Taylor Hebert, Medhall Intern
Part Five: Glorious Schadenfreude
[A/N: This chapter commissioned by GW_Yoda and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
In far less time than I would've believed possible, we were arrayed in Principal Blackwell's office. Only three of us wanted to be there; me, Mr Grayson, and Bradley. Emma didn't want to be there, Madison didn't want to be there, Sophia didn't want to be there, and Blackwell definitely didn't want us to be there. We'd dropped Greg off to the school nurse on the way. With the mauling that Sophia had handed him, he probably needed medical attention. But he'd handed me his phone before we left him behind.
On the way, Mr Grayson had quietly advised me to let him do all the talking. I was not to let the others provoke me into an outburst; the only time I was to speak at all was to answer whatever questions he had for me, and to only answer those questions. Any questions from Blackwell were to be referred to him.
"What about Dad?" I'd asked.
"Ms Grimshaw will have already contacted him," he assured me. "I don't know the man personally, but everything I've heard about him tells me he'll be on the way."
That gave me a warm feeling; not only that he thought so highly of Dad, but that they'd bothered to contact him at all. Because although Mr Grayson was definitely the legal expert in the room, and Bradley looked like he could bend steel with his pecs, I wanted Dad there too. Partly because Emma had been surreptitiously texting all the way to the office, as had Sophia. Madison had just looked frightened. I felt a tiny spark of glee at that. Not so much fun now, is it?
As we trooped into Blackwell's office, Mr Grayson leading the way with me beside him and Bradley bringing up the rear, I could see the wheels spinning in her head. She was trying hard to decipher everything about the situation, and the presence of the Medhall people was severely throwing her off. But Emma and Sophia were there, and so she went on the attack.
Well, their presence might not have been the catalyst for her reaction, but I couldn't see much else that would have. "What is the meaning of this?" she demanded. "Ms Barnes, who are these people?"
Mr Grayson smiled, giving off the impression of being a friendly shark. Well, friendly to me. "Good morning, Principal Blackwell," he said with impeccable timing, talking right over the top of what Emma tried to say. "I'm Alexander Grayson, with the Medhall legal department. This is Bradley Fieldmark, with the Medhall security department. We were already coming here to investigate an alleged ongoing bullying situation involving Taylor Hebert, one of our most promising interns. Imagine our surprise when we get a phone call on the way, alerting us to the fact that Taylor was in a potentially dangerous situation. And so it was when we arrived. Taylor was being held by these two students, under threat of being forced into her locker, while that one there performed serious bodily harm on our other promising young Winslow intern." Placing his hands on the desk, he leaned forward into her space. "I have to ask; is this how you run your school on a daily basis?"
Blackwell drew herself up. "Mr … Grayson, was it? You were not invited into this school, so I'm going to ask you to leave. Whatever was or was not going on between my students, I will be dealing with it, not you."
"That's perfectly reasonable," Mr Grayson said. "We'll be leaving now. If you won't address the explicit criminality of the actions of those three, especially that one," he indicated Sophia, "I'm sure the BBPD will be pleased to do it for you." He smiled winningly. "And of course, images of these three manhandling and assaulting Taylor and her friend Greg will go marvellously on the front page of the Bulletin." He held up his hands, fingers framing an imaginary headline. "Students savagely beaten; Winslow principal refuses to act." Theatrically, he turned to Bradley. "Do you think the seven o'clock news would like the audio we have of Principal Blackwell's prize track star planning to murder Miss Hebert?"
Deadpan, the massive security guard nodded. "Yeah. I figure they might." He gestured to me to follow, as all three of us headed for the door.
"Wait—wait, wait, wait!" The words were torn from Blackwell's throat as she half-rose and put her hand out toward us. "Murder? Audio? What are you talking about?"
We stopped, just short of the door. Mr Grayson turned and smiled at Blackwell, his expression cold instead of genial. He was really, really good at that. Just for a moment, I was able to see him as the bad guy in a movie, with Bradley as his hulking minion. "Mr Veder recorded his interaction with the three girls here. Miss Hebert, if you can play it back, please?"
"Certainly, Mr Grayson," I replied. Greg had confided his password to me (it was 1-9-8-2, the year capes first appeared) so I was able to access his phone and call up the sound file he'd recorded.
