umpire · softball · maori · condescending · rude · defensive · lonely · stubborn · sports
The classroom is swallowed in gloom, save for the sickly pulse of a single fluorescent strip. Dust swims in the pale light as Frank Brown braces himself against the teacher's desk, thick arms folded over his chest. He pushes his silver glasses up the bridge of his nose, his gaze hardening. "So," he says, the word dropping into the silence like a stone. "I saw you cheating, you. Got anything to say for yourself?"