“No, not yet.” I looked around the room. “Why?”
“This email went out to every member of the faculty this morning.” He opened his briefcase and pulled out a piece of paper.
“What the hell is this?” I took the paper from him.
My eyes nearly bulged out of my head when I saw the title — Mr. King and the Cheerleader. It was a story someone had written, describing my apparent affair with a student, who was a cheerleader at Glendale High School. The language was very dirty and written from the perspective of the cheerleader. I got to the bottom and saw a picture of a Glendale High School cheerleader uniform, laid out on a sheet, and it appeared to be wet with what the story described as stains of our love.
Oh my god, did Charlotte write this?
“So, Mr. King. Is there something you would like to tell us before we have to bring every single cheerleader into the office for questioning with their parents present?” The lawyer shook his head back and forth. “If you’ll just tell us who it is, we can have the conversation discreetly and arrange for you to turn yourself in to the police without having you paraded out of the school in handcuffs.”
“I’ve never had sex with an underage girl, much less a student that goes to this school!” I threw the paper at him. “This is bullshit!”
“We’re trying to trace the computer that it came from.” Principal Wilson shook his head and sighed. “We haven’t called the police yet, but it is only a matter of time before someone else does if we don’t.”
“There are only two suspects…” I looked down at the floor and grimaced. “One of them was wearing that outfit last night and the other one is her little sister that goes to this school.”
“So, it’s true…” The lawyer’s mouth fell open in shock.
“The story is bullshit. I’m dating someone who used to be a cheerleader here, but she’s in college now. Maybe she set me up, or maybe her little sister is just being a fucking brat, but I guarantee you that the story is not true.” I glared angrily at the wall and felt my blood pressure rising.
“Principal Wilson.” I heard the secretary’s voice as the door opened. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but the police are here.”
“Fuck!” I slammed my hand into the desk and stood up.
“Wait, Mr. King. We need the name…” The lawyer followed me to the door, but stopped when he saw me approach the police officers.
I wasn’t being arrested, but they were respectfully requesting that I come to the police station and answer some questions. I definitely wasn’t going back to my classroom. I had seen investigations happen before at Glendale High School, so I knew I would be out on administrative leave until it was done. After every member of the faculty had read the email, I wasn’t sure I could even show my face there again even if I was welcome to do so. The same teachers that always looked at me with lust and made sexual innuendos now looked at me like I was disgusting. A few of the cheerleaders smiled when I walked by and that made my stomach turn.
Chapter 9: Charlotte
I got back home a few minutes after ten o’clock and the house was dark except for the front porch light and the one we left on in the kitchen. I opened the door, dropped my bag, and immediately started dialing Veronica’s cell phone. It went to voicemail and I tried texting her, but got no response. I knew she was blatantly ignoring me because she rarely put away her phone for even five minutes.
Veronica, where the hell are you?
I sat down in the living room and it was nearly eleven-thirty before I heard a car in the driveway. I immediately walked to the door and pulled it open, expecting to see Briana’s mother. Regardless of how angry I was at Veronica, I was even angrier that Briana’s mother would let her stay out that late on a school night. I stepped out onto the porch and realized that it wasn’t Briana’s mom that had brought my sister home. The car door opened and a cloud of smoke emerged before my little sister stepped out. The light in the car came on and I saw a boy driving and two other teenagers in the backseat.
“See you tomorrow, Tommy.” Veronica pursed her lips and blew the driver a kiss before she started walking towards the house.
“Veronica, what the hell?” I put my hands on my hips as she got closer. “I told you ten o’clock, and you said you were going to Briana’s house!”
“We did.” Veronica shrugged and walked past me. “Then we went out.”
“Are you drunk?” I grabbed her arm and turned her back towards me. “Oh my god, you smell like weed, cigarettes, and cheap beer.”
“So what? I was just having fun.” She giggled and pulled away.
“Veronica!” I slammed the door once we were inside the house. “This discussion is not over! You lied to me. I trusted you and you come home drunk?”
“Chill out, sis.” Veronica turned towards me and her face seemed to flash with rage. “I’m just living up to your reputation. Everyone makes sure to remind me how awesome you were when they realize I’m Charlotte Baker’s little sister.”
“I made mistakes, yes. I was a stupid kid. You don’t have to act like me just because we’re related.” I shook my head in disbelief. “You’re not leaving this house again until Mom gets home unless you’re going to school. You ride the bus there and ride the bus back. If you get put in detention again, I’ll come get you, but you’re just going to be digging a deeper grave for yourself. When
Mom gets back, I’m telling her everything.”
“You hypocritical bitch!” Veronica walked towards me and before I could react, she slapped me across the face so hard I saw stars.
“Go to your room!” I resisted the urge to lash out and slap her back—which was a lot more reserve than I had ever shown before.