Mr. D - Black Mountain Academy

“Don’t fucking say that,” he bit, slamming his palm on the desk. He quickly looked over my shoulder to see if he was too loud and if any of the faculty had heard him. “Do you realize what you did? I risked my career for you. I went against everything that was right to be wrong for you. For you! Do you understand that? Do you get that you fucked with my life?”

“That wasn’t my intent. I never wanted to get you into any trouble.”

“No? What was your plan then? To make me fall in love with you so we could live happily ever after?”

“Would that have been so bad?” I asked softly.

“You are fucking insane,” he said, pure venom shooting from his eyes. “I want you out of my office immediately. I also want you to stay the fuck away from me. Do. We. Understand?”

“Please don’t say this. I understand you’re angry. I get that—”

“Angry can’t even begin to describe what I feel.”

“We had something… You can’t deny that.”

“What we had was some twisted schoolgirl obsession. You need help, Corrine, but I’m done offering it.”

“Please—”

“Go back to L.A. and finish out the school year. I could push for you to be committed again, and maybe I should. But I’m giving you the opportunity to leave. Leave.” He pointed at the door. “I mean it. Don’t you dare stalk me, come near me, or even think of me again.”

I stood up, tears no longer being held back, and walked to the door. Did I really expect for him to not react the way he was?

I looked over my shoulder and said, “I fell in love with you. And it wasn’t the madness that did. It was my genuine and clear-thinking heart.”

Without saying another word, I exited his office… and closed the door.14CorrineWas it possible to feel betrayed when you were the one guilty of betraying?

Why would my mother tell the principal of my new school about my past? It was my dirty, dirty secret, and she knew it. Hell, she had hired some fancy PR company to try to bury the info so deep that the media would never discover the fact that I went away to “mental rehab” as my mother put it. She wanted it swept under the rug more than I did.

So why in the world would she out me to someone she didn’t know?

I hadn’t anticipated that at all, or I would have never given D all the tools I had in order to try to reach her.

I wanted to choke on my own spit.

I wanted to collapse against the lockers and never walk again.

I wanted to—

“Corrine!” I heard called from behind me. I quickly swiped the tears away from my eyes and saw Kevin running down the hall toward me. “Wait up.”

He was the last person I wanted to speak to right now, and frankly, I feared I would vomit or have a nervous breakdown right in front of the Spanish class door. I needed air. I needed to get out of this school as fast as possible.

“Corrine,” Kevin said a little winded. “I’ve been looking for you all day. I’ve also been texting and calling all weekend. What the fuck is going on?”

I glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to us—which they weren’t of course because beautiful people focused on other beautiful people only—but I wanted to be sure I wasn’t part of a scene, and Kevin had a loud voice.

“I’m just going through some stuff right now,” I said, lowering my voice so only he could hear.

“Yeah… well, I think this stuff you are going through is what we need to talk about.”

I tilted my head trying to read him. What was he talking about?

“You’ve been acting more distant than normal. Off. Every time I go by your house, you aren’t there, which is also odd since I’m the only person in this town you really know. So, I hid outside your house Friday as I saw cops leave. I then saw you leave, and I saw who you were with. I also saw him grab and hold your hand.”

I froze, knowing what he would say next.

“Are you fucking Mr. D?” He asked the question in a low voice, leaning in as close as he could to me without actually touching.

I didn’t want to lie to Kevin. Especially since I was just called out on the ultimate lie and was still reeling from it. But I sure as hell didn’t want to tell him the truth either.

And it wasn’t like I would ever be able to fuck Mr. D again.

Not now.

Not ever.

I gave a small laugh, realizing it sounded fake the minute I did it. “Have you lost your mind?”

Kevin didn’t even flinch. “No, but I’m worried you have. Again.” He placed his hand on my upper arm. “This is why you left L.A. To get away from… that.”