Page 75 of His Property

The classroom door flies open and bangs against the wall. My head whips toward the door, and my eyes go wide as Victor storms into the classroom, his glare pointed at me.

Mrs. Rollins, the principal, follows him in, tugging on his arm. The campus police officer hurries in after her. “You can’t be in here!” Mrs. Rollins yells.

He shrugs her off and stomps up to me. He shoves a paper at my chest, and I wrap my fingers around it but don’t take my stunned eyes off him.

“What thefuckdid you do?” he growls.

The campus police officer frantically speaks into his radio, but Victor either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. I, however, do.

The bell rings, and I step around Victor. “That’s okay!” I say to the officer, waving my hands to get his attention. “I’m so sorry, this is a misunderstanding. My friend didn’t realize class was in session. I asked him to bring something by for me during my lunch break.” I gesture to the few students who are getting up and filing out the door. Most stay and gawk at us, and I spot two cell phones aimed at me.

Mrs. Rollins narrows her eyes at me. I’m a terrible liar. “Yourfriendhas to check in at the front desk, and we have to get your okay before he can come into the school. We can’t have grown men storming into classrooms, Ms. Keller.”

I nod. “I understand. I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding.”

She scowls for several moments, but then she turns to the students. “Get to class.”

They quickly grab their things to leave, and TJ is the last out. We make eye contact, and I give him a small ‘I’m fine’ smile. He glowers at Victor before leaving, and I’m surprised he’s brave enough to do that, considering the last time he and Victor met.

“Donotlet this happen again,” Mrs. Rollins growls. “Next time, the police will be called.”

“Of course.” I nod fervently and smile.

She, along with the officer, leave, shutting the door a little too firmly on their way out, and I spin to face Victor. I note his bruised jaw and black eye, but my irritation is stronger than my give-a-shit about it at the moment.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

His eyes widen. “What’swrongwith me?” He points to the paper. “What do you think?”

I hold up the paper and scan the document. My lips pull into a frown, and I sigh.

Oh, Gabi, what did you do?

“Well?” he asks, thrusting his hand toward the paper. “Are you going to explain this to me or play dumb some more?”

I lower the paper to my waist. “I had no idea about this.”

Victor’s eyes darken, and a jolt of fear travels my spine. “Donotlie to me, Mae,” he grits. “Gabi has crippling social anxiety. She didn’t do this by herself, and she doesn’t know anyone else.”

I put up my hands. “Look, all I did was help her pack her things and find an apartment. I honestly thought—”

“Apartment?” he asks, the darkness leaving his eyes. His lips part and shock plays on his face. “She’s moving out?”

I inject as much compassion as I can into my expression as I nod. “I really thought you would be able to smooth things over before she went through with the move. I had no idea about this.” I lift the paper. I let a few seconds go by while Victor stares vacantly through me. “I’m so sorry.”

He blinks and meets my eyes for a millisecond before he looks behind him and sits on the edge of my desk. He leans over and holds his head in his hands.

I walk over to him and hesitantly press my hand to his back. When he doesn’t pull away, I rub circles over his shirt.

He lifts his head and rubs his teary eyes. “How the fuck did this happen?” he asks.

I don’t know if he’s speaking to me or if he’s thinking out loud, but I have the answer, and I can’t bring myself to keep it from him.

“She feels betrayed, Victor.”

“Why? I…” He clears emotion from his voice. “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for her.”

“She thinks you killed your father and you won’t own up to it. He was her father too, and she’s told me stories about him. I know he wasn’t a great man, but she’s spent a huge chunk of her life thinking he abandoned her. Now she finds out he might have been dead all this time… She wants answers, and she doesn’t trust you to give them to her.”

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