Page 80 of Tutoring the Bad Boy
She winks at me. “There you go. You just had to flip the light switch.”
Springing to my feet, I jog to the door, stop, and run back to hug her. “Thank you for this year. You’re the best teacher I’ve ever had.”
She’s stiff in my arms. I mean, I’m a student and I’ve hugged her. It’s pretty much a no-no, but it’s the only way I know how to show how much I appreciate her. She pats my back.
The hug is very brief, and I don’t look her in the face.
Her hand comes to rest on my forearm. “Kaleb, you haven’t made the best choices, but you’ve never been a bad kid. You were hurting. All I did was try to decipher what you were saying.”
If I speak, I’m not sure I’ll keep it together, so I just nod. My teacher has no idea what she’s done for me this year, and there will never be a way to put it into words. She gave me more than a chance to reach for my dreams. She’s given me a chance to reach for the one person I want to share those dreams with. I just hope I can.
I leave the room and absent-mindedly walk through the hall until I hear the clearing of a throat behind me. It’s a voice I’m familiar with, so I turn to face Principal Gray.
“Is there a chance I could speak to you for a moment?” She pauses and then adds, “Please?”
Please? Whoa. “Uh, I guess.”
“Would in my office be okay?”
“Sure.”
She turns, and I follow her to her office where she shuts the door. There are windows that people can see into, but with the door shut, our conversation will be confidential. When I look around the office, I notice all the pictures, diplomas, and knick-knacks are gone. The whole place feels weird and empty.
“I owe you an apology. That won’t come close to making up for the way I treated you. You are one of my students, and the way I treated you was despicable.” Her voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it before. “I will never be able to make right what I’ve done.” Her voice breaks on the last word.
Speechless is the only word I have.
“I’ll be calling your dad today to apologize as well. As of this morning, I’ve tendered my resignation. You deserved better. I was so caught up in my own…” She stops and shakes her head. “Whatever reasons I might have had do not justify what I did. They never have, and they never will.”
Wow. What’s even more impressive is that I’m pretty sure she wasn’t forced to resign. My dad knows too many people in this town, and if the school board was making her quit, he’d know about it. He would tell me too. With the way he’s been grumbling about her, he’d have been thrilled to know they were ousting her.
“Thanks.”
“I will do my best to apologize to Ginny. To tell her that you never saw her that night we made the deal.”
My eyes widen. “Uh.”
“You flinched, Kaleb.” She offers a tiny smile. “There’s a reason you were always in trouble. You’re a terrible liar.”
There are a million reasons to hate this woman. Solid, justifiable reasons, but I don’t. I laugh. “I didn’t realize that.”
“Yeah, I know.” The smile fades from her lips. “Ginny is lucky to have met you. You’re a good guy. I only wish I hadn’t been so blind. I’m not offering any guarantees because I can’t, but I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure she knows it was all me. I hope it’s enough that it fixes your relationship with her. I’ve never seen her happier than when you were together.”
My breath catches. “Um, thanks.”
“I owe you that and more.” She nods toward the door. “I’m finished if you want to leave.”
Pushing out of the chair, I head to the door. “Just…” I stop and almost rethink what I’m about to say. No, she needs to hear it. “Ginny just wants you to hear her. She loves you.”
Ginny’s mom lowers her head and nods. “Thank you,” she whispers. I’m pretty sure she’s crying.
I leave the office and almost feel a little hope that maybe I might have a second chance with Ginny. I just need to find a way to make her listen.
Then it hits me, and I know I’ve got the perfect opportunity. At least, I hope I do. Our movie scene just got a lot more personal.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ginny
