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Andrew had finished his practice for the day. It was around 1:45 PM when he got out of the shower and noticed that his phone was ringing. He didn’t recognize the number and watched it rang for a few seconds before finally picking up.
“Hello.” He said. His mind was flicking over all the possibilities of calls by an unknown number. He hoped he was wrong about most of them.
“Hi. Is this Andrew Minyard?” A polite voice asked him on the other side of the line.
“Who’s asking?” Andrew wasn’t dumb enough to actually answer that question without a bit of context.
“Yeah, right. Sorry to bother you. This is Everest’s school. You and Mr. Josten are listed as his legal guardians. We tried to reach Mr. Josten but he’s not picking up.”
Andrew nodded even if the other person couldn’t see him. They had put Neil’s name first at both schools in case anything happened with Everest and Juniper. It wasn’t that Neil was better with people per se, but at least he was more talkative than Andrew. But today Neil had to stay a little longer at practice. They had a new striker sub and their coach wanted the starting strikers to get to know his style a little before the next game.
“Maybe we can try to call him again.” The voice said after a moment of silence.
“No. It’s alright. What’s going on?” Andrew could handle this.
“Hum… well… maybe it’s better if you just come over.”
“Is Everest sick?” Andrew pressed. He would like to be prepared before going over.À
“No, no. Nothing like that.” Andrew stayed silent, waiting for the other person to explain further. “Everest was in a fight.” The person sighed.
“I’ll be there in 15.” Andrew stated before hanging up.
He put his things in his duffel bag quickly and left without a word to his teammates. They were used to his lack of social interactions anyway. Once in his car, he sent Neil a quick text to inform him of where he was going. Luckily, they both took their own car this morning. Even if Andrew knew Neil had no problem jogging back home.
He parked at Everest’s school ten minutes later. He got out of his car and shoved his hands in his jacket’s pockets. He looked at the grey building. A shiver went down his spine. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the cold temperature of the bad memories in had of high school. Andrew shook his head and went to the front office. The secretary took him to the principal office after he told her his name.
In the office, the principal was sitting behind her desk with a tight smile on her lips. Everest was sitting in front of her desk, another student sitting next to him. Everest averted his eyes as soon as he caught Andrew’s. Andrew had just enough time to see a bruise starting to form on Everest’s jaw and his lower lip was busted. The other kid didn’t seem to have any injuries.
“Hello, Mr. Minyard. We spoke on the earlier.” The principal said. She sounded very tired.
“What happened?” Andrew asked his eyes back on Everest and the other kid. He wasn’t here to have a chat with the principal.
The other kid was also avoiding his Andrew’s eyes. They were biting their lips and fidgeting on their chair.
“Everest reportedly started a fight with two boys in his year.” The principal explained when neither of the children spoke.
“That’s not true!” Everest exclaimed his head snapping up. “I didn’t start it.” He said a bit softer at the principal’s stare.
Andrew put his hand on Everest’s shoulder. The boy turned a little to look at him. “Then explain it to me, Everest. I can’t help you otherwise.” Andrew’s voice wasn’t reassuring. But it was in the same tone, almost flat. It made Everest’s shoulders lose a bit of their tension.
Everest chewed on his lips and exchanged a look with the student next to him. The kid nodded. Almost an imperceptible movement. Everest took a deep breath and started again.
“They were being mean to Gabby. They said some pretty fuc… sorry messed up things. When I told them to stop, they started calling me names and pushing me.” Everest grunted and did an indistinct gesture toward his face.
“Well, maybe next time Mr. Davis can tell a teacher about the situation.” The principal said giving the other student a pointed look. “We don’t tolerate violence at this school.”
Andrew watched as the other kid tensed when the principal talked to them. He also felt Everest’s shoulders tensed up all over again. He was about to say something along the line of self-defence when Everest beat him to it.
“Yeah because teachers would be a great help.” He said with a snort.
“Then you come to me.” The principal tried again.
“None of you use Gabby’s correct pronouns! Even if she told you countless times!” Everest snarled at the principal.
The principal leaned back in her chair at the force of Everest’s words. Andrew started to see what was going on here.
“Will you take action with the two other boys?” Andrew asked after a moment of silence.
“We can’t prove what Everest said is true. No one heard the boys say anything.” The principal sighed.
Andrew’s hand on Everest’s shoulder squeezed a bit. He knew what it was like to have people not believe you. He also knew it wasn’t the first time it happened to Everest.
“Oh. So, their words are more meaningful than my son’s or his friend’s?” Andrew asked with feint innocence. And if Everest was surprised by Andrew calling him his son, he didn’t show it.