It started with his voice. From the echoes, he was hurrying along a corridor, panting slightly. "This is Greg Veder. I'm recording this because there are people who'll try to say it never happened. Well, it's happening all the time. Emma, Madison and Sophia keep picking on Taylor. I might be just one person, but I can't let it keep happening. Not anymore." There was a pause in his voice, but the background noise kept going unchecked. Then there was the sound of cloth sliding over the microphone. Things got a little muffled then, but the voices were still perfectly audible.
"Oh, hey." It was clearly Madison's voice. "When it's empty, wipe the prints off it and put it in there with her. That way we can say she did it to herself."
"Whoa, damn." We turned to look at Sophia. She glared at us. "I am fucking impressed, Mads. You come up with the best plans." There was a grunt of exertion. "Time to try out your new accommodations, Hebert. Might be a bit cramped, but you'll have time to get used to it."
Mr Grayson made a gesture, and I paused the recording. "What are these 'accommodations' Sophia was referring to, Ms Hebert?" he asked, because Principal Blackwell certainly didn't seem likely to do so. "And what was Madison referring to when she said 'wipe the prints off it'?" With a notepad in hand, he poised an elegant-looking pen expectantly.
"They were going to shove me in my locker," I said, glaring at Blackwell and silently daring her to ignore the evidence this time. "Then spray a pepper-spray canister in there with me."
He nodded and took notes. "Thank you. Please continue."
I hit the button on the phone. Almost immediately, we heard Greg's voice. "Let her go!" This was a lot closer than the others. "Emma Barnes! Madison Clements! Sophia Hess! Let Taylor go! Right now!"
"And there you have positive identification of everyone who was there," murmured Mr Grayson. Principal Blackwell looked more and more hunted.
"What the fuck?" That was Sophia's voice, sounding utterly baffled.
"What the fuck, Greg?" Emma's tone was equally disbelieving.
"Greg?" Madison's voice joined the chorus. "What do you think you're doing?"
Greg's voice wavered between outrage and 'what the hell am I doing'. "Shut the fuck up. Let her go right now, or you're in big trouble. I mean it!"
The only thing we heard for a few moments was laughter, then Sophia spoke. "And what the fuck do you think you're going to do, Veder?" she asked derisively. "I don't see any teachers, and I don't see Blackwell. And who's gonna believe your word against ours?"
"It'll be Taylor and me, and they'll believe us!" Greg maintained. "You'll all be in deep shit if you don't let her go right now!"
Mr Grayson gestured again, and I paused the playback. "That's three times the young man advised them to release her, I believe," he murmured. "At no time did anyone say anything to the effect that they weren't holding her."
"It's audio, not video—" Blackwell began.
"They were identified by name, Principal Blackwell," he interrupted her. "And I would be willing to run voice-prints on every voice on this recording, if I had to. We all know it's those three." Again, he nodded to me. "Continue."
"Oh, for fuck's sake, just spray him already." That was Emma, and she didn't sound happy.
"No, I want to save it all for Hebert." I glanced at Sophia, who sneered at me, but kept a cautious eye on Bradley. Her voice went on. "You two hold Hebert. I got this."
"Where do you think you're going, Taylor?" Emma's tone was sickly sweet.
"You're not going anywhere, except in your locker." Madison just sounded amused. "Maybe after Sophia's finished beating the shit out of Greg, he can join you in there. He's obviously got the hots for you, after all."
Emma didn't sound mocking anymore. "Fuck, Madison, I think he really does. He's not running away."
About ten seconds passed. I could hear Greg's quick breathing on the audio. There were footsteps, but it was impossible to tell what was happening; or it would've been if I hadn't already lived through it. Finally, Sophia's voice came up, a lot closer than before. "That's right, Veder. Run and hide."
Over her receding footsteps, I could hear Greg breathing. He seemed to almost be sobbing, then he took a deep breath. "Gotta do this," he muttered. "Gotta do this. Friends stand up for each other." He took another breath. "C'mon, Greg, don't be a wimp all your fucking life." His footsteps started accelerating. A few seconds later, there was a thud and a grunt, then more thuds and some panting. There were no words, but the sounds of exertion.
Mr Grayson held up a finger, and I paused the playback.
"What's going on there, Ms Hebert?" he asked, one eye on Blackwell.
"That would be the point when Greg tackled Sophia," I explained. "I have to say, I honestly didn't think he had it in him."
"I find myself impressed as well," he agreed, and flicked his fingers to signal me to continue.
Maybe thirty seconds went by, then there was a meaty thud and a metallic clang. Greg's breathing was harsh, then finally he managed to get some slurred words out. "I said, leave Taylor 'lone."
