by Caisey Quinn
Elksboro was a small town. Most people knew what had happened to Drew. Not many of them knew why. No one, not even me, knew who had done it.
She looked back and forth between us. “Be quick, you two,” she said. “But drive safe, Emersyn.”
We thanked her and signed out.
It wasn’t until we’d driven completely off campus that I felt like I could breathe again.
Our small coastal town in North Carolina previously only had one pizza place, a gas station, and a bar. But a new contractor was revamping our dilapidated Main Street not far from the high school. Several shops were already open. One of them thankfully serving coffee. Once we’d settled into a round booth at The Nook, the new coffee shop bookstore combo, Drew brought our drinks over and leveled me with a serious stare.
I averted my gaze.
“This is so much better than the coffee at High Octane,” I observed, hoping to delay the inevitable.
Drew ignored my diversion attempt.
“You need to talk to someone, Em. Your dad. A counselor at school. My Mom. Someone. You shouldn’t be doing this all on your own.”
I traced the capital N of the logo on the cup.
“I know. I just…I’m scared of what might happen. Ethan is already talking about moving in with Dad. I can’t blame him. He went to baseball camp out there this summer, and I can tell, he didn’t really want to come back. She can see it too and it’s making her act awful towards him.”
“She’s pretty awful to you both,” Drew said quietly. “Look, if Ethan moved in with your dad and step-monster, you could stay at my house for this last year of school. We have an extra room since Stacy moved off to college, you know it’s already yours.”
It was tempting. Mrs. Echols made chocolate chip pancakes and biscuits and gravy and stuff like that. My mom had never been that type of mom, even before.
“I couldn’t just leave her all alone, Drew. That’d make me as bad as my father.”
Drew made a perturbed face. “No, it wouldn’t. And honestly, with what your dad is probably paying in alimony and child support, you could hire a home health professional to come check on her daily. Hell, you could check on her as often as you like. I’m not saying abandon her, Em. I’m just saying you’re not the parent. She is.”
“She won’t take the money my dad sends. She tears the checks up and throws them away.”
“Maybe her insurance would cover it,” he offered. “Either way, she obviously can’t take care of you or your brother and it’s all been falling on you. You used to have a life. You ran track and you were good at it. Remember me and Camille? You used to hang out with us. Just like you used to get crushes on cute boys and drone on about them for hours. Now it’s all work, paying bills, taking your brother to and from practice, cleaning house, doing laundry, and keeping up with your mom’s appointments. It’s not right, Em. You know it isn’t.”
I can’t help but smile at him. Maybe it was a sad smile, but it was the closest I’d felt to one in a while. Drew cared about me, and right now, I needed someone to. Badly.
“Being raised by a single mother and an older sister has made you very intuitive, young Drewskie.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, let me tell you how much my big, thick intuition gets me laid.”
“Gross.” He was still a dude, sensitivity and all.
“All joking aside,” Drew began, leaning forward conspiratorially, “what you did was pretty badass. And I think Singleton has the hots for you. He was all Mr. Sunshine and good times until you showed up.”
I shook my head, denying his observation. Heat crawled up my spine, turning my skin hot all over.
Drew scoffed at me. “He checked you out, I saw him. Head to toe. I think it worked him up, and then he was a royal ass because of it. Kelsey Atwell was five minutes late and had her phone in hand when she sauntered in and he didn’t say shit. You’re the only one that got reamed. Wonder why that is?”
“First of all, who says sauntered?”
“I’m bringing it back,” he informed me. “Along with exasperated, incredulous, and obtuse.”
“Good luck with that.” I sighed, glancing down at my khaki skirt and too tight plain black T-shirt. It was the best I could do on no budget for school clothes. Ethan hit a growth spurt over the summer and needed new jeans way more than I did. “Between mom’s meltdown, making breakfast, and getting Ethan up and out the door, I had, like, six minutes to pull myself together this morning. I doubt I worked anyone up.”
Drew smirked at me. “Oh yeah. Long blonde hair, perfect rack, gorgeous smile, perky ass, and mile-long legs. Can’t imagine what a red-blooded American male was thinking getting all hot for you.”
“Geez, Drew.”
“You’re like a sister to me, and I have known you half my life, so I don’t see you that way. Plus, we both know you’re not my type. Obviously.”
“Obviously,” I echoed absently.
“But you look like the cover of a swimsuit calendar and I catch all kinds of shit in the locker room because the entire lacrosse team beats off to thoughts of you naked. Don’t act like you don’t know.”
I kind of knew. When I’d wait for Drew after practice or games some of the guys would call out when we’d leave. I’d heard, “Get you some, Echols,” and “Hit it once for me,” more times than I cared to count.
We both let it go, let them think we were more than friends, because it meant Drew’s secret was safe.
“Speaking of which, I’ve been thinking,” he continued. “We need to make it clear we’re not a couple. It’s time, Em. For your sake and mine. You’ve had a pretend boyfriend for long enough.”
I shrugged. I hadn’t ever minded being Drew’s pretend girlfriend. Next year he was going to NYU, and I didn’t know how I’d live without him, but I knew he’d be better off because he’d finally be able to be himself. And he deserved all the happiness in the world.
