Page 37 of Mr. Principal

I stepped across the threshold and slammed my door shut, startling Susan and everyone else who looked on.

But I didn’t care as I headed to the other side of campus. I cried the whole time as I walked. I’d had my suspicions. I just never had any concrete evidence. It felt like such a slap in the face. I wiped at my tears and stopped in the middle of the green to compose myself when someone called out to me.

It was Carter.

“Hey, you,” he said, walking towards with me with a friend of his that I didn’t know well. I instantly felt self-conscious.

I must have looked a mess because his face darkened in concern.

“What’s wrong, Dana? Tell me what happened. Who do I need to kill?” he said, waving for his friend to go on without him.

“I can’t—Tom—oh God.” And then I slumped forward and began to sob on Carter’s chest as he held me.

“Come on,” he said to me. “I can’t have you crying in the middle of the night on the green. What type of monster would that make me?”

“Not a monster at all in comparison to Tom.”

He silently took my hand and didn’t say a word about my last comment. He had never badmouthed Tom, but he’d never praised him either. Their hate for each other was almost tangible.

I understood Carter now because suddenly I hated Tom with a passion too.

We went back to Carter’s dorm room and he’d given me a cup of hot chocolate that he found in the kitchenette. He also handed me a washcloth and helped me clean my face, while I warmed my hands on the cup of chocolate.

I’d smiled up at him with a wobbly grin, trying to keep it together, telling myself not to cry.

“You don’t have to put on a brave front for me,” he’d said. “If you want to cry, then feel free to cry.”

I took in a shaky breath. “I don’t think Tom is right for me,” was all I could say. It humiliated me to admit that he was cheating on me. It just meant that all this time I truly hadn’t been good enough for him.

To my surprise, Carter said, “I’m glad you finally came to your senses. Because he’s not right for you. He never was, and he never will be.”

“I think he’s cheating on me,” I said, feeling safe suddenly with sharing my secret.

Carter growled, “If he’s too stupid to be faithful to you, what’s the point of even being with him?

I looked down at my hands and sighed. “Maybe there’s more to the story. Maybe I should go back and talk to him… actually listen to his side.”

I stood up and Carter reached out his hand to stop me. “Wait… he doesn’t deserve you, Dana. He doesn’t. Even if he isn’t a cheat, he’s all wrong for you.”

“You always hated him.”

“I don’t hate him… I hate that he has you.”

I was stunned. I didn’t know Carter felt that way.

“If Tom isn’t right for me, Carter, then who is?”

“Me,” he said, standing up now and tugging me gently toward him.

“Carter, I—”

He kissed me then, stopping me from saying anything at all, and it was as if that kiss was what my body—no my entire being—was waiting for. I kissed him back, not caring about the consequences.

It felt right. Everything about touching Carter felt right.

When he had finally broken the kiss, I just stood there not knowing what to say or what to do.

“I love you, Dana. Give me a chance to make you happy,” he said, tucking a hair behind my ear.