✅âŒ
Dr. William di Solace was grading papers while his middle school students filled out their worksheets together. His phone began ringing, and he excused himself from the classroom to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Hello? Is this Mr di Solace?”
“Actually, that’s my husband. I’m Dr. di Solace,” Will answered with a laugh. “Who is this and why are you calling?”
“Hi, I’m Mrs Cardamon, I’m the principal of Midtown Junior High. I have your daughter here in my office. Could you please come to talk to me and pick up your daughter?” the woman said over the phone.
“Is Bianca okay?” Will asked worriedly.
“She got into a fight. Please come to my office to discuss this.” And with that, she hung up. Will shoved his phone in his pocket and walked into the classroom, grabbing the phone off the wall. He stepped back out, dialing the number for his principal.
“Hey, Derrick? I’m sorry, but do you have any subs? I just got a call that my daughter got into a fight, and I have to go to her school.”
“Oh, yeah, I have a sub for you. I’ll send her down. Do you have lesson plans?”
“Yeah, and the kids know what to do. Thanks Derrick.”
“Anytime.”
Will opened his classroom door to 26 pairs of eyes on him.
“What happened sir?” asked April.
“My daughter got into a fight. I have to go talk with her principal. There will be a substitute for the rest of the day. Sorry guys.”
“It’s ok Dr. DS. Hope your daughter’s alright,” said Ralphie, a kind but energetic student.
“Thanks guys. Now, you know the rules for a sub. All the same rules that you have for me, but if they tell you to do or to not do something, listen to them. You guys are typically a good class. And remember my phone policy. Now, I have to pack up and call my husband. Y’all are all good, right?” The kids nodded. Will smiled and started packing up, speed dialing Nico. He picked up after two rings.
“Hey, you got the call too, right?”
“Yeah. She was super cryptic. Wouldn’t give me much detail.”
“Same. Ok, I’m getting in the car, I have to go. I’ll meet you there. I love you tesoro, bye.”
“Bye darling, love you too.” Will hung up and shoved his phone in his pocket as the substitute walked in. He quickly explained the lesson plan and left it to the students to explain the rest. They were a good class. Silly, but smart. He knew he could trust them with a sub.
———
Will met Nico in the parking lot.
“Hey amore, you got a sub I’m assuming?” Nico asked.
“Yeah, and it’s my 2B class, they’re good kids,” Will answered, giving Nico a kiss and lacing their fingers together. They walked into the school together nervously.
“Hi, Mrs Cardamon called us? Our daughter is in her office for a fight?” Nico said to the secretary.
“Her office is right down the hall.” The two dads walked down and the hall and into the principals office. They saw Bianca in the corner on a stool and both knelt in front of her. Her lip was split and her knuckles tinted red. Bruises seemed to be forming around her eyes and on her bare arms.
“Bia, what happened?”
“Are you okay, principessa?”
The principal cleared her throat. “Hello, Mr and Mr di Solace,” she said standing to shake their hands.
“It’s Dr di Solace actually,” Will answered politely, shaking her hand. Nico stayed next to Bianca. “What is this about?”
“Your daughter started a fight with a boy during lunch.”
“Bianca? What’s she talking about?” Nico asked.
“It’s his fault! He’s a bully! Normally I could handle him, but he crossed the line!”
“She’s been saying that, without expanding. We have no idea what she’s talking about, and the victim said she just turned around and began punching him.”
“I tried to explain, Papa, I tried to explain to her, she wouldn’t listen!” Bianca yelled, pleading with her father.
“Bianca, calm down. What happened from your side? The whole story,” Nico said, taking her hands.
“Brian has always teased me. He pulls on my braids and rips my papers and one time he pushed me hard in the hallway and I fell. Normally I ignore him, but this time he downright insulted me and my family!” Bianca shouted at the principal.
“Bia, baby, take a deep breath. What’d he say?” Will asked.
