You know all the blurb now, just do the right thing, please.
Started at the Bus Stop Chapter 34
Magohan waited a few moments, letting the question sink in. "Now, while Mr. Sanderson thinks about that, is there anything any of you would like to say?" Magohan looked directly at Bryan's mother, giving her the first chance.
"My husband will speak for both of us." As she said this, Bryan's face fell. He knew that his father was not going to be gentle with him.
Magohan looked at Bryan's father. "Mr. Sanderson?"
"Thank you. This is not easy for us. We love Bryan very much and have felt let down and been extremely embarrassed over this whole affair. Mr. Nisbett, or can I call you Percival?" Mr. Sanderson asked.
"I'd prefer Percy, or you can just use my surname like the teachers do," Percy answered.
"Percy, Mrs. Sanderson and I are very sorry for what Bryan did to you, and we're very grateful to you and your family for allowing the school to handle the situation and for asking for leniency. We have done some research, and we know that you could have had Bryan charged with assault. With the details we have been given, he could have been given a sentence in the juvenile hall. So we know that he has got off very lightly indeed. And the school had every right to permanently exclude him rather than only having him stay away for a week.
"We have also learnt a lot about how Bryan and it seems most of the others in your year have treated you for a very long time. Despite that you have kept embarrassing knowledge about some of them to yourself and never tried to use it to get back at them. I don't understand how you found the strength to do that. I would have used the knowledge of Bryan's tattoo against him before the scabs had a chance to heal if I had been in your shoes. Yes, we do know about it. Artistically it's a pretty decent work, just in poor taste. But deserved. Bryan will have to work out how he is going to deal with it when he can afford to have something done.
"It pains me to say this, but the truth must be told. Clearly, Percy, you are of much better character than Bryan, and I hope that somehow he will learn from you. We would like a son we can be proud of, and at the moment we don't have that.
"Mr. Magohan, we would also like to thank you for being so lenient with our son. We hope he has learned a lesson from this and will go on to make us proud again and give the school reason to be proud of him too. You have our assurance that you have our support and we will be doing what we can to help our son become a better person." Mr. Sanderson put out a hand and squeezed his wife's hand. He handed her one of his hankies when he saw she had tears running down her cheeks.
"Mr. Nisbett, I believe you have something you would like to say," Magohan prompted.
Percy stood up. "Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson, thank you for your kind words. I hope I live up to them. What I have to say is really for Bryan." Bryan had been looking at the carpet he was standing on, trying to hide his embarrassment at his father's words. When Percy spoke he looked up, and his expression changed to one of hatred. Percy ignored that and continued, "I know we've not seen eye to eye on most things, probably for the whole time we've been at school together. There seems to be a problem with me being friends with the same group of people you're friends with, but believe me when I say I still want to be your friend and I would like you to be my friend too."
"I'm no friend of queers," Bryan interrupted Percy.
"Bryan, you were asked to listen to us all, and that includes Percy. Please let him talk, then you will get your chance," Bryan's dad said. "Sorry, Percy. Please continue."
"I also wanted to say that my face has healed up pretty good. I hope you don't have a bruise on your knee. And yeah, I'll probably have a slight kink in my nose for the rest of my life. And yeah, we'll both remember this for the rest of our lives. But I've healed and you've had your punishment. As far as I'm concerned this is over and done with. I'd like it if we could be friends. If we can't, can we at least agree to be respectful of each other, please?" Percy finished talking and stretched out his hand in an offer to shake Bryan's.
Bryan looked at the proffered hand, a derisive sneer on his face. "Listen, goody two shoes. We are never going to be friends. You got what was coming to you and would have got worse if I hadn't been stopped. So think yourself lucky."
"Bryan! What's the matter with you?" his father demanded. "I'm sorry, Percy. It seems we have failed to teach our son respect. Perhaps it would be best if he leaves school now and goes out to discover what it's like to be uneducated and have to work in the lowliest of jobs. Mr. Magohan, perhaps our son is not ready to return to school yet." As he said this, Bryan's mother tried to stifle a sob as the tears ran down her face, tears of shame and extreme sadness.
"I think we should hear Mr. Sanderson's answer to the question I put to him earlier. You have heard and seen how much pain you have caused your own parents through your actions. You have heard an offer of friendship clearly offered through forgiveness which you have rejected, but which still stands. Now tell us, do you want what's best for you? And are you willing to commit to do all that you can to achieve what's best for you?"
"Of course I want what's best for me. And what's best for me right now is not to have to be in a school that accepts queers and even supports them," Bryan said defiantly.
