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“Oh, it’s nothing. The kids are just getting excited,” Emma said, forcing a smile.
“Excited? About calculus?”
Emma let out a small, uneasy chuckle, the sound barely audible. “You know teenagers these days.”
The physics teacher looked at her like she was crazy. But Emma couldn’t tell her the truth because that would get Jeremiah in trouble. And he was already on thin ice at this school. She didn’t want him getting kicked out over this.
“That’s not true,” Jeremiah said. “No one in here is excited by anything that homewrecker teaches. Aren’t you divorced, Ms. Wright? It’s no wonder he left you for another woman...she’s probably much better than you’ll ever be.”
As Jeremiah spoke those words, Emma’s heart plummeted into turmoil. The hateful remarks directed toward her shook her to her core, and she was left reeling in disbelief and shock. Her hands instinctively flew to her mouth, as she tried to contain the wave of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.
All the insecurities that she had felt during her failed relationship with Chad came flooding back to her. She could feel her thoughts spiraling out of control, unable to comprehend why Jeremiah was saying such hurtful things. The pain of her past was now being dredged up in front of everyone, and she was left feeling exposed and vulnerable.
Emma was not prepared for this public humiliation, and could feel the hot tears welling up in her eyes as she turned to face Jeremiah. In that moment, she felt alone and betrayed, wondering why life had chosen to deal her such a cruel hand.
“Sit down, Jeremiah. We’ll talk about this later.”
“Ooooooh,” the class erupted in unison.
Jeremiah grinned, folding his hands across his chest. “Nope. I don’t feel like sitting down. Not in your classroom.”
“Don’t make this hard on yourself,” Emma said. “You’re going to regret it if you keep carrying on.”
“Why should I stop? Are you scared? Are you telling me you don’t want everyone here to know you’ve been sleeping with a married man? And how you made him turn his back on his family?”
Emma’s face turned beet red. He had crossed a line and there was nothing she could do about it now. She pointed to the door. “Jeremiah. Principal’s office. Get out!”
Smirking, he left the classroom and sauntered down the hall to the front office. Emma asked the physics teacher, who was still standing there in shock, if she could watch the class for a few minutes. After she nodded, Emma walked out of the classroom and followed Jeremiah, wiping away tears as she went. Her face was still on fire, and she wished she had a few minutes to compose herself before going into Principal Kennedy’s office. But there was no time. Jeremiah had to be dealt with immediately.
As she reached the office, Jeremiah was already sitting in one of the waiting room chairs, looking in every direction but hers.
“I need to see Principal Kennedy right now,” she told the secretary.
The secretary took one look at Jeremiah and picked up the phone. “He’ll see you now.”
Emma walked right into his office and shut the door behind her, leaving Jeremiah outside.
“Emma? What’s wrong?” Principal Kennedy took one look at her face and gestured to the seat in front of his desk.
Emma sat down, willing herself not to break down in tears. “I...I have a problem with a student in my class. He just had an outburst in front of the other students.”
“Who’s the student?”
She looked down at the floor and then back up at Principal Kennedy, letting out a sigh. “It’s Jeremiah Grayson.”
The principal picked up the phone and dialed the secretary’s extension. “Can you have Jeremiah join us in my office?”
Moments later, Jeremiah came into the office and sat down in the chair next to Emma, inching it away from her.
“Jeremiah, would you like to share the comments you made in Ms. Wright’s classroom?”
Jeremiah remained silent as he looked down and off the side, avoiding eye contact.
“Jeremiah, I can’t help you if you don’t speak. Right now, the only evidence I have of what happened is what Ms. Wright has told me. Are we going to continue on just her word? Or would you like to defend yourself?”
“I called her a homewrecker, Principal Kennedy. She sleeps with married men and ruins families.”
Emma looked away, fighting back the tears as she squeezed the armrest on the chair.