Sophia didn't say anything, but even Bradley seemed to wince at the sounds of fist striking flesh. Then there was a high-pitched scream, too close to be anyone but Greg. This time, Bradley did wince. I got the impression he knew exactly what had occasioned that noise.
More movement happened, then my voice came across the recording. It sounded weird to me. "Leave him alone!"
"Oh, you want some too, do you, Hebert?" Even when played back, Sophia's tone was nothing short of murderous.
"Come get me, Sophia." My voice sounded more confident. "You might find that one-on-one's a lot harder than three-on-one. It won't be as easy to shove me in the locker with just you, either."
"I can get you in there with just one hand." Sophia's voice moved away from Greg. "And I can always say you broke your hands on the inside of the locker. After you emptied your own pepper-spray canister in there with you." There was a pause. "Hebert, you are so fucked. There's no way you can win against me. Why don't you just admit it?"
"Because she knows better." Involuntarily, Blackwell looked at Mr Grayson as his voice intruded on the recording. "Miss Hebert, are you all right?"
"I've been better." My voice still sounded weird. "Greg might need medical attention, too. Did you get all that?"
"Audio as well as video," Mr Grayson's voice said on the recording. "Of course, if it wasn't for Mr. Veder's quick thinking, as well as his incredibly noble sacrifice play, we probably wouldn't have gotten here in time."
"We can cut it off there," Grayson himself said, nodding to me. Then he turned to Blackwell, whose face had the kind of expression borne by people facing a firing squad. "As you may have heard, Bradley and I showed up then, and I was recording video and audio. When Ms Hebert intervened, that one there had Mr Veder down on the ground, and was about to kick him in the face. She's quite athletic; the chance of permanent injury or even death would have been significant. My question to you is this: do you call the police and press charges on all three of them, or do I do it and throw you and the entire school under the bus at the same time?" His sunny smile never changed, but somehow it became a lot more menacing. "Because there's no way I'm letting this farce go on a moment longer."
"Taylor hit me!" Emma burst out, apparently unable to keep quiet for a moment longer. She pointed at her mouth, where my fist had disarranged her lipstick. "Right here! I think I've got a loose tooth! You should have her arrested too!"
"And she elbowed me in the head!" Madison blurted out. "She's a psycho!"
Bradley turned to look at me, his eyebrows raising slightly as he gave me a look of approval. "Damn, kid. You're a wild animal."
I ducked my head and blushed at the compliment, but Mr Grayson was already talking. He never looked away from Principal Blackwell as he answered Emma. "Ms Barnes, there is such a thing in law as 'self-defense'. Taylor was being mobbed three on one, she has a clearly obvious bruise on her cheekbone that I know she didn't have yesterday, and the audio recording has you and Ms Clements holding her against her will, while your friend performs grievous bodily harm on a boy who merely wished to help Taylor. No jury in the world would convict her. You two, on the other hand … well, neither one of you did more than hold Taylor, did you?" He smiled as Sophia twitched.
"We-we never hit Taylor," Emma said, then pointed at me. "Tell them, Taylor!"
I remembered Mr Grayson's advice and looked at him for guidance. He nodded, then gestured at Emma and Madison. "Did either one of these girls hit you, Taylor?"
"Emma dug her nails into my arm," I said, pulling up my sleeve to show him the red marks, "but no, neither one of them hit me." I looked at Sophia, who had somehow managed to refine her glare-of-death while we were talking. If she'd had eye-beam Blaster powers, she could've fried Behemoth with them. From orbit. "That was all Sophia, from beginning to end."
"That's a lie!" Sophia shouted. "She's lying!"
"Well, if she's lying," Mr Grayson said thoughtfully, "that means one of you two must have been the one to work Taylor over and give her the bruising she's already wearing. Which of you two is it, hmm?" Behind him, Bradley folded his arms ominously.
The brunette and the redhead flicked glances at each other, then at Sophia. With elegant unconcern, Mr Grayson wrote something else in his notepad. With a quiet snap, he closed it and put it away, then clicked his pen and tucked it into his pocket. "Very well, then—" he began, taking his phone out of his pocket.
"Sophia's the one who's lying!" Madison burst out. "She beat up Greg and Taylor! Emma and me never hit Taylor! It was all Sophia's idea! Her and Emma! I had nothing to do with it!"
