Jean said "Please don't hurt Melanie.... Are you going to go and confront her about it. She is my friend."
He said "I can't confront her about it actually. She just left the campus with her parents. She needed to go home."
She asked "She had to go home? Is everything ok with her?"
He nodded "She is alright. Don't worry... I got a letter that she had to leave tonight at midnight. Now it's getting late. Let me walk you to your dorms..."
She shook her head "No. I can't leave until you let Ingrid go. You have made her suffer so much."
Leandro said "I will let her go. I will offer it to her."
She asked "You... You will?"
He nodded "I like to catch her in the act again Jean. You can't save her twice. She must suffer the full consequences."
Jean wanted to say Ingrid had suffered more than enough but thought against it. She was sure nothing was enough for Leandro when it came to defending her. His reaction to his so called old friend, Arcangelo was pretty drastic. It was an over reaction and that kid was his best friend. She had a pretty good idea about what lengths he went to protect her and to tell the world she was his to protect.
****
Jean was now walking to her dorms with Leandro. He had gone to see Ingrid as she had looked on. He had made an ultimatum to her and had informed her she had a lifeline because jean wanted him to let her go. He had warned her to watch her mouth and next time he wasnt going to be nice. But Ingrid's reaction had surprised her. She had begged him to actually go ahead with her sanctions. She had followed him and begged him to let her serve her sentence. She had said she didn't want to get a worse punishment. It seemed like she was worried worse was coming her way. She didn't understand why. Maybe if Leandro showed someone mercy he made them pay the price dearly the next time anyone had a hiccup in their act. But what could be worse for Ingrid.
When they reached her dorms he said "I hope tomorrow you get to sleep earlier. I have a feeling Ingrid won't bother you again. Sleep tight."
She said "I don't think she will bother me. Her apology letter she had written while we were talking in the other room was pages long..." And it was soaked with Ingrid's tears too. What Leandro did to the girl to make her so sorry. Apparently he had done nothing. The threat was enough.
Leandro said "Good night jean."
Just then Leandro heard his name being called. He turned and saw Jacob. He had a pile of papers in his hand. He walked to Leandro and handed him the papers "Here we go. My detention homework."
Leandro grabbed it "You didn't have to write this if you did what you were told. Don't make me fine you again."
He said "I take a stand. I will do it again if I feel I need to protest next time... Next time, Dean Rosario be my guest to fine me again." He then turned to jean "Flowerpot. Why are you awake? Is he keeping you up all night? Did you also play up in some kind of detention?" He turned to Leandro and said in a mocking tone "I didn't see sleep deprivation in the handbook as a punishment."
Leandro said "You don't need to mock the discipline system. That's a strike."
He chuckled "Make it two... Your discipline system is crazy as the one who wrote it. Oh ... That's you... You need to chill and relax your rules."
He then turned to Jean "Let's go Flower pot."
Leandro said "Goodnight Jean."
Jacob opened the door to jeans dorm and held the door open as he said "No good night for me?"
Leandro said "No. Detention for you again. Now."
He asked "What?"
Leandro said "You heard me. Follow me."
Jean was about to protest but Jacob turned to jean "Don't worry jean. I can handle him." He then winked at her and said good night.
Jacob then ran after Leandro who was walking away fast. He caught up to Leandro "Don't you ever sleep?"
Leandro didn't reply.
Jacob sighed "Look. You can't just throw detention at anyone who challenges you."
Leandro stated as he looked forward "I don't. I issue detention when one mocks the rules and think they are above the law. Nobody is above the school rules. That's our mission statement."
He said "Yes. I read that line. It was at the beginning of each chapter."
Leandro said "Good. At least you have memorised one line out of the entire booklet. That's an improvement. A breakthrough."
Jacob said "I respect the rules but what I called you, I felt you deserved."
He said "The sanction I gave you, I felt you deserved too. It's in the rule book. No cursing is allowed on this campus. This is a faith school."
Jacob sighed "It was not a major curse word. Whatever you say. What were you doing with my sister? She didn't seem unhappy. So I didn't feel annoyed. Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Leandro walked to his office and started writing a note at the reception desk. He didn't reply to Jacob.
Jacob sighed "What are you writing?"
He said "Your answer."
Jacob waited and watched him stop writing. Leandro handed him the paper "Count how many pigeon holes there are for posting letters to my committee. Then photocopy as many copies needed and place it for them in their designated holes labelled with their names. You are in detention so make yourself useful."
Jacob wanted to call him a "Jackass" again. But did it in his mind instead.
