Page 90 of When You Left Me Speechless

Fuck.

My planning periodis almost over and I’m waiting for my second class of the day to start when my classroom phone rings. It’s Keller requesting I come to her office immediately. Once I make sure my class is covered, I head to her office. Every step feels heavy and I want to run in the other direction. I want to run towards Poppy, but I know I can’t.

“Come in,” I hear her shout from the other side of the door. I enter, wiping my hands on my pants. I take the seat across from her. Her face gives me no indication of what is about to happen. In the corner of her office sits our current assistant principal, Mrs. Calloway. Her arms are crossed, but she says nothing.

“Good Morning, Mr. Peterson,” Keller says, her tone level and calm. “I’m not sure if you know why I called you down here so urgently, but I’m hoping you can clear up some questions I have.”

I nod and swallow hard. “Sure, what’s going on?”

She clears her throat. “This morning, it was brought to our attention that you are in an intimate relationship with our student therapist, Poppy Collins.” I feel the blood drain from my face. “I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what to do about this, especially with the fiasco at the middle school earlier this semester, but I wanted to allow you to explain and confirm or deny this accusation.”

I take a deep breath. “If you’re asking if we are in a relationship, we are not. Well, I guess I should say we are no longer in any type of relationship.”

“And did you ever act on this relationship on school property?” she asks.

“Absolutely not. Why? Is that what she told you?”

“The parent who reported you two may have insinuated something happened on school property, yes.”

All I can hear is the pounding of my own heart. She insinuated we were inappropriate at the school.How fucking perfect.I feel my body break out into a full sweat. My fists clench.

“Look, I know it looks bad, but we met before she started here. Both of us were shocked when we saw each other on her first day. We ended up hanging out and getting to know one another, but we never intended to do anything wrong. We kept it private so this exact thing wouldn’t happen. I promise you I take my job seriously, and I know she takes school very seriously. Never once have we let our relationship get in the way of our job here, and we have never once acted on anything here on the school property.”

I take a breath and pause, but she doesn’t respond. So I continue, “I know Mrs. Wilson reported it, right? We saw her this past weekend. Honestly, we ran into her separately, but she must have put it together. I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. It started the week after spring break and ended on Sunday. I know what you are probably thinking, but I standby my decision to be with her because she is too important for me to sit here and let you believe she wasn’t worth the consequences I now may be facing.”

She looks down at her desk and then back up at me. “While that is a charming story, Mr. Peterson, I had a parent in my office this morning demanding I take your job and report Ms. Collins to her university.”

“On what grounds?” I try to keep my volume neutral, but I’m angry.

“On the grounds that it is inappropriate for a teacher to have an intimate relationship with any student teacher, or I guess in this scenario, student therapist. I’m sure you can understand our predicament with you recently accepting the assistant principal position that is set to be announced next week. If you were me, how would you handle this?”

I scoff because I can’t help it. I run my hands through my hair. I try to gather my thoughts and take a few deep breaths.

“I could understand if the intimate relationship occurred on school property or if I was her supervisor, but neither happened. This is a parent out to get revenge on a student therapist who didn’t qualify their daughter for services. You and I both know that’s what this is about.”

I glance toward Mrs. Calloway, my eyes begging for her to speak up, but she doesn’t. “I think I would stand behind my staff unless I had proof the people in question had acted on the relationship on school grounds or it had somehow gotten in the way of them doing their jobs.”

She’s quiet for a minute. “We will need you to stay home for the next couple of days, starting now, while we look into this further. I will get a sub to cover your classes. I will let you know the outcome and when and if you can return. I’m sorry, I really am. Just give me some time.”

I shake my head and stand to leave. I stop at the door, looking back at the woman who holds our fate in her hands. “Look, I know your hands are tied, but please don’t make anexample out of Poppy. If you need to make an example out of someone, reprimand me, fire me.” I sound desperate.Maybe I am.

“I’ll be in touch, Mr. Peterson.”

I walk out of the office feeling completely defeated. I don’t want to believe this is happening.

My phone buzzes on the way out to my truck. It’s my dad. Of course, he would call when I was just put on temporary leave from my job. I can almost hear the universe laugh at me as my phone vibrates in my hand. I send him to voicemail.

CHAPTER 56: THE WHOLE TRUTH

POPPY

Logan: I just met with Keller. She knows. You were right about Mrs. Wilson. I’m so incredibly sorry, chatterbox. I most likely won’t be back this week. When you’re ready to talk through this, I will be here waiting. I know you’re scared, but I need you to know I would do it all a thousand times over. I don’t regret us. Not sure what the future of my job will be, but I need you to know it doesn’t matter. I want my future to be you.

I’m sitting in the speech room reading his text over and over.Breathe, just breathe.I don’t respond because I don’t know what to say. The classroom phone rings, and Beth answers.

“Keller?” I mouth to Beth.

She gives me a nod and then hangs up the phone. “She wants to meet with you and me,” she says, her voice low and tentative. The walk to the principal’s office is incredibly stressful, so I try to focuson my breathing.

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