"Madison, you idiot!" yelled Emma. "I—"
"You little fucking coward!" Sophia surged forward, her hands reaching for Madison. The petite brunette tried to jump back out of the way, but she was a day late and far more than a dollar short. They went down in a tumbling heap that I had to skip sideways to avoid. I'd known Sophia had a temper on her, but all of a sudden I was glad I'd never pushed her quite this far.
"Sophia Hess!" shrieked Principal Blackwell. "Stop that right this instant!" She hurried out from behind her desk and tried to prise the two of them apart; Sophia laying into Madison with over-the-shoulder punches, Madison desperately defending with everything she had, and failing badly.
A single muscular leg, dark-skinned, launched out of the melee. It struck Blackwell in the stomach, driving the wind went out of her. She staggered back and sat down hard on the floor with an oof.
"Well, as entertaining as it is to see idiots fall out …" Mr Grayson sighed. "Bradley, if you will?"
"Right." Moving forward, Bradley all of a sudden went from looking like a burly security guard who might smack intruders upside the head with his baton to … I didn't know what. Dangerous. Striking like a snake, he darted his arm into the shrieking tangle of arms and legs and hauled out Sophia, one huge hand tangled into her long flowing black hair.
She struggled and screeched swear-words I'd only heard hardened Dockworkers use before, and tried to turn to attack him. Swinging her around, he let her go as his arm reached full extension, hurling her across the room where she hit one of the uncomfortable chairs that Blackwell liked to inflict on visitors and folded into it. Almost immediately, she was up again, launching herself forward. I wasn't sure if she was going after Madison, Bradley or even me, but she ran straight into a crisp backhand that crossed her eyes and dropped her right back into the chair.
"Stay," growled Bradley. I blinked, surprised at how fast the big man could move. He continued to loom over Sophia, keeping her in the chair with his sheer presence.
"Ms Clements, are you all right?" asked Mr Grayson. He went to one knee beside Madison and began to help her up. "Are you having trouble breathing? Do you need the nurse?" He tilted his head toward Sophia. "Do you want to press charges? I witnessed the whole thing, and I'm willing to take the case pro bono."
Madison shook her head. "I'm fine," she said nasally, and not very truthfully. Her nose was busted and Sophia had messed the rest of her face up but good. She seemed to be hesitating over the second question the office door opened.
"I came as fast as I—" began Dad. He broke off at the sight of the scene; Emma huddled into the corner with her eyes wide and her hands covering her mouth, Sophia dazedly slumped into a chair, Madison looking like she'd gone ten rounds with Behemoth, and Principal Blackwell painfully climbing to her feet with the assistance of her desk.
"Oh, thank God you're here!" I wasn't usually this demonstrative with Dad, but I grabbed him and hugged him.
He reflexively hugged me back, but he was staring over my shoulder at the scene of violence behind me. "I'm glad I'm here too. What the hell's been going on here? I got a phone call saying you'd been attacked." With his hands on my shoulders, he pushed me back a couple of feet to examine me. "What happened to your face?" He paused, then looked down at Madison. "And what happened to her face?"
I took a breath to explain, decided against trying to get all the details right, and gestured at Mr Grayson, who was helping Madison stand up while she held her nose. I didn't have much in the way of sympathy. "Same person. Sophia Hess. That's Mr Grayson and Bradley. They saved me from her." Well, Greg had kind of saved me too, but that was a point of detail I'd get into later.
"Alexander Grayson, Medhall legal department," Mr Grayson said smoothly, offering his hand to Dad. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Mr Hebert. Your daughter has been impressing us all at Medhall." He indicated Bradley. "This is Bradley Fieldmark, a member of our security staff. We were on our way out here when we were contacted and told that Taylor was in trouble. So we got here as quickly as possible, and encountered these girls holding Taylor and announcing they were going to put her in her locker, while that one there severely beat a boy who'd attempted to come to her rescue." He pointed at Sophia. "We understand she's also the one who marked Taylor's face."
Dad blinked as he shook Mr Grayson's hand, apparently trying to unpack all that. Then he focused on the one detail that jumped out at him. "Emma? What are you doing here? Is this true?"
She stared defiantly at him, even as she reluctantly took her hands away from her mouth. "I'm saying nothing until my father gets here."
Dad looked at me questioningly. I sighed. "It's exactly what it looks like. Emma and Madison and Sophia have been bullying me for more than a year. When I started at Medhall, I went and bought business clothing. They grabbed me outside the mall and straight-up stole most of it from me."
"Bullshit." Sophia still looked a bit groggy, but she glared at me from where she was sitting. "No fuckin' way you afforded that. You shoplifted it for sure. You're a fuckin' thief, Hebert."