“That’s not what I…”
“Why are you protecting their abusers?” He interrupted.
“They are children. I wouldn’t call them abusers.” The principal said, her voice a little higher.
“These children are old enough to understand they can hurt people with their words and their fists. And don’t even get me started on you. You don’t tolerate violence, yet you use violence every time you misgender Gabby. Which you do consciously since she asked you to stop.” Andrew had said all of his speech with a voice that seemed calm almost bored. Only Neil’s trained eyes would’ve been able to tell that Andrew was furious. But Neil wasn’t here right now.
Everest and Gabby looked at him with their mouth opened. Everest looked surprised. It was probably the longest he had heard Andrew talk in the past few months.
“Now, unless you have something else to say I’ll take them both back home and maybe look at other schools Everest could attend. Maybe one where the principal isn’t a bigot.” And with that Andrew motioned for Everest and Gabby to follow him.
They arrived in the parking lot without a word. Andrew stopped in his tracks a few inches away from his car. Neil’s car was parked next to his and Neil was leaning on said car.
“Everyone ok?” Neil asked when they were close enough.
He glanced at Everest and his friend then his eyes went to Andrew. Andrew nodded. Neil's lips were tight in a thin line. He knew Andrew was angry and he still had no idea what had caused it.
“I don’t think the principal like me very much.” Andrew said flatly.
Neil raised an eyebrow at him. Andrew shook his head and let Everest and Gabby tell him what happened. By the end of the story, Neil looked a mix of anger and pride.
“Am I rubbing off on you?” Neil asked in disbelief.
Andrew shrugged. He wasn’t about to say that Neil was right. The gesture was close enough.
“Ok, now is probably the time to tell you that violence isn’t the answer,” Neil said turning his attention to Everest. “But at the same time, I’m not in a position to tell you that.”
Everest was stunned that he wasn’t grounded or something along those lines. Neil looked at Andrew to see if he wanted to add something, but Andrew looked like he had used all his words for today.
“I mean I don’t encourage you to get into fights,” Neil added. “But you defended yourself and your friend. I don’t see why I’d be mad at you for standing up for yourself.”
Everest frowned as he processed what Neil had just said. After a few moments, he looked up at him and nodded in understanding.
“Good. How about we get you home now.” Neil said.
“Wait. Before we go. Gabby is everything alright. Your parents weren’t there.” Andrew said his eyes on Gabby.
Neil saw a bit of concern in Andrew’s stare.
“Yeah. My parents are very supportive of my transition. It’s just they are very busy with work. Also, I told them not to come. They have no idea what happened at school.” Gabby explained quickly.
“You should tell your parents. They wouldn’t like how people treat you at school.” Neil said softly.
“I didn’t want then to worry. But I guess you’re right. They should know. I’ll talk to them tonight.” Gabby nodded to herself in determination.
Everest smiled at her giving her a thumb up.
“I’ll take Gabby back to her house. You go get Juniper. I’ll see you at home.” Andrew said. He took a step and got closer to Neil.
Neil nodded and Andrew gave him a quick kiss at the corner of his lips. Neil smiled at them and got in his car. Everest and Gabby got in the backseat of the Maserati. They talked about their classes and some homework they had for next week as Andrew drove to Gabby’s house.
“Thanks, Mr. Minyard,” Gabby said once they parked in her driveway. “I’ll see you tomorrow Everest.” And with that, she climbed out of the car and almost ran to her front door.
Everest got out of the backseat and in the passenger seat. They waited until Gabby was in her house to drive away.
“Thanks for defending Gabby earlier,” Everest said after a moment of silent driving. “I think she needed that.”
Andrew glanced at Everest. “It’s nice that she has you. She shouldn’t be dealing with everything alone.”
Everest beamed at that. He was so used to Line being condescending that every compliment he got made him proud. “And thanks for being there for me.” He added with his wide smile.
“It’s no big deal kiddo.” Andrew said. He lifted his arm and ruffled Everest’s hair a bit.
Neil was already back when they got home. Everest got out of the car and entered the house. Andrew followed close behind him.
“Everest! Is it true you were in a fight?” They heard Juniper screaming from the kitchen as soon as they closed the door.
They heard Neil laughed at Juniper’s words. Everest looked up at Andrew with a smile. Juniper almost sounded excited with her question. She was probably dying to hear the story from him. Andrew pointed at the hallway that went to the kitchen with a shrug. Everest started to make his way with the start of a laugh. He hadn’t missed the fact that the corners of Andrew’s lips were lifted a little. The beginning of a smile. Yep, Everest thought, that felt like home.