Eighteen
Caden's POV
I watched her body shake as she gripped onto her best friend, and I so badly wanted to take her place. If it wasn't for our location, I would have taken her in my arms in an attempt to ease her pain and embarrassment, but I couldn't.
All I could do was watch her fall apart.
I was walking in the hall, on my way to my classroom, when I saw the crowd of students near her locker. I didn't think much of it at first, but as I approached, I saw them huddled around images, and I knew it couldn't be good. Students never stuck around for anything tame.
Pushing my way through the masses, I finally made it to the center of their circle and paused, my breath caught in my throat.
Attached were images of who I assumed was Diem. The photographs were of her clad in a black bra, exposed almost completely.
I reached over the students and snatched the photos away. I needed them gone before Diem arrived later today. She would be completely devastated, and I wasn't sure how much more betrayal she could take.
I hated all of the people who were hellbent on hurting her. They were ruining her slowly, stripping her of everything that made her her.
I remember the first day I met her in these halls. She was quick, witty, and absolute trouble. The mouth on her was unmatched. I knew she meant every word she said, and I loved every second of it.
She wasn't destined to be quiet or complacent. She belonged in the center of a room, commanding everyone's attention, taking their breaths away just as she did mine.
Diem Reynolds deserved more than she was given, and all of the people who took her for granted didn't deserve her.
And it all began with her mother. I should have known she was trouble from the moment I saw her standing in the driveway. I could see it in the look she gave her daughter— she didn't care about her, and she wasn't afraid of letting others know.
I had watched Diem from the window of the classroom door, waiting to see what she would do in response to the pictures. She needed the moment to herself, but when she stood in the center of the room, her hands pulling down her shirt and tears spilling down her cheeks, I couldn't watch anymore. I had to get in there and pull her away from another group of people who didn't seem to care about her but only about what happened to her.
Now returning to the room alone, I glanced through the window again and spotted the boy who had continued his previous conversations like the morning hadn't happened, like he wasn't one of the people destined to ruin her.
I bit the inside of my cheek, taking several slow breaths because I read somewhere that it helped calm you down, that it could keep you from doing something really fucking stupid.
My hand wrapped around the knob, and I yanked the door open. Heads snapped in my direction, and I could feel his eyes on the side of my face, but I focused on the teacher standing in front of the blackboard.
"I need to see Mr. Ekhart."
The room grew silent, and I turned toward the class now. Dustin was still seated, but when his teacher repeated my request aloud, he sighed and stood. I held the door open and waited for him to step out.
We walked together in silence. I kept my hands in my pockets, gripping my loose change and keys. When we made it to my classroom, I pulled open the door and stared at him. He stood there, his face expressionless. He continued to twist a pencil between his fingers, and his long legs were rooted in their position.
"It's better for you if you step inside," I said, my voice controlled.
His brown eyes scanned me over lazily. With every look, every tilt of his head, every second that he stood in this hall like he was in control, I fell deeper into my anger.
I opened the door wider and extended my hand toward the classroom. Dustin rolled up the sleeves of his sweatshirt and stepped inside the room. I walked over to my desk and leaned against the front of it with my arms crossed against my chest and my legs crossed at my ankles. I watched him as he stepped toward the desks and stood in the middle aisle, directly in line with me.
"What were you thinking posting those pictures?"
"I didn't post any pictures."
I titled my head. "C''mon, Mr. Ekhart. You're smarter than that, and you know I'm smarter than that."
"Diem and I are just having a disagreement. We'll get past it like we always do."
"There's no getting past it, Dustin. Don't you get it? She wants nothing to do with you, and you have broken all of her trust. Even if she forgives you, there is no getting past it."
"Diem will—"
"You used her vulnerability to embarrass her. You posted pictures of her for all of her classmates and teachers to see. It's over."
Dustin sighed and shook his head. He ran a hand through his hair and rolled his eyes upward. "You don't get, Dee. I know her. She'll forgive me."
"I know everything, Mr. Ekhart." I uncrossed my arms and gripped the edge of my desk. "Everything."
"Whatever she told you is a lie."
I lifted my hand in the air to stop him before he continued any further.
"The only reason you're speaking to me right now and not Principal Marion is because I want to keep Diem from further embarrassment. Otherwise, you'd be kicked out for sexual harassment and assault."
That wasn't entirely true. The only reason I hadn't told Principal Marion was because she had asked me to. She had asked me with her eyes and the desperation in her voice, and I knew I would be another person to disappoint her if I went against her request. She shouldn't have felt embarrassed— the only person who deserved that was him, and keeping this information to myself was killing me slowly. I had a responsibility to protect her, like I had a responsibility to protect all of my students, but Diem was more than that to me, and it was the root of all my problems.
Still, I had to tell Dustin that it was my choice. If I had told him that it was really Diem who asked for it, he would have seen it as an invitation to approach her again. He wouldn't see it as her embarrassment but rather her continued interest in him.
"I didn't—"
"But if you don't stop, I will go to the Principal, and I will go to your parents, and I will go to the police. If I even see a tear come out of Diem, you'll be out of this school before it finishes rolling down her cheek. Am I understood?"
He clenched his jaw and looked away from me.
I meant those words. I could listen to Diem only for so long before things got out of hand. She was used to being independent, likely caused from her mother completely ignoring her from her birth, and that independence led her to believe that she could handle the situation on her own. I was under the mistaken impression that things had subsided until today. I let my guard down because of it, and that won't happen again.
"Stay away from her and get some help, whatever that means. Other people shouldn't be harmed because of the things you hate about yourself."
