Chapter Text
The way the rest of the staff at this school talked about Carl Grimes, Michonne was prepared to meet the devil incarnate when he got sent down to her office, not the skinny little boy with freckles and big, blue eyes that sat before her.
Though, she did have to admit, the death glare he was sending her way was certainly something to be reckoned with.
Michonne sighed, this was not the way she’d seen her life going. She should be working on a case in her cushy law firm, not dealing with some moody thirteen year old who looked like he wanted to kill her just for asking how he was.
“So, Carl,” Michonne began, ignoring the way he glared at her even harder when she spoke. “What brings you to my office today?”
“You already know that.” Carl spat back, voice full of venom. “Mr. Janey told you what I did when he called to send me down here.”
Shit, this kid was smart. It was always harder to dupe the smart ones into trusting you. Though, it didn’t seem like Carl had a lot of trust left to give in the first place.
Michonne had read his file a few weeks ago, wanting to get acquainted with all of her students before the new school year started, and Carl’s had been a real doozy. Dad in a coma for the majority of last year, mom dying not even two months after he’d woken up shortly after giving birth to Carl’s baby sister. Honestly, it was a miracle this kid hadn’t completely lost it. Hell, Michonne was a grown adult and she’d practically dropped off the face of the planet after An-
No, stop. Stop thinking about him.
“You’re right.” Michonne conceded, not failing to notice how Carl sat up a little straighter at those words. “I do know why you’re in here, but I want to hear what happened from you.”
Carl’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. Why was this kid so distrustful? Michonne knew he’d been through a lot in the past year, but what the hell could have happened to make him this wary of a freaking guidance counselor? Was it just because she was new?
“Fine.” Carl said after a moment, breaking Michonne out of her thoughts. “I punched Joe, but only because he was being an asshole. He deserved it.”
“Why? What’d he do?” Michonne immediately asked, wanting to get as much out of Carl as she could while he was still willing to speak.
“You actually wanna know?” Carl asked slowly, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Of course.” Michonne replied, hoping her voice sounded as genuine as she meant it to. For some odd reason, she really wanted Carl to trust her.
“Joe, he…” Carl took a deep breath before continuing. “He said that my mom was the town whore and that I’m a fag who’s gonna end up just like her.”
What? Michonne just barely stopped her mouth from falling open in shock. Why the hell hadn’t this other kid been sent down to her office too?
“Wow. Yeah, he totally deserved to get punched.” Michonne agreed. She knew she probably wasn’t supposed to say that, but what the actual hell? Talking shit about someone’s dead mom was like wearing a sign that said “please punch me!”. Anyone who didn’t know what probably needed some sense smacked into them anyway.
“Seriously?” Carl straightened up in his seat, his eyes were wide.
“Yeah.” Michonne confirmed. “You can’t go around saying stuff like that. Don’t tell anyone I said that, though.”
Carl nodded his head and actually laughed. For the first time since he’d come into her office, he looked like a kid.
“Did you tell your teacher what he said to you?” Michonne asked, wondering if the other boy- Joe, she remembered Carl saying- hadn’t also been sent down here simply because their teacher didn’t know the full story.
“There’s no point.” Carl grumbled, smile fading immediately as he sunk back down in his seat.
“Why’s that?” Michonne said.
“Cause no one cares.” Carl sighed exasperatedly, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve tried to tell the teachers when other kids were bothering me before, but none of them did anything about it. I even went to my old guidance counselor about it once last year, and he yelled at me and said I was probably provoking the other kids with my “bad attitude”. So, I stopped telling them and started handling things myself.”
Well, that answers her question as to why Carl seemed so distrustful of her earlier. What the hell was going on in this school? Were the teachers here purposefully singling out Carl for some reason or were they just being willfully ignorant? Either way, Michonne wasn’t about to let it continue.
“I’m sorry, Carl. That’s not right.”
“Eh.” Carl shrugged. “I’m used to it.”
