Page 41 of The Teacher
To be fair, I didn’t get caught for killing my dad.
“Well?” Her eyebrows shoot up. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
There are still no words coming. What am I supposed to say? I did cheat. I don’t want to lie on top of what I’ve already done. “I’m so sorry,” I finally squeak out.
Mrs. Bennett looks completely unmoved. That’s no surprise. She reminds me of the wicked witch in one of those Disney movies. All she needs is a cape. “Cheating is an extremely serious matter. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to be discussing this with the principal.”
Principal Higgins already does not like me. She used to like me. Well, for the first year and a half I went to Caseham High, she didn’t even know who I was, which is probably the best possible situation. The first time I went in to talk to her, she was so kind to me. And now she thinks I’m a troublemaker because of what I did to Mr. Tuttle.
What is she going to do when she finds out I’ve been cheating on top of everything else?
“You can go,” Mrs. Bennett tells me.
I stand up on shaky legs and somehow manage to make it out of her classroom without collapsing. I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow, but it’s going to be awful. The principal is going to find out that I copied off Kyle. They’re probably going to have to bring in my mother, and then I’m going to see that awful disappointed look on her face.
And maybe worst of all, Mr. Bennett is going to know about it.
I am so furious at Kenzie. She did not have to tell Mrs. Bennett about this. She could have kept her mouth shut. I don’t even understand why she hates me so much.
I’m not going to be a doormat anymore. I’m not going to let Kenzie get away with this.
Chapter Thirty-Three
EVE
I’msurprised that when I get home today from the school, Nate is already there waiting for me.
I’m almost always home first. Often, he stays so late that I can’t figure out what he’s doing there. But today when I get home, he is sitting on the sofa. And when I walk into the living room, he stands up to greet me. He even gives me a kiss.
“How was your day?” he asks.
“Good.” I glance over at the kitchen to see if he’s got anything cooking in there. “What would you like for dinner tonight?”
“Actually,” he says, “I thought we could order something. From anywhere you want.”
Nate usually thinks the delivery places are too expensive, and he’d rather have some spaghetti out of the box than get delivery from an Italian restaurant. “That sounds great.”
There’s a smile playing on his lips. His eyes crawldown my body, and there’s an expression on his face I haven’t seen in a long time. “You look nice today, Eve.”
Do I? I’m wearing a white blouse with tan slacks. Although I do have on my pair of Manolo Blahniks, which I don’t wear all the time, but I needed a boost today. “Thank you.”
And then he kisses me again. A long, lingering kiss this time. There is an urgency in his kiss, and a second later, he works the top button free on my blouse.
“Nate,” I gasp.
“Let’s go upstairs,” he breathes in my ear. “Okay?”
I’m not going to say no.
Half an hour later, the two of us are lying breathless in our bed. Nate was so determined to ravage me that I kicked off my Manolos instead of removing them carefully and placing them lovingly back in the closet. The rest of our clothes are strewn about the room. When I look over at Nate, he has a sheen of sweat over his body, and he looks back at me and grins.
“Whew,” he says. “That was…”
I nod in agreement. I don’t know what changed today, but maybe there is a path back to saving our marriage. Not that I don’t care deeply about Jay, but he and I do not have a future together. Nate is the future, for better or for worse.
“Good thing we’re ordering in,” I say. “I am way too tired to cook.”
Nate laughs. “I know.”