"I didn—"
"I won't repeat myself."
I tilted my head toward the door, not wanting to be with him any longer, and then I sat back in my chair after he left. The palms of my hands pressed into my closed eyelids in an attempt to alleviate the headache that had persisted all morning. I didn't know how I was going to make it through my first period of class when all I could think about was the front desk that would be empty.
God, I was in deep. A single look from her could transfer her heartache onto me. I felt every sinking feeling settling into her stomach, every tear that pooled against the corner of her eyes, and every dreadful thought she had as realization hit her. I shouldn't be surprised. After all, I had lived with her for a couple of months now and developed these feelings as the days passed. In the beginning, she was like a toothache that never went away or a hangnail that never let you forget it was there.
A complete pain in the ass.
And she still was, but now she was also more. Now that pain in the ass had shown me how broken she was. Yet, she still loved the people who were closest to her. She would sacrifice the things she had for them, and her willingness to sacrifice her own happiness reminded me of myself.
I reached for my phone to check on her, but the bell for class rang and students began shuffling into the room. They spoke loudly as if they were down the hall from each other instead of a couple of desks away, and I shut my eyes again.
Deciding to give Diem and Cassie space, I placed my phone back in the drawer and waited for the final bell to ring. I gave the students a free day and treated class as a study hall. They were allowed to sit in groups as long as they were doing work together and keeping their volume low. The class was originally meant to be a lab, but I didn't want to walk around and supervise them today, and I didn't want Diem missing one of the most important labs of the semester.
I was flipping through semester's grades that had to be updated for the next round of report cards when I overheard a group of students talking in the corner.
"She freaked the fuck out. She practically flashed us all, which really defeats the whole theatrics of being mad that your nudes are leaked."
"You can't send pictures and then get surprised when they're circulated throughout the school."
"Did you know people have pictures of the picture?"
"No way."
I bit down on my lip and tapped my pen against my desk, my ears burning with each word.
"No talking," I called out. My eyes scanned the room and momentarily settled on them. It was a group of guys seated in the right corner. Their desks were clear which didn't surprise me since they were all on the verge of failing my class. I looked back down at my notes and continued filling in grades.
"You want them? I'm sure I can find someone who has them."
"Na, I wasn't that impressed."
The other guy laughed. "Yeah the picture wasn't all that, but the in-person show was quality."
I slammed my fist against the desk and the room grew quiet. The boys pulled away from their huddle and turned their heads in my direction, their eyebrows raised.
"Mr. Conlee, you have a 67 grade point average in my class. I suggest you crack open your textbook for a quality grade."
His friends burst into laughter, their heads dropping onto the desk and hidden by their arms.
"I don't know why there's laughter. Mr. Freeman, you're not too far off with a 69, and Mr. Fiora, oof, you're actually failing, bud."
I watched their faces turn red and their eyes wander over the room as whispers began to spread.
"Mr. L, you can't just yell out our grades like that. That's private."
I smiled. "I'm glad you now understand what it's like to have your privacy invaded, even a little bit. I'll also be sure to give each of your parents a call about your grades, in case your report cards somehow get lost in the mail."
Their mouths fell open and I could see that another series of complaints were ready to slip past their lips.
"Speak again and I'll have you all sent to the office."
When they all sat there just staring at me, I reached for my copy of the textbook and lifted it up for them to see and used my other hand to motion for them to get theirs out.
For the remainder of the period, they sat silently in their corner, their eyes glued to their books. The only noise that could be heard in the room was the flip of pages, the scribbling of pens, and my typing on a keyboard.
I spent the rest of my day in this silence by staying in my office. I knew that if I stepped into those halls I'd hear the students talking about it again. I also avoided the faculty room as well, another breeding ground for student gossip. I needed to be away from them all because I was one word about away from having a breakdown of my own.
Once it was time to leave, I didn't go home immediately. Instead, I went to the nearby grocery store and filled my cart with all of the items that I remembered Diem selecting the first time we shopped together. I got her favorite cereals which were all practically straight sugar in cardboard boxes. I also grabbed a package of cuties and the largest Hershey's chocolate bar that I could find.
Satisfied that I had selected all of the comfort items I could find, I made my way back to the apartment and prepared to face whatever was waiting for me. I'd be there for her in any way she needed, even if what she needed wasn't me.
I pushed my metal door open slowly and peered into my living room. The sofas were empty and the TV was off. I set my bags down on the kitchen table and looked around the other rooms before I made my way to the bedroom door.
Pressing my ear to the door, I listened to see what she was doing and could hear a familiar sound coming from her phone. It was from the scambaiter she was obsessed with watching. Each day, she'd log onto his stream and walk around the apartment carrying her phone, her eyes glued to the screen. Throughout the stream, she'd cry out in laughter and rush over for me to listen to the ridiculous scenario the streamer was putting the scammer through.
I opened the door slowly and stepped into the room. Diem was laying on her stomach, the comforter covering her almost completely except for a single foot that hung of the bed.
She was asleep, and her phone was beside her, playing one of the videos. I returned to the kitchen to grab the comfort snacks and placed them near the phone. Before leaving the room, I leaned forward and ran my hand across her hair as my lips brushed against her cheek, whispering a good night to her.
I walked out slowly and made my way to the living room couch. I spread across it and placed one hand on my stomach and the other arm across my eyes.
Stupid Caden. She asked for one condition in the beginning, and you were so confident that you could follow it. You were so sure that this exchange would be like all the others so you didn't bat an eye, and here you were disappointing her just as everyone else did.