Page 25 of When You Left Me Speechless

“See you tomorrow, chatterbox. Gotta get to a meeting.” He backs away from me as he speaks. “Oh, and don’t think I don’t remember you stole my favorite shirt.” He winks behind his glasses and walks away, leaving mespeechless.

CHAPTER 14: REMEMBER YOUR WHY

LOGAN

I’m in trouble. For a week and a half, I have been trying to hide the fact that I not only knew who Poppy was but also that I haven’t stopped thinking about her since the night I met her. I hate that she thought I would take advantage of her, but I’m glad we both acknowledged we met before she started at Pecan Grove.

Her blue eyes, dark hair, and the freckles that cover her face might as well be tattooed on my brain. Damn, I am attracted to this girl, and all I want is to get to know her more. I don’t know if she is interested in me. Part of me thinks if I hadn’t pushed her to talk about it in the hall, she would have never admitted to knowing who I was. But then, I touched her. I don’t know what made me reach for her, but before I could think twice, my hand was on her wrist like some sort of unavoidable magnetic pull. I felt her skin react to my touch and saw her eyes flare. My fingers on her soft skin felt like heaven, and everything I thought was true immediately disappeared because, for a split second, it seemed she might have liked how it felt too.

I walk into the auditorium with a few other teachers. Our administration stands at the front of the room. I find a seatnext to the rest of the fifth-grade team. The room is full of hushed voices. We weren’t told what this meeting was about, but it was called at the last minute, and those meetings rarely go well. I settle into my chair and wait for the meeting to start.

Logan: Dude, Poppy is fucking with my head.

Tanner: What do you mean

Logan: Fuck, I think I might like her, and I think she might like me too.

Tanner: I thought she didn’t know who you were

Logan: Yeah, well, we just cleared the air about that.

Tanner: Then stop being a pussy and ask her out

Principal Keller clears her throat and gains the attention of everyone in the room. The whispers stop, and I can hear people shifting and turning in their seats to face the front. I slide my phone back into my pocket. Tanner is right. I need to stop fucking around and ask her out on a date. It’s the only way I’ll know for sure if she is interested.

“Thank you all for clearing your schedules this afternoon and joining us. We will try to keep this short since you are all very busy. I’m sure some of you already know about the current situation at River Run Middle School.” The room breaks out in whispers. It seems everyone around me knows something that I don’t.

“Please, everyone,” she says into a microphone while someone in the front hushes the crowd. “Anyway, as I was saying. Unfortunately, there has been a situation where a teacher and their student teacher were engaging in anintimate relationship. As you all can guess, this is highly inappropriate. The purpose of this meeting is to remind all of you that when you take on a student teacher, you are to mentor them professionally and to help them grow as educators. Any other type of relationship will not be tolerated. We have built relationships with the universities nearby, and many of our new teachers each year started as student teachers in our county. These are relationships we would like to keep in good standing. Does anyone have any questions?”

You could hear a pin drop in the auditorium. No one dares ask a question.

“Right, okay, well if you have any questions you know my door is always open. I am so proud of our team and know I have nothing to worry about. Thank you all for coming and remember to always remember your why.” Keller sets down the mic and the room fills with the sound of everyone gathering their belongings and leaving.

I, however, am frozen in my seat. I can feel the blood drain from my face. I can’t ask her out.

Fuck.

Not only does that put her in jeopardy, but it puts my job in jeopardy. I’m set to interview for the assistant principal position in a few weeks. I can’t be caught messing around with the student therapist.

CHAPTER 15: LOOPHOLES

POPPY

Beth is sitting behind her desk on the phone. I quietly walk into the speech room and put my things away. I sit on one of the tiny chairs, sipping my coffee and waiting for her to get off the phone. When I got home last night, I had an email from Margaret at Dogwood Manor wanting to schedule an interview with me, and I can’t wait to tell Beth all about it.

“Good morning, ladies,” Ruth sings from the doorway. Beth waves and hurries off the phone.

“Good morning, Ruth. Sorry about that. You know how parents can be.”

“Oh, I was coming by to say good morning. That meeting yesterday afternoon was crazy, huh?” Her eyes shift to me and then back to Beth.

“Totally insane.”

“What was so crazy about the meeting?” I ask, knowing it might not be appropriate, but Ruth obviously wants to gossip about whatever happened, so I try my luck.

“Some teacher at the middle school was sleeping with her student teacher. The parents found out and it caused a huge stink. The county required all administrators to meet withtheir staff to review the policy about student teachers so it doesn’t happen again,” Beth explains.

“I heard someone caught them doing it in a janitor’s closet,” Ruth adds. “The teacher was fired, and the student was asked not to return. I think his university had to get involved. They are having to pull in a sub for the rest of the year. It’s so scandalous.”

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