The door opens and Pam comes in.
"Hey, you alright? Mr. Hayes sent me down to check on you."
"What do you care?" I keep my eyes on the mirror.
"Well, the teacher told me to, so..."
"I'm fine!" I snap. I straighten my dress and run my fingers through my hair.
"Taryn." Pam moves closer to me and leans against the sink. "Look, um, I'm really sorry about all this Kim stuff. It sucks. But we did warn you about how Kim would take you seeing Ryan."
I grab my bag and dig for my eye liner. "I don't care, Pam, whatever." I line my eyes and then re-apply my mascara. "I just thought you were different." I give her a quick glance. "I mean, you always acted more like me than Kim and Linda. I thought you were actually a real friend. But I guess not."
"That's not fair!" Pam protests. "If situations were reversed, Taryn, you know you'd be the same way. No one can tell Kim no."
"Oh my God!" I slam the tube of mascara onto the counter top. "That is such fucking bullshit, Pam! You can tell her no and before all this I was getting ready to do that anyway. I'd had enough of her crap, her ordering us all around and telling us who we can date and what parties to go to and all that shit. I even thought maybe you would follow my example. What a joke. I bet she even tells you when to fuck Kyle and when not to."
"She does not." Pam looks at her shoes. "Well you're braver than I am, Taryn. I guess that makes you the better person."
I want to cry again. I look back in the mirror at my sorry reflection. "Trust me, Pam. I am not the better person. Not at all."
We're both quiet for a long moment. "I wish you trusted me enough to tell me what has you so upset," says Pam. "Is it Ryan? I mean, you can talk to me if you want. I won't tell Kim, I promise."
"No, it's...nothing." I long for someone to talk to, but no way in hell am I trusting Pam.
She sighs. "Okay, well text me if you want. We can hang out."
I nod and roll my eyes. Yeah, right.
Finally, Pam leaves me alone and I wait for the bell to ring so I can go see Michael.
Chapter Fourteen
Michael closes his classroom door and locks it.
"Come with me," he orders, striding down the hall. "Not close."
I stay a distance away and trail behind him through the halls. He greets dozens of students along the way with a smile and wave and a pat on the back.
"Hey, Mr. Hayes!" I keep hearing the salutations, yelled and spoken with admiration as we weave our way through the crowds.
Michael soaks it all in. He's popular and he likes it. I used to know the feeling.
I have no idea where he's taking me, he hasn't spoken a word to me other than to order me to follow him. So, I know he's mad. I'm going to get yelled at but the way I'm feeling right now I just might yell back. I don't care if he's a teacher or not.
Finally, Michael pulls open a door and we are in the mechanical room. The room hums from the various equipment that fills the small space and it smells like peppermint in here. Some kind of industrial solvent apparently.
Micheal punches the lock in the door knob and then turns to me, his face a livid mask of stone.
"Don't you EVER come to my house again, do you hear me?"
I shrink away from his fury and he comes closer. I can tell he wants to touch me, to grab me and possibly shake the shit out of me. His hand is the air and he's gesturing at me, his hand curling into a tight fist before he finally pulls it away.
"I'm sorry," I murmur. "I wanted to surprise you."
"Surprise me?" He laughs. "Well you sure surprised Ava! Do you have any idea the shit I had to go through last night because of you? I was up half the night fighting with her. She's convinced I'm fucking you!"
I bite my lip and cross my arms over my middle. "Well you are. Or were anyway."
Michael advances on me again. "Don't you be smart with me, Taryn. This is not a fucking joke!" He's nearly shouting now, and I wonder how sound proof this room is.
"You should have told me Ava was still around," I tell him, my eyes just as hard as his. "You told me you broke up with her."
"No, I didn't," he insists. "I never said that, Taryn. Ava and I live together. We're engaged to be married."
"Yeah, I saw the ring." The truth is hitting me hard, Michael is an ass. Michael used me, he just wanted to have sex with me. He doesn't care about me at all. Oh my God, I'm so stupid!
"You have to stop texting me too, Taryn. Like all freaking night long you're texting me! You're harassing me! You can't fucking do that! Where is your brain, girl?" He pauses, his mouth thinning, then he grabs me by my upper arms, firmly holding me in place. "Listen, you and me, that was just...you know. Just sex, Taryn. You wanted me to teach you, so I did. That's all it was. I'm getting married next year, to a gorgeous, sexy, smart woman. I have a full time, well-paying job and a mortgage on my condo. I'm not throwing all that away on some teenager. Get real."
The damn tears are coming again and I swipe them away. "You're horrible." I whisper, gazing at the man I thought I was in love with. I jerk my arms from his grasp.
Michael laughs again, cruelly. "Okay, yeah. You didn't come begging me for sex, right? But I'm the bad guy, yep. Totally."
I want to hit him so bad; I want him
