Inside the administrative wing, the silence was suffocating. Higgins shoved me into a hard wooden chair outside his office before slamming his own door behind us.
"You're done, Leo," Higgins spat, pacing aggressively behind his heavy mahogany desk. "An unprovoked, vicious assault on another student? On our star quarterback, exactly two days before the regional championship? You're looking at a permanent expulsion, and I am highly considering calling the police to press battery charges."
"It wasn't unprovoked," I said quietly. My voice was trembling, but I forced my gaze to stay steady on his face. "He stole my sister's transcription microphone out of her locker this morning. He blocked me in the aisle. He told me he was going to wait for her at the crosswalk today and push her into traffic if I didn't drop off the baseball team so his friend could start."