Monday morning came far too quickly. Lucas spent more of Sunday playing the happy big brother much longer than he had wanted to. He didn't even bother asking permission to go to the movies with a group of kids from school. Sunday night when Luc paced the floor back and forth between his room and the bathroom, a symptom of his anxiety, Abby felt sorry for her son. She knew that like his father, Lucas got worked up about testing and presentations so racked up his anxious behavior to the upcoming exam period. Just after 11 pm Abby stood in the hall to give Lucas a hug and quickly said "Hey Bear, it's all going to be ok!" Kissing her son on the top of his head she gently pushed him towards his room.
Tired Lucas dragged himself out of bed once again into the bathroom to get ready for the day. Sam hung off Luc having spent the weekend with him and was hoping the extra attention would continue. Luc's patience was basically nonexistent and when Sam was bouncing around the kitchen and hanging off Lucas' chair or arm he snapped. He called Sam a 'royal pain in the ass' just as Tim walked by.
"You want to rethink your choice of words young man?" Tim asked in a firm authoritative voice.
Hanging his head, thinking his luck was not on the side of the line he needed it to be on. "Sorry Sam" he quickly apologized hoping the slip of the tongue would be just as quickly forgiven.
Tim gave his eldest a severe glare before continuing out the front door calling back "If you want a ride to school you've got 2 minutes to get to the car".
Sam ran to the front door snatched his backpack from the hook and was out the door before Luc had a chance to think through the proposition of a ride. Lucas rolled his eyes and sighed as he too took his school belongings out to the driveway. As he stepped off the last step of the porch the rain pelted him in the face. He'd been so wrapped up in his predicament that he hadn't noticed the weather. His father's offer of a ride made more sense now which actually sent a wave of relief through the young teen. Since every thought that ran through his mind was about his impending visit with Mr. Harper, Lucas has assumed that his father was driving them to school to meet with the principal. But with the weather this nasty it just meant that the boys were being shuttled so that they didn't have to walk to school in the storm.
Tim waved to the boys as they darted through the front door of the school hopping across the many puddles that had formed along the sidewalk. He smiled as Sam tried to pull open the large wooden door and Luc stepped up and helped him accomplish the task, making the younger of the two think he'd done it alone. As a father he was so proud of his eldest who might call his little brother names but deep down he loved him and looked out for him.
When the weather was inclement the students were allowed to hang out in the gym or library before the first bell. Luc walked Sam to his classroom, waited until he had dropped off his jacket and bag and then walked him back to the gym. Sam climbed onto the stage steps and was looking around the large room waiting for his friends. Luc left him happily swinging his legs over the edge of the stairs. Luc scrubbed his face with the palms of his hands. He was standing between the office and the gym in the main foyer of the school. He stood looking down the hall to his classroom and then back to the bench outside the main office. Many minutes passed with Luc weighing his options. Mr. Harper had said he was to meet him in the office on Monday morning. However Luc was unsure if he was to just show up or if he was to wait for a summons; if he waited and that was the wrong choice then he would be in more trouble. Although he'd come to the conclusion that the right answer was to deliver himself to the office before the bell even rang, he couldn't seem to make his feet, body or any other part of himself move in that direction. He remained in the hall way as many other students arrived and moved around him preparing for the school day ahead.
Trips to the principal's office had been an almost routine occurrence for the younger Lucas, but it had been two years since he'd had such an invitation. Knowing what to expect may have made the short trip that much harder. He stood there in the hallway long enough that the morning bell rang, because he didn't move he was jostled by the flow of children heading to their classrooms. When he was once again alone Luc stared towards the open office door where he could see Mrs. Hitherfield, Mr. Cooper's assistant. His brain had engaged enough that the message to move his legs was on route when a teacher asked "Shouldn't you be in class?"
"No sir" Lucas replied instinctively "I have an appointment with Mr. Harper".
"Well then hurry along and get yourself out of the hall."
The short discussion was all Luc needed to overcome the inertia he'd been experiencing. Within seconds Luc stood in front of Mrs. Hitherfield explaining in the lease number of words and without an explanation as to why he needed to be in the office.
"Take a seat, Mr. Harper is late getting this morning, his hydro was out due to the storm" she explained.
He nodded silently and sat on the small bench inside the office area. Leaning forward he slid his backpack off and set it gently on the bench beside him. The clock on the wall ticked loudly, it was the only sound Luc could hear. He saw Mrs. Hitherfield answer the phone but hadn't heard it ring. He saw her scratch notes in her calendar but could only hear the tick, tick, ticking of the clock on the wall. Even as his own heart pounded in his chest he felt each beat. But the ticking overpowered even the rush of pressure in his ears.
Crying snapped him out of his trance like state, he recognized the crying. He watched as Sam entered the outer office followed by the French teacher. Lucas listened as she told Sam that he was responsible for his own situation and that tears were not going to change what was happening. Lucas was at Sam's side inside of a second. Kneeling in front of his younger sibling Lucas took hold of Sam's shoulders and studied his face in hopes of getting some answers as he doubted any of Sam's words would make sense. Luc gently shook Sam's shoulders to get his attention. After having told him several times to calm down and getting no reaction. Sam's sobs turned to sniffles which allowed Luc to listen to the teacher's explanation to the assistant.
In the next few moments Lucas gained a lot of knowledge of Sam's recent academic career. It seemed that Sam had basically stopped doing any of his school work. He had been given extra time to complete the work and it was all due that morning. The French teacher who was beyond frustrated with Sam's attitude and neglect of his work, she had issued a demerit to Sam as he once again had not handed in his homework and when questioned as to why he had been unable to complete it. She had found out when she walked the group back to their class that the demerit was his 10th and so was escorting him to the office for Mr. Harper to deal with the situation.
Mrs. Hitherfield was about to tell Sam to sit on the bench to wait for Mr. Harper as the French teacher stalked out of the room, but he was already there. She hid her smile behind the computer screen as she watched the older of the two boys take care of the little one, moving his backpack so Sam had somewhere to sit.