“Drew,” I started, glancing around to make sure no one was within earshot. “What happened to you this summer…”
“Still don’t want to talk about it,” he said evenly. “I’ve moved past it. Rehashing it won’t help.”
“No more nightmares then?”
He shrugged. “Not every night.”
Drew had been jumped by a mugger at the city park. That’s what he’d told the police. I didn’t buy it and I knew there was more to the story. I also didn’t agree with his choice not to report his attacker, but I knew there wasn’t much point in arguing. He’d tell me when and if he was ready. Maybe he’d feel more comfortable sharing if I told him my big secret.
Taking a deep breath, I told my best friend the truth even though he wasn’t ready to share his.
“Drew…Remember how there was a guy with me? At the hospital? The guy I met at the carnival? The one from my art history class at Southeastern.”
“The hottie I talked you into boning?”
“Lovely rendition. Not exactly accurate, but yeah.”
Drew sucked down his Frappuccino with a loud slurp. “Yeah, why? Is he here?” He glanced around while I stared at my coffee cup.
“No.” I couldn’t meet his penetrative stare so I kept my eyes down. “He’s, um, at school.”
When I glanced up, he was frowning. “I thought you said he was in college? And that he was like twenty-three or something.”
“Twenty-four,” I corrected him. “And he also mentioned that he was going to teach history and coach a high school hockey team. I just never thought to ask him where.”
Drew’s brow furrowed then his eyes widened with the realization. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“I wish I was. He’s the guy I told you about. Mr. Singleton. Aiden Singleton.”
“The one you gave your V-card to then ghosted?” He raked a hand through his hair. “Well, shit. No wonder he was so pissy this morning.”
Pissy was an understatement.
I nodded. For a while we were silent, then Drew shrugged.
�
��Can’t change the past, Em. And it’s a required class you need to graduate. I say figure out how to deal with this like an adult the best you both can. Technically, you own his ass now. If anyone else found out what happened, he’d be done for. No wonder he spazzed when you said you were going to the office. You can pretty much show up to class as late as you please.”
“I’d never do that. Never blackmail someone like that.” Especially not him. Sucking it up and moving forward was the only real option I had.
“I know,” Drew said, finishing his drink. “That’s why I love you. He’s lucky it was you he hooked up with and not a shrew like Kelsey.”
Kelsey was our resident mean girl. She had hated me since middle school and made it her job to point out my flaws on a regular basis. Drew said she was jealous of me but I couldn’t figure out what the hell she could possibly be jealous of. My life didn’t exactly look glamorous even from the outside.
“I don’t know if I can just sit through his class every morning after everything,” I admitted.
Drew stared at me intently. An unrecognizable emotion passed across his face but he schooled his features quickly.
“You can. You just have to pretend it never happened.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’m serious,” he said leaning across the table. “Pretend he’s just some new teacher and you’ve never seen him before. Sit in the back, keep your head down, and ignore him as much as possible. It’s only one semester. You can do this.”
“You really think that’s possible?”
He nodded. “I know it is.”
There was something deeper behind his confidence, but I could only come up with two possibilities. Either the guy Drew had hooked up with a summer camp was at our school or his attacker was. Whoever it was, he’d resolved not to acknowledge them.
If Drew could do it, maybe I could too.
By the time we left The Nook, I’d checked in on my mom and calmed down a little.
On the drive back to school, we hashed out the specifics.
I’d avoid “Mr. Singleton” as much as possible. I’d get to class on time, sit in the back, and not provoke his attention in any way this semester. After Christmas break, I’d switch from U.S. History and Government with him to Economics with Mrs. Eisenhower anyway. She was seventy and probably wouldn’t notice if I was late every day.
It was a solid plan.
Until lunch, when I walked into the overcrowded cafeteria and realized the “go fuck yourself” heard ‘round the world was all anyone was talking about. That and the fact that most of the senior girls were trying to figure out how to get Mr. Singleton to actually fuck them.
I was just about to ask Drew if he wanted to ditch lunch and listen to music in my car when the announcement sounded overhead.
“Emersyn Tyler, please report to the principal’s office. Emersyn Tyler, report to the principal’s office. Immediately.”
If my life were a sitcom, a collective oooh would’ve sounded across the cafeteria as if they’d rehearsed it. But it was real life so hardly anyone looked up from their food or their phone.
Drew gave me a hopeful nudge. “It’ll be fine, Em. Have a little faith.”
Yeah, I had faith. Faith that the universe was always out to screw me.
My mom’s words played in my head.
Tomorrow will be better.
It sure as hell couldn’t be worse.
2
Emersyn
Aiden, a.k.a. Mr. Singleton, was already in the Principal’s office when I arrived. He was even more attractive than I’d remembered, and for some reason, it made me angrier at the entire situation.
His name had buzzed through the halls, a steady cicada-esque hum among the entire female student population.
Every other girl wanted to seduce him.
I wanted to slap him.
To his credit, he did look apologetic. I looked away, staring at the stack of folders on the mahogany desk as I slid into the empty leather chair beside him.
