The Virtue of Patience

Garrett's mouth hung open, his eyes wide. But he did not speak, letting her continue.

"He walked out on us later that night. I literally haven't seen or heard from him since, and I never want to. Last I heard, he was living in some town in Louisiana called...I think Erath? Anyway, my mom tried to take him to court for child support, and she got it, but it was barely enough. His family had money, and they made sure my mom got, like, almost nothing. We lost the house, and we moved into that duplex we're in now. That was seven years ago, and it still feels like it was yesterday."

Garrett held his hand out, and she took it.

"I'm telling you this because Eric reminded me of my dad to a T, in that moment. Like I could see what he would become...who he really was. That surface-level charm; my dad had it too, it hides what those people are from most everyone else. The way Eric acted, it scared me so much but...it also made me so angry. People who are supposed to care and be nice to you shouldn't DO that! They shouldn't act that way! Eric was my date, he was supposed to be nice to me! My dad was supposed to love me and look out for me, and...and..."

Brie's head sank, resting her forehead in the palm of her free hand. Her grip on his his own tightened.

"You want to know why I don't let others in? It's because of people like my dad. People like Eric. Like everyone else who calls me a freak because I'm taller than most of the guys. Because so many people just treated me like trash, like I don't have FEELINGS!" She shouted the last word out into the world at large.

"It made me closed-off. It made me paranoid," she said, her voice quieting, "it made me not want to trust anyone outside of my mom and a few close friends. You were an exception, though; I just...I knew when you talked to me that day in bio that you were trying to be nice. Or maybe hit on me; no offense, but it crossed my mind."

"Yeah I'm...bad at that. I can't flirt at all." Garrett said, smiling.

"It's okay, I am too. I'm just so awkward that it never works."

"How often do you try?"

"You know...pretty much never, come to think of it," she said, a smile crossing her face.

Garrett smiled, and gave her hand a squeeze. "Fuck Eric, fuck your dad and fuck everyone who looks at you funny. They don't even deserve to be around you. You're incredible, Brie, and I know that for a fact."

Her expression became anxious. "Do you mean that, Garrett?"

Looking her right in the eye, he replied "One hundred percent sincere."

She leaned in and embraced him, her forehead buried in his hair, her arms enveloping his shoulders. He slipped an arm around her waist, and she immediately pulled in against him. In that moment, he felt a slight moisture on his head, and heard a quiet weeping coming from his friend. She was very warm, he thought to himself, and even though the sun was beating down hard upon them, Garrett would not be bullied into letting go until Brianne was good and ready.

* * *

The following week was not one that Garrett had expected to be noteworthy or even remotely memorable, but as he had come (and would continue) to learn, life has a habit of being unpredictable and chaotic-sometimes a combination of the two. He had also certainly not expected Eric Martinet to become a catalyst for those things, but while at lunch the following Tuesday, life threw Garrett a curveball-and it began with a single sentence.

"So you're supposed to be my competition?"

He turned to his right to see a tall, sandy blonde-haired figure standing a few feet from him, clad in designer jeans, expensive slip-ons and a San Francisco 49ers t-shirt. The perfectly punchable face of Eric Martinet, the second half of Brie's ill-fated date the previous week, was staring down at him, a cocky grin spread across his face.

"What?"

"I didn't get any because of you, you fucking bitch," Eric said, shaking his head while still grinning and staring him down, "and she's all over you, of all fucking people. She's a dumb slut, I can't believe I didn't see it"

Garrett was afraid; certainly Eric was taller and stronger than he was, but he also felt a strong measure of anger welling up underneath that fear. He was starting to see red when he responded.

"Listen, you fucking retard, she knocked you back because you're a piece of shit with no respect, so why don't you just go jerk off and quit bitching at me?"

Even Garrett was surprised at how easily the words came out of of his mouth. Eric certainly was, as shock and rage flashed over his features, the cocky grin vanishing instantly. He stepped toward Garrett, hands balled into fists at his sides. Before this, everyone else around them had been eyeing them nervously, but now they were actively backing away. Garrett knew he'd made a mistake now, and that he was likely going to pay for it.

"Say it again," Eric said quietly, "go on, you fucking faggot. Say it."

"Nah. You heard me." Garrett said, matching his volume.

"You got balls," Eric said, "but you ain't shit and neither's your bitch."

