Page 15 of Taming His Teacher

Erin,

Please report to my office after seventh period.

Everett

I suppose he could want to check in. It’s been a while since we’ve had a heart-to-heart over how things are going. Once the school year is in full swing, it’s hard to find time to breathe, never mind chitchat over tea.

I write back to confirm that I’ll be there and don’t think much of it until the end of the day. But when I see Will’s tweed-clad shoulders leaning up against the wood-paneled wall, my stomach leaps into my throat.

He turns and our eyes meet; our expressions of horror mirror images. What we’re both thinking isOh no.

“Did you get an email from the Headmaster?”

“Yes.”

I thought hell was other people, but hell is waiting outside Uncle Rett’s office, a colleague of my grandfather’s who I’ve known since I was born, knowing he’s going to ask me about my sex life.

We stand in silence, Will’s arms crossed over his chest, his clenched jaw evident even through his beard. I try not to fidget, but my anxiety needs an outlet.

When the door opens and Mrs. Latham gestures us inside, the blood in my body might explode out of my pulse points and leave me a drained shell on the floor. That horror show might be preferable to what’s waiting for me.

Uncle Rett is sitting behind his large desk, his be-jowled face stern and put-upon. He doesn’t want to have this talk any more than we do.

“Miss Brewster, Mr. Chase, please have a seat.”

We sit in the stiff-backed black chairs with the logo of the school in gold on the back. I suddenly know how every boy who’s ever been sent to this office must’ve felt. Uncle Rett waits for the door to close before he speaks again.

“It’s come to my attention that you two are…involved.”

Such a delicate way of saying it. But sure, involved.

Will grinds out a “Yes, sir,” that sounds like it’s been forced out of him at gunpoint.

“It’s not surprising two young, intelligent and attractive people such as yourselves thrown together on a campus full of old fuddy-duddies would start a relationship. Indeed, many of our faculty and staff have met their spouses on the Hill. The occasional rumor of hand-holding or dating wouldn’t concern me, but that’s not the rumor I’ve heard.”

Every internal organ I have stops working, shocked into humiliated panic.

“This is not a conversation I’d like to have, but it must be had. Are you pregnant, Miss Brewster?”

His eyes, the warm brown ones that have always looked upon me with such kindness, are glazed with disappointment. I wish I could tell himOf course not! No, never, not me. But I can’t. I’ve never lied to Uncle Rett and I won’t start even though I’d rather crawl under my chair and die.

I swallow hard before I can force the word from my throat. “Yes.”

His eyes close on my confirmation and he shakes his head, the dim glow of his green desk lamp glinting off his bald pate. He’s been bald my whole life; I can’t imagine him with hair.

“What are you intending to do about this pregnancy?”

“I’m going to keep the baby.”

Will grunts, not able to keep his disdain for my decision out of this conversation when we should be standing united on this side of the desk. Uncle Rett’s eyes flash to Will, and his face reddens in anger.

“If that’s the case, we have a few options. As faculty at this school you have a responsibility to uphold the highest moral standards, and a pregnancy out of wedlock does not meet those criteria. If both of you would like to remain teaching here—and aside from this incident with your personal lives, we’ve been pleased with your performances—you would need to get married.”

“Married?” Will’s voice is a croak, a horrified, strangled vocalization.

“Yes, Mr. Chase.”

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from bursting into tears. This year had started out so well, all of my dreams were coming true, but it’s devolved into my worst nightmare. I’m pregnant by a man who has started to show some ugly colors under his tweed-and-corduroy veneer of WASP-y charm, and I’ve been presented with an ultimatum: get married or get out. The third option, get rid of the baby, is not going to happen, but Will is going to push for it.

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