Chapter 40
RATS AND VULTURES
MOLLY
My alarm goes off way, way too soon.
I'm naked and groggy and tangled up with Grey, sore in all the right places, and he's no happier about getting up than I am. I almost even convince him to ditch school with me, but in the end, he's still his dependable, responsible self, and we drag ourselves out of bed to go to work.
He makes breakfast while I get ready, my weekend bag unpacked, my things put away in the spaces he cleared out for me in his dresser and bathroom. Why does the sight of my toothbrush next to his make me feel like I could rocket into space?
It looks like it belongs there.
I don't know if I've ever felt like I belonged anywhere other than my parents, and nothing has come close to this. But here? With Grey? A sense of rightness settles over me, an inevitability that clicks with recognition. I love this. I love it so much, I could explode into rainbow marshmallows.
We eat in a hurry and Grey drives us, dropping me off and kissing me goodbye so thoroughly, I almost crawl into his shirt with him and beg him to take me back to his place.
"Later," he whispers against my lips with a chuckle. "Go on. I'll pick you up after school and take you back to my place before practice."
Pouting, I cup his jaw, stroking his beard. "I should have just driven so you don't have to go to so much trouble running me around."
One of his brows arches, his lips rising in a smirk. "Babygirl, the whole reason I offered is so I can kiss you goodbye and hello two extra times a day. It's selfish, really."
I chuckle, kissing him softly once more before sighing and sliding across the seat to my door. "I'll see you this afternoon then," I say as I haul my bag out.
"Can't wait."
With a final shared smile, I shut the door and watch him drive off with a happy sigh. My love bubble is pink and shiny and shimmery, floating me into school, high on Grey. I greet the front desk ladies and head for the teacher's lounge for another cup of coffee.
The second I pass the threshold, the bubble pops with a snap. Reality is cold.
I hate it.
Conversations stopped mid-sentence. Eyes dart away. Several teachers put their backs to me. The body language of everybody in the room is hostile. Cass glares at the room on her way to me, but when she meets my eyes, she softens, smiles, sparking the tiniest hope in me.
"Hey, need a hand to the library?"
Thank god she came to me with an out. I was about to turn around and walk straight out, which somehow would have made it even more awkward.
Once we're in the hallway, I exhale.
"You okay?" she asks.
"I'm starting to wonder if this town burns witches."
"Not in at least a couple hundred years," she teases, but I don't laugh. Anxiety's making my skin crawl. "Chin up, cutie. Now that it's official, they'll get all this out of their systems. It's just a little fallout, nothing to run to the bunker for."
"I want to believe you, Cass, but so far, everything we've tried makes it worse."
"Then statistically speaking, you're due for a win."
I shake my head, the corners of my lips rising just a touch. "Should I be worried that my cynical friend is all sunshine and roses?"
"Maybe," she says on a laugh. "I think that seeing my sunshine and roses friend gloomy is freaking me out. I feel compelled to cheer you up. What else can I do? A jig? I can jig like nobody's business. Maybe some coffee?"
"Coffee," I say, relieved. "I think I'm gonna avoid the teacher's lounge today."
"Then consider me your coffee bitch. Say the word. I will brave that alligator infested swamp for you. Want me to yell at them? I totally will."
I set my bag on the big counter in the library with a thunk. "I know you will. No, don't yell at them. Will you…will you tell me if…I don't know. If there's something I need to know?"
"Absolutely," she says, pulling me into a hug. "Can I yell at them after if I do?"
A laugh escapes me. "All right. I'll allow it."
With a good, solid squeeze, she lets me go. "Don't worry. It's all gonna work out. I promise."
I'm skeptical as she walks away.
I'm proved right within an hour.
Teachers I thought were friends won't meet my eyes.
Scatter when I pass. There's so much space between me and everyone else, and it's so heavy it hurts.
Every interaction is loaded. Inescapable.
The kids, at least, are their happy selves.
When there's an issue, it's so small, so fixable, I'm nostalgic for the time when my problems were easy.
This? Nothing about this is easy. I try to convince myself they're just being nosy, typical small-town nonsense, destined to blow over.
Until I find out what they're saying.
I'm packing up for the day, frayed, raw, exhausted. Ready for the bell to ring, desperate to get out of the building and into Grey's truck where it's safe.
I almost made it, too.
Cass looks like a war maiden as she flies into the library, and I know whatever she's about to say is bad. Really bad.
It's worse.
