Luna sat beside Lane, both siblings tapped their right foot in rhythm as the seconds ticked away. They'd been seated in the principal's office for what seemed like an eternity. Neither of them was in trouble. Not directly at least. It hardly mattered to Lane. It'd been almost four years since he'd graduated. Luna on the other hand was content with never having to visit Principal Thaal. Before today by all accounts, she was a model student and Cadet Colonel in her Army Reserve Unit unit. Now she'd been summoned to trudge up the old halls to the office like a convict. Seated inside the tiny office Luna watched discontented as the day bled into her afternoon drill time.

Tilting her head back to stare up at the ceiling, Luna asked her brother; "These people know about cell phones, right? They have our parents' numbers on file. Couldn't grasp the idea of FaceTime, huh?"

Lane adjusted himself in his seat, furiously texting for someone to cover the shift he was going to miss on account of this meeting. He grunted in agreement of their mutual displeasure. After striking the send button with his thumb, Lane finally acknowledged his sister, "This whole thing sucks, for sure, but it's worth it."

Luna threw up her hands, "Is it really though?"

Puzzled, Lane raised an eyebrow, "You don't think backing up Robyn and her article is worth it?"

With a frustrated huff, Luna conceded, "Of course she is. Bigger picture, Ursa Major, the whole situation with this coach? It's an open and shut case. Why drag this out or get us involved at all?"

Pushing his fingers together into a steeple, Lane considered, "My guess? Money."

Luna crossed her arms, "My guess is stupidity. Care to wager who's correct?"

Lane shook his head, "No bet."

At that moment, the door creaked open and three individuals quietly shuffled into the room; Principal Synthia Thaal, Professor McHale, and Superintendent Brian O'Bannon. After O'Bannon closed the door behind them, everyone exchanged timid greetings and took their seats. The ancient mahogany desk divided the Wood's Siblings and the school faculty. Even though they were only a few feet apart, the chasm between the two parties' views on the situation was vast.

Clearing her throat, Principal Thaal drew her cards close to her chest. The game would begin with a facsimile of decorum; "We want to thank you both for standing in for your parents on such short notice. We also thank you on behalf of the staff for treating this delicate matter with a great deal of discretion."

Luna gestured in the air, as if peeking under the tarp they'd thrown over the elephant in the room, "By, 'Delicate Matter', you're of course referring to the student rape?"

---

Robyn waddled downstairs to address the furious knocking coming from the front door. While Luna and Lane had gone to the police station after Karina stole the Jeep, she was left alone. She checked her phone for the time. It had only been an hour since they'd left and Robyn had nearly fallen asleep. Couldn't a girl get some rest before her first day of high school?

Throwing open the door fully intent to scream her discontent at the unwanted visitor, Robyn was instead met by Sydney. She was unusually dressed up in contrast to her signature sporty look; black miniskirt, pink silk blouse, and more makeup than even Luna normally wore. The only thing that wasn't made up was her tousled hair and black eyeliner running down the side of her cheeks.

Clearly caught off guard, Robyn stammered at the sight of the upperclassmen, "S-Sydney, what are you, ya know, what brings you here at-?"

Sydney snapped, breathless "-Your sister, she here?"

Cocking her head to the side, "Um, no? Everyone went to the police station."

That news sent a bolt of panic through Sydney. She continued to wipe away her mascara and tears, "It's really important that I talk to her. Did she... Do you know if she left her phone here?"

Robyn reached out to try and comfort Sydney, but the older girl sharply retracted her limbs, wrapping her arms around herself. Something was definitely wrong. Robyn didn't want to jump to conclusions, but something in her gut churned uneasily.

Not wanting to frighten off her friend, Robyn offered; "Do you wanna wait for them?" Stepping aside, she gestured toward the living room, "I think we've got coffee from that new cafe that opened up in the art district. Dark Owl something? You'll have to make it though. I've never used a coffee machine."

Sydney took another step back from the door, "No. It's fine. Just have your sister call me. It's really important. Alright?"Sydney gave a weak attempt at a smile and turned to leave.

