Lesson Learned

Chapter Twenty Two

And damn, I could see why my father worked with this man. He made sure that every word was depicted in terms that couldn’t be twisted. It was detailed and to the point.

“If y'all decided to kick Kendall from the school, then yeah, that was her plan. That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Dan looked over at me with a sullen expression. “And I almost went along with it, but at the last minute, I changed my mind because I couldn’t put Kendall in that position, just to hopefully get back in her life.” He looked over at me. “I’m sorry, Kendall.”

I didn’t say anything, only looked away. My eyes fell upon Kyle, who was still looking down at the dark wooden table. As much as I wanted to comfort him in knowing that would never happen, I knew it’d have to wait until after the meeting.

“And do you have proof that this occurred?” Mr. Hawkings asked. “Because from what I can see, this could go either way. Either you’re telling the truth or Miss Brigham is telling the truth.”

I looked up at the principal who was tapping a pencil on a pad of paper. “Unless you have proof of this conversation, I’m afraid that there’s nothing to substantiate what you’re saying.”

Damn it…

He was right, though. It was now either Molly’s truth or Dan’s truth. But either way, I didn’t see this changing anything.

“Alright, Mr. Franklin, I will need to get your information, and we will contact you once we gather all the information and the board meets again. We will be in contact with you, but I do appreciate you coming forward.” Mr. Sparks then looked over at me. “I’m afraid the current suspension of your internship will continue until we can get to the bottom of these claims. I’m sorry, Miss Clark.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

“We’ll adjourn this meeting until a later date and will be in contact with you everyone involved.”

And with that, the board members slowly filtered from the room, mumbling amongst themselves, with a few looking at me with disgusted glares. Others, with an understanding smile.

It was clear that Molly’s lies had affected at least a few of the board members, negatively, against me. And that scared the hell out of me because that could mean the end of my internship, and possibly keeping me from getting my degree.

Just as I turned in my seat to walk over to Kyle, I saw Dan waiting at the door for me. And I remembered the look he had on his face well. He was pleading with me for a chance to talk.

“Give me a minute,” I said to Kyle. “I have some questions for Dan.”

Kyle sighed, but nodded at me. “I’ll wait outside for you.”

When the room cleared out, Mr. Hawkings looked over at me.

“I will need your badge, Miss Clark.” His tone was cold, and his look was that of disgust. How I longed for the old principal that used to be at the school when I was a student.

I reached into my purse. “Yes, of course.”

He took it from my hand. “And we will require you to leave the property and not return until we contact you. You are dismissed from your internship, effective immediately. However, if the claims prove to be false, we will be in contact with you.”

I nodded, unsure of anything to say. “Thank you.”

Once I was standing in front of Dan, we both started to talk at the same time. He smiled and nodded.

“Go ahead.”

“I have to leave the property, so I can’t talk about this here.”

“Will you meet me somewhere? Please, I would love to explain.”

“Meet me at the park. I’ll be there in an hour.”

He nodded. “Thank you. Our usual bench?” He said, with his cheeky smile that used to cause me to weaken in the knees. But things had changed, and he no longer had that effect on me. I only wanted to meet him to find out all the details of his interaction with Molly.

“That’s fine.” I turned to look at Kyle. “Are you ready?”

He nodded but remained silent. And I wished I knew what was going through his head with all of this.

I tried to reach for his hand, but he quickly put it in his pocket. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, let’s just get out of here.”

He was quiet the entire way back to my apartment and didn’t even speak as we walked up to my door.

I reached for his arm as soon as we entered, and I closed the door behind us.

“Something is wrong, besides the obvious. Now what is it? Did I do something? Is it because of Dan? Talk to me, please.”

He sat down on the couch, leaning forward with his elbows on his legs. He rubbed his face with his hands and sighed.

“This is all just fucking ridiculous and the fact that I got you pulled into this shit because of Molly isn’t fair to you.”

“You are not to blame for what she’s doing, Kyle.”

“You didn’t sign up for this,” he continued, “and I should’ve put your education above my own personal wants. That was unprofessional of me, and it might’ve just fucked up your entire career. Especially once the new crews make their way here.”  He paused before standing up to look outside. “Hell, I’m surprised they weren’t lining up to snap pictures of you and shove a fucking microphone in your face.”

“Hey, come here,” I said, scared that he was pulling away.

“I think I’m gonna just go.” He looked at me with a defeated expression. “I’ll call you later.”

He kissed the top of my head and left my living room. And I understood why he was reacting the way he was, but what happened between us wasn’t something I regretted. Or would ever regret.

Our relationship definitely caught us both off guard, but I would never change it. And none of this was our fault, or the fault of giving into our feelings for each other.

I walked over to the window and watched him as he opened his car door. As I knew he would, he looked up at the window. I placed my hand flat against the pane, and he subtly raised his hand in a brief motion with the smallest of smiles.

When he drove away that day, I felt like I lost a part of me. Because I didn’t know what to do or to say.

I knew he was pissed at the situation, and rightfully so, but I also knew that we had to fight through this together. And I’d be damned if I’d let the bitch of woman ruin us. We were stronger than that, and I knew it. And I knew Kyle did as well.