“He said the f slur! He called you guys it. He said that I had faggots for parents and that one day I would grow up to be a faggot parent! And everyone started making fun of me. I got so mad, I just punched him and then he hit me harder, but I got up and all Mr Joe saw was me punching him! So now it’s my fault that he called my dads the f slur!” Bianca was shouting and crying now. She fell into Nico arms and cried.
“What is going to be done about this?” Nico asked, his jaw tight.
“Your daughter started a fight, and she deserves punishment. Two weeks OSS.”
“Woah woah woah, what’s the Brian kid getting?”
“Brian will receive four days ISS.”
“Hold on, what?” Will asked incredulously. “This kid calls my family and I a slur and my daughter gets a worse punishment than him?”
“Sir, we don’t have a tolerance for violence.”
“You don’t seem to have an intolerance for discrimination, though, do you!”
“Amore mio, fai un respiro. Raccogli ciò che devi dire. Prenditi cura di questa stronza. (My love, take a breath. Gather what you need to say. Take care of this bitch.)” Nico said, taking Will’s hand.
Though it was brief, Nico saw a look of disgust cross the principal’s face. He took his own advice and took a breath.
“Is this going on her permanent record?” Will asked.
“Of course.”
“What would happen if we withdrew her from the school right now?” Nico asked.
The principal made a face of shock. “Well, she’d still have a fight on her record. And it would take a while to transfer her to another.”
Nico looked at Will. “Potremmo farle studiare a casa per il resto dell’anno. (We could homeschool her the rest of the year.)”
“I like that idea,” Will answered. He turned and knelt in front of Bianca. “Bia, come ti senti all’idea di lasciare questa scuola e tuo padre ed io potremmo istruirti a casa per il resto dell’anno? Potremmo mandarti in un’altra scuola media l’anno prossimo. (Bia, how do you feel about leaving this school and your father and I could homeschool you for the rest of the year? We could send you to another middle school next year.)”
“Yeah, sure. I don’t have friends here anyway,” Bianca answered in English.
Will and Nico stood and looked at each other. Nico nodded to Will. “We’re withdrawing her. Please give us the syllabus for each one of her classes, we’ll teach her at home. We’ll turn in each piece of work by the deadlines, but she won’t be coming to this school in person.”
The principal choked out a laugh. “You’re what?”
“The school has a virtual asynchronous option anyway. We choose that,” Nico said.
“You…can’t. She’ll still be suspended for the next two weeks, even in the virtual option.”
“Ok. So then you can have two weeks to transfer her to the asynchronous class,” Nico answered simply.
“Sir, I don’t think you understand-“
“No, I don’t think you understand! You do realize we could get you fired for this?”
The principal scoffed. “And how would you plan to do so?”
Nico smirked. “Who’s your superintendent? What’s her name again?”
“Dr. Annabeth Jackson. Why?”
Nico laughed and bit his lip. “She’s my cousin’s wife. We grew up together. You realize, if I tell her that you tolerated the f slur, and you were okay with the fact that it was directed towards my family, she wouldn’t hesitate to take your precious paycheck right out from under you?”
The principal gulped.
“Transfer our daughter. And be prepared to get a private meeting with Dr. Jackson.” Nico turned to Bianca and knelt in front of her. He studied her wounds.
“What’d the other kid look like?”
Bianca smiled. “Worse.”
“That’s my girl,” Nico said, ruffling her hair.
I’m so sorry for not posting at all recently. I’ve pretty much moved out of my Percy Jackson phase, and into my stray kids one. I’m not cancelling the book, don’t worry. I’ll try to finish any drafts I have, see if I can conquer any ideas I have.
I’m also thinking of making a stray kids ff??? But it’s a little weird to write about people that actually exist lol. I’m currently writing one with Chan as a little/someone with a little space (look it up), so if you’re a STAY comment if you want to see it. Ships for it include Changlix and Minsung with Changlix as Chan’s caregivers.
I love you all so much and thank you for staying with me for more than a year and nearly 100 parts. Keep reading, voting, and share so we can get more reads.
Yours truly,
Ki/Kian
(Kai-in, they/them)
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