Brian kicked his feet slightly, staring at the cream coloured linoleum floor. He could hear the voices of his parents in the office. He could picture the principal in her chair, lips tight and thin and her hands clasped together. His teacher, Mr. Harris, was probably standing beside her, red faced and scowling. Mom and Dad were probably now telling him that they would be having a stern word with their son, and that this kind of behaviour would not be tolerated.

The worst part was that when Brian had tried to defend himself, tried to make them see reason, he was brushed off like his side didn’t even matter. Okay, maybe he went a bit too far, but Mr. Harris had had it coming all year. And when he and his classmates had tried to tell the principal, nothing ever came of it.

The heavy office door finally opened and a very unhappy Claire and Adrian Forrester emerged. Mr. Harris followed, shooting Brian a glare. It was all Brian could do not to raise his hand in a gesture that Jesse’s older brother had shown him. He settled for glaring back instead.

His dad’s hand came down to rest on his shoulder, giving it a warning squeeze. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Brian lowered his head again as he allowed himself to be steered out of the building and into the parking lot. He glanced back at the cream coloured building with it’s dark green trimming. It looked like a prison. Felt like one sometimes too, especially knowing that he’d be trapped there for six more years. Because Thorntown was so small, they only needed one school for all the grades. He’d most likely see Mr. Harris several more times until graduation.

He looked away, banishing the thought from his head. If he thought too hard about it, he’d probably lose his mind.

As they walked, Brian caught his classmate David Henry hanging out at one of the picnic tables. David gave him a wide grin and hurried forward to clap him on the shoulder. “That was awesome! You’re gonna go down as a legend!”

“Excuse me?” Claire stared the boy down, a scowl growing on her face.

“Uh...” Pink tinged David’s cheeks. “See you on Monday!” He scurried off without looking back. Brian didn’t dare look at his mother as they carried on. He could have sworn he heard his dad chuckle though.

The family car was parked close to the entrance. Close enough for Brian to see an uncut mop of dirty yellow hair appear in the window, followed by a face with a wide grin. Brian could even see the gap from his brother’s missing tooth, taken out by an incident involving the family cat and a flight of stairs. Shaun started talking before the car door even opened.

“-was awesome! I can’t believe you did that! I wish I could have seen his face. Did he actually sit down? Or did he notice...” He trailed off at a hard look from their mother, sitting back in his seat, hands folded on his lap.

“A pin in his chair? Really?” Their mother said as soon as the doors were closed.

“He’s a jerk,” Brian muttered. “Richard made Maddie cry the other day and he didn’t do anything!”

Both their parents glanced at each other. Brian’s fists stayed clenched against his legs. His dad finally sighed. “It’s good that you want to stand up for your friend. But that’s not the way to do it. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I do!” Brian said angrily. “I tell you guys all the time and no one ever does anything!”

There was another long stretch of silence before his father spoke again. “Just...the school year’s almost over. Just hang in there until then, alright?” His tone made it clear what the right answer was.

Brian didn’t want to just ’hang in there’ though. He wanted something to be done. He wanted out of school and he wanted Mr. Harris fired. Or maybe to break his leg. Brian knew he shouldn’t think horrible thoughts but it was his head and he would think whatever he wanted.

“I still think what you did was really cool,” Shaun whispered.

“Thanks,” Brian replied.

Two more months of school, and now Mr. Harris would really be out to get him. The crazy old man was going to make his life hell. Brian buried his face in his hands, already imagining what it would be like. He’d probably fail school now. Maybe Mr. Harris would find a way to get him expelled. At least the other kids in class would think he was cool now.

Pressing his face against the cool glass of the window, Brian watched the trees go by. At least it was Friday. He had two days to plan out his survival strategy.

“Are you still taking me to look for crayfish tomorrow?” Shaun asked.

Crud. Brian had nearly forgotten. They had been planning the expedition all week. Their dad had promised to show them how to cook the creatures if they caught at least five. Brian looked at his dad in the mirror. His dad shrugged and he slumped back in relief. Not grounded. The first good thing to happen today. “Yep.”

Shaun looked pleased but leaned in and whispered. “It would have been worth it if we couldn’t.”