"On the contrary," Mr Grayson said. "Upon the commencement of her duties, Ms Hebert was given a cash advance which she used to purchase the clothing." Because as part of the legal department, he would've signed off on it.
"And Madison's wearing one of my blouses," I added. "In case anyone's wondering."
Everyone turned to look at her, and she stepped back defensively. "I wanna go home," she mumbled.
"That's a good idea," Mr Grayson said. "Though you really should see the school nurse first, just in case." He turned to Principal Blackwell and raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps you should summon a teacher to get her there?"
The subtle sarcasm in his tone—perhaps you should have thought of that before I told you to do it—clearly stung, but Principal Blackwell did as she was told, and lifted the phone on her desk. A short but very sharp conversation later, she put the phone down. "It's done," she said sullenly.
"Thank you," Mr Grayson said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Now, Madison, was it your idea to steal the clothing, or was it theirs?"
It took her a few seconds to get the message that she was being thrown a lifeline, then she nodded hastily. "Theirs. It was theirs. Emma and Sophia wanted to do it. They told me to wear the blouse 'cause I was the only one who could fit into it and they knew it would piss off Taylor."
"Who knew what would piss off Taylor?" With those words, the office door opened once more and the last player in our little drama strode onto the stage. Alan Barnes looked from side to side, and his eyebrows rose. "Taylor, Emma, what's going on here?"
"Dad, Taylor punched me in the mouth!" shouted Emma.
Predictably, Mr Barnes swung his whole bulk toward me and Dad. "Taylor, you'd better hope you've got a really good reason—"
"She does." Mr Grayson stepped forward, hand extended as though Mr Barnes were his best friend in all the world. "Hi, I think we've met a few times. Alexander Grayson. I'm with the Medhall legal department, representing Taylor Hebert. As I recall, you're a divorce lawyer? That's nice."
And there it was, laid out in black and white. You can't take me on your best day.
Mr Barnes blinked a couple of times as Mr Grayson shook his hand. "Representing Taylor? Why?"
The smile on Mr Grayson's face grew a little sharper. "Are you asking what matter I'm representing Taylor in, or the reason why I'm bothering to represent Taylor at all?"
"The, the first one." I was no expert in reading expressions, but I would've bet Alan Barnes wanted to say 'both'. "Is it about the assault on my daughter?"
Mr Grayson chuckled politely, as though Mr Barnes had made a joke that had fallen flat. "Hm, no. Though that will reach court in one way or another. I will be representing Taylor in the lawsuit against Winslow High School for ongoing negligence in that they allowed your daughter and her friends to carry on a protracted campaign of mental, physical and emotional abuse against her for more than a year. Bullying, in fact. There will probably also be criminal charges laid against your daughter and her two friends, especially that one—" He indicated Sophia. "—for attempting to murder her by trapping her in an enclosed space then filling that space with pepper spray."
"What, murder?" Mr Barnes' head came up. "Pepper spray is non-lethal. You'll never make it stick."
"It's an inflammatory," Mr Grayson explained patiently. "A brief exposure can leave a person helpless for minutes at a time, and cause breathing problems. How would you fare if I forced you to breathe a concentrated dose for an hour and a half? At the very least, it will be attempted manslaughter. Bradley, you have the canister, correct?"
"Yes, Mr Grayson." Bradley produced the canister, carefully wrapped in a handkerchief, from his pocket, then tucked it away again.
"And so." Mr Grayson indicated the canister. "That's got her fingerprints on it." He nodded toward Sophia. "I'd be interested to know where she got it from."
"Uh, it's mine," I said hastily. "Dad gave it to me for self-protection, and she stole it."
"You used it on me yesterday!" shouted Sophia.
"After you tried to stop me from getting on the bus so I could go to work at Medhall," I shot back. "And Emma rang my boss and pretended to be me quitting the internship."
"I'm going to need proof for that accusation." Mr Barnes looked at me severely. "Unsubstantiated allegations can lead to considerable legal trouble."
"Medhall records all incoming and outgoing phone calls," Mr Grayson announced, ruthlessly cutting him off at the knees. "I already have an extensive sample of Emma's voice for an analysis check. Would you like to bet money on the outcome, or just concede right now?"
