Chapter 55

Asher

Principal Watson is apologetic. He's sorry, he says, when I meet him in the parking lot at quarter to nine. Things have taken a turn for the worse. So much trouble in town over this whole thing. School kids running wild, demanding my return.

"Never thought I'd start a Friday morning like this," he tells me.

"Think of it as a meeting," I reassure him, although I'm not entirely sure why he needs reassurance. I'm the one about to get sacked, probably.

He sighs, and maybe he's aged a bit since this whole thing started. Such scandals are not what Principal Watson can usually deal with, being the non-confrontational man he is.

"Let me show you how bad it is," he tells me, and I follow him through the parking lot and over to the science building until we reach the senior campus lawns.

"This is what we're dealing with," he says.

On the lawn, at least sixty students sit, cross-legged, unmoving, all staring straight ahead. Their expressions are severe, and their arms are crossed over their chests. Sam sits in the front with the football team behind him. A sign is propped up in front of the seated students. NOT YOUR BUSINESS, it says.

"They've been here since six-thirty this morning," Principal Watson says. "They won't respond when you talk to them. We warned them that if they don't get up and go to class by ten-thirty, we'll have police escort them out of the building."

"Maybe I should talk to them," I say, trying to catch Sam's eye. He's NFL material. He can't afford this kind of trouble.

"It'll be a violation of your suspension terms but—" He sighs again. "Try. I'll take the flack for it. I'll say I got desperate. But they're so stubborn. I don't know if they'll even listen to you."

"What are they demanding?"

"What else, Cameron? They want to stop this hearing and have your suspension lifted."

"I'll talk to them."

Principal Watson nods. "Go ahead. Otherwise, they'll find themselves in a heap of trouble too."

I make my way to the lawns. With his eyes on me, Sam begins to chant the Eagles' war cry. The team follows him, and the remaining students behind them join in until the air is filled with a deep rumble of unified sounds until they become deafening. I let them have their moment because their efforts must be acknowledged. Then, I move until I'm directly in front of them. Their cries simmer down until it's quiet again.

"I appreciate your efforts," I tell them.

They nod, pride spreading across their faces.

"But this is something I've got to fight on my own, guys. I can't let you risk your futures over my personal life, as admirable and commendable as your intentions are."

"Sometimes we need to walk away and sometimes we need to fight, Coach," Sam says from his seated position. "It's what you taught us. This is the time to fight. It's wrong, and we can't be silent."

I get down on my haunches in front of him. "Buddy," I say quietly. "You hold a lot of power here. Don't take that lightly. When you walk, people follow. When you speak, they listen. You need to use that power wisely here, Sam."

He looks me dead in the eye. "What would you have done, Coach? Would you have stood by and let it happen, knowing how wrong it is?"

"I'm saying it's not worth the risk."

"Fighting for the right thing is always worth the risk. You taught us that."

And then, when I struggle to find a response, he continues. "So many of us would be lost now if it weren't for you, Coach. So many of us would've given up and continued to live the lives our parents did. You showed us how to win. How to fight and push through no matter what. Because of you so many of us get to have the lives we want. We won't let them get away with what they're doing to you."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate that, Sam, but it's my fight."

"Then we'll stand with you."

"I don't want to drag anyone else down with me. And I need you to use that power that you hold, and your voice, and get everyone to class."

Sam clenches his jaw. "Respectfully, sir. No."

"They're going to get the cops in here any minute, Sam," I argue sternly. These kids have never defied me before, and I'm beginning to worry I've created a few monsters.

"Let ‘em come."

"You could lose your chance at college football," I say sternly.

"Doing the right thing is always worth the risk," he repeats, enunciating each word like he's a thirty-year-old soldier instead of a seventeen-year-old kid sitting on the lawns at his high school. "I'll be remembered for doing the right thing."

"It's not worth it."

"It is." And then, his face softens, and I wonder if there are tears hiding at the back of his eyes. "Coach. My mom is three hundred days sober. All because of you. I'll follow you anywhere. I don't understand the choice that you made in your personal life any more than those assholes in there. Sorry for cursing, sir. But not understanding isn't enough of a reason to fire you. It's wrong and you told us to never back down."

"I might win, you know. I might not get fired."

"And you might lose and get fired," he counters.

"Hey, have a little faith," I say lightly, hoping to get him to drop his stoic expression. I never knew that teenagers on a mission could look so dangerous.

"We won't take that chance."

"Maybe I was wrong, Sam," I say. "Maybe this is one of those times to walk away."

Sam glares at me. "Okay. Then you turn around and walk away. Get back into your car and leave. Resign."

"I can't do that," I say quietly.

"I know. And the reason you can't do it is because you know, like we know, that this is the time to fight. If you believed this is the time to walk away, you would've. And we would've too. But as long as you fight, we will too."

"Sam." I don't know whether to give him a badge of honor or tell him I'll call the police myself if he doesn't return to class.

"As long as you fight, we will too," he speaks through gritted teeth, and my admiration for this generation of children grows a hundredfold.

"They're going to have you removed. They'll carry you out if they have to, and you might be banned from the championships."

"We'll walk away when you walk away."

"Coach Cameron?"

I turn to see Susan standing on the paved walkway. "Principal Watson says it's best if you come in now."

"Ok, I'll be just a minute." I turn back to Sam. I don't know how to protect them when they're being so stubborn. "Sam, I want you to take these kids back to class. This is my instruction. If you don't, you'll have to face the consequences."

He nods sharply. "We'll face them."

With a deep sigh, I rise and follow Susan toward the administration building.