The New Teacher (Shawn Mendes)

64 - Three May Keep A Secret, If Two Of Them Are Dead

*Aurora's POV*

"Would you believe that we only have TWO exams left?" Becca squealed excitedly, pulling me in for a hug as I laughed.

"I know, it's insane and I can't wait for summer to be like 3 months long," I grinned, hugging my best friend back in this high school corridor. We had just finished our English exam and it felt incredible. I had such a good feeling about this one.

She pulled away after a few seconds and gave me another smile. Even after everything that was happening with Geoff, I could already tell that she had smashed these exams and I couldn't wait to see her succeed without his help. Her bump was beginning to show a little and of course, the rumours began to spread at school about who was the baby daddy but our lips were sealed. "Do you want to go and get some celebratory ice cream? I'm really craving it right now," she suggested.

I nodded. "Sure, let me just go put some textbooks in my locker seeing as I won't be needing them any more." Becca stated that she was going to wait for me outside of school so I began heading in the direction of my locker alone. It was eerily quiet as the younger years were in class and us seniors were all doing exams or at home. As I got to my locker, I struggled with the lock as per usual, I certainly wasn't going to miss this once I got to university. Finally, the lock gave way and I was able to stuff my books inside the locker before slamming it shut. Just as I had slammed it shut, I noticed that a figure was standing next to me, scaring the life out of me.

"Shaw- Mr. Mendes! What are you doing?" I exclaimed, clutching my heart which was racing at the sudden scare. I expected him to laugh at me before asking about how my exam went but the expression on his face said otherwise. His face had lost all colour and he looked as if he had just seen a ghost. My stomach dropped. "Is everything okay?"

"They know," he whispered weakly, looking like he was about to burst out crying at any minute.

"Wait? Who knows? What? Shawn, could you please explain?" I began interrogating, hearing my own voice beginning to sound higher pitched as I panicked.

"They know ... about us. We've been caught," he muttered, shaking his head as if he didn't believe it himself.

My eyes widened as I felt a lump in my throat begin to grow. "Who knows?"

He shook his head. "I don't know but that doesn't matter at this point. They know and we're caught. They have proof. I can't be seen around you. Please don't contact me. I need to salvage whatever tiny piece of my career that I still have left. Lauren was right, this was a mistake and now, fuck. I don't know what to do but this can't carry on. I gotta go," he rambled, looking sadder and sadder as he said every word. Before I got a chance to respond, he dashed, leaving me alone once again in the school corridor.

*Shawn's POV*

- A few hours earlier... -

Resting my feet on my desk, I began to mark my freshman students' essays with my trusty green pen. It was reassuring to see that their essays had improved drastically since the beginning of the year. I continued marking, humming one of my own songs to myself. At that exact moment, my previously trusty pen ran out of ink. Frowning, I began to furiously scribble with it on the edge of the paper in hopes that it would start working again. Sadly not. I sighed to myself, noting that I should buy some new pens before heading to the teachers' room to see if I could mooch one off of someone.

The teachers' room was empty which would have been a surprise if all of the other teachers' weren't in lessons. I shook my head to myself, deciding to check my pigeon hole before heading back to my classroom. I suppose a red pen would work fine.

I shuffled through the letters in my pigeon hole. Nothing interesting.

My fingers lingered on the last letter. It seemed handwritten. An old looking envelope. I frowned to myself before deciding to open it and as soon as I did, about half a dozen polaroids fluttered gracefully onto the floor. I leaned down to pick them up off the floor before I froze, realising what the images were of.

Aurora and I at the park.

Kissing.

Quickly, I scooped them up off the floor and shoved them back into the envelope before pulling out the strange typed up letter inside. Each word was written in a different font with some in different colours. The message was terrifyingly cryptic:

Remember that day? You said you were home,

But I saw you at the park; you weren't alone.

You held her close, you kissed her neck,

Did you forget that she was your student, you ignoramus wreck.

If you think this will stay a secret, I'll be damned,

Call this number or your life will be slammed.

At the very end of the letter was a phone number. I tried to wrack my brain if I've ever seen it before but I never have. The smart thing would be to see the police, after all, I'm being blackmailed. But dating a student also isn't legally acceptable.

I had to go speak to Aurora. I couldn't see her any more. If this person actually wanted to compromise then no way in hell could I stay in contact with her. I would move schools if I had to. Sure, it would be the worse loss of my life but it was either Aurora or my entire life. I would undoubtedly lose friends, family and my job over this if this got out. And I'd also probably have to do jail time too.

And then, I had to see Lauren. She definitely had something to do with this.