"You should sit," she says, furious but not at me.
"Your class--"
"Shelia has them. Sit."
Slowly, I do, my hands numb. I fold them in my lap.
She starts to pace. "There's a rumor. It's bad, Molly. Grey's on his way. The principal wants to see you."
Now my hands are numb and trembling. I haven't checked my phone in the last couple hours, trying to keep myself busy. She's so upset, I'm terrified of what she's going to say.
"Tell me." My voice is stronger than I expect.
She meets my eyes, draws a breath, steels herself and tethers me to her with her gaze to hold me steady. "They're saying you and Grey had sex here. In the library."
My lunch charges up my throat, black spots dancing in my vision at the shock. "What? What?"
"I know. It's vicious. You'd never. I know neither of you would ever. You have too much respect for each other and this place, the kids. It's so completely ridiculous, unfounded--"
"Humiliating," I add, my gaze dropping, eyes focused on nothing. "Why would anyone say that? Who would do this?" Tears prick my eyes, sting my nose. "Why?"
"Because they're bored and jealous and judgmental. It's low though, even for the worst of them. It feels, I don't know. Intentional. But I don't know who would--Oh, Molly." She kneels next to me, wrapping her arms around me while I cry.
"This is s-such b-bullshit," I blubber. "It's so unf-fair."
"So fucking unfair," she says quietly.
A fresh thought snaps my spine straight and my face open. "Am I…am I about to get fired?"
"No! No. I'm sure Christine just wants to talk to y'all about it, make sure you're aware. Without proof, I think you're fine. No body, no crime. There are cameras in every room in the building."
I shake my head for a second while Cass gets me a tissue. "It won't matter, will it? Not to them. I don't think they care if it's true or not."
Her brow is furrowed, her eyes sharp with concern. "No," she says dryly. "No, I don't think they do. But you and Grey don't have to worry about your jobs."
"It's just the rest of the town we have to worry about."
Cass lets out an angry sigh. "It's almost spring break. Maybe if y'all lay low, it'll die down by the time we're back. Maybe Christine can send an email, at least get the teachers in check. I hate this, Molly. I'm so sorry."
I nod at the balled-up tissue in my hands. "I hate it too. He's been through so much, Cass. Don't they want him to be happy? Doesn't he deserve that?"
"Deep down, I think they do. But a fresh scandal sends them straight into a frothing, lizard brained mob.
" She takes my hands, snotty tissue and all, ducking down to catch my eye.
"Today is almost over. Grey will be here any second.
Talk to Christine and then go home and put your phone on Do Not Disturb except for me and Grey, because I'm special. "
I chuckle. It's the most depressing sound I've ever heard.
"Take a bubble bath. A Xanax. Whatever you've gotta do, just get your mind off all this."
I nod. "Okay."
"Okay."
We stand just as three room moms walk in together.
I smooth the front of my shirt and put on a smile. "Hey--can I help y'all with something?"
Dana, the ringleader and head of the PTA, gives me a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "Hey, sweetie. We just wanted to check on you. Make sure you're holding up okay."
Her saccharine tone does not match her words.
My guard goes up. Cass stiffens beside me.
"I'm fine," I answer carefully. "Thanks for asking."
"It's just…" Brenda tilts her head, dripping with false sympathy. "We've all been so worried. This whole situation with Coach Brooks--it's put you in such an awkward position."
"There's no awkward position. We're together. That's all there is to it."
Dana exchanges a look with the others. "Honey, we're not judging. We just have…standards. For the school. For the children."
My hackles prickle. "I take my role here very seriously--"
"Do you?" Tammy asks.
Dana sighs like I'm a child who won't listen. "It's just…Grey is a respected man in this community. He's been here his whole life. People care about him."
"So do I. What exactly are you--"
"I'm sure you think you do." Another pitying smile. "But you have to realize how this looks. You're new here. You don't know how things work. And now, with all these rumors about what you two did…" Dana shudders delicately. "In the children's library. These little girls look up to you."
My hands start to shake, and the tremor climbs up my arms, up my spine. "That rumor isn't true."
"Of course you'd say that." Brenda's voice is honey over broken glass. "But people are talking, Miss Lane. And some of us are starting to wonder if maybe this job isn't the right fit for you."
My stomach drops.
Tammy steps closer, her voice low and conspiratorial, like she's doing me a favor. "Grey deservers someone who isn't going to drag him through the mud. Someone who understands this town. Maybe you should think about stepping back. For his sake."