The upperclassman took two more timid steps down the driveway before Robyn blurted out; "Is it about Coach Tala?" The older girl froze. Robyn had made an educated guess. Considering the amount of research she'd collected so far, her guess carried a little more weight.

While Katrina was busy joy riding, Robyn had been calling all the girls on the swim team again. Some were more open about Coach Tala than others. When Robyn had called Sydney earlier that night, it seemed odd how short her answers were. It was a sharp contrast to the open disgust she'd had towards Tala at the pool or registration day. It felt out of character. Sydney wasn't a one word answer girl. She was social. She rambled. Why the sudden change?

Sydney's mood soured as Robyn took another step outside. Spinning on her heels, the older swimmer shot back, "Look, you're a sweet girl, Robyn. But, it's best you mind your own business on this, right?"

Robyn shook her head, "When friends are hurting, it becomes my business. Friends shouldn't have to hurt alone."

Forcing herself to appear more cross than hurt, Sydney stated flatly, "We're not friends, Robyn."

That stung. Robyn didn't really know what constituted an official friendship. Was it time? Was it the number of secrets shared? Maybe a common enemy? They may have lacked the time, and Robyn certainly hadn't cracked what secret Sydney was holding back, but the odds were they shared a common antagonist. Lack of admission whether Coach Tala was the problem didn't necessarily confirm or deny anything. Robyn needed to be certain. To do that, she needed more information.

So, she lied.

With a forced smile, Robyn bluffed; "My sister is on her way home soon, if you'd like to wait for her inside, you can."

Sydney drew in a short breath.

She took the bait.

---

It wasn't often that Luna and Lane got to press an advantage together against a room full of adults, but when they did it was thoroughly enjoyable. District Supervisor O'Bannon was sweating bullets from his brow to his armpits. Principal Thaal was livid and pacing behind her desk. The only person who kept relative calm was professor McHale. Only Luna had caught on that she was nervously picking at the cuticles of her thumb with her pointer finger. The first hand the faculty had played, keeping the scandal cloaked in innuendo, was a losing gamble and they knew it. All of their tells were obnoxiously obvious.

Lane gave it to them straight, "Look, my sister Robyn wrote an article, one that I can vouch for as rigorously researched, peer-reviewed, and edited to near perfection. It seems the lone obstacle here is that it happens to tell the truth and that truth is unpleasant."

Luna added poignantly, "You know, because of the rape?"

Again the faculty squirmed and Lane had to lay a gentle hand on his sister's shoulder for her to regain composure. She enjoyed watching the adults in the room writhe. If it were any other situation, Lane would let her off the leash. Unfortunately, the gravity of the situation was tremendous. Lives were at stake and these three adults seemed content to sweep their mess under the rug and pretend the sexual predator wasn't there. That was beyond unacceptable.

Luna' offered a shallow apology; "I'm sorry, but I find it a little ridiculous that we're still talking, or talking around this matter, rather than contacting the authorities. Did any of you want to do that now?"

Abruptly, superintendent O'Bannon leapt out of his chair, "That's exactly what we were about to discuss, young lady!"

Apart from being mildly startled, Lane readjusted his formal Coast Guard fatigues and agreed, "Great. Well then, let's turn this over to the SantaFe Detectives. Have a good afternoon, folks."

In her quiet, somber voice, Mrs. McHale lowered her head, "I'm afraid that's not what they're getting at, Mr. Woods."

Lane stood still and exchanged a quizzical look with an equally baffled Luna.

Gesturing with his hand, Lane laid out what he saw as a fairly easy process, "I don't see the difficulty of calling the authorities, suspending Mr. Tala pending an investigation, and publishing an article outlying behaviour we all agree is horrendous."

Principal Thaal shot back, pointing a sharpened finger at Lane, "Considering your sister's obvious and malicious bias, what we're going to do is expel Robyn for defamation of character against a respected faculty member."

Luna's calm disintegrated; "Are you out of your fucking minds?!"

Lane's patience and capacity for diplomacy teetered on the edge of a knife; "What bias?"

Principal Thaal took the opportunity to strike, almost as if she'd won something; "She failed swim trials for the team. And the incident on the rally stage? Failure, humiliation, an obvious bias to conjure these... These ugly, false allegations toward our swim coach. That behavior will not be tolerated at this institution."

