Madeline saw Avery and her friends approach her out of the corner of her eye. She turned her back to them and kept playing. They didn't scare her.
Earlier in the week, Avery had cheated off Madeline's spelling test. Madeline told the teacher, but ever since then, Avery had teased Madeline at recess, and tried to trip her during lunch.
"Hey, Madeline!" Avery's friend Rebecca called. "Is it true you have two dads?"
Madeline felt her cheeks grow red. No one else in her second grade class had two dads. Avery and her friends were the only ones who made fun of her for it.
Madeline ignored Rebecca and the other two. But that was hard to do when Avery shoved her and took her jump rope away.
"Hey!" she interjected. "Give it back! My Aunt Rachel gave that to me!"
It was no use. Avery held her jump rope up high, and Rebecca and Kelsi, their third friend, held Madeline back. Rebecca pushed Madeline to the ground, and she could see a bright red scrape on her knee starting to bleed.
Madeline wanted to cry, but that would just make everything worse. Her eyes blurred with tears, but she blinked them back and pushed herself to her feet. Her cut knee stung, but she hurried after Avery's group.
"Hey!" she yelled. She wasn't letting them get away with taking away her favorite jump rope.
The three girls turned around. "What?" Kelsi sneered.
"Give it back!" Madeline demanded, clenching her fists and stamping her foot. "If you don't, I'll… my big brother will come and make you!"
The three of them laughed, and Avery yanked Madeline's curly brown hair as she tried to jump up and grab it.
Madeline panicked, and began to cry for real. "Micah!" Madeline didn't even know if her brother was out on the playground, but she had to try. "Micah!"
"Let go of her!" Madeline heard, crying too hard to see properly. Avery immediately let go of Madeline's hair, and she fell to the ground in tears. She heard her brother yelling at Avery, and saw him snatch her jump rope back.
"What is going on?" Mrs. Cook, the recess monitor, asked them, sounding exasperated.
"Nothing!" Kelsi insisted.
"They took my sister's jump rope and pulled her hair," Micah said, and walked over to help his sister stand up.
Mrs. Cook threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "Go. All of you, to the office. Mr. Kaufman will deal with you all."
Madeline had never been in trouble before. The only time she had ever been to the office before was when she needed a Band-Aid from the nurse.
"Come on," Micah said. "It's okay, it's not your fault." Madeline walked next to her brother, following Avery, Kelsi, and Rebecca to the principal's office. They sat down on the bench outside his door, but Micah took Madeline to the nurse first. She cleaned up Madeline's bloody knee without asking too many questions.
She hated sitting outside the principal's office. It wasn't her fault, but what if no one listened to her side of the story? She knew she would be in big trouble when she got home.
Mr. Kaufman came out of his office and told the two of them that he called their dad. Madeline panicked when she heard that. He would be so upset with her...
"Daddy's gonna be mad," she mumbled to Micah. He hugged her reassuringly.
"No, he won't," he promised his sister. "You didn't do anything."
Kurt pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and frowned when he saw who was calling. It was the kids' elementary school, which either meant that one of them was either sick or in trouble.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Mr. Anderson-Hummel, this is Robert Kaufman, your son and daughter's principal. One of our recess monitors reported that your daughter got into a bit of a fight with some other girls in her class. I haven't talked with them yet, but I think it would be best if you came to pick them up early."
Kurt's mouth fell open. A fight? Madeline wouldn't fight. He wasn't convinced at all that it was her fault.
"What happened?" he asked. He logged off of his work computer and grabbed his coat. Isabelle was out in Chicago for a business meeting, so Kurt was in charge of the office.
"I'm not one hundred percent sure yet," the principal said. "Your son is in here as well. He tried to defend her, but we're still trying to get the full story. I tried your husband, but he didn't pick up."
"He's a doctor, he doesn't have his phone on him," Kurt explained hastily. "I'm on my way. Thank you for calling."
Kurt hung up and drove the familiar route to the elementary school. He parked, and was able to see his kids through the window in the office. Kurt went inside and walked over to them. Surprisingly, Madeline shied away. Kurt knelt down in front of her and noticed she had a large bandage over her knee.
"Hey, what happened?" he asked.
"She thinks you're gonna be mad at her," Micah explained. Kurt frowned. By the looks of things, Madeline had just tried to stick up for herself.
"No, no, I'm not mad," he assured her. "Do you wanna tell me what happened?"
Madeline shook her head, still looking down. Mr. Kaufman opened his door and stepped outside. Kurt stood up to talk to him.
"Ah, Mr. Anderson-Hummel," the short, round man said. "I just finished talking with all of the kids. Madeline said Avery and her friends have been bothering her for a few days now. They took her jump rope on the playground and pushed her down, then when she tried to get it back they pulled on her hair. Your son stopped it, and the girls have been sent home for the rest of the day and given detention all of next week. Your son and daughter are free to go, they did nothing wrong."
Kurt wasn't happy, though. Detention on a bunch of eight-year-old girls wouldn't help them learn their lesson.
"Why didn't anyone notice?" Kurt demanded. "Were there any teachers outside with them?"
"Of course," Mr. Kaufman answered, adjusting his large rectangular glasses. "We've already notified Madeline's teacher about the situation, and she's going to do everything in her power to keep it from happening again. Have a good day, Mr. Hummel."
Kurt took each of them by the hand and walked them outside. After all the bullying he went through in school, he wasn't about to let the same thing happen to his kids.
The ride home was mostly quiet. Madeline finally spoke up and broke the silence.
"Daddy, are you sure you're not mad?" she asked.
"No, I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself. And for Micah for looking out for you. I just wish a teacher would have noticed, is all. It's not fair that Micah had to be the one to break it up. That's not his job."
"Mrs. Cook noticed," Micah informed Kurt. "She sent us all to the office."
Kurt gripped the steering wheel tighter. They were too young to understand yet. But Kurt wasn't about to let it happen again. His kids weren't going to be bullied like he was, not if he could help it.
Author's Notes:
I love writing Klaine with their kids, even though it sucks that they would get bullied. Oh, well, at least they have two great dads to stick up for them!