Leandro then walked to the photocopier and turned it on and he sat down behind the reception desk watching Jacob.
Jacob photocopied multiple copies and handed them to Leandro. Jacob then read the original note. "I see. You let her go because of my sister."
Leandro nodded "I had to. She was quite stressed about it. I didn't want to let her go but I guess I can catch Ingrid in the act again later and next time your sister can't even save her."
Jacob sighed and looked up "You are extreme."
Leandro said "In what way? Ingrid upset your sister."
Jacob said "I don't protest that she should be sanctioned for bullying but you really need to tone down the sanctions. If she wrote so many pages of apology and was in tears then you obviously did some damage."
He said "You don't know what Ingrid is capable of. You have no idea. She is a witch. I have dealt with her kind. Not everyone deserves nice treatment like you and your sister."
Jacob laughed "Nice treatment? You gave me detention and made me copy your entire rule book."
Leandro asked "Who's fault is that? If you cant do the time, don't do the crime."
Jacob said "I can do the time.... But your school is way too extreme."
Leandro picked up some papers from the desk. Photocopy these too. 100 copies of each."
As Jacob was handed the papers he said "How long is my detention?"
Leandro said "As long as I say so. Don't question me."
Jacob sighed. Once he finished photocopying Leandro gave him more more admin duties.
He ended up sitting behind the desk and sealing envelopes after he had placed newsletters in them.
Jacob said "Do you ever have fun Leandro? Because I get the impression you never do."
Leandro asked "Am I not having fun now? Teaching you a lesson is fun."
Jacob said "I am serious. You are not like other kids. How can you be so ... self preserving? That's the only word I can think of."
He said "You shouldn't seek to find answers that you can't ever understand. Once you stay here longer then you can get to know me and why I do things the way I do them."
Jacob said "I am planning on that. I signed up to survival camp like Flower pot."
Leandro asked "You didn't take Arcangelo's offer? You should take it as a compliment he wanted to recruit you."
Jacob said " You seem to regard him highly. You trust that guy with your sister. So it says a lot. How is that? He must have impressed you."
Leandro said "I can't trust my sister with anyone else. No one else can match my sister's wild spirited life style."
Jacob asked "Wild spirited? Is that even a phrase?"
Leandro said "My sister is wild. She needs a wild match. Arcangelo is it."
Jacob said "Why do you say that about your sister? She is nice. She is adventurous and free. She takes risks and is fearless. I won't call her wild. I call her alive. She lives a little. My advice to you is also this... Go live a little Leandro. You need to chill and start acting abit like a teenager."
Leandro said "I live like a teenager."
Jacob laughed at that. "If you say so Dean Rosario. If you say so. Teenagers don't take life as seriously as you do. Why can't you be like me and Flower pot or other teenagers who try to have fun. Real fun."
Leandro said "You will get along with my O'Neil side of the family. I am not an O'Neil. I am a Rosario."
****
The next morning. Jean woke up and got changed. She made her way to the communal rooms and watched some TV waiting for Jacob.
When Jacob came out, he rubbed his eyes "Good morning."
Jean turned off the TV and stood up "Are you okay? Did Leandro Keep you too long?"
Jacob said "No. It was alright. I actually had the most detailed talk with him ever. It's rare to get him to talk. He did talk last night when I asked questions."
Jean frowned "I can't believe he gave you detention."
Jacob said "It really wasn't. He let me talk. In detention they don't let you talk. He can be reasonable Jeanelle. I think I saw a different side of him yesterday. He did a fair trial for that girl. He applied his rules. I thought he would. He is not as crazy as I thought he is. He is actually quite ... fair. Don't get me wrong. I wanted Ingrid to be sorry and pay for bullying you but not suffer like how I know Leandro is capable of. I wanted a fair trial for her and he gave it to her."
Jean said " Ingrid was going to get a much worse punishment if I hadn't interfered."
Jacob said "I know. He told me. That's it for me. He respects your wishes even about taking revenge which is what he can do really well. He is fully capable of doing so much damage to people's lives. He could ruin Ingrid. But he held back and listened to you. He surprised me. I am proud of you for standing up to him. You are coming out of your shell Flower pot. You did the right thing. I know you must have been scared to walk in on an angry Leandro but you saved Ingrid from so much pain. Leandro told me what he was about to do to her before you walked in. Ingrid owes you big time."
***
Jean went for a walk to the school grounds to meet with her friends. She said goodbye to Jacob who had football practice in the morning. When she reached a large area of grass where girls were sitting at benches talking and laughing, she noticed Ingrid was sitting alone away from the other girls. She walked to her table of friends and said "Guys, Why is Ingrid sitting alone? Should we ask her to join?"
