Page 10 of The Incredible Ordinary
The man—Jordan—nods once. “Patricia,” he says distractedly, all his attention on his kid. In a few steps, he’s on his knee in front of the other kid’s chair.
The boy looks up, and I can see relief rolling off him in waves as he lets go of the rigid control he’s been holding on to until now.
Jordan smiles at him. “Rough day?” he murmurs softly.
The boy snorts. The man’s thumb swipes over his cheekbone gently.
“Kind of,” the kid mutters.
Jordan gets up and stands next to the other boy’s chair, his hand on the kid’s shoulder.
It’s then that his eyes finally move over to me and Rory. The appraising look he sends us has a fair bit of caution in it, but I don’t detect any outright hostility just yet.
Well, give me time. If I know anything about myself, it’s that I’ll probably take care of that shortly.
It takes me by complete surprise when he holds out his hand toward me.
“Jordan Wilsson,” he says. “And this is my son, Theo. You’re Rory’s father?”
Two things. Number one: This guy is way too young to be the parent of a thirteen-year-old. He looks to be in his midtwenties at best.
Number two… Still incredibly hot, which is something I should not obsess over so relentlessly.
“Milàn Corbin. I’m Rory’s legal guardian,” I say before I add, “Brother.” It comes out sounding like an afterthought. I’m willing to bet a lot of money this won’t endear me to Rory. Another fuckup. I suppress a sigh.
“Nice to meet you,” the man says before he turns his attention to the principal. “What happened?”
The principal glances at both Rory and Theo before she looks at Jordan. “There was a problem during recess. As far as we’ve managed to piece it together, Rory and Theodore got into an argument, which then escalated.”
“An argument about what?” I ask.
“That’s part of the issue,” the principal says. “We’re not quite sure. Neither of the boys has been especially forthcoming about… well, anything, really.”
I glance at Jordan just as he looks at me, and for a moment, there’s an impossible, fleeting second, when I feel better. Almost like I’m suddenly not alone in this crap. Like there’s somebody on my side.
The moment is brief, but it stands out like a ray of light in the darkness just because it’s been a long fucking time since I last felt good about anything, let alone myself.
“Theo?” Jordan says. “Anything you want to say?”
The look Theo sends Rory is lightning fast. So fast I’m halfway sure I imagined it. Rory stares defiantly in front of himself. Theo’s throat moves as he swallows, and then he shakes his head and aims his gaze at his hands in his lap.
Since I don’t think I have anything to lose here, I say, “Rory?”
He keeps staring straight ahead for a moment, and I’m pretty sure he’s just going to ignore me, but then he mutters, “I’m not a snitch.”
The principal sighs before she pastes on a smile. “And that’s what we’ve been dealing with so far here.” She sends the boys one of those looks some teachers have that’s full of authority. I try not to bristle, because this is not about me, and she’s only doing her job. Rory seems immune, even if Theo starts to fidget. He stays quiet too, though. The principal sighs. “All right. Leaving aside the details for now, I think we can all agree that violence of any kind is not condoned, no matter the reasons for it.”
I bite back the instant need to argue that point, because I’m honestly not sure if I’d disagree because of my aversion to authority and generalized statements, or if I just want to play devil’s advocate for shits and giggles.
“I’m afraid the school policy in cases like this is a one-week suspension.”
Jesus fuck, they still do those? As a person who was regularly suspended from school, I’m a prime example of why that’s nota punishment that works. I open my mouth, ready to give the principal a piece of my mind. It takes sheer effort to shut myself up just because I’m faintly aware I’d most likely make things a hell of a lot worse. I wouldn’t put it past me to get Rory expelled.
Yeah.
I’m that good.
And Aiden would straight-up murder me if that happened.