One of those folders was mine. I had never been called to the principal’s office before. I doubted many of the office staff could even pick me out of a lineup. I was a nerdy loner art student that kept to myself. Other than Art Club, I didn’t participate in any extracurriculars.
“Principal Stewart will be with you in a just a moment,” his assistant, Mrs. Bunn, told us before she closed the door, leaving us alone in the office.
Once the door shut, something strange pricked at my nerve endings.
Heat. Electricity.
Acute awareness of the man sitting beside me in the enclosed space.
Low in my belly, something animalistic began to unfurl itself, slowly, like a cat waking from a long nap.
A throbbing need I usually took care of in the shower, on the rare occasions I had the time, made itself known.
His voice cut through the thick silence. “You think she always wears a bun because of her name?”
I gaped at him, unable to formulate a coherent thought. I forced what I hoped looked like a nonchalant shrug.
What in that actual fuck was happening? I was probably about to be suspended or worse, and I was turned on so hard I could barely see straight.
My eyes traveled from his vascular hands atop his knees to where his muscular thighs had the fabric of his khaki pants straining.
His shirt sleeves were rolled up just high enough that I could see a swirl of black ink peeking out from the edge of the left one. The half-sleeve on his arm. The one with the hockey puck and the clock I hadn’t paid enough attention to before. My gaze continued its perusal across his broad chest to a thick, tanned neck and jutting Adam’s apple my fingertips ached to trace.
Bright red warning signs flashed behind my eyes. Look away! But like a plane going down, spiraling out of control, I was a lost cause.
His lips were full but masculine and the hint of a dimple showed in his left cheek. A boyish face on a six foot solid man was apparently my kryptonite.
My teeth pulled at my bottom lip, dragging it back slowly, and I startled when I heard the groan.
My eyes flashed to his.
“If you look at me like that when Principal Stewart comes in,” he began, his voice rumbling, low and deadly, vibrating my core like thunder, “I’m as good as fired.”
“Like what?” I whispered.
“Like you want to tear my clothes off and ride me right here in this chair. Or maybe on that desk.”
God help me, I did. I so did.
The images of both assaulted my mind.
We’d only had the one night together. It wasn’t enough.
Before my night with him two weeks ago, all of my prior sexual knowledge came from movies we watched when Drew’s mom wasn’t home and a few clumsy encounters with Eddie Mayfield in the tenth grade. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that I knew what would stop the ache that was building.
Aiden’s fingers, his mouth, the thick length between his legs that was now prominent beneath his zipper.
“Are you eighteen, at least?”
I bit into my lower lip. “I will be in a few weeks, if that helps any.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Not really.”
I forced my gaze away from him. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You don’t know what to do?” He whispered angrily. “I’ve already slept with an underage student on my first fucking day, so I’m resigning, anyway. Screw it. Look at me however you like.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed.
“You’re laughing. Awesome.” Aiden was in pure agony. I could see it all over his face.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered back.
He made a face at me. “They called me to the office, too.”
I shook my head. “No. I mean like here, at my school.”
He sighed. “I work here, Emersyn. I’ve had this job lined up since the spring. I’m not stalking you if that’s what you’re thinking.
I s
wallowed hard. “I should’ve told you I was still in high school before…” I cleared my throat.
“Yeah, you think?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve never even been called to this office before. I’m a good girl.”
Another groan. “Please stop.” His voice was almost as tortured as his expression. He adjusted himself discretely, shifting his weight in the chair as he tugged at the upper leg of his pants.
Power surged through me at the sight of the effect I was having on him.
I felt so helpless usually. My life was a mountain of insurmountable responsibilities I was constantly juggling. This new feeling was more intense than the high I got from smoking pot with Drew’s sister Stacy one time before she moved out last summer.
Emboldened by his obvious attraction to me, I leaned closer to him and spoke in my sugary sweetest voice. “My friend Drew thinks I turned you on this morning. He said you checked me out when I came in and liked what you saw. He thinks that’s why you were so hateful to me. Is that true, Mr. Singleton?”
He swallowed thickly before staring at me with blazing eyes I couldn’t look away from. Clearing his throat as if that could somehow break the tension between us, he shifted closer to me. When he spoke his voice was low and gravelly.
“All through college, everyone told me, my brother and my friends, that I’d be better off teaching elementary school because girls your age would be troublesome for a guy like me. I didn’t believe it. I didn’t want to tie shoes and kiss boo boos all day. I wanted to teach, to coach hockey, and make an impression at an important time in the lives of young adults. To make a difference.”
“And?”
“And I was fine until you showed up.”
“But you’re not fine now for some reason,” I pointed out.
“I’ve never been attracted to girls younger than me. Not enough to risk everything I’ve worked for anyway. You walked in, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders… I don’t know. Something in me was unleashed and I couldn’t stop being an ass to you. For that, I am sorry. You didn’t deserve that. I was more mad at me than you.”
“I accept your apology. I’m sorry I was late and inexcusably rude. Typically I am not a rude person. Like I said, I’m a go—”