With that, Eric's fist flashed out and connected with Garrett's left eye. He saw stars, and there was an explosion of pain as he staggered back, stumbling into the wall at the edge of the quad. Eric was on him instantly, screaming insults and peppering him with more punches. He hit hard, but not as hard as Garrett would have expected.

Eric was so busy concentrating on Garrett's face, though, that he didn't see Garrett's knee fly up, where it cracked the bully right in his family jewels. Eric ceased his punching and bellowed, stumbling back and doubling over. Garrett managed to use his newfound leverage to rear back and kick Eric hard in the forehead. Eric's head snapped backwards and he tumbled over onto his back, clutching at his head. Eric leaned against the wall, nursing his bleeding nose, blackening eye and split lip as campus security arrived, with the vice principal in tow. The guards helped Eric to his feet while the vice principal went to Garrett.

"What happened? What the hell is going on?"

"He...he hit me," Garrett mumbled, "started hitting me, so I fought back."

The vice principal looked at Garrett's face, then back at Eric, a slight trail of blood trickling down the bully's forehead as he stared daggers at Garrett.

"I'll take these two, you take care of everything here," she said, the two security guards releasing Eric and walking away to begin questioning the witnessing students.

"Come on," she said, looking at Eric, then over at Garrett, "follow me."

* * *

Garrett held the ice pack to his throbbing eye, the other staring at the name placard on the vice principal's desk, which was situated in the very center of her office. The placard was a fake wood job, almost spalted maple-looking, with black lettering spelling out 'Charlotte Lines - Vice Principal' on its' face. He'd been spacing out while taking in every detail of its' construction, when her voice broke the silence.

"Eric? You're really not going to say anything at all? This is the third time you've been here in a year. What happened, who started it?"

In the chair next to Garrett, Eric was silent. Her gaze lingered on Eric for a moment before she turned to Garrett.

"Garrett, want to tell me what happened?"

He leaned forward slightly, wincing as a twinge of pain shot through his eye. "He threw the first punch. I defended myself."

She pursed her lips, eying him the whole time. her fingers interlocked on her desk. He couldn't read her; she'd make a good poker player, he thought bizarrely to himself. Suddenly, the walkie-talkie on her desk let out a brief burst of static, followed by a male voice.

"Charlotte, it's Trevor, we talked to a few more. Sounds like the blonde one started it. We'll be back in a minute."

She picked up the receiver and held down the transmit button. "Gotcha, thanks a lot, Trev. See you soon."

She set the walkie back down and looked back at Eric, right eyebrow raised. "Why am I not surprised?" She said quietly. "I've given you detention and in-school suspension. I've even suspended you from school for three days, but nothing seems to stick. You're only still on the basketball team because Coach Raleigh begged me to let you stay on, and I can see now that that was a mistake on my part. I promise you Eric, I won't make that mistake this time. I'm going to recommend permanent expulsion to the school board, and we're going to have to file a police report as well; this was assault and battery, Eric, and I will not let it slide. Get out of my office and wait in the lobby."

"What the fuck! You can't fucking expel me! This is fucking bullshit!" He shouted, standing up, his face contorted in anger and disbelief. In a flash, Mrs. Lines was on her feet, hands flat on her desk, her eyes alight with fury. Though she stood at a diminuitive five-four, she was not Vice Principal in charge of discipline for no reason: she exerted an air of absolute authority and dominance. Garrett could see in her face that she was not remotely afraid of this snot-nosed shitbag of a kid-and that, in truth, she held him in utter contempt, though Eric was not observant or self-aware enough to see it.

"Now you listen to me," she said, "I am done dealing with you. I am sick of you harassing my students and making everyone around you miserable. You will be out of this school permanently, which I will personally see happen, and you'll potentially be looking at a trip to juvenile hall if Garrett's family or the school board decide to press charges. Now, get the hell of my office. NOW!"

She bellowed the last word so loudly that both boys flinched. But Eric kept going.

"You can't do this to me, I'll bring my parents down on you, you-"

Mrs. Lines marched around her desk and got right in his face, pointing a finger right at his nose. In a quiet, dangerous voice, she said one word:

"Go."

After this, the two security guards walked in, both startled by the scene before them. One of them said "Everything okay here, Charlotte?"