"Mr. Sanderson, I will remind you of the warning I gave you last week. You cannot go around accusing people of things for which you have no proof. That could land you in court just as quickly as an assault charge," Magohan said. "Now, I'm afraid you have already broken the terms on which we said you'd be allowed back into school. I will have to extend your period of exclusion for at least another three weeks. After that we will meet with you and your parents to see what can be done. I will consult with my colleagues and our board of governors on our course of action. Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson, I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to take your son home again. His teachers will be asked to upload extra work for him on-line to try to keep him up to date. Mr. Nisbett, you may leave us now. Please keep what you've heard in here confidential. However, it will become public knowledge before the end of the day that a pupil has been excluded, so you can tell your friends, but ask them to keep his identity confidential. Most of your year will work it out anyway, but it's not for you to spread around. Thank you for joining us this morning."
"Thank you, sir. Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson, again thank you for your kind words. It was nice meeting you. Bryan, I hope to see you around soon." Percy stood up to leave.
Bryan's father also stood up and offered a hand to shake Percy's. "Thank you. It has been a pleasure to meet you. I just wish it was under better circumstances. Please accept our apologies for Bryan's behaviour."
Percy shook his hand and then left the room. He was already late for his home room and so headed straight towards it, hoping that he would not be given a hard time by his form teacher.
"Ah, Mr. Nisbett, glad you could join us. Are you fully recovered?" the form teacher asked. There was no hint of the expected sarcasm or derision in his voice.
"Thank you, sir. Sorry I'm late. I had to report to the head's office first."
"Yes, I was informed of that. Take a seat and we'll continue with what we were doing."
Percy went to sit down next to William, who had kept him a place. William's look, as he approached, asked a thousand questions, but Percy just shook his head and mouthed the word `later' to him. Some of the other pupils in the classroom waved a greeting and smiled but knew better than to speak without being called upon by the form teacher. He was quite a strict disciplinarian. When the bell went to signal the end of the home room period, most of the pupils got up to go to their next class. Percy stayed seated and so William didn't get up straight away. Inky and Barrie stood up and came over to Percy. They greeted him and said they were glad he was back at school.
William couldn't wait any longer and asked. "How did it go with the head?"
"He's actually quite a reasonable man and he was alright with me. Bryan was a shit and instead of being allowed back, he's been excluded for another three weeks. But you have to keep that quiet until it's been announced officially. I really felt sorry for his mum. She was crying with the way he behaved. I thought he was coming round to accepting me as part of the group, but he hates me so much. It's hurting his parents badly. They are ashamed that he is their son, he was that bad in there. I don't think they'll let him back into this school. And the rest of what I've just told you, you don't know at all."
"Yeah, well I tried calling him the other day and he just cut the call and sent me a text saying, `Shut the fuck up'," Barrie said. "Then when I tried to text him back I found out he had blocked me. Something's really wrong with that guy."
"Look, he's going through a bad period, but I'll still be friends with him if he'll let me. I'll still show him some respect too. I'd like it if you guys would too," Percy said.
"We can only do that if he'll let us. I'm guessing that we'd probably all find ourselves blocked now. I'll try sending him an email later and let you guys know what happens," Inky said.
"We'd best be getting on to our classes or we'll be getting shit from our teachers," William warned and stood up, picking up his own bag at the same time.
The four of them headed out and split into pairs to go to their next subject. Inky was walking with Percy at a brisk pace to get to their class on time. "Listen, William told us that you were not so good on Saturday. He's asked us to keep an eye on you and help you if you need it. He didn't need to ask us, but I want to say you mustn't feel shy to ask for help. We've never been shy to ask you for help even when we were being shits towards you. You've got us as friends now, and we're here for you. Please let us help if you need it."
"Thanks, that means a lot to me. I'm very grateful for all the help and concern you guys have shown me this past week. I'm sure I'll be okay, but I promise to ask for help if I need it."
"Good. That's what friends are for," Inky said.
As the head had said, the news that a pupil had been excluded from the school was announced just before the lunch break. The students in Percy's year knew immediately that it was Bryan. It didn't take much to work out who was missing, and out of those who was the most likely to have been excluded. Some of the students in other years also worked out who it was. Like Juliet and Rebekah
At their lunch time gathering Martyn informed them that he had been blocked by Bryan and unfriended on Facebook. Most of their chat during the break was about Bryan and how he had seemed to be coming round to understanding that he had separated himself from the group rather than the other way round. Then his sudden attack on Percy showed that he had not got all the way round yet. The results appeared to have made him worse. They agreed that Bryan was his own worst enemy and that he couldn't see it. They also agreed that the three-week exclusion meant that Percy wouldn't have to go around with eyes and ears open the whole time. He could relax a bit instead of being on his guard against a Sanderson attack.
