Mike had only been at the school for a few days, but his standout performance in class had already earned him props from all his teachers.
On top of that, unlike little Sheldon who could rub people the wrong way, Mike was a chill genius with an easygoing vibe. That made a few of the teachers openly favor him.
They knew Principal Tom had called them in to deal with the campus fight from two days earlier.
So, every one of those teachers selectively dropped some positive comments about Mike.
Even his homeroom teacher, Ms. Victoria, chimed in that Mike was a good kid.
After gathering their feedback, Principal Tom nodded and let the teachers head out.
Next, Mike got called into the principal's office.
"Sam's bringing his parents tomorrow to accuse you of assault," Principal Tom said, pinching the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. Looking at Mike's polite, innocent expression, he added, "Of course, if the facts prove you're in the clear, the school will have your back."
Over the past couple of days, Principal Tom had looked into twelfth-grader Sam. The guy's behavior at school? Straight-up bully material.
So, compared to a thug, the principal was way more inclined to side with a solid student like Mike.
"Thanks for the concern, Principal," Mike said, picking up on the support. "I'll prove I'm innocent."
Seeing how confident Mike was, Principal Tom didn't push it. He just nodded and sent him on his way.
The next day—nobody knows who spilled the beans—but word got out that the school was basically putting Mike on "trial."
A bunch of students showed up on their own and gathered at the front gate.
When Mike and his guardian, Grandma Connie, walked onto campus, both sides of the path were packed with kids from every grade.
Of course, most of them were girls.
"Mike! We've got your back!!!"
Lena led Mike's fan club in cheering like they were welcoming a returning war hero.
Fueled by them, some students who'd been bullied by Sam before, plus a bunch who just loved the drama, all joined in and started cheering too.
The whole scene was electric.
Grandma Connie had dressed up special for the occasion, rocking the wide-brimmed sun hat Mike had given her.
Seeing the huge crowd and all the excitement, she grinned ear to ear and started waving back at the enthusiastic students like a celebrity.
After soaking up her "star" moment, Connie leaned in and whispered, "Mike, I had no idea you were such a hit with the girls at school. You're blowing little George out of the water."
Mike hadn't expected his grandma to be so laid-back about it. He just gave a reserved nod.
"Check out those three over there—great vibe and killer figures. They could give movie stars a run for their money…" Connie said with a wink, flashing that knowing grin every guy recognizes.
Mike followed her gaze. The three girls from the "devilish figure" crew really stood out in the crowd.
When Karen noticed him looking, she smiled and waved, which sent a nice ripple across her chest.
Amid all the cheering, Mike and Connie finally made it to the principal's office.
Sam hadn't arrived yet. Besides the principal, the only people there were Coach George and Ms. Victoria, who sat with a stone-cold expression.
As soon as Connie saw the principal, she switched gears completely. She launched into a serious complaint about the unfair treatment Mike had suffered at school.
Principal Tom was a few years younger than Connie, and against her full-on verbal assault, he was totally outmatched.
Right then, Sam showed up with his dad, Grit.
Compared to Mike, who just had a bandage slung around his arm, Sam looked way worse.
Thanks to the brutal hit below the belt, he had to waddle with his legs spread wide, shuffling forward like a clumsy Donald Duck.
His face was still swollen—one side puffed up like a pig's head—and the injuries hadn't gone down at all.
But Sam's pitiful state didn't earn him any sympathy from the students.
The kids he'd bullied and who'd suffered in silence were now loudly yelling stuff like "coward" and "wimp" from the crowd.
In their eyes, running to your parents after getting beat up was lame and weak.
Grit felt all those judgmental stares coming from both sides. He glanced at his son waddling like a duck, muttered "Useless piece of trash!" under his breath, then ditched the slow-moving Sam and stormed toward the building.
When the students saw Sam abandoned by his own dad, they cheered even louder, like they'd just scored another win.
Back in the office, while Connie was still tearing into the school for not protecting Mike, Grit barged through the door.
This guy was well over six-three, built like a tank, and gave off serious intimidating vibes. He scanned the room, locked eyes on Mike, and growled, "You're the one who beat my son into that mess?"
Connie didn't back down one bit. She grabbed Mike's arm, stepped forward, and fired back, "Sam's your kid, huh? Look at the crap your son pulled…"
She pointed at the bandage on Mike's neck and kept going: "Mike's such a good kid, and because of your boy, his arm almost got ruined. Who knows what long-term damage there'll be! You need to take responsibility for this."
Grit had come in hot, but Connie's rapid-fire comeback knocked the wind out of his sails.
Then he noticed Mike looked basically fine—and the bandage on his neck even had a cute little bow tied in it.
That made the huge dude feel like the whole thing was ridiculous and kinda humiliating.
Just then, the door opened again. Sam shuffled in, eyes misty, looking super pitiful.
Grit didn't care about the grief his son had just endured outside. Seeing Sam's wrecked state felt like a lifeline.
He yanked Sam forward and shot back, "Take a look at what happened to my kid…"
First he pointed at the bruises on Sam's face, then pried open his son's mouth to show off the missing teeth.
If the situation allowed it, Grit probably would've dropped Sam's pants to really sell the sympathy.
Connie jumped a little at Sam's rough appearance, then recovered and quietly gave Mike a thumbs-up.
She jumped right back in: "Your son just lost a few teeth, but Mike almost lost the use of his arm…"
For a minute, the principal's office was nothing but Connie and Grit going at each other.
"Enough!" Principal Tom slammed his hand on the desk—his head was buzzing from the noise—and quieted them down. Then he looked at Grit: "How do you want to handle your son's situation?"
Grit glared at Connie, then turned to Mike and said, "I want the school to expel this violent kid, and I want him to cover all my son's medical bills plus emotional damages."
Connie exploded when she heard the word "expel": "No way that's happening!"
Principal Tom signaled her to calm down, asked Grit if he had anything else to add, then turned to Connie and Mike: "What do you two have to say?"
Just as Connie was about to jump back in, Mike beat her to it. He pulled out the injury report, set it on the desk, and said, "I'm really sorry about the conflict on the field, but I can promise you—Sam provoked me first, and he threw the first punch."
Looking straight at Grit, Mike continued, "If you don't want to settle this amicably, we can call the cops right now. Trust me—with this injury report, the best you'll get is proving it was mutual combat, and we both end up in cuffs."
Grit hadn't reacted much yet, but Sam looked terrified.
That's when Coach George spoke up too, saying there were teammates who could confirm Sam started it. He also pointed out that ramming someone with a helmet is seriously dirty play.