"Recording inside a school, in an all-party consent state—"
Mr Grayson rolled his eyes. "Oh, do try to keep up, Mr Barnes." I couldn't blame him; he was utterly in control of the situation. "One, a school is not a place with a reasonable expectation of privacy. Two, even a technically illegal recording is admissible in court so long as the police did not make it." He paused. "And, talking about recordings." A nod in my direction. "I think Mr Barnes needs to know exactly who he's trying to defend, here."
"I know who I'm defending!" Mr Barnes blustered. "Emma's a good girl—!"
Just then, there was a knock on the office door, and none other than Mr Gladly leaned in. "I'm here to escort Madison Clements to the … good god, what's going on here?"
Mr Grayson waved his hand in a go-away gesture. "That's not your concern," he stated flatly. "Madison, go with him. Call your parents. Go home. And think very long and hard about who your friends really are. The police will be around to talk to you."
She gave him a frightened look, then left.
As the door closed behind her, Mr Grayson gestured to Greg's phone, which I still held. Taking the hint, I restarted the audio file. To give Mr Barnes credit, he listened all the way through without trying to interrupt. When Emma tried to speak over it, he waved her to silence. We both knew damn well he knew her voice as well as I did. I didn't know how well he knew Sophia and Madison, but from the way the colour left his face, I figured he recognised their voices as well.
When Mr Grayson's voice cut in at the end, Mr Barnes glanced sharply at him. The mention of video and audio didn't make him in any way happy.
"You have an interesting definition of 'good', Mr Barnes," Mr Grayson said after I stopped the playback. "What's your opinion of Sophia Hess?" Without giving the man a chance to reply, he started his phone playing; even from the angle I was at, I could see a razor-sharp image of Sophia brutalising Greg. Her voice was just as clear as it had been on Greg's phone, and even I could tell that the overlap in the recorded audio meant it would be very hard to discredit it in court. He ended the recording and studied Mr Barnes' face. "Did you have any questions? Would you like me to replay any part of that?"
Emma must have been still smarting from the punch in the mouth, because she chose this incredibly unwise moment to speak up. "Dad, are you going to let him talk to you like that? Taylor hit me!"
Drawing a deep breath, Mr Barnes spun around to her and pointed at one of the chairs. "You're in enough trouble right now, so sit down and shut up!" he bellowed. Then he scrubbed his hands over his face and ran them through his thinning red hair.
Mr Grayson let him stew, even as he stepped aside to allow Emma to sit down. She was white in the face, possibly because her father had never shouted at her like that in my presence, ever. Dad didn't say a word, merely looking from Mr Grayson to Mr Barnes like a spectator in a tennis match. Principal Blackwell was back in her chair, but she wasn't saying a word, maybe hoping we'd forget she'd ever been in the room. I didn't really blame her. She'd repeatedly dropped the ball so hard it probably had a concussion.
"Sophia …" Mr Barnes began.
The dark-skinned girl stopped glaring at Bradley—who was still looming over her—long enough to look at him. "What?" she snapped, almost as though this was all his fault for not resolving it immediately in her favour.
"Have you called your … uh, Ms Bright?" I wasn't quite sure why he'd stumbled over the woman's name, but he was clearly rattled. Who Ms Bright was, I had no idea. Maybe her parents had split with each other, and Ms Bright was her father's new girlfriend?
"Yeah, I've called her." Sophia didn't quite sneer at us, but her expression hardened. "And you jack-offs are gonna be sorry you messed with me."
I frowned. That didn't exactly sound like Sophia's usual line of tough talk. And Mr Barnes also seemed to be taking her seriously. Glancing at Mr Grayson, I caught him and Bradley sharing a quick look. They didn't know either, which made me wonder who Ms Bright was. She couldn't be someone high up in the legal field, because Mr Grayson would've known the name. I'd thought everyone who was likely to show up, had. Apparently, I'd been wrong.
Sophia's phone buzzed, and she took it out. A vicious smile spread across her face. "She just got here. I'm not saying anything else."
Dad looked questioningly at me, and I shrugged in response. A glance at Principal Blackwell told me that she seemed to know who the enigmatic Ms Bright was; or at least, she wasn't as mystified as the rest of us.
Mr Barnes took another deep breath. "Emma, no matter what happens, no matter what gets said, you say nothing, do nothing. Do you understand? Anything she asks you goes through me."
I blinked. That was the exact advice Mr Grayson had given me … which made me wonder all over again who Ms Bright was that she could scare Mr Barnes like that. Mr Grayson murmured a question to Dad, who shrugged. Bradley looked as though he didn't care.