Percy did enjoy a bit of a hero status for a few days, but it passed before the end of the week and he began to feel like he was just one of the crowd. This suited him much more. As a result the rest of the three weeks of Bryan's exclusion went quite quickly. He was caught a little off guard when he was called over the P.A. system just before the end of lunch on the last Friday of Bryan's exclusion time and ordered to report to the admin office. On his way to the office he worked out that it must be something to do with Bryan. He was eager to find out if Bryan had changed at all. He was again directed down the passage and told to knock on the door.
As soon as he knocked the door opened and the head invited him in. This time the three Sanderson's were already there. Bryan's father stood up and shook Percy's hand again while the mother just nodded at Percy. Again, she looked upset.
Magohan wasted no time. "Mr. Nisbett, we've invited you back here because Mr. Sanderson said it would be right to inform you directly of the decision that has been made. Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson have informed me that they do not believe their son's attitude has improved at all. To prevent the school from having to exclude Mr. Sanderson, they are pulling him from this school and will place him in another school as soon as they can find one to take him. Although it will become clear soon, I must request that you don't tell others of the reasons behind this decision."
"There is no need to tell anyone. Bryan will hopefully have a better time at his new school, and we will be sorry to not have him back with us. That's all there is to it as far as I'm concerned," Percy said.
"Thank you, Percy. We felt that it was best you knew as soon as we'd made the decision," Bryan's father said.
"I'm sorry we're going to be losing you, Bryan. Things could have been so different. I wish you all the best," Percy said.
Bryan looked up at Percy and leaned forward. "Fuck off, Cockpit. I told you before, I don't do gays."
"Bryan!" Mrs. Sanderson exclaimed in horror.
"Shut up, Bryan!" Mr. Sanderson said. "If you can't be civil, then at least be quiet. Haven't you done enough to upset and shame your mother and me? Maybe it would have been better if the Nisbetts had pressed charges against you. At least in the Juvenile Hall you'd learn to control your tongue, if nothing else."
"It's all his fault anyway. Why did he have to come and split our group up?" Bryan said.
"Bryan, I didn't come to split your group up. It's still there as a group and we'd all accept you back in a flash. I even offered to leave the group of the only friends I've had all my school life to let you back with them, but they refused. It was you who moved away because you were embarrassed at being caught out. Sh... er, we don't care that you tried to get into that girl's pants. And we don't care that you lied about not having the tatt. Those are small things to us. Being your friend is much more important, but you now need to make the move to be accepted by us. It's not us who've blocked you or unfriended you. You've done that and in doing it you've taken yourself away from us. I hope you don't do that to any friends you make at your new school. And if you need help with any of the subjects I'm good at, you've still got my number. Give me a call or text me. I'll still help you." Percy said, relieved that unlike Bryan he managed to stop himself using a cuss word.
"I wouldn't ask for a dork's help even if it meant failing a class. None of them are my friends anymore. They all let me down when I needed them, so they can go and fuck themselves too, just like you do," Bryan spat back.
"Young man, you may be leaving our school, but I'll remind you that you haven't yet left, and at this school we do not accept that kind of language. I want you to apologise now to your parents and to Mr. Nisbett. Then you can leave this school and not come back. If your parents had not already decided to remove you, you would definitely be excluded," Magohan said.
"Bryan, I don't think you'll be making an apology or mean it if you do. We will talk about how it's going to be later. For now, just keep your mouth tightly closed. Sorry to overrule you, Mr. Magohan, but I can't risk what might come out of that mouth, so I'll make the apologies. Percy, you show a maturity Bryan lacks. Your gesture of friendship and help was very kind, and Mrs. Sanderson and I appreciate it very much, even if Bryan doesn't. We're sorry you've had to suffer Bryan's abuse over the years and even more these last few weeks. If there were a way we could make recompense for it, we would.
"Mr Magohan, please accept our apologies on behalf of your school. Percy here demonstrates that Bryan's behaviour is not typical of your students. We can only hope that he will do better at his new school. I will call in on Monday to sort out any forms that we need to complete. For now I think we need to get this boy out of here before he embarrasses us any further." Mr. Sanderson extended his hand to Percy and then shook Magohan's hand. He helped his wife to stand up and again used his handkerchief to dry her tears. "Come on. Let's get away from here before something worse happens," he said. He looked sharply at Bryan and flicked his head towards the door. Bryan led the way out, remaining mute.