"Interesting? What was it?"
She tilted her head, trying to come up with the proper sentence.
"Oh, for Christ's sake, Maggie. Just tell her!" Principal Brecken yelled. "The pervert had drawings ofyou, Ashtyn. Every single page in that notebook of his was either a drawing of you orAshtyn Reynoldswritten out hundreds of times."
"I was trying to approach lightly, Rhonda," gritted Mrs. Teague, plastering on a smile before looking at me.
I sat silently as I didn't know what to say about the revelation. It wasn't surprising in the least–I'd gathered that he had a bit of an obsession–why, I had no fucking clue. But they didn't need to know that.
"Wow, that's...scary," I shuddered, trying to emphasize how much Reynolds creeped me out. I wasn't really pretending. The sicko made my skin crawl.
"You didn't have anyrelationswith Mr. Reynolds?"
I stared at her blankly when Principal Brecken cut in. "Did you have sex with him? That's what she's asking."
"No, of course not. I mean, I got a feeling from him once in a while that he was looking at me a little too closely..."
"Sick fucker," Principal Brecken said under her breath, making me smile.
Mrs. Teague coughed to try and cover the expletive. "Well, that was all we wanted to ask you. If there's anything else you would like to talk about, I'm always here. No appointment necessary."
"Okay, thanks," I said with a forced smile. "What's going to happen to him now?"
Both women looked at each other and sighed. Principal Brecken flattened her mouth into a line before giving me the news. "Unfortunately, what Reynolds did wasn't illegal. The police still have more investigating to do, but it's likely he won't face legal persecution. He's been fired, obviously, and he will be blacklisted so he can never teach again."
"But he won't be going to jail," I finished.
"Probably not. He claimed his relationship with Kendra was consensual, and she's eighteen, legally an adult."
I sucked in a deep breath, thinking about Reynolds roaming the streets as a free man. The feeling didn't set well with me. “Do you want me to go to the assembly?”
“No. We’re releasing all students for the day once we’re done trying to explain the…situation,” said Principal Brecken. “Parents are calling in like crazy wanting to get their kids out of here. It’s going to be a nightmare. You can just go home.”
I nodded and got the fuck out of there.
West paced the hallway outside the office, his arms folded across his chest, making his biceps look even bigger than usual. "Hey," he said before striding over to me and putting his hands on my arms. "Everything okay?"
"They were just asking me if I hadrelationswith Reynolds. They looked through that notebook he always had with him and there were tons of drawings of me. And one of his hobbies was writing outAshtyn Reynoldsover and over..." I explained, feeling West go rigid.
He didn't say anything, so I wrapped my arms around him. He relaxed and squeezed me back. There was no better feeling than his warmth, his strength, and his comfort.
Well, maybe there was one better feeling.
Focus, Ashtyn.
"I have an idea. Let's all get the fuck out of here and go to Axel's and hang out by the pool. We can order pizza, listen to music, whatever you want."
“That’s a great idea especially since they’re dismissing us for the day. That’s what the assembly’s about. Well, after explaining the wholeart teacher fucking his studentthing.”
"Good, I think we could all use some time away from this place.”
"I have to talk to Gabby.” I rested my chin on West's chest and looked into his chocolate brown eyes.
"She'll come to Axel’s then. Me, you, Gabby, Bronx, Axel. And I guess Cade," West smirked.
"Alright, but he better be nice to Gabby. I feel awful for not telling her everything that's been going on. I told her that Reynolds hurt me but nothing else…I'm a shitty friend."
"You are not," West kissed my lips. "Now let's get out of here. Text Bronx and tell him the plans."