Page 37 of Breaker

Quinn is going to leave me.

15

Quinn - One Month Later

I sigh as I look at a sullen Noah.

Andrew is with the nurse after my little man decided to throw a pair of scissors at him, scratching his face, after I told the class that he'd be taking over my role in a few months.

Noah’s behavior has escalated over the past month. Unfortunately, he's now taken it too far.

"Noah…." I start, but he sniffles, hurting my heart.

"He-he's trying to-to take you from me and Daddy…."

I flinch at his words and say, "Sweetheart, he's not taking me away. He's going to be your teacher soon, that's all."

He shakes his head and shouts,"No, I want you!"

I get up, rush to his desk, and kneel, hating his tears. This little boy has wormed his way into my heart.

Maybe I've fallen more than I realized….

I gently cup his cheeks and whisper, "Noah, I can't be your teacher forever; you'll move up in your classes. But know this: wherever I end up, you'll always be in my heart. Do you understand?"

He sniffles but nods. As I take him in my arms, holding him tightly, I feel his eyes on me. I don't need to turn to know who it is. It’s the same man who sits outside my apartment door every evening before he goes to work.

I pull back from Noah, gently wipe his tears, and whisper, "I love you, little man. Do you hear me?" He nods with a sniffle, and I kiss his head and rasp, "Why don't you do your numbers to show your Grams how amazing you are?"

He nods again, and I stand, walking back to my desk. Without turning, I say, "Ms. Holden is waiting for you in her office, Mr. Mendoza."

He hums and states, "I know. I'll be having words with her while I'm there. She should have put your contract back to normal a month ago, and don't you dare go back to calling me that. I'm your Alex, and you know it, Goldie, and so does our boy over there."

Despite the flutters in my stomach, I ignore his words, admitting, "She couldn't because Lola also spoke to the parents before she saw Ms. Holden. They've all declared war against me, making my job harder. Now, I think you should go to your meeting. I'll keep Noah here until it's finished."

I wait for him to leave, but instead of hearing his boots fading away down the corridor, they echo closer until the sound stops behind me.

His arm goes around my waist, his lips gently kissing behind my ear before he rasps, "If you think I'm going to allow you to move across the country, you've got another think coming, Goldie. I meant what I said last month, and I mean what I say every single night outside of your door. I'm in love with you, and I'm not losing you, baby."

Tears blur my vision as his heat disappears. His mumbled, "I never should have touched Suzy," hits my ears as he walks out of the room.

I hate that the feeling hasn't gone yet. I feel like I can't breathe without him but I can't let myself fall, either. I just can't. If I thought seeing him in bed with his ex or whatever she is was bad, even though I know it was a set-up, hearing he got with someone else…. My breath stutters and my heart feels like it's cracking wide open.

I feel betrayed when I shouldn't; I ended things with him, but my heart feels like it's dying, knowing he moved on so quickly.

I wait until his footsteps are silent before I let my tears fall, keeping my back to Noah because I don’t want to upset him anymore than he already is. Both Liv and Violet have mentioned he's acting up at home and I don't want him to act up anymore.

Taking a deep breath, I go to my desk and grab the children's work, ready to look through it.

God, I'm going to miss this place. California isn't going to be the same.

An hour later, I'm halfway through a book when Ms. Holden and Breaker walk in. Noah doesn't acknowledge his father, who sighs, and I narrow my eyes at the little tyke.

"Noah Mendoza?" he looks at me, eyes wide at my stern voice. I ignore the two people in the doorway and raise my brow at him. "Is there a reason you've not said hi to Ms. Holden and your daddy?"

He looks down, twiddling his pencil in between his fingers before mumbling, "Daddy hurt you, and she's making you leave."

I sigh and stand, walking over to kneel beside him. I take his little hands in mine and whisper, "Sweetheart, I need you to focus on being you. What happens between me and any adult is between us. Don't punish your daddy for something you don't understand when he loves you so much, and don't punish Ms. Holden when she only thinks of you. All these pranks you've been doing can't keep happening, Noah. Otherwise, you won't be able to stay in this school with all your friends, and if you're not here, who will look out for April?"

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