ff, and I guess I do understand why.”
“Do you regret it?” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Not all. I’ll never regret what we did, but we’re not going to see each other every day like we’ve been doing. Hopefully my brother doesn’t realize I’m on the payroll here as a janitor until I get my first check. After that, I’ve got to try and find somewhere to live.” He sighed and shook his head. “It’ll take time...”
“I’ll wait, I swear I will.” A smile spread across my face. “Just tell me there’s hope and I’ll hold onto that.”
“I’ll find a way for us to be together—it just isn’t today. You need to stay focused on school and you need to work on graduating.” He stepped forward and squeezed my ass. “Otherwise I’ll have to put you over my knee again and give you some motivation.”
“I might need some motivation right now.” I pulled my skirt up until his hand was resting on my panties.
“Get to class.” His hand came down sharply on my panties and then he pushed me towards the door.
I DIDN’T LIKE KNOWING that things were fucked up between Anton and his brother. I sensed from the conversations I had with Anton that they were always tense, but I couldn’t help feeling like the latest chapter was my fault. If I never went to his house, the secret would have stayed buried out of his sight where it needed to be. I went through the motions of the day, doing my best to pay attention, but it was fairly clear that I wasn’t going to be able to focus with things in disarray. I didn’t see Anton the rest of the day, nor did I see him the following day. By Wednesday, my heart was aching, but I was doing my best to focus on school.
The school was slowly falling out of sorts with Anton gone. The punishments weren’t nearly as severe and students were already talking about things feeling like the old days. The classes started to get more chaotic, with distractions that made my attempt at learning difficult. At the end of the day, I decided to go see Sloane for the first time since I left his house. I had been forced to pass him in the hall a few times, but I always kept my head down and didn’t look his way. Luckily, he showed me the same courtesy.
“Mr. Thorne...” I lightly knocked on his door.
“Yes?” He lifted his head and his face immediately soured. “Oh, it’s you.”
“Can we talk?” I walked into the office and sat down before he could respond.
“I don’t need you coming in here to plead Anton’s case for him. I heard everything he had to say when he left.” He leaned back in his chair.
“I care about your brother. I know that may be hard for you to hear and I know you don’t have a very high opinion of me, but he really did change me. Why don’t you pull up my grades from the last couple of weeks and take a look.” I motioned to the computer.
“I’ve seen your grades—I know you’re only passing one class.” He waved me off.
“Just look, please?” I motioned to the computer again.
“Fine.” He leaned over and tapped the keys. A few seconds later his eyebrows raised in surprise. “So, you’re cheating finally? You stopped caring about failing grades and now you’re just cheating—great.”
“I’m not cheating. I’m working my ass off for those grades. It’s going to take a lot more work to get where I want to be, but I plan on graduating this year.” I held my voice firm, even if I was annoyed by the accusation.
“You’re serious about that.” He turned away from the computer and looked at me.
“I am. Mr. Thorne, I’m really sorry about the things I did to you. I know I was a total bitch and don’t even deserve to be at this school after the way I treated you, but I am genuinely sorry.” I twisted my face into a look of remorse and it was authentic as my words.
“You’ve never struck me as the type to grovel.” His tone eased up and he tilted his head. “Maybe someone like you can change after all.”
“Could I accompany this grovel with a request?” I was apprehensive to ask, but I felt like I did need to do it.
“If you just told me all of that so you could beg me to reconsider what I did to Anton...” His tone got more intense and a hint of anger rose up against his lips.
“No.” I shook my head back and forth. “I would like for you to tutor me.”
“Tutor you?” He laughed and his eyebrows raised. “What the hell?”
“I do need help. I’m working my ass off to get the grades I’m getting, but I’m so far behind. I would ask one of the teachers, but I don’t think they’re quite ready to forgive me yet. I want you to see that I’m serious about this firsthand. I promise that I’ll work hard and I’ll do anything you say. I just want to have a real shot at graduating.” I laid the proposal on the table with my plea, hoping he would agree.
“You know what—fine.” He nodded and shrugged. “I was a teacher long before I was a principal and if you’re serious about trying to turn this around—you may be the only student here that gives a shit. I’m warning you though—if this is another one of your fucking pranks...”
“It isn’t. I promise.” I smiled and shook my head. “I really do need help and it wasn’t like I could ever ask Anton for it.”
“That’s true.” He chuckled and nodded. “Okay, I guess I’ll see you here tomorrow afternoon.”
THERE WAS MORE TO MY request than tutoring. It was a foot in the door, but I also wanted to try and help Sloane. He hadn’t been there to see what Anton did to turn the school around and it was clear that all of Anton’s work was going to be wasted if something didn’t change. If there was a way that I could get the tutoring I needed and try to drop hints about what he should be doing, then it could be a win for the both of us. I hoped it would somehow help to repair the damage between Anton and Sloane as well. If I could show him that I genuinely cared about his brother, he might just understand there was more than just chemistry between us. I knew it wouldn’t be the first topic of conversation, but it would have to come up at some point.