Page 112 of These Pucking Boys: Part Two

Doug’s eyes turn as round as saucers as he steps back. “Oh, my bad. I get overexcited when I see a toy I like. Can I trouble you for an espresso then? Actually, make it double. I need all the caffeine I can get. I’ve been up all night, thinking of ideas to turn things around for you and your lady.”

He speaks so fast that I have trouble following him. He’s like an energizer bunny on speed.

“Are you sure you need more coffee?” Lachy asks.

“Oh, I’m fine. I only had like three double espresso lattes.” He grabs his laptop bag and gets comfortable at the dining table.

June returns to the living room, still wearing my sweatshirt, but she has leggings on underneath, and she put on makeup.

“Good morning, hon. How are you feeling?” Doug gets up again and pulls June into a hug. She looks at us with a question in her gaze. I shrug.

“I’m okay,” she replies.

“You know, there are worse things than having a sex tape leak to the media. I mean, nowadays, they’re a dime a dozen, am I right?”

“I don’t know. It was probably the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.” She sits down.

“Of course it was, darling. I’m not trying to diminish your experience.”

“Then what exactly are you trying to do?” Lachy glowers at him.

Doug, not missing Lachy’s aggressive stance, swallows hard, and it’s audible. “So, I think I have a plan to change the narrative being regurgitated by the media.”

I pull up a chair and join June at the table. “Go on.”

“We place the blame where it belongs.” He makes a point of looking each of us in the eye, not hiding the mischief shining in his. “We make that bitch Wendy Wagner pay.”

CHAPTER 46

JUNE

Per Doug’s instructions, we should keep a low profile until people are less interested in our story. Unfortunately, I can’t stay locked in my apartment for days, and on Monday morning, I head to work despite the boys’ protests.

I’m a ball of nerves, not knowing what to expect. By now, everyone must have seen the video. I’m not sure how people found it so quickly after it was posted. Doug believes Wendy might have targeted members of the school faculty, and she made sure to let the tabloids know it was me in the video.

I didn’t tell Principal Prescott the reason I had to leave work early. I just said I was feeling ill. But on Saturday, I had to come clean and explain to her what had happened. It was mortifying, to say the least, but I had to try to save my job.

She didn’t say I shouldn’t bother coming to work today, so here I am. But the fact that she didn’t fire me over the weekend doesn’t mean that I won’t get fired later. I checked my inbox this morning, expecting to see an email from her calling me into her office. There was nothing. Usually, this early, I’d head to the faculty lounge and grab a cup of coffee, but like a coward, I go straight to my classroom. I can’t face my coworkers.

I turn on my laptop and go through my class schedule for the week. Then I check my email one more time. There’s a message from Louis’s mom, telling me he has a doctor’s appointment, and he’ll come in a bit later.

When my students start to flow into the classroom, I watch them closely, dreading that some of them might have seen the video. Kids nowadays have so much access to things they shouldn’t. But no one looks at me funny. They all greet me like always, then proceed to chat with their classmates.

The bell rings, and I start my day. I begin to relax, holding on to the notion that if I was going to be fired, it would have happened before class. It was a false sense of security. Thirty minutes later, Nerissa, the music teacher, tells me Principal Prescott needs to see me in her office right away. She’ll cover for me while I’m gone.

“Did she tell you what this is about?” I ask her on the way out of the classroom.

“I’m sure you can guess,” she answers without making eye contact with me.

I swallow hard, then go back inside the room to grab my purse and laptop. If I’m receiving a pink slip, I might as well have my things with me and save myself the humiliation of getting them after. Any other possessions I leave behind, Katrina can get for me.

My heart is heavy as I walk down the hallway, each step bringing me closer to my doom. I feel like a dead woman walking. My pulse is banging in my ears and, suddenly it’s like I’m outside of my body, and everything that follows is happening to someone else.

I enter Principal Prescott’s office and take a seat across her desk. Her face is solemn when she tells me she’s done everything she could, but due to the number of complaints the schoolreceived from parents and pressure from the board, she has no choice but to fire me.

“I understand,” I reply numbly. “Thanks for trying.”

She makes a pitiful face, flattening her lips. “I sincerely hope that man is worth all this, June.”

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