Homophobic language, bullying

Joel woke up to the sound of his phone going off, Ellie was at school, which was concerning because the call was from her school.

"Hello?" He picked up the phone, clearly sounding tired.

"Mr Millar, hello" some woman said, sounding extremely professional.

"Yeah, is something wrong?" He asked, getting up out of bed.

The woman sighed "your daughter got in a fight during a free period, the head teacher would like you to come collect her" the woman said.

"Yeah ok, I'll be there in a few minutes" he hung up, getting dressed before leaving, he didn't like the fact that Ellie got in a fight, but he hoped it was just that she'd defended herself.

He got in his truck, letting out a small sigh as he drove to the school, it was a big building, bigger than Sarah's school.

He walked into the office, seeing Ellie sat on the couch with a bruise on her eye and arms, which immediately put him into protective dad mode.

He knelt down next to her "hey, hey are you ok? Is everything alright? Are you hurt?" He was concerned, cupping her cheek gently "talk to me baby girl, who hurt you?" Ellie couldn't look at him, biting her lip as tears welled in her eyes.

Joel's heart broke, watching his daughter break down.

She cuddled into his chest, sobbing "they called me a dyke dad..." her voice broke, Joel felt his anger boil.

"Did they hurt you?" He asked softly, Ellie nodded.

"T-they pushed me against the locker....they hit my eye and called me a dyke....they screamed at me Joel...." she whimpered against his chest.

He rubbed her back, the main office door opened, a man walking out "Mr Millar?" He asked, looking between the two.

"I want to talk to the fuckers that did this to my baby girl" Joel growled, holding Ellie against his chest, trying to get her to calm down.

"Sir, please watch your language" the man said, Joel sighed.

"Where are they?" Joel asked, standing up and gently helping Ellie up, her legs shaking a little "relax, it's all ok" he whispered to her.

She walked with him into the office, her legs still shaking as she sat down in a chair, Joel sat next to her.

The room was fairly dark, although Joel could see the four teenage boys, one of them had a burst lip, but that was the worst of it.

The man from before sat at a desk "Ellie, Do you want to explain what happened to your father?" Ellie gulped a little, trying to speak but not able to, every eye in the room was on her, waiting for her to mess up and taunt her.

"I...I had auditioned for the school show....casting went up today...I got the lead-" Ellie was cut off by one of the boys "the Male lead" he spat out.

Joel looked at her, gently rubbing her back "that's incredible baby girl, I'm so proud of you" he smiled brightly.

"It's weird, I mean she's clearly a girl" one of the boys mothers said, glaring at Ellie and Joel.

"Is it a problem that my daughter decided to go for the Male lead instead of the female? Because I don't see a fucking problem with it" Joel glared at her, holding Ellie close and kissing her head.

"I mean, she's going to be kissing a girl?! Do you not see a problem with that?!" Another of the other mothers yelled, making Ellie jump.

"No, I really don't" Joel said coldly, holding Ellie's hand.

"Honestly, it's disgusting that the school would even cast a girl in a male role, what kind of message does that send to the students?" The first woman asked "I mean, they're basically advocating for those fucking fags"

Joel stood "let's go Ellie, there's no point in arguing with stupid" Ellie stood, walking with him.

Joel could hear one of the guys yell "DYKE WHORE!".

Ellie let out a small laugh "he can't decide between two insults?" She questioned.

"Guess not, most dumbasses can't, now come on, let's get home and order pizza" he smiled at her, offering his hand.

She smiled and held his hand, feeling him squeeze her hand.
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Protective dad mode: activated

In all honesty though, I really enjoy writing Joel as a dad to Ellie