"Escort Mr. Martinet back to the lobby and contact his parents," she said, looking over at the guard, "and please ask Charles to come join us."

"Got it." He walked over and tapped the standing teenager on the upper arm. "Come on, go."

Tearing his furious gaze away from the vice principal, he walked out with the guards. Mrs. Lines walked back behind her desk and sat down, taking a deep breath and looking at Garrett.

"Garrett," she said in a softer voice, "would you please tell me what caused this? Why did he attack you?"

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "He...he got on my case because he went on a date with my friend Brie and it didn't go well. He blamed me for it."

Her expression remained unchanged. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"He tried to get her to do things she didn't want to do, and he thought that we were...I don't know, he thought that she said no because he thought we were together...? Look it's not really my place to talk about."

"Is Brie a student here?"

"Yeah, she is."

"Did he sexually assault her, Garrett?"

"Look, I really shouldn't-" he began, but she held up her hand.

"You don't get to decide what's important and what isn't, Garrett. What's her last name?" Her gaze was piercing, even more so than Brie's, and he couldn't help but crumble.

He said quietly, "Haskett".

"Okay. Please wait here, Garrett, I need to do a few things; I'll have the staff contact your parents and tell them what happened. I'll be back soon."

She stood and walked around her desk, past him and out of her office, closing the door behind her. Shit, shit, shit! Now he'd dragged Brie into this! Great, she'd probably hate him forever; he'd not only blabbed about something traumatic that had happened to her, but he'd blabbed about it to none other than their vice principal! And now, not only was the principal himself getting involved, but potentially the cops were as well! This was completely and totally fucked!

As if on cue, the door of the office opened behind him, and he turned to see Danville High's principal, Charles Adamson, walk in and close the door behind him. A tall man with dark eyes, a neatly trimmed goatee and a deep, resonant voice, Adamson struck an imposing figure that no one wanted to end up on the wrong side of. This did not mean that he was a mean or unfair administrator, but he exuded a certain confidence that commanded respect from both staff and students. Garrett shrank away from him ever so slightly, still clutching the ice pack to his blackened eye.

The principal walked around his chair and stood in front of the battered teenager, outfitted in a midnight blue suit, a black tie and black-rimmed glasses. In that moment, Garrett thought that he looked very much like Malcolm X.

Adamson leaned down slightly and looked over Garrett's face. He motioned toward the ice pack and intoned, "mind if I take a look?"

Garrett hesitated for a brief moment and pulled it away. A pained expression formed on his principal's face.

"Man, he got you good. You're gonna have that shiner for a while."

"He caught me off guard. Sucker punched me." Garrett said quietly.

"So I hear. Campus security tell me he attacked you. What prompted it?"

"He...he went on a date with my friend Brie and it didn't go well. He was pissed off, he blamed me for it and decided to take it out on me," Garrett said, "I told him to get over himself and he started hitting me. I defended myself."

"I see," Adamson said thoughtfully, "well, I don't know if Charlotte mentioned it to you, but he's been known to cause trouble. I can't go into details, but it's looking like he won't be finishing the academic year at this school, at least not if we can help it. So he shouldn't bother you anymore, at least."

"She mentioned it, yeah. And yeah, I'd hear the rumors."

A smile flickered across Adamson's face as he leaned against Mrs. Lines' desk.

"We'll get it all sorted out and have Nurse Reynolds take a look at your eye. Sound okay?"

"Yeah."

A moment later the door opened again, and he heard the voice of Charlotte Lines say "Please have a seat, Miss Haskett."

He felt a jolt of surprise and jerked his head up to see his friend about to sit down in the chair next to his, until she saw his face.

"Oh my God, Garrett! What happened to you?!"

She leaned over and took his face in her hands, her eyes wide, full of concern and fear. Mrs. Lines repeated herself.

"Please sit down, Brianne."

She reluctantly pulled her hands away and sat down, still looking at Garrett, his spectacular black eye now fully-formed.

Mrs. Lines spoke first. "Brianne, I wanted to bring you in order to help me fully understand what happened between Garrett and Eric today. He attacked Garrett in the quad during lunch, and Garrett mentioned that it was because you and Eric went on a date recently that didn't go well. He didn't go into specifics, but Garrett tells me that it involved Eric pressuring you into doing something you didn't want to do, and that you refused. For whatever reason, he blamed Garrett, and here we are."