The girls shook their heads. One said "Whoever spoke to her, she refused to respond. She just writes on a piece of paper that she has a sharp tongue, her words bite and everyone must not speak to her because she doesn't deserve it."
Jean sighed "But her punishment was reduced. She was punished yesterday and her public humiliation punishment was voided. Why does she do this?"
The girls shrugged. One said "We asked her that. She repeated the same thing we told you. She doesn't talk to anyone."
Jean couldn't believe this. She decided to confront Leandro about it. She was about to make her way to the football field but then saw Leandro coincidently coming out of the school reception building walking towards the football field. He must have had some Dean of school admin duties which were endless or so people said.
She walked towards him.
Leandro noticed Jean approaching him. He stopped walking.
Jean stopped a meter away and took a deep breath "Leandro... I have a question."
He said "Fire Away." He thought to himself "Just one? Why not ask more?" He hoped she asked one hundred questions.
Jean said "You know Ingrid..."
He frowned "What about her? Has she been putting a foot wrong? Tell me jean." He then looked past Jean and his eyes zeroed on Ingrid.
Jean said "No. No...."
Leandro said "I go ask her myself." He then side stepped her and walked towards Ingrid.
Jean had to almost sprint to keep up. He walked fast. She followed him with a lot of effort. She said "Listen please. Wait."
He said as he looked forward "I am listening but not waiting..."
Jean said "She has done nothing. I swear. I was just wondering why she is alone. She doesn't talk to anyone and writes a note similar to what she was asked to write before you kindly reduced her punishment and was satisfied with her torture in your committee room. Why is she like this? Have you changed your mind?"
Leandro stopped walking and turned to her "So she is behaving herself? Is she? Good. She is doing this voluntarily I guess. I released her from the order to not talk. She obviously wants to be punished. She better watch her mouth. It doesn't hurt if I go and remind her." He then looked at Ingrid's direction and started walking to her again.
Jean sprinted to him again and held his hand. He stopped and looked at her hand. He then looked into her eyes.
She said "Can we talk please?"
Leandro said "Most certainly we can talk. But it needs to wait until I deal with Ingrid to test if she has understood her situation or needs a reminder.
She shook her vigorously "It can't wait." She felt sorry for Ingrid. The poor girl was really scared of Leandro when he even looked at her when they had gone back in. Leandro was telling her she was off the hook but she was shaking uncontrollably and crying more and more as he spoke.
He raised an eyebrow "It can't wait? Why not?"
Jean felt like she had seconds to save the day. She had to get him alone to talk about this. She didn't want other girls to be scared of her. How Leandro handled Ingrid could make it hard for her to retain normal friendships. Girls respected her but they at least were not nervous around her. But she could see them tense up. She could see them now looking with wide eyes at Leandro and her talking even then most likely praying she didn't ask him to come after any of them. He looked serious and had been walking in direction of the girls benches after talking to jean so they knew he was coming to tell off one of them. Obviously Leandro only had one girl he loved so if he walked fast towards other girls looking at them with determination and great intent it was a bad sign. It meant they had to run and hide. It meant they were in trouble.
She tried to think hard. How could she get him away from here "Well... I was going to come and watch the football training after breakfast. I have made some breakfast in my dorms and I was going to go back after chatting to my friends ... Maybe we could go to my place and talk while we eat ..." She half her breath waiting for his response. She didn't even know she made this up. She just had invited Leandro Rosario to her place ... for breakfast. Where had this courage come from. She was trusting Leandro more and feeling more comfortable with him without realising how she could open up to him so fast. She had just invited the dean, the most fearsome character on the campus and the boy who no one even looked in the eye, to her place. She felt nervous about it. Why did she do it? Instinct maybe.
Leandro was looking at jean with an unreadable expression. "Did jean just ask her on a date?" It seemed like it.
Jean took his hesitance as a rejection. She pulled her hand away from his "Its fine if you can't. I understand... You have training." She was getting nervous under his silent stare. Did she offend him with her simple suggestion? Maybe she did. Why else would he go quiet? Her thoughts were all over the place.
Leandro took in the question and tried to hide his smile as his heart was jumping. He cleared his throat "I have time... My brother Leo will sort out the guys at practice until I return."
She said quickly "Honestly it's fine."
He said "I have a vice captain for a reason. Let's go. I look forward to taking to you." He was going to try to make this breakfast last very long.