A minute or so later, the office door opened, and a woman in her late twenties entered. She was blonde, with a heart-shaped face, and looked more than a little taken aback by the tableau facing her. All in all, she did not seem to live up to Sophia's hype.
Eyebrows raised, she looked at Sophia. Then she glanced at Principal Blackwell, just as clearly dismissed her, and put her attention on Mr Grayson.
"Hello," she said, holding out her hand. "Kirsten Bright. I'm Sophia Hess' social worker. I understand there's been some sort of problem concerning her?"
Silence descended upon the room as we all did our best to digest her announcement. Bradley was the first to speak; or rather, he let out a bark of laughter. "That's it?" he asked. "We're all supposed to be scared of a social worker?"
"Now, now, let's not be rude, Bradley." Mr Grayson shook Ms Bright's hand firmly. "Social workers carry out a valuable role in society. No, Ms Bright, I don't consider the situation with your ward to be so trivial as to constitute a mere 'problem'. The phrases 'criminal charges' and 'attempted murder' are more of a correct fit. Also, 'aggravated assault', 'caught on camera' and 'tried as an adult'."
"Aggravated assault?" Ms Bright rallied hard and stared at me. "On her? If Sophia were indeed the perpetrator, I would hardly call it aggravated."
Mr Grayson spoke softly, but with deadly precision. "We stood right here in this office and witnessed your client savagely beating one of her friends who dared speak the truth about her. That person's name is Madison Clements, and she's just now been taken to the school nurse to wait for her parents to take her home. She will be joining another student, Greg Veder, who was also horrifically beaten by your client for the crime of saving Taylor there from being murdered. Again, by your client." He pointed at what I realised were drops of blood on the cheap linoleum. "That isn't tomato ketchup, Ms Bright."
I had to admire the woman's fortitude. Even with no leg to stand on, she pressed onward. "And this beating of the other boy? Did you personally witness that?"
"Funny you should ask that." Mr Grayson nodded to me. I hoped that there wouldn't be too many more people showing up, because this was getting a little tedious.
After she listened to Greg's recording and watched Mr Grayson's footage, Ms Bright looked as though she were clenching her jaw just a little harder than normal. She turned toward Principal Blackwell. "I presume she will be expelled for this?"
Some kind of message passed between them, and Blackwell nodded jerkily. I thought that was a little odd—Blackwell should've been the one pushing for expulsion, over the social worker's reluctance—but I didn't have much in the way of context. "Yes," she said. "I'll expedite the paperwork immediately."
"I thought you might." Ms Bright sighed, then addressed herself to Sophia. "I'll be taking you—"
"—nowhere," Mr Grayson said firmly. "Ms Bright, no disrespect intended, but I've never seen you at the courts, ever. I honestly do not know if you are who you say you are. Your client, if that's what she is, is a flight risk. I would be doing Taylor and Greg a grave disservice if I allowed an unknown person to walk out that door with someone I knew had committed a criminal act. You will wait with us for the police to arrive, and they will take her into custody." He turned to Principal Blackwell. "You have called the police, have you not?"
"Oh, uh …" Principal Blackwell hesitated for a fatal moment. "I thought Ms Bright would be able to sort matters out."
"And why in Heaven's name did you think that?" demanded Mr Grayson. "I mean, seriously, madam. I understand that social workers do good work, but there's a vast difference between scolding someone for skipping school and charging them with multiple cases of felony assault." He shook his head. "You've had your chance." Dismissing the video from his phone screen, he tapped in a number. "Hello, yes. My name is Alexander Grayson. I'm at Winslow High School, and I've just witnessed one of the students committing assault and battery on two other students. They are both in medical care, and at least one of them might require hospitalisation for assessment of his injuries. Yes, she's currently in custody. Please send someone to pick her up. Also, send a female officer. I believe she may need to be body-searched, and I'm not willing to do that. Yes, her name is Sophia Hess." He paused, glanced at me, then looked toward Emma with an unfriendly eye. "Also, there is another girl, named Emma Barnes. When you get here, you might want to talk to her about being an accessory before and during the fact. Yes, we will be in the principal's office."
As he ended the call, Alan Barnes stepped forward. "Do we really need to go this far with Emma?" he asked. "I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement without needing to bring the courts into it. Mediation …"
"Mr Barnes, you're showing your background." Mr Grayson shook his head with a slight smile. "When an actual crime has been committed, rather than a simple disagreement between two people, mediation just won't cut it. After all, what sort of mediated agreement would suffice to make up for …" He turned to me. "How long have you been suffering this mistreatment, Taylor?"