Brian couldn’t help but smile at that, though Shaun probably wouldn’t be thanking him next year. Thorntown was more of a village than a town, with only one school and only one teacher for each grade. Shaun would most likely have Mr. Harris for his teacher next year.

Then again, if Mr. Harris thought Brian was bad, then he was going to have his work cut out for him in September. Brian could still be shamed into obedience. Shaun had no such reservations. Since he started preschool, their parents had been called to talk to the teachers at least twice a year. If not for disobedience, then for just plain odd behaviour (or as the adults called it “troubling”). Brian didn’t quite understand what they meant by that, and he didn’t really care either.

As they pulled down the long gravel driveway, Buddy, the old fat labrador trotted along the van. The old grey house came into view. It looked ramshackle, with peeling paint and old shingles that needed to be replaced, but Shaun liked it that way. His friends’ houses were always perfectly clean and pristine, like they had been built the day before. Houses that were too clean always made Shaun feel weird, like if he so much as touched the walls he would break them.

The house was on the edge of town, surrounded by trees, giving them complete privacy. If Shaun listened carefully, he could just make out the sound of the occasional car. And his dad had built the house himself. That was something that none of the other kids at school could boast.

Brian was slow, getting his backpack together. Shaun’s legs were itching and he didn’t want to wait. He tried to be careful as he climbed over his slow moving brother. He ignored his brother’s protests and was hardly surprised as he was shoved harshly out of the van. He landed on his hands and knees in the dirt, no doubt scraping his palms, but took no notice.

Buddy trotted up to him and he grinned as he picked up a stick. He threw it hard into the forest. Buddy just gave him a blank look, tail wagging. He was a good dog, but he wasn’t always very good at being a dog.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shaun watched Brian trudge into the house. He didn’t know why his brother was so upset. He was a hero today and Shaun would never get over not getting to see it. He could picture Mr. Harris’s face in his head. Purple with rage. Maybe a vein in his forehead. The kind that Dad got sometimes.

His stomach rumbled and he followed Brian inside. Brian quickly disappeared upstairs. Shaun went into the kitchen and helped himself to a blueberry turnover.

“Only one,” Mom said. “Dinner’s in two hours.”

Usually Mom would scold him for helping himself. She must still be thinking about what happened with Brian. Shaun glanced upstairs, wondering if he should ask Brian if he wanted to play but decided not to. When Brian locked himself in his room, he wouldn’t emerge until he wanted to.

Shaun went back outside, eating his muffin. He looked around for Buddy, expecting him to be lying on the grass in the sun. That wasn’t the case though.

“Bud? What are you doing?”

The old lab was sitting up and perfectly still. He was staring intently into the trees, his usually wagging tail was still. Shaun walked up to stand beside him and peered into the woods, frowning. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Just the usual sea of green. The sunlight filtered through the trees and sparkling over dewy plants and blankets of moss. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as Shaun could see.

“What are you looking at?” Shaun murmured. He squinted into the green, looking harder. A breeze drifted through the trees, filling it with the sound of rustling leaves. Somewhere, a twig snapped. Buddy let out a low growl.

A quick glance behind him, showed that his parents were already inside, making Shaun feel suddenly very alone. He turned back to the woods. He didn’t know how, but suddenly he knew without a doubt that something was watching him.

All at once, goosebumps spread across Shaun’s arms and the hairs on his neck stood on end. He shuddered, all at once wanting nothing more than to get away. He grabbed Buddy’s collar and gave it a pull. “Come on. Let’s go inside. Now, please.”

Buddy gave one more growl before slowly turning to follow. The walk back to the house seemed endless, and every few seconds the old dog would turn to glance behind them. By the time Shaun managed to slam the door behind him, his heart was pounding and his knees felt wobbly. He went into the living room and quietly sat down on the couch beside his dad. The TV was turned to a wrestling game, and Shaun found his eyes gluing themselves to the screen.

After ten minutes, his heart had finally begun to slow. By dinnertime, he was telling Mom about his day at school and how Jennifer Howard might have to cut her hair because she got paint in it. By the time he went to bed, he had put the incident out of his mind completely.