost line for line.

Principal Adams reminded Sophie of her father in a lot of ways. He was muscular and tall and stood nearly two feet taller than Sophie. While his appearance was intimidating, much like Bonham, he was a soft tempered man who was kind to the children under his care. Kind, at least, until one of 'his kids' was in trouble. Principal Adams shut off the tape and shook his head, running his hands over his face in frustration.

"Sophie, sweetheart, I am so sorry."

Sophie said nothing, not sure what there actually was to say.

"What exactly are you planning to do, Principal Adams?" Abeline asked. "Sophie can't go back to class with her."

"She's gone." Principal Adams said clearly. "I have to have the approval of a majority of the staff, but I have a feeling after they hear this tape they'll be more than supportive."

"What about her grades?" Liam asked. "She can't have done as bad as Mrs. Wilson claims."

Sophie blushed at Liam's words and looked down at the floor. She'd been wondering about her grades herself, but had been too afraid to ask.

"Sophie?" Principal Adams said.

Sophie looked up to find the principal looking at her with nothing but sympathy.

"I was a social studies teacher before I became the principal. I'm going to look back over all your work myself and adjust your grade."

Sophie breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome, sweetheart." He checked the clock and leaned back in his chair. "I told Mrs. Wilson I needed to see her after her first class. She should be here in about five minutes."

Abeline

Abeline saw it right away. The way Sophie stiffened up when the principal said that Mrs. Wilson was on her way. Sophie was scared. Abeline grabbed Bonham's hand and pointed towards Sophie. Bonham nodded silently. He could see it too.

"Hey."

Sophie looked towards her mother, who was accepting the car keys from her father.

"If you don't want to stay for this, you don't have to. We'll give Liam the car keys and you two can go get an early lunch. Just come back in, say, an hour?"

Principal Adams nodded. "Should be plenty of time."

Sophie gave it some thought. It was true she was afraid to confront Mrs. Wilson. But she knew that if she didn't, she'd always regret it.

"No, Mama. I'll stay."

Abeline smiled, immediately putting Sophie at ease. "Okay."

The speakerphone on Principal Adam's desk buzzed, its loud sound making Sophie jump. Liam scooted his chair closer to her, grabbing her hand to calm her. Sophie sat back and took a deep breath as Principal Adams answered the call. Mrs. Wilson walked in, a pleasant smile on her face, which immediately faded the second she saw Sophie, her parents, and her brother.

Liam

This bitch has the audacity to smile, Liam thought to himself.

Liam squeezed Sophie's hand tightly when the door opened, simultaneously sending comfort to her and reminding himself that he needed to stay calm. Sophie had been bullied her whole life, be it because of her small size or her quiet and easygoing nature. While this made Sophie a sweet and kind little girl, it also made her a pushover, and it enraged Liam enough when it was kids Sophie's own age picking on her.

When it was an adult? Oh, hell no. That definitely wouldn't fly.

Mrs. Wilson walked in stiffly enough. "What's going on, Principal Adams?"

"Have a seat Mrs. Wilson. That's what I'm hoping to find out."

Liam noted with satisfaction that Mrs. Wilson seemed nervous to take her seat in the middle of the Walker family. Bonham was glaring daggers into her, Abeline was looking away as if Mrs. Wilson wasn't even worth her time, and Sophie was nervously clinging to her brother. Liam kept his hand on her back, rubbing it in small circles to calm her.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Wilson asked.

"I'm going to give you one chance, Mrs. Wilson. One chance and one chance only to tell me the truth." Principal Adams said sternly. "Did you, or did you not, call Sophie stupid yesterday?"

An outraged Mrs. Wilson stood up, indignant. "I did not!"

"Sit down, Mrs. Wilson. I told you you had one chance."

Principal Adams played the tape for Mrs. Wilson, who suddenly seemed too stunned to speak. She said nothing when the tape ended, just scowled at the window in the principal's office. The bell rang, signaling the changing of classes, and Mrs. Wilson stood up.

"I have a class."

"No. You don't. It's your planning period. And we're still waiting on an answer to the question."

"Well, I happen to think that Sophie had no right to film me without my permission." Mrs. Wilson said, turning her glare towards Sophie.

"She didn't. I did." Liam gritted his teeth and barely controlled his fury.

"You're getting off track. It doesn't matter who recorded the tape. The fact is, you are on tape calling a student stupid. That doesn't fly in this school, Mrs. Wilson."

"I didn't call her stupid. I said her answer was stupid."