"Since school started in September of two thousand nine," I said steadily. "A bit over a year." I gave Principal Blackwell a glare at that point. "And they never listened to my complaints, even once."
"Oh, we're going to be addressing that as well," he observed, showing his teeth in a smile that gave me the distinct impression that he was enjoying this way too much. I didn't blame him; I was getting a kick out of it, too. "My only dilemma is whether I should stick to a civil suit against the school on your behalf, or if I should go so far as to push for charges against Principal Blackwell for her criminal negligence in this matter."
Dad spoke up then. "Which one would get Taylor the justice she needs?"
Mr Grayson nodded respectfully. "A salient point, Mr Hebert. Sometimes we allow our thirst for vengeance to guide our actions too far. But for Taylor's good … yes. The civil suit, I think." He turned back to Mr Barnes. "As for you, what reparations do you think would be worthwhile, considering what your daughter has been putting Taylor through for more than a year?"
The look on Mr Barnes' face almost made me smile, then and there. If he reached too low, Mr Grayson would go right ahead with prosecuting Emma. If he reached too high, Mr Grayson would let it happen. He was stuck very much between a rock and a hard place, and everyone knew it.
He took a deep breath. By the time he let it out again, I knew what his decision would be, by where he was looking. Or rather, where he wasn't looking. He looked at Emma, then at Mr Grayson, and shifted his body slightly so that his back was toward Sophia.
"Emma confesses to everything," he said tonelessly. "She returns everything she stole, and pays her back in full for what she can't return. She tells the full truth about Sophia's crimes against Taylor." The way he said Sophia's name sounded a little odd, but I didn't care. "She makes a complete public apology toward Taylor in any venue you consider appropriate. I withdraw all legal assistance and support from Sophia Hess. We'll cut all ties from her. I will personally recommend, from my knowledge of her, that she be remanded to juvenile detention, her sentence to be reviewed when she turns eighteen. In return, Emma gets immunity to prosecution for what's already happened. Is that sufficient, or would you like me to garnish her pocket money as well?"
"Well, I can't guarantee immunity," Mr Grayson noted. "That's up to the DA. But depending on the degree of cooperation from her and Madison, I can certainly recommend lenience in the matter. A suspended sentence, perhaps, or community service." He turned to Dad and me. "Do you have any thoughts on the matter?"
"Yes, I do." Dad frowned at Emma. "This sort of behaviour does not come out of nowhere. Emma gets therapy. She stays away from Taylor at all times. I'll insist on a restraining order if I have to." He turned his attention to me. "Taylor?"
"I want to go to Arcadia," I said impulsively. Clenching my fists, I stared at Mr Barnes and at Principal Blackwell. "If you really want to make this right, you can pull strings to have me transferred there. And ensure that Emma isn't even allowed to walk in the front gate."
"It'll get done," Mr Barnes assured me. Principal Blackwell began to open her mouth, but he spoke over the top of her. "I said, it will get done. Oh, and I'll be pulling Emma from Winslow as well."
"You can't send her to Arcadia," Dad said bluntly.
"No, I'm thinking I'll send her to boarding school in Boston," Mr Barnes decided. "It'll cost a bit, but she can do without the very latest in smartphones, and her first car will have to wait a few years. I'm sure it's a sacrifice she's willing to make if she wants to avoid getting into any more trouble than she's already in." He gave Emma a firm stare as she opened her mouth. After a long moment, she shut it again.
Mr Grayson smiled. "Well, that seems worthwhile so far. We'll thrash out the final details in a more salubrious atmosphere. For now, I believe I hear police sirens." His expression grew razor-edged as he looked at where Sophia glowered from her chair with Ms Bright beside her. I looked as well; her expression promised death to everyone in the room. "Once they take this little troublemaker away, we can get down to brass tacks."
"Before we do," I said, "I just want to say thank you. For everything you've done for me. I mean it. You and Bradley, you've gone above and beyond."
"Think nothing of it," he assured me. "You're a member of the Medhall family now. You're one of us. And we look out for each other."
Bradley nodded in agreement, though his eyes never left Sophia. "You got guts, kid," he said over his shoulder to me. "Sometime, I might show you and the Veder boy how to take care of yourselves in a fight. If you're interested."
"What do you think, Dad?" I asked, looking up at my father as the sirens got louder. "Should I give it a try?"
He shrugged, then put his arm over my shoulders. I leaned into him. "Couldn't hurt."
End of Part Five