Crossing Into Forever

Chapter 29

The next day, a letter went out to the parents of the students that lived on that hall, no matter what dorm they were housed in. Meetings were arranged for parents that wanted to discuss the matter in person. The students were all notified as well. There had been a thorough search of every bathroom in the school, as well as every shower room, to make sure there were no more peepholes. The students in question were expelled for the remainder of the quarter. All the necessary precautions were taken to protect the privacy of everyone in the school.

It was later in the morning, before lunch, that Ella was taken out of class by Agatha. Agatha made small talk with Ella, but she would not tell her why or where they were going. She was starting to get her hopes up that maybe she was going to go home. Her hopes were mounting when they arrived at the headmaster's office. There was no other reason she could think of for her to be taken there. They stepped through the door and Ella saw the doctor and headmaster sitting there, but when she turned toward the wall, her heart leapt with pure joy. Christina was sitting there. Ella immediately started crying and ran to her and hugged her as tight as she could, almost sitting in her lap. Huge tears were spilling down her face, and she knew she didn't look very dignified with her fervent display, but she didn't care. Mother Christina wiped the tears from Ella's face and patted the area beside her so Ella would sit there.

"Child sit down here."

Ella did as she was told, but she refused to let go of Christina's hand. Agatha gave her a tissue and then sat down in another chair beside them.

"Are you taking me home? Ella was looking at Christina with a hopeful look in her eyes.

Christina's eyes started to well up and she looked down and swallowed hard. She had to gather herself for a moment so she wouldn't start to cry. Ella caught the anguished look and her hopes started to dwindle. "Has something happened? Is everyone at the convent ok?" By now, she had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"No child. Everyone is just fine. Nothing has happened at the convent. But I do have something that I need to discuss with you."

Ella still held Christina's hand and was turned slightly in her chair looking directly in Christina's eyes. Her brows were furrowed while she was waiting in anticipation for Christina to tell her what the matter was.

Christina looked at the others, as if to ask for help, not knowing exactly what to say. Ella looked at the others as well, thinking they were going to tell her.

Nicholas sighed and was getting impatient with all of the suspense that was being created. It was much worse than the truth. This is exactly what he was talking about earlier with Agatha. Yes, it is upsetting that this has happened, but it isn't the end of the world like they are making it out to be. He decided to intervene. "Mother Christina, would you like for me to tell Ella why she is here?

Mother Christina looked at him and closed her eyes and nodded her head. She was afraid if she opened her mouth to speak, she would start to cry.

Nicholas looked at Ella and Ella's eyes focused on him, with the same worried look. Nicholas opened his mouth to speak but was taken aback with himself as a twinge of emotion came over him. He wasn't sure what the emotion was, but all of a sudden when looking at Ella, he felt sorry for her. He felt guilty for telling her the bad news, as if he were the one hurting her. "What in the hell was happening to him? Why do I feel so bad for telling this girl, no... Woman... this?" He unconsciously took a deep breath and started... "Ella, unfortunately last night while you were showering, there were boys in the adjacent bathroom, peeking through a hole in the wall. They saw you while you were showering."

Immediately Ella's face began to pinken, and her eyes widened and then she looked away from him. She looked at Christina as if she were asking her what she was supposed to do. The fact that Nicholas was there made things worse. She felt so humiliated. He was watching her to see what her reaction was going to be because he wanted to comfort her. He wasn't sure how to do that though.

"Ella, the boys that were there have all been expelled for the remainder of the quarter. It has not been divulged to the rest of the school that you, or anyone as far as that goes, were seen in the shower. The rest of the school is only aware that there was a peephole found. I know this is very upsetting to you, but I assure you, we are doing everything possible to keep others from finding out that your privacy was violated."

Ella still had not spoken and he could see the pain in her eyes. He wanted to make it go away. He was starting to understand why they were so protective of her. "Ella, are you okay?" He had a softness to his voice that she had never heard before.

Christina spoke up and tried to comfort her as well. "Child, I know this is difficult, but you will be ok. It is things like this that make us stronger. You may not realize that now, but you will get over this. The best thing we can do is talk about how you're feeling. There is nothing wrong with being angry or embarrassed." Christina gave her a tight hug.

"Ella, when you're ready, it is lunchtime. Would you like Mother Christina to have lunch with you in the cafeteria or you two can sit in the faculty lounge."

"I would like it if we could sit with my friends in the cafeteria."

Mother Christina and Nicholas both were surprised at how well she was taking this. They both knew she was more upset than what she was showing.

"Why don't you go on and Mother Christina and I will be there shortly. It is up to you to decide if you want to talk to your friends about this or not, but I would caution you about confiding in anyone else, aside from who was in this room earlier. If you want to talk about it, any of us are available and more than happy to help."

She spoke in a low soft voice. "Yes sir." With that she got up and hugged Christina one more time and walked out.

Nicholas looked at Christina and spoke. "Well, I would say she took that better than what I thought she would. We will need to watch her closely. I know she has been through so much in a short period of time. I find myself worrying about her. I will do whatever I need to do to keep her safe and as happy as I can. You understand that she is still in danger if she leaves this school. As much as she wants to go home with you, it would be dangerous if she did."

Christina knew he had Ella's best interest in mind. She had known him all of his life and she knew under the hard exterior, there was a very caring man that had a loving heart. "Yes Nicholas, I know you are only looking out for her. I agree she should stay here."

"I will escort you to the cafeteria." With that, they both left the office and walked to the cafeteria.

Once in there Nicholas walked her to the place that Ella and her friends sat. Millicent was there already and when she saw Mother Christina, she stood up and hugged her enthusiastically. Nicholas told the mother to have a seat and he would have someone bring her lunch to her. She did so, and soon Ella was there. She was upset about what happened, but that was all overridden by having Christina there. She tried to put everything in the back of her mind for now.

Soon lunch was over, and Christina had to leave. Ella asked her to stay longer, but this trip was unplanned, and she had many things to tend to at the convent. She promised she would make plans to come and stay longer very soon.