"If you need to talk to the counselor I can set up an appointment," he added nervously.

"No thank you," I spat out. "I'm already speaking with one." I wish you had listened to me before, I thought angrily. Zachary had provoked me into slapping him before our incident at the nightclub, touching me without consent, and then saying horrible things about my Grandfather. I only regret how I acted at the time because it was me who ended up with four days of suspension for lashing out.

"Yes, good," Mr. William responded, nodding his head slowly. "I wanted to make sure you were okay and to talk to you about possibly moving classes."

"Moving classes, why?" I asked with a raise of my eyebrow.

"Well, as you might know, Mr. Evans will be returning to school until he is formally charged with-"

I stood up suddenly, enraged. "He's what?!"

Mr. Williams tensed up at my reaction, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Ms. Massey, please calm yourself."

"He can't come back to school, he tried to stab me... with a knife!"

"I was told you were trying to come to a civil compromise since the police didn't have enough evidence for any of the other charges," Mr. William noted, staring down at his legal pad.

"This is the first I am hearing of this," I fumed, crossing my arms in front of my chest. I accidentally hit my stitches and almost swore, grabbing at my arm tenderly. The principal watched me carefully, eyeing my injury with a dubious expression. I debated pulling off my jacket to check my stitches.

"Mr. Evans is returning to school under probation, but we didn't want you to suffer unnecessarily, so we wanted to move you to a different class."

"Why do I have to move classes? Why can't he go to another class?" I insisted. "He is the one who is in trouble."

"Allegedly," Mr. Williams stressed.

I wanted to scream and possibly kick something. The phone on Mr. Williams' desk beeped and he frowned, picking it up.

"What? What do you-" He stopped, listening to a frantic voice on the other end of the phone. "I'll be right out."

Mr. Williams excused himself, heading out the door of his office and I could hear the raised voice of his assistant clearly now.

"Young man you need to go to class right now!"

"I refuse, not until Diana is done with her meeting," Casimir said, his tone final.

Casimir? He waited for me, I thought. My face was flush with gratitude as I wandered to the office door, peering over Mr. Williams' shoulder.

"Mr. Reynolds is it?" a strange new voice asked. "I promise I only want to speak with her for a moment."

"And I know Mr. Hartmann told you to not come near Diana," Casimir stated.

"What is going on here? Mr. Reynolds, class started ten minutes ago," Mr. Williams bristled, walking over towards the stand-off.

I followed the principal, stopping at the door to his office. Casimir was standing, his back to me, blocking the walkway to the principal's door. He seemed to be stopping a pair of strangers from advancing any further. One of the newcomers was a young woman, dressed in a sharp suit with her short straight hair combed perfectly behind her ears. She stood silently, briefcase in hand, watching her companion as if she was waiting for his next command.

The other person was an older man also dressed in an expensive suit. He was tall, with thick shoulders and a slightly pudgy midsection that normally comes from middle age. I felt myself sweat as I stared into his face, because his familiar smirk, beady eyes, and blond hair were strikingly similar to a certain bully I knew who went by the name Zachary Evans. This man had a thick blond beard and mustache, giving him a more distinguished appearance, but I could tell that he definitely passed down his looks to his son.

Sharon, the principal's assistant, was hovering around, afraid to come any closer to Casimir. "Mr. Evans I'm so sorry about this," she blurted out.

The elder Evans waved his hand and smiled lightly. He looked up to finally see me lurking behind Mr. William's shoulder and his smile widened, giving him the appearance of a creepy politician.

"Ah, Ms. Massey I presume?" he boomed, staring straight at me. "I have been hoping to speak to you."

"Have you now?" I responded.

"Yes, but your bodyguard here has been making it most difficult," Evans said with a dry laugh. When I didn't join in his merriment the older man's smile faltered slightly, but I could sense his determination. Mr. Williams slid out of my way and I paused before walking over to stand behind Casimir. I touched his shoulder gently but he continued to stare straight ahead at both Mr. Evans and the stern-looking lady.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Richard Evans and this is my assistant Beverly," he began, gesturing to the young woman next to him. "May I speak with you in private, regarding the actions of my son Zachary?"

I stiffened at the mention of Zachary's name, clutching the back of Casimir's coat.

"You can use my office if you like," Mr. Williams offered, enthused to help.

"You are too kind," Mr. Evans smiled, glancing over at the principal.

I could tell from the swirl of emotions in the room that Zachary's dad was bad news, everyone around me both feared and respected him greatly. I was still stuck on Casimir's prior comment, about my grandfather telling Mr. Evans to leave me alone. I wondered if perhaps he had been trying to get in contact with me since the attack. I assumed he wanted to throw money at me in the hope that his son's legal problems went away. I was also betting the police didn't feel like charging Zachary with any other crimes because of his father's influence. I knew he was some sort of business mogul but had no idea as to what kind of business that entailed.

"Shall we?" Mr. Evans pressed, gesturing behind me at the open office.

"No thank you," I responded. I looked over at the principal, my voice stern. "I would like to go back to my class now."

Mr. Williams seemed baffled by my statement, sputtering as he glanced between myself and Mr. Evans. "B-but we haven't, I mean you. We still need to discuss your classroom..."

"I'm not changing my class, if Zachary is coming back then fine," I snapped, trying to keep my temper under control. I glanced over at Mr. Evans, who I could tell did not like the fact that I refused his offer to talk. "I'm betting he won't be in school long if the charges stick."

I rushed back into the office to grab my backpack, returning to a room full of angry stares. Casimir grabbed his bag as well, slinging it over his shoulder as he looked over at me.

"Ready Diana?"

"Yep."

As we passed, the assistant named Beverly raised her arm, a business card tucked in her fingers. "Ms. Massey, in case you change your mind."

Casimir tensed slightly as if he expected her to attack. I took the card, staring at the name for a moment before I stuck it in my skirt pocket.

"Talk with you soon," Mr. Evan said.

I huffed loudly, pushing open the door to return to class and as far away from that man as possible.