23. Mia
Mia
SOUTH brONX CLASSICAL
Tuesday
“I can’t let her get away with this. She’s been chipping away at Kira all week. I keep pulling her up on it, but she won’t listen.”
“I know, I know. We’ll talk it out in the meeting.” Lilly turned in her chair and held out her hand. “Show me the notes you found?”
I gave them to her, resisting the urge to ball them up and throw them out. They were awful.
“I don’t think this has been going on for long, but I don’t like what I’ve seen. I thought Amber was better than this.”
Lilly sighed. “Jealousy makes people do stupid things. It’s not that hard to believe.” She stood and came to stand in front of me. “But can you handle this?”
I bit my bottom lip and tried not to react. I knew what she meant. Principal Rutton and Lilly agreed that I wouldn’t have contact with Theo, and given everything my best friend and boss already knew about our interactions, her question was more than reasonable.
“I can handle being in the same room as him.”
She eyed me, nodded, then wrapped her arm around mine as she led me out of the staffroom. The hallway was cooler than it had been in weeks, and as we walked toward the meeting room, goosebumps prickled along my arms.
It had everything to do with the weather and nothing to do with the thought of seeing Theo again.
It was the weather. Yep. The weather. Definitely not because of Theo.
Well… maybe it had a little to do with him.
After catching his eye in his office yesterday, I was a bit out of sorts. He glared as he watched me follow his employee down the hall and… why did he look at me like that?
Was he mad? Was he upset that someone else was working on me?
The shiver that laced up my spine was almost treatment enough. Oh god, I liked the thought of Theo jealous.
But he didn’t actually like me, and I needed to remember that. I could’ve written a list of all the ways Theo didn’t like me.
One, he told me I was infuriating.
Two, he insulted me in front of my boss.
Three, he made my job difficult.
Four, he clearly wanted to fuck me into the shelves of my classroom closet.
Oh holy fuckballs, what was the universe doing to me?
“Ready to pull up your big boy pants?” Lilly asked.
“Hm? Oh. Yep. They’re pulled high and tight.” I patted my skirt as we stopped in front of the meeting room.
Lilly turned to face me. “Good. Because I need you stay calm in there, okay?”
I tried to look offended, but I really couldn’t blame Lilly for assuming the worst of me. The last time I was involved in a meeting like this, I took my teacher filter off and said some things I probably shouldn’t have.
“That parent was a wanker, and we expelled his kid anyway.”
Lilly wasn’t impressed.
“Mia, Mrs Myers doesn’t want to pull Amber out of the school, and you know what she’s like. She’s going to defend her daughter no matter what we show her. You have to be okay with that.”
I sighed and rubbed my arm. These damn goosebumps wouldn’t go away.
“I’ll be fine, Lilly. I’ve handled this kind of thing before.”
She gave me a loaded look. “I know. But Kira is different. She’s a grieving teen with anxiety. She has panic attacks.”
My shoulders drooped a little. “Lilly, I know she isn’t you.”
“But she reminds you of me, doesn’t she?”
I pressed my lips together, but there was no point denying it. Lilly saw right through me.
“And you know I love you,” she said, “but when someone you care about is upset, you can get a little… bulldozey.”
I had to laugh. She was on the money with that one.
“Amber is our student too, and we don’t know what she might be going through.”
Well, she had a point. “Having a mother like Ashley must be punishment enough for that girl.”
Lilly gave me a smile, and I had to admit, I ate it up. “And remember what else is at stake here. You’ve been working on this program for weeks. Don’t let something like this throw you off, okay?”
“Okay,” I agreed. “I know you’re right, I just–”
A tall, broad figure stepped into view, and my eyes fixed on him like a magnet.
“–Uh… I get, um, it’s the whole unfairness of it.”
Lilly’s brows knitted together in confusion. She followed my gaze and noticed the brooding male behind her.
“Mr Hudson,” she greeted, unwrapping her arm from mine. “You’re right on time.”