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“Andrew, can I have a word?”
The headteacher looked up from his work. “Kristen, of course. How can I help you?”
She sidled into his office and shut the door behind her. He gestured to the seat on the opposite side of his desk and she plopped herself down.
“I’m concerned about Ollie and how things are with Felix Hurst. I found a massive bruise on Ollie’s ribs last night. Combined with the teeth marks on his shoulder, my poor boy looks like he’s being beaten up. I’m really not happy.”
Andrew sighed and dropped his pen on the desk. He sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers against his lips. “Look, Kristen, we both know how boys can be. They tend to rough and tumble, and sometimes that does result in bumps and bruises.”
She raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “And in teeth marks? I don’t think so. And it’s not as though this is a joint thing, is it? I mean, Felix isn’t sitting in here with bruises that Ollie has given him. The boy is bigger and stronger, and whether or not it’s done deliberately, it shouldn’t be happening.”
He gave a long sigh, and Kristen bristled. He made her feel as though she was making a fuss about nothing and wasting his time.
“You know I’ve already spoken to both Felix and his mother about what happened with the biting incident, so I think we need to shelve that for the moment. As for the bruises, I’ll get both boys in here today and sit down and have a little chat. If they can’t play nicely together, I’ll suggest they give each other some space. This isn’t a big school, but it’s big enough for them both to play in different areas.”
“This isn’t about two kids not playing nicely. This is about one bigger, older kid being physically violent towards a younger one.”
Her mouth had run dry, her hands clenched to fists in her lap. Why was he struggling to see the truth of this? Was he deliberately being obtuse? She forced herself to take a breath, trying to calm herself down. It wouldn’t do Ollie any good if she lost her temper. But this was all so frustrating.
“Look,” she said, loosening her fingers and dropping her shoulders down, “if these were two adults, and one had left marks on another like that, there would be some serious questions asked.”
He leaned forward in his seat. “Yes, but they’re not adults. Just like you wouldn’t expect a child to be tried as an adult in court, you can’t expect the same thing to happen here. Children aren’t expected to think of the consequences of their actions like an adult would. Their brains aren’t developed enough yet.”
“Which is why we as the adults need to teach them!”
“And that’s exactly what I’m trying to do here, Kristen. Let me get the boys in and speak to them. I’m not saying that Ollie has done anything wrong, but it’s also good for Felix to see how his actions have affected others.”
She wanted to tell him how she felt this would all be handled a lot differently if it wasn’t Rachelle Hurst’s son who was causing all the problems. That woman lorded it over this school, and even the headmaster was afraid of her. It was pathetic. She wished she could go and tell Rachelle exactly what she thought of her and her son, but she knew it would only get her in trouble, and it wouldn’t do any good, anyway. Rachelle thought the sun shined out of Felix’s backside and would never believe that he was the nasty little bully he was.
Instead, she pushed back her seat and got to her feet. “Okay. Will you let me know how it goes?”
He nodded. “Of course.”
Deflated, Kristen went back to her office. Anna looked up from her computer as she walked in and gave her a sympathetic smile.
“How did it go?”
“As expected.”
She sank down into her seat and tried to focus on her work, while constantly having one eye out for Ollie. It was fine while he was in class and safe away from Felix Hurst, but at breaktimes and lunchtime, her anxiety rocketed, worried that her baby was being hurt.
The end of the school day finally arrived, and Kristen went to pick Ollie up from afterschool club and walk him home. She deliberately didn’t mention Felix, allowing Ollie the chance to bring it up, but he didn’t. He didn’t even mention the headteacher bringing the two of them in for a chat, and she hadn’t seen anything. True, she’d been busy most of the day, shut away in the office, so it wasn’t as though she saw everyone who came and went from Andrew’s office. Still, doubts ran through her.
“Did Mr Larsen have a chat with you and Felix today about that bruise you got?”
He looked up at her, his eyes wide. “No. You didn’t tell on Felix, did you, Mummy?”
“I had to say something, sweetheart. I’m your mum, and it’s my job to make sure you’re safe.”
“I don’t want to get in more trouble.”
She stopped, pulling him to a halt with her, and crouched to his level. “You’re not in trouble. Not even one little bit, okay?”
He pressed his lips together and nodded, but she could see he was worried, and it broke her heart. Fucking Felix.
She rose to standing again, and together they walked back to the house. As she approached the gate, she saw something and let out a little ‘oh’ of surprise.
Ollie had noticed it, too. “Your pots are back together!”
Her mouth dropped open, and she stepped into her front garden, taking in the sight of the pretty plant pots with the bedding plants of pinks and whites and yellows spilling out of them.
Movement came at the side of the house, and Haiden walked around from the back yard, brushing his hands off on the backs of his jeans. He stopped short when he saw her standing there.
“Oh, hi.”
“Did you do this?” she asked.
He shrugged, and gave a half smile, his cheeks pinkening in a way that was nothing short of adorable. “It’s nothing, really.”
“It’s not nothing. I can’t remember the last time someone did something so nice for me.” Stupidly, after her stressful day, and the worries about Ollie and Felix, she found her eyes filling with tears. She pinched her lips and shook her head, trying to hold herself off from crying.
“Are you okay?” he asked, quickly stepping forward, touching her elbow with the tips of his fingers. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“No, you didn’t, honestly. There’s just been some stuff going on at school with that boy not being very nice to Ollie, and I’ve been stressing out about it all. This is such a lovely surprise that you’ve made me a little emotional.”
“It shouldn’t be that way, Kristen,” he said, lifting his blue gaze to hers. “You should have people in your life who want to do nice things for you.”
She glanced away, embarrassed. “It’s just me and Ollie, really. And I’m okay with that, most of the time.”
She couldn’t allow herself to get used to having him around. It was a dangerous route to go down. They were already a week into his twelve-week stay, and once those twelve weeks were up, he would go back to his life in Sweden. Then she would have someone different come and live with her, and that person could be a whole different experience to how Haiden was.
Trouble was, she already thought she was going to miss him when he was gone.