"She is twelve years old." Liam said, silently inviting a now softly weeping Sophie to sit in his lap. As he gently rocked her, he said to Mrs. Wilson again, "She is twelve years old. You really think, in her mind, there's a difference?"

Mrs. Wilson turned to Abeline and Bonham and scoffed. "Are you going to allow your son to talk to me this way?"

"I suggest you answer him." Bonham said in a low growl. "If my wife and I have to ask, we won't be so nice."

"Mrs. Wilson, you have two choices here." Principal Adams interrupted.

"What choices?"

"First, you can resign. Leave right now and this won't be added to your permanent record. You'll maybe have a chance at getting another teaching job somewhere else, though I'll be sure to be honest when your next employer calls and asks why you left so abruptly."

"And my second choice?" Mrs. Wilson asked.

"You can go back to your classes today and I call a mandatory staff meeting at four. I play the tape for every teacher and faculty member in the school, letting them vote on whether or not to fire you."

Liam liked this principal. He really liked this principal.

"You can't fire me!"

"I most certainly can. Now which do you prefer?" Principal Adams asked.

Mrs. Wilson huffed again and stood up so fast that her chair squeaked against the floor. "Fine. I'll collect my things."

Sophie

"Mrs. Wilson?"

Sophie's tiny voice caused the entire room to stop. Principal Adams, Liam, Bonham, and Abeline all stared at her with varying degrees of pride and concern. Sophie squeezed her brother's hand again, gaining courage when he squeezed it back.

"Why do you hate me so much? What did I do to you?"

Mrs. Wilson didn't answer, simply scoffed and walked out. Sophie could barely believe it. The villain that had ruled her life for the last few weeks was gone. She could enjoy middle school now.

"Sophie? You okay?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, Principal Adams."

"You're very welcome, hon. And I want you to know I'm here for you no matter what. If you ever need to see me, or just need to talk, come on back, okay?" Principal Adams said. "I know it's not exactly the cool thing for a kid your age to come see the principal, but I wanted to put that out there."

"Thanks."

"And thank you from us too." Abeline said. "You went above and beyond our expectations here."

"I'll say." Bonham agreed.

"That offer I made to Sophie goes for you too."

Bonham

Things were okay again.

Bonham walked over to the table with the hot chocolate in his hand. Sophie was working on a jigsaw puzzle. She had her tongue stuck out in concentration. For a moment, Bonham was transported back to Sophie being three years old, bent over at the kitchen table focusing on a picture she was drawing for him, her mother, or one of her brothers. Sophie suddenly stopped and looked up at him. Her face lit in a smile that Bonham hadn't seen on Sophie's face in months.

"Hi, Daddy. You wanna help me?"

"Sure, Princess. Here."

"Thanks." Sophie said, taking her cup and taking a sip.

Bonham worked on the puzzle with Sophie for a bit, before asking the question that was really on his mind. "How are you feeling about everything at school?"

Sophie waited a moment to answer, placing a few puzzle pieces before she said anything. "I'm not sure. It feels weird. I was starting to think that maybe I deserved it."

"You don't." Bonham said. "You don't deserve anyone treating you like that. And I'm gonna tell you something else. You're the strongest person I've ever met."

A shocked Sophie's head shot up. "I am?"

"You are."

"You're just saying that."

"No. I'm not. And I can prove it."

Sophie smiled. "Okay. Prove it."

"Well, did you know when you were born, the doctors told us you wouldn't live through the week?"

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Yep. But you proved them wrong. You hung on and hung on until we brought you home." Bonham said. "And then you landed in the hospital again a couple years later."

"How does that prove I'm strong?"

"They told us the same thing they did when you were born. You wouldn't make it."

"I didn't know I was that sick." Sophie said, amazed.

"You were on a ventilator. You stopped breathing at one point."

Bonham swallowed hard. He didn't like reliving the days of Sophie being in the hospital. Until that point in his life, he'd counted himself grateful to have made it through Vietnam. But watching not quite two year old Sophie squirm and cry in the hospital, unable to eat or breathe without help, left him wondering if Sophie taking her last breath would cause him to take his.

"Daddy? You okay?"

Bonham looked up and smiled sadly. "Yeah, Princess. I'm okay."

"Any other stories about how strong I am?" Sophie asked with a grin.

"You might remember this one. Do you remember beating up the man that took you when you were four?"

Sophie laughed. "I remember having to be pulled off of him."

"I remember that too. I didn't think you had that in you." Bonham said with a chuckle. "My point is this. No matter what you go through, I've never had any doubt that you can deal with it."

Sophie smiled again, her father's praise making her feel better. "Thanks, Daddy."

"You're welcome. Let's get this puzzle done."