AS SOON AS FINN ENTERED THE OFFICE, he was met by Nawal's eyes who went from cold and stary to delightful. She stood up to wrap the curly-haired boy in a reassuring hug.

"Why didn't you tell me, Finn ? Why didn't you tell me that kids were bothering you here ? I asked you the other day if you-" She began, letting him go gently while staring into his brown eyes.

"Mrs Mohamed, please. Take a seat." The principal politely ordered. She sighed as she obeyed, sitting down on a chair across from him while Finn sat next to her.

"Mrs Mohamed. I have to inform you that we take bullying very seriously in this school. Everyone who dared to bother Finn will suffer severe consequences in return." Mr Holland stated, staring at the woman as if to tell her that he was serious about everything he said.

"Well, what about sexual harassment? Do you take that seriously too? Because if you did, Finn wouldn't have been harassed on a daily basis. Keep in mind that, if you don't fix that, I'm going to have to sue the school.."

"Oh no, trust me. We also take sexual harassment very seriously. Anybody who harassed Finn is going to-" She raised her hand up to silence him, making him go still. He swallowed, slightly uncomfortable of her facial expression and the sudden movement.

"Stop saying false promises ! If you actually cared, it would've stopped years ago ! But no, you don't take anything seriously, which is why I'm here right now."  Nawal exclaimed, leaning forward towards the man to look into his eyes fiercely. He backed away and cleared his throat.

"Mrs Mohamed, I assure you-"

"No. Just stop."

Finn reached towards the lady's hand and gently squeezed it. Nawal stiffened at the movement, but grabbed his hand after a few moments while smiling.

"Finn is like, the son I never had. And you don't get to simply ruin that." She stated coldly, making Finn's eyes sparkle in happiness.

That was the moment when he realized, he loved that woman. He trusted her. Maybe not like the way he trusted Mal, but he knew they were getting there at some point.

He felt like.. He could talk to her. He was going to, soon.

But certainly not in front of Mr Holland, because he felt like the guy was being only nice in front of Nawal, who was slowly gaining good reputation and being an important person around the city.

He mentally rolled his eyes at the thought.
What a dick.

The thought left his mind as he heard Nawal speak firmly to Holland, announcing that they were going to leave his office.

"Have a good day, Mr Holland. I hope you actually take this matter seriously or I'll have to go to court."

The lady got up, patting Finn gently on the shoulder to follow her. He obeyed, and soon enough, they left the office.

"Now show me your locker. I wasn't kidding about what I said, you know."

He smiled, feeling his heart pound in satisfication.

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