Mental Health
Chapter four, and then some.
Principal Brink was going to take control of a bad situation, one which wasn't really anyone's fault, and he was going to do something simple which would make everyone happy. He hated the kid, but had no idea why, and hated hating anyone. Out of sight, though, meant out of mind.
The kid had to go, and the principal had memorized the pitch from the brochure of the nearby charter school. He had done a little research, found the other school to be rather bland, if perhaps slightly more experimental than the average elementary or middle school. He thought (and felt guilty for thinking) that he would probably have tried to convince the kid's parents to send him to even an unpleasant, authoritarian place. But no point thinking in hypotheticals; there was a place to send the kid, no one would be hurt by this decision, and the principal could be a sane person again.
He had the receptionist call the kid's parents to make an appointment.
The next morning, Principal Brink had to practice in the mirror for a solid half hour, but eventually he was able to smile in all the right places, in a manner which reflected none of the puzzling ill will he felt so deeply. His voice held to an even tenor of pleasant and bland good humor, and he felt that he was ready to face the kid's parents.
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