They didn't even bother to say his name.

Luna attempted to correct Principal Thaal, "You mean Coach Tala?"

Principal Thaal nodded dismissively, "Yes, the swim coach."

Luna tried again, "The Trigon Sun Devil's swim coach, Mr. Tala?"

Again, The Principal tried to keep a tight lip, "Yes, Miss Woods, the coach."

Trying to bait her, Luna feigned confusion, "Sorry, but what's the name of the coach?"

Frustrations mounting, Principal Thaal exploded, "Coach Ryan Tala!"

Nodding, Luna clarified, "The Rapist?

"Yes, the Ra--" catching herself on the edge of a cliff, the Principal backpedaled in ire, "Now see here, Miss Woods, that is exactly the kind of slander that we've concluded has led to your sister's suspension. That expulsion will be extended to include your middle sister--"

It was Mrs. McHale who finally rose from her seat in an attempt to bring the room back to peace before Principal Thaal detonated. In a calming tone, she raised her palms up to waist level, "Perhaps we should all take a moment to breathe. This is a difficult situation for all of us. Let's consider our options?"

---

Sydney blew the steam across the top of her cup of coffee. She had sat down across from Robyn for what felt like hours without saying a word. Clearly, they had different definitions of what 'soon' meant. Robyn for her part was busy with what looked like a mountain of homework. Like an uncontrollable itch, Sydney finally asked; "That can't all be homework, is it? The semester hasn't even started yet." Looking back down into her mug of coffee, she inhaled deeply. Rich cocoa and herbal spices invaded her nostrils and fought to calm her broken spirit.

In sharp contrast, a cheery Robyn peeked up from behind her laptop, "This is actually all research for my journalism article I'm gonna pitch to Professor McHale."

Sydney feigned interest, lost in the swirling black of the coffee and creamer mixing together, "Looks like a lot of work. What's the article about?"

Robyn drew in a sharp breath, "I don't wanna talk about it if it's gonna upset you." Studying Sydney's gaze as the two locked eyes, Robyn waited for permission. She'd wiped off the eyeliner, but Sydney's cheeks were still flushed. The aftermath of tragedy still clung tightly to her face.

Sydney looked back down at her coffee, "It's okay if you wanna share. Or not. Whatever."

Robyn tread lightly. She still didn't have all the pieces yet and feared she'd offend Sydney before confirming her suspicions. With a deep breath, Robyn admitted, "You really inspired me, ya know, when we first met?" This got Sydney's attention. A little flattery held her interest. Now all Robyn had to do was walk the rest of the tight rope without the other end going slack. "You didn't think I was some lame freshman. I really appreciated that."

Sydney offered a slight grin, "Well, you aren't a lame freshman so that helped a bit." 

Nodding her thanks, Robyn admitted, "When you first told me, trusted me about what you've heard about the coach, I didn't want to let you down. I didn't want to disappoint you."

Curiosity caught Sydney off guard, "Disappoint me? How?"

Robyn sighed and gestured to her stack of notes, "You see all this? This sorta thing is what I loved to do even before I knew that I loved it. My brother Lane, when he was my age, was really into baseball. I wanted to impress him. I studied, like ALL the sports. I memorized players, teams, statistics, there were literally dozens of binders worth of sports facts all over my room." Robyn chuckled as Sydney gave the younger girl an odd look, "But, all that stuff didn't matter. It was fun, but at the end of the day, it was just sports. When you told me about Coach Tala, how he was hurting people, I couldn't just ignore it and do nothing. So, this is how I cope with terrible news. I research. I do a lot of research."

Sydney's eyes were blown out like she'd been staring into pitch darkness, "All of that is research on Coach Tala?"

Robyn nodded, trying not to appear too excited; "I've spent the last few weeks since registration day calling all the girls on the swim teams comparing stories."

Sydney's jaw dropped, "You called everyone on the swim team?"

Gesturing with her hands to show an ever-expanding circle, "Teams. Everyone on this year's swim team and about a hundred people who'd swam with Coach Tala for the last five years."

