‘Thank you for coming in,’ Mrs Diapolos said from across her desk. ‘As I mentioned on the phone, Saxon got into a fight at recess, which resulted in another student getting a bloody nose. Do you want to tell your parents what happened?’

Saxon mumbled something so softly I couldn’t tell what he’d said, but at a guess I’d say, ‘Not really.’

‘Saxon,’ I said sharply. ‘Now is not the time for games. Is this true? Did you hit someone?’

He nodded, still not looking up.

Even though I was sitting, I felt as if the ground had been swept from under me. ‘Why?’ I pleaded, desperate for him to give us some kind of explanation.

‘Whatever the reason,’ said Mrs Diapolos, ‘I think you’ll understand that we cannot tolerate violence in any shape or form and—’

‘Of course we understand that,’ Adrian interrupted, his arms folded exactly like our son’s, ‘but I’d still like to hear Saxon’s side of the story.’

The principal nodded. ‘So would I, but so far, Saxon has refused to give any explanation.’

‘Sax. Tell us,’ I urged. ‘Please.’

Didn’t he understand how serious this was? It was a privilege to go to Perth Selective and I was afraid they’d expel him if he didn’t have a good reason. I was also afraid what a random act of violence said about him. And us.

‘Fine. James was having a go at me—he wouldn’t let up—and I just lost it.’

‘Okay.’ I nodded. ‘What was he taunting you about?’

His shoulders slumped as if he’d lost a battle. ‘We were arguing about Tournament. James, me and a couple of other guys have a team in the game and James wants me out because he reckons a two-year-old can play better than I do. I asked him if he reckoned a two-year-old could do this, and then I hit him.’

I gasped, unsure whether I was shocked about the fact Saxon had punched someone or the lack of remorse in his voice.

‘You were fighting over a video game?’ Adrian sounded as flummoxed as I was.

‘You wouldn’t understand,’ Sax said at the same time Mrs Diapolos let out a disapproving sigh.

‘The Tournament? She shook her head. ‘I’ve heard of this game causing issues at other schools, and studies have linked games like this with an increase in violence among kids, but this is the first time we’ve had this kind of issue at PS. Gaming isn’t always a problem, however The Tournament is particularly violent and not all children have the cognitive development to know the difference between fantasy and real life. That’s why it’s rated R.’

I couldn’t believe my ears. Her words might not be aiming blame at us, but her tone definitely was—as if we’d been remiss in allowing him to play.