Chapter 9
Wade
“Wade, I just worry you’re not taking this job seriously enough,” Jonathan Jex, the district superintendent and my boss, says as I walk him out to the front of the school.
“I can assure you I am.” His eyes flick to my casual dress, causing me to add, “I’ve even stepped up, teaching two P.E. classes until we can fill the position.”
“If you wanted to teach P.E., you should’ve just been a P.E. teacher. I’m sure that would’ve been a better fit for you than running the entire school. The position of principal demands respect, something that I’m not sure you understand.”
He entirely missed my point. But that’s how it’s been with Mr. Jex since the beginning. He’s hoping I fail so he can swoop in and tell everyone who helped me get this job that they were wrong and he was right to think I’m too young and lack experience.
“I don’t agree.” I hold my ground. “I think I’m doing an excellent job relating to the students and connecting with them.”
“They don’t need another friend, Wade. They need a principal.” He puffs out a small laugh as he walks to the doors. “But that’s something you’ll realize with age.”
My fists ball as I watch him leave, already dreading his next school visit.
What more can I do to prove to people I deserve this job and that I’m capable of doing it?
Mrs. Albany stops me as I walk back through the office. “Ethan Asay’s mom just called and wanted you to know how grateful she is that you’ve been tutoring him after school in math. She said he got a ninety-eight percent on his test yesterday.”
“Good.” I nod, not able to celebrate because of the dark cloud Mr. Jex hung over me moments ago.
Mrs. Albany glances back down at the papers in front of her. “Superintendents don’t understand what it takes to run a school.”
I sniff out a laugh. “Thanks for the message, Mrs. Albany.”
I walk to my office, closing the door behind me. A heavy sigh seeps out as I walk around my desk and spin my leather chair so it faces me, but as the seat turns, Ashtyn pops out of it.
“Whoa!” I jump away, slamming my back against the bookshelf. The picture frame Ari broke wobbles and falls to the ground. Again.
Ashtyn Ellis is the last thing I need right now.
My gaze shoots to the closed door then to the window, double-checking that Mr. Jex isn’t somehow witnessing this encounter. He’d fire me immediately, even if I’m innocent.
“Miss Ellis, what are you doing in here? This is my private office.”
“Private.” She shoots me a knowing smile as she steps toward me. “That’s what I was hoping for.”
“You can’t be in here.” I slither away from her.
“I came to coordinate with you. I heard you’re driving me to the football game tonight. Don’t you have a bench seat in your truck?”
I’m officially freaked out. How does she know what kind of seats I have in my car? And I’m not driving her to the football game. I’m driving half the cheer team in the school van so we don’t have to pay for a bus.
It’s a school-appropriate situation, I swear.
“I call the seat next to you.” Her smile drips with the kind of flirtation that only skilled adult women should know. That smile will keep me up half the night tonight, giving me nightmares.
My back slides against the filing cabinet as I scoot away. I just need to fend her off long enough to make it to the door so I can escape. “We’re taking the school's twelve-passenger van.”
Slowly, she follows. “Then I call shotgun in that.”
“My girlfriend might come,” I spit out. “So she’ll sit shotgun. Besides, it’s much more fun sitting with your team in the back.”
This makes her pause. “Your girlfriend?”
“Yeah.” I scratch the back of my neck, suddenly breathless as if I’ve run a marathon.
“You don’t have a girlfriend.”
“It’s a new thing. So you might not have heard about it yet.”
Her arms fold. “Who is she?”
I’ll ask for forgiveness later. “Uh…Ari…I mean, Miss Langford.”
“Miss Langford?” Her scoff sounds a lot like a laugh, and I’m suddenly feeling offended on Ari’s behalf.
Ashtyn takes one step forward, giving me the feeling she enjoys a good challenge.
“She’s not a threat.” She reaches for me, and I flinch, dodging the touch.
This makes her laugh again. “You seem extra nervous today, Stevie. Do you want me to give you a shoulder massage to work out all that tension?”
And this is where I go to jail.
I can easily picture myself in the orange jumpsuit.
“Are you trying to get me fired?”
She smirks. “Nobody has to know.”
Maybe it’s Mr. Jex motivating me, or Ari’s words that it’s time to be the adult in this situation, but I infuse my voice with authority and stand up taller.
“Ashtyn, you can’t say things like that.
It’s completely inappropriate. So is every other time you try to touch me or flirt with me, and it needs to stop. Immediately.”
She tilts her head, adding pouty lips. “Why?”
“Because you’re a student, and I’m the principal.”
“I’m eighteen already. So I’m an adult too.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re still a student, and it’s still inappropriate. Just you being here alone in my office could get me fired. Plus, it all makes me uncomfortable.”
Her smile grows. “Like how uncomfortable?”
“I mean it. If you don’t stop, I’ll involve your mother in the situation.”
There’s a puff of laughter. “She won’t care.”
That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.
