meet my eyes.
“What are your names?” I asked gently.
“I’m Mia,” the girl with the bruised shoulder whispered.
“David,” the boy mumbled, staring at his sneakers.
“And I’m Harper,” the smallest girl said. Her eyes were red-rimmed.
“I’m Olivia,” I said. “And nobody is leaving this house until we fix this.”
One by one, they told me their stories. It was a litany of horrors. Intimidation in the bathrooms. Notes left in lockers urging them to hurt themselves. Teachers who turned a blind eye. Older students who treated cruelty like a sport.
Every word was a dagger in my heart.
“And the principal?” I asked, my voice hardening.
Lily swallowed, wiping her eyes. “Mr. Halloway… he has a policy. ‘Zero Tolerance for Drama.’ He wants the school to win the Blue Ribbon award this year. He told the staff that bullying reports look bad on the application. So he makes them disappear.”
My hands shook with a rage so cold it burned.
A school covering up the torture of children to polish its reputation.
“He told us that if we told our parents, he’d put it on our permanent records that we were liars,” David added.
“He can’t do that,” I said. “But he’s counting on you being too scared to challenge him.”
“He’s powerful, Mom,” Lily said. “Everyone is afraid of him.”
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