Michonne’s heart broke a little. This kid had been through so much just in the past year, he shouldn’t have be dealing with bullies and useless teachers as well.
“Ok, well, I can’t just not punish you for punching someone so I am going to have to give you a few days of detention. However, I’m also going to punish Joe for what he did.” Michonne explained.
“Really?” Carl looked up at her in shock, and that broke her heart even more. He shouldn’t be surprised at someone simply doing what’s right.
“Yes.” Michonne promised. “And if anyone else bothers you, I want you to come tell me. I’ll make sure that something is done about it.”
“Thank you.” Carl’s voice was much softer now.
“It’s not something you have to thank me for.” Michonne smiled at him. “Now get back to class.”
Carl left, waving goodbye on his way out. As soon as he was gone, Michonne picked up her office phone and called Carl’s teacher, Mr. Janey, to have Joe sent down to her office. However, a few minutes later, a balding, middle aged man stood in her office instead.
“Mr. Janey, what can I do for you?” Michonne asked, more than a little confused. What could be so important that he had to come down here in person rather than just telling her over the phone? And why hadn’t he at least brought Joe down here with him? Something weird was going on.
“You can tell me why you asked for Joe to be sent down here as if he’s the one who did something wrong.” Mr. Janey demanded shrilly, not even bothering to say hello first.
Okay, never mind, nothing weird was going on- this guy was just a dick.
“Well he did.” Michonne said slowly. Did this guy seriously have no idea what went on in his own classroom?
“The Grimes boy is the one who punched him.” Mr. Janey argued, hissing out Carl’s last name in a way that Michonne didn’t like.
“And do you know why Carl did that?” Michonne asked. She felt like she was talking to a preschooler, like she was asking a five year old if they knew why they were in time out rather than speaking to a grown man.
“Let me guess,” Mr. Janey said condescendingly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Cause Joe was a little mean to him? It’s always excuses with that kid.”
“A little mean?” Michonne repeated in utter disbelief. “Mr. Janey, are you aware that Joe insulted Carl’s dead mother and called him a slur.”
“Joe didn’t mean any harm by it, he’s a good kid.” Mr. Janey argued without missing a beat. He obviously wasn’t surprised to hear this.
“And Carl’s not?” Michonne asked, beginning to raise her voice a little. This man was seriously getting on her nerves.
“No, he isn’t.” Mr. Janey spat out. “He’s just a brat with a sob story.”
That stopped Michonne dead in her tracks. Where’d this guy get off talking about a kid like this? To hell with professionalism, this asshole needed a reality check.
“He’s thirteen!” Michonne almost yelled, standing up at her desk. “I’d like to see you go through even half the things he’s been through in the past year and handle it as well as he is.”
“As well as he is? He acts out constantly!” Mr. Janey pointed out as though that excused his own negligence.
“Only because you and your colleagues refuse to punish the students who are bullying him!” Michonne was shouting now. She was sure that everyone outside could hear, but she honestly didn’t care. “He shouldn’t have to resort to punching someone just to get them to stop harassing him, and he wouldn’t have to if you actually did your job! Now, I am done talking about this, so get out of my office and send Joe down here or I’ll be taking this matter to the principle.”
Mr. Janey stared at Michonne in shock for a moment, before grumbling something she couldn’t quite make out and leaving. He purposefully kicked Michonne’s door stop away and slammed the door shut on his way out. He clearly didn’t like being told he was wrong. What an ass.
Michonne shook her head, walking out from behind her desk to prop her door back open. As she did, she noticed what looked like a comic book lying face down on the floor. Huh, it must’ve fallen out of Carl’s bag when he was in here earlier since it obviously wasn’t Mr. Janey’s. Michonne picked up the comic book, it was about Spider-Man.
Spidewman, mama!
What do you wanna be, baby?
I wanna be spidewman, mama!
Michonne couldn’t stop the tears from falling.