Amara looked at her. “Embarrassed?”
Vivian immediately corrected herself. “Hurt. I mean hurt.”
The first word remained in the room anyway.
Conrad said teenagers made terrible choices and asked whether the families could discuss a reasonable resolution without destroying several young lives. Everett did not react to the phrasing. “What resolution are you imagining?”
“We’ll cover medical expenses.”
Rachel looked at him. “The clinic visit is not the primary issue.”
“Hair restoration, counseling, whatever she needs.”
Amara stared at him. “You’re talking like your daughter damaged my backpack.”
Conrad’s face tightened.
Sloane finally spoke. “She slapped me.”
Amara answered, “I knocked your hand away from my hair.”
“You hit me first.”
“You were touching me after I told you not to.”
Conrad looked toward Everett. “See? This is more complicated than the video makes it look.”
Everett said, “Did Amara hold your daughter down?”
“No.”
“Did she use clippers on her?”
“No.”
“Then the fact that she removed a hand from her own hair does not create symmetry.”
Conrad sat back.
Vivian looked toward Amara again. “Sloane thought they were joking.”
Harper’s phone recording was already open on Rachel’s tablet. Rachel tapped the screen and played three seconds.
Please don’t.
Then Sloane’s voice.
Hold her straight.
Rachel stopped the recording.
“What part of that sounded like agreement?”
Nobody answered.
That was when Sloane looked at Everett more carefully. “You really are Everett Whitfield?”
“Yes.”
“My dad’s company works with Whitfield Transit.”
“I know.”
She glanced toward Conrad. Some confidence returned because she believed business connections created familiar rules. “Then you know our family.”
Everett nodded. “I know your father’s company.”
Sloane’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
Everett continued. “I also know several of his invoices are under review.”
Conrad’s head snapped toward him.
Rachel immediately intervened. “That review began before today and will not be discussed as part of the student matter.”
Everett nodded. “Correct.”
Conrad looked from Rachel to Everett. “What invoices?”
Rachel closed her folder. “Your finance office will receive the appropriate request.”
Vivian stared. “Are you threatening our business because Sloane made a mistake?”
“No.”
Everett answered before Rachel could.