Page 103 of The Teacher
He alternates between begging us to stop and screaming threats until the mud completely covers his face. Shortly after that, he goes blessedly silent. We keep shoveling in dirt until the hole is completely filled. And as I put the finishing touches on my husband’s grave in the woods, I recite to myself the poem he once wrote for me many years ago, back when I was fifteen years old and he was my English teacher fresh out of college who swore to me I was his soulmate:
Life nearly passed me by
Then she
Young and alive
With smooth hands
And pink cheeks
Showed me myself
Took away my breath
With cherry-red lips
Gave me life once again
Epilogue
ADDIE
SIX MONTHS LATER
When I getto the school parking lot, Hudson is leaning against his car, talking to some of his football buddies, even though the season is over. I watched every single game, and Hudson killed it. He deserves the title of star quarterback. He’s going to get a scholarship to a great college—they’re all going to be fighting over him.
When Hudson sees me, he raises a hand in greeting. “Addie!” he calls out, as if I could possibly miss him.
I jog the rest of the way over, a dopey smile plastered on my face. I’m smiling a lot more lately. Ever since I got my best friend back, the world seems a lot brighter. I’m still not Miss Popularity, but I don’t care. Hudson is all I ever needed.
And this year has definitely been wild.
After Kenzie and I talked to Detective Sprague, she attempted to get an officer to bring in Nathaniel, but then he took off. I guess he knew he was in deep troubleand decided it was better to disappear than to be labeled as a sex offender.
They might have searched harder for him, except Mrs. Bennett suddenly materialized. She had some story about deciding to take a bus somewhere to get away for a few days. She paid in cash, she said, and she had no idea everyone was searching for her. Sprague had my story on record about what Nathaniel and I did to her, but she refused to confirm it—and she was not, in fact, dead and buried—so there was nothing the police could do.
Of course, Mrs. Bennett and I both know the truth. And we both know that if I had buried her with dirt instead of leaves, everything could have gone very differently.
In any case, she never returned to Caseham High. She resigned when the scandal came out with her husband, and then she left town. We ended up with a substitute teacher for the rest of the term. I wished it could have been Mr. Tuttle, but I heard through the grapevine he got another job at a high school two towns over. They’re lucky to have him.
As for Mr. Bennett, it turned out that Kenzie and I weren’t the only “soulmates” he had among his students. It makes me sick when I think about it sometimes. I feel so stupid.
One thing I’m grateful for is that I have Kenzie to talk about it with. She and I have for real become close friends this year. We have spent hours talking about Nathaniel. It makes me feel better that somebody as smart and beautiful and popular as Kenzie Montgomery could be taken in exactly like I was. And she says talking to me makes her feel better about the whole thing too.
Plus we’re both getting professional talk therapy. It all helps.
“Took you long enough,” Hudson teases me when I reach his car. “What were you doing in there?”
I was late because Lotus and I were putting the finishing touches on the poetry magazine, which we have been doing entirely ourselves since Nathaniel took off. But I don’t want to tell him that, because I want it to be a surprise when he sees the magazine. “Sorry! I’m here now at least.”
One of Hudson’s football buddies laughs. “Your girl really got you whipped. How long does she have you waiting for her anyway?”
Hudson laughs too, and he doesn’t correct his friend who called me his “girl.” It makes me wonder. Especially since when we walk from his car to the school every morning, he sometimes reaches out and takes my hand in his. He’s not dating Kenzie at least. I’m pretty sure he was seeing some girl at the beginning of the year, but not anymore.
“You taking off then?” one of the guys says to Hudson as he opens the door for me. It’s unnecessary that he does that, but it’s sweet.
“Uh-huh,” Hudson says. “Addie and I are going to get some milkshakes before I have to get to work. See you later, Walsh?”
