He laughs once. “Yeah. Right next to the showers. I swear, Coach did that just to mess with the new guy.”
“Probably did.”
“But I don’t mind. Lots of guys my age would kill for any office.” He picks up the banner again and shakes his head. “Fucking Erik. Piece of shit.”
I linger there in his door, feeling fear and anger, but I force myself to leave him. I walk back down the hall, skirting around the locker room. I can picture what it must be like during practice, or even during a game, full of guys laughing and talking. I bet Erik’s going to tell them all about how he put that banner up and got me, really fucking got me.
Shame floods my body and I hurry away, feeling flushed and foolish. I leave the athletics building entirely, stepping out into the sunny afternoon light, and take the long way home, past the expensive bungalows and their manicured lawns, past the bustling chain restaurants packed with college kids, down along the beach and its rolling waves, before heading back up into my small, cramped apartment, before burying my nose in a book and trying to pretend like the world is still okay.9DavidI try to pay attention to the game tape in front of me, but my eyes keep getting pulled over to the folded-up banner on the corner of my desk. I reach for it, stop myself, and end up turning off the TV.
I call the library and ask the nice-sounding woman librarian the same questions about Erik’s account as the last time, and she confirms that he did print off a few pages earlier in the day. I thank her, hang up, and clench my jaw.
The little bastard is getting too bold. These two stunts are way over the line, and the administration can’t overlook it even if they want to. It’s vicious and petty, and Erik’s acting like a toddler that just had his favorite piece of candy taken away. He’s throwing a temper tantrum, and I want to treat him like the little child he is.
But my hands are tied, at least right now. I have to try to go through the normal channels first before I start making alternative plans. Erik wants me to make a stupid move, to expose myself. If I give him any little bit of ammunition, he’ll use it against me, and once I’m gone, it’ll be fair game to harass Chloe as much as he wants.
I need to keep this job for myself as much as for her.
I kill an hour in thought and as soon as I hear people filtering into the locker room, I grab the banner and get up. I don’t wait for the end of practice this time, I march right to Hardy’s office, knock on the door, and step inside.
He glances up at me, a frown on his face, and holds up one finger. He’s on the phone, listening intently. “Well, yes, I understand. I’ll make it happen. Listen, my assistant coach just came in here, I’ve got to go. Right, okay. Bye now.” He hangs up and sighs. “My wife,” he says by way of explanation.
I nod a little and linger in front of his desk before taking a seat. He leans back and tilts his head. “Here to talk drills?” he asks. “I was thinking about taking it easy on the guys today.”
“That’s fine,” I say. “But I’m not here about that.”
“What’s up? You look stressed.”
I lean forward and put the banner down in front of him.
“What’s this?” he asks.
“Open it and read.”
He sighs, unfolds it, and stares down at the words. “Where did you get this?” he asks.
“Tutoring room,” I say. “Someone hung it up there.”
“This the same girl you mentioned?” he asks, his voice quiet.
“Same girl. She didn’t want me to use her name before. She’s embarrassed, Hardy. Can’t really blame her, but this is going way too far.”
“You think it’s Erik, then?” He frowns at me. “Could be the girl has more than one guy that she’s pissed off.”
I stare at him, my jaw dropping. “What?”
“I’m just saying, a girl like that.”
“Girl like what?” I growl. “You don’t know her. And no, this is Erik. I called the library, confirmed he printed some stuff out this morning. They won’t confirm what exactly he printed, but come on. You know that idiot’s not using the library to actually print out homework.”
Hardy folds the paper up and stares at it for a long, tense moment. I feel outrage at the way he just tried to accuse Chloe of bringing this on herself, but I hold myself back.
Finally, Hardy shakes his head and looks at me. “You realize what you’re doing here?” he asks. “You really understand what you’re trying to do?”
“I see a young man harassing a young woman,” I say through clenched teeth. “I don’t see anything else. We’re in a position to do something about it. I think you might be the only person at this school that he’ll actually listen to.”