“Now, you’re a nice young lady.” It’s frightening how much I sound like my dad. “I’m sure there are plenty of boys at the high school who would love to have your attention. Why don’t you focus your energy on one of them?”
“Because they’re boys. And I’m looking for a man.”
“Let’s be honest. I’m barely a man.” My feet slowly walk to the side. Five more feet and I’ll be at the door.
“You’re man enough for me.”
“No, see?” I point at her. “That’s what I’m talking about. That’s the kind of stuff you can’t say.”
“Fine.” Her shoulder lifts. “I won’t say that. There are other things we can do besides talk.”
My hand touches the doorknob—success! I fling it open, stepping into the hall. “Thank you for stopping by to discuss your grades,” I say loud enough I’m probably incriminating myself.
She nods, and I’m pretty convinced that I got my point across, until she leans in and whispers as she passes, “Say it a little louder for everyone else. My visits can be our little secret.”
And with that, she walks out, hips swaying as she goes.
Well, that didn’t work.
Not even a little bit.
So much for being the adult.
Every bad feeling that exists gathers in my chest, making me feel sick.
If I don’t do something, I’m doomed.
I run to Ari’s classroom, panting from exertion by the time I get there.
I slam both my palms on the top of her desk, hunching over her. “Ashtyn hid in my office. HID! It’s entrapment, that’s what’s happening here.”
“She hid in your office?”
“Yes!”
“What did you do?”
“I did what you said. I told her that the way she’s acting is inappropriate and needs to stop, and if it doesn’t, I’d talk to her mom, but it didn’t work.
She laughed in my face. LAUGHED!” At this point, I begin pacing in front of Ari’s desk.
“What am I going to do? The girl is psycho and obsessed with me. I’m going to lose my job and end up in the state penitentiary.
It’s punishment for all the girls I’ve avoided committing to over the years.
This is what I get.” I rest my hands on the desk again, not even trying to hide the panic in my voice.
“I even told her you were my girlfriend, and she didn’t believe me. ”
“Hold up.” Ari lifts one finger, stopping me. “What do you mean she didn’t believe you? Because she didn’t think I’d ever date someone like you, or something else?”
“I don’t know. She laughed and said she wasn’t worried about you. ‘You’re not a threat’ were her exact words.”
“Are you serious?” Her mouth falls open. “What a little brat.”
“I can’t be left alone. I’m two people deep everywhere I go now. I need eye-witnesses.” I rake a hand through my hair. “Thank goodness you’re coming to the game with me tonight. You need to be all over me. There can be no doubt in Ashtyn’s mind that we’re together.”
“Absolutely not.”
“I saved you yesterday with your mom. You owe me.”
“You didn’t save me. You were trying to save yourself.”
There’s some truth to that. I saw Ari walk out of the cafe with Archer Kade while I was loading the back of my truck.
I won’t pretend that I didn’t feel a tinge of jealousy, but that’s beside the point.
I heard the conversation between her and her mother.
It seemed like she could use a fake relationship as much as I could.
A mutually beneficial arrangement to solve both our problems. So I stepped in.
Never did I dream that Ari would hold her ground and be this stubborn about it.
I sit on the side of her desk, crushing a stack of ungraded homework. “I don’t understand why you’re so against this plan. Don’t you want your mom to leave you alone?”
“It’s not just my mom. I’m being set up left, right, and center, but there are better ways to handle that instead of hitching my wagon to you.”
Others might be offended. Not me. I breeze past her comment. “By having an adult conversation with your mom and setting boundaries?” My tone is mocking, clearly throwing her own advice back in her face. I witnessed yesterday how much of a failure her attempts were.
A tight smile pulls across her lips. “I don’t need your scheming and lying to handle my mother. I’ll take care of her myself.”
“You know, Ari, I’m disappointed in you.” My head shakes. “What happened to the girl I grew up with? The girl who was up for anything, even if it wasn’t completely above board?” I add a heavy shrug just for dramatics. “I miss that girl.”
“Nice try, Wade, but I still don’t want any part of your fake-dating scheme.”
Wow. She’s like an iron wall over there.
“But I will come to the game with you tonight. Not to put on a show or be all over you, but because I am your friend, and you’re right. You need to be two people deep everywhere you go until Ashtyn backs off. That mustache of yours can’t handle prison.”
This makes me laugh. “I disagree. I feel like my mustache makes me look more like a man. You don’t mess with a guy with a ‘stache.”
Her gaze flicks to the said mustache, and her lips flatten. “We’ll agree to disagree.”
Hmm. Is there a world where I’d ever shave my mustache if I know Ari doesn’t like it?
Nah.
She’ll grow to like it.
“Fine.” I hop off her desk, realizing that if I keep pushing, I might end up going to the game alone. It’s a delicate balance. “Meet me in the school parking lot at five-thirty sharp. And wear your school colors. I can’t be seen with someone who doesn’t show their school pride.”
I flash Ari a winning smile before completely disappearing into the hall, and man, I love the look of playful annoyance she’s throwing back at me.