Sydney raised her hand, "Okay, wait, Tala's only been a coach since last year though?"

Robyn gestured at the invisible timeline that she'd visualized in mid air, "At Trigon High, yeah. I had to find out which schools he worked at before, the school he graduated from, his coach, his parents--"

Sydney nearly spat out her sip of coffee, "YOU CALLED HIS PARENTS?"

Robyn bit her lower lip. She couldn't tell if Sydney was impressed or throughly freaked out. Trying to reel back the conversation, she attempted to divert back to the subject at hand; "I had to be thorough. My mom told me once, 'Hurt People, hurt people."

Sydney looked confused, but confused was better than freaked out; "Your mom, um, repeated herself?"

Robyn almost laughed, "No. She meant that people who are hurting or had been hurt usually hurt other people instead of dealing with their own pain or whatever. I figured that if someone is abusing kids, they may have been abused in the past. Turns out, there was truth to that with Coach Tala."

This brought Sydney back down hard. Her posture visibly sank into her seat. Something struck a nerve, but all that came out of the upperclassmen was a whisper; "Coach really isn't that bad a guy, you know?"

Robyn took a breath. Reading people wasn't easy for her. She wasn't as big and tough as Lane who could intimidate people like a wild grizzly bear. She wasn't Luna who could get in someone's head with just a glance. Robyn even lacked whatever weird ability Katrina had to take things apart and put them back together again while blindfolded. There was one skill that Robyn held with absolute certainty.

She could tell the truth.

Reaching across the table for Sydney's hand, Robyn made an offer, "Good or bad isn't my call to make. But, if somebody's actions are hurting others, my folks told me I've got a responsibility to say something before more people get hurt."

Sydney tried to blink away the tears welling up behind her eyes, but droplets turned to streams falling down the senior's face. Without another word, the upperclassman reached across the table and squeezed Robyn's hand.

---

Principal Thaal and O'Bannon were seated now. Their arms folded in disgust as the two Woods siblings continued to argue their points. As far as the faculty was concerned, this wasn't an argument at all. They were the adults. They had decided how things would be. They had won.

Lane pleaded once more in vain, "How do not understand that if you act now, you'll all be seen as heroes? You'll have done the right thing."

Luna also encouraged, "Trying to hide a scandal only makes larger, worse scandals later on. Surely, you must see that?"

Principal Thaal tapped her pen on the desk like a tiny gavel, "What we see here is the faculty giving you the courtesy of a warning and for your sisters to choose the appropriate action before they deal with the consequences."

Stalemate.

This wasn't a game of morality poker anymore. Everyone had laid out their cards on the table, but despite having the winning hands, the faculty claimed that Lane and Luna had nothing. The deck was stacked against them. The faculty had a narrative they were going to follow, and they'd do so at any cost. Despite being a few hundred miles from Vegas, apparently, even when it came to the SantaFe School District, the House always won.

Lane and Luna were exhausted. The sun had set long ago and both their sisters were probably waiting for dinner. With nothing else to say and no one listening, both siblings gave one final look to the faculty and stood from their seats.

Before exiting in defeat, it was Mrs McHale who abruptly stood to her feet, "Lane, Luna, I want you to know that your sister wrote an outstanding article." Flustered guttural sounds erupted from the Principal and District Supervisor, but Mrs. McHale persisted, "I'm proud to have her in my class, despite declining her article for publication in the Trigon Times."

Lane grit his teeth, forcing out politeness, "We appreciate your compliment in spite of the circumstances, professor. We'll pass that on to Robyn."

Before the siblings stepped out of the door, Mrs. McHale offered, "Given her abilities and the integrity of the article, perhaps there are other avenues of publication she could pursue? The SantaFe New Mexican, for instance? I'm a friend of the editor. Perhaps I could put in a good word for her?"

Before Principal Thaal's exploded in rage, Lane inclined his head, "Thank you, professor. We'll keep that in mind. Now if you'll excuse us."

Just when they felt the game was over, the Wood's siblings were dealt a new hand. The pair stepped out of the office and marched toward the exit. The thick black oak door slammed shut behind them. As they walked down the vacant corridor, the echoes of that heavy office door chased after them.