Brie's eyes were the widest Garrett had ever seen them. "Oh my God," She said quietly, "is that why I saw him in the lobby?"

"It is," Adamson cut in, "and we're planning on taking disciplinary measures against him, as well as talking to the police. We need to know, though, Brianne: did Eric sexually harass or assault you?"

She looked terrified, and turned to face Garrett, tears forming in her eyes. Garrett reached out and took her hand. She grasped it tightly and turned back to the two administrators.

"He put my hand on his crotch when we were on a date, yeah," she said, "I said no, and he started screaming at me while grabbing my wrist. He wouldn't stop so I...I slapped him and I ran away."

"You did the right thing by telling us, Brianne," Mrs. Lines said gently, "l understand that this is traumatic and hard to talk about, but I would like you to give a statement to a police officer about what happened. Would you be willing to do that?"

She glanced at Garrett, then back at the vice principal.

"Okay."

"All right, then. Garrett, how about you?"

"Yeah, absolutely."

"Charles, I'll get someone over right away," Lines said to Adamson, "and I'll contact her family, let 'em know what's happening."

"I told my mom what happened with Eric already, but yeah let her know I'll make a statement," Brie said, "if it'll keep him from hurting me or Garrett again, I want to do it."

"Thank you, Brianne," said Lines, "just wait here, okay?"

She and the principal left the office together, and as soon as they were gone, Brie flipped around and pulled Garrett into her arms over the armrests of ther chairs. His face buried in her hair, her arms tight around his head and shoulders, she began to cry quietly, her tears falling onto his shirt.

"Oh God, Garrett...Garrett, I am so, so sorry, I never should have gone out with him, this is all my fault, I didn't see him for what he was, please, please forgive me, Garrett-"

"Brie, it's not your fault," he muttered into her ear, "you didn't know, he threw the punch, he made that decision-"

"That doesn't make me feel less responsible," she wept, "I should have seen this coming, I should have figured he'd do this. Oh my God I'm so sorry that you got pulled into this bullshit, Garrett."

"Please don't blame yourself, Brie, please," he pulled away, hands on her shoulders, looking into her bright blue eyes, "you didn't deserve what he did and neither did I. It's all on Eric."

"I know," she whispered, her eyes closed, "the logical part of me knows that, but the rest of me feels like I did this to you."

"You aren't like that," he said, "I know you would never hurt me on purpose."

She grasped his hands while they rested on her shoulders, and squeezed. Her head dipped down and her tears continued to flow.

"I guess I have to work on forgiving myself now," she said.

"I know you'll get there."

* * *

Within a few days, the Eric Martinet had been mostly settled on Garrett and Brie's end. The school board agreed that expulsion was a fitting punishment, though there was still the matter of Eric appearing in juvenile court on charges of assault and sexual harrassment to contend with. Bill Trenton and Emma Haskett, both infuriated and appalled at this series of events, demanded that the Danville Police Department place a restraining order upon Eric Martinet for the sake of both their children, which was granted almost immediately. It was determined that Eric would be charged as an adult and given jail time or a hefty monetary fine (or both) if he broke the terms laid out within the order: no approaching, no contact of any kind. Eric was not an especially intelligent young man, but he did understand that he'd already done a solid job of trashing his future, and that he'd better not risk causing any further harm. The law itself had spoken, and the Martinet boy, along with his family, had heard its' decree loud and clear.

For Garrett's part, the bruises he sustained became badges of honor in the eyes of his fellow students. The former ghost of Danville High had suddenly become a known quantity, and people from every group and clique were talking about him for months. His foot-to-forehead counter against Eric had earned him his fair share of awe and admiration from the types of kids that Eric typically tormented, and he'd even become a cult hero of sorts among them.

Even from the basketball team, where Eric had friends, there came no real backlash. Garrett had discovered through Sasha, the cheerleader who'd questioned him about Brie so long ago, that most of his teammates didn't even like him much. That was the biggest surprise for Garrett, frankly; he'd expected at least some level of harassment via those same teammates, but both the aforementioned mutual dislike and the severe punishment doled out to Eric himself by the school board-in conjunction with the legal consequences he'd faced-seemed to have stymied any thoughts of retribution; if, in fact, they had ever existed at all.