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My head stayed down as I fumbled with my fingers. My nerves were at an all-time high, and I still felt nauseous even though I hadn’t had a single thing to eat in over twenty-four hours.
He didn’t say anything for a while, making me feel like he was waiting for me to take the lead.
I couldn’t manage to look him in the eyes as I sat across from him. “Principal Gallo—”
“How did this start?” he cut in.
My head rose, and I met his stare. “Excuse me?”
He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “The situation between you and my nephew. How did it begin?”
I swallowed hard, debating how truthful I should’ve been about the whole situation. Then I realized it truly didn’t matter. The truth was all I had, and no matter how I told it, it would still result in the same outcome. So I gave him every piece of the story. “We met at a college fraternity party before I began student-teaching here. We…” I paused, feeling a bit of embarrassment hit me. “We connected.”
“You slept with him,” he dryly stated.
I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
His brows knitted as he clasped his hands together. “And then you showed up and noticed that he was a student here?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“And so you continued doing what you did at said party.”
“No,” I shook my head. “Not at all. For a long time, I set boundaries with him. It was strictly professional, and well, then, well, I, well, he, well…we…” I began stuttering over my words. Unable to untangle my jumbled thoughts. Before I could push out another syllable, the door to his office flung open, and Milo shot into the room, shutting the door behind him.
“It’s not her fault,” Milo barked at his uncle, rage shooting through his words. Or perhaps it wasn’t rage. Maybe it was fear of what would happen to me. I felt bad for that, too. For making Milo worry about me when his whole world was up in flames.
“Milo, you were not invited to this meeting,” Principal Gallo said. The vein in his neck was popping out, making me more and more nervous about the intensity of his emotions on the subject at hand.
“No, fuck that, West. Come on. You know this is bullshit,” Milo shouted. “She’s too good at what she does to be punished for—”
“For what?!” Principal Gallo whisper-shouted. “For screwing around with a student? With my nephew?! You can’t be serious right now, Milo. I have a job to do, and I need you to leave my office so I can handle this now.”
“She saved me,” Milo blurted out. His eyes glassed over with emotions as he stared at his uncle, leaving all of himself right there in that office. He was raw and real as he spoke. “I didn’t want to be here anymore,” he confessed. “I didn’t want to exist. I was dying, Weston, and she saved me. She saved my fucking life. So don’t do this to her. Don’t ruin her life because she chose to save mine.”
“Milo. Leave my office,” Principal Gallo ordered.
Milo stood tall. “No.”
“Milo. Leave. Now,” he repeated.
“No.”
“Mi—”
“I’ve lost everything,” he said as his voice cracked. “I’ve lost everything, West. I can’t do this, okay? Please. I can’t lose her, too.”
And just like that, my heart shattered into a million pieces for the one I loved.
I went to place a hand on Milo’s arm but stopped the moment I saw the principal’s stare follow mine. I didn’t touch him. I couldn’t touch him. “Milo, please go,” I whispered as my voice cracked. “Please. Everything will be okay.”
Milo’s eyes softened with confusion as he studied me. I was thankful for him trying to stand up for me at that moment, but I knew I had to stand on my own. Life was about choices. I’d made my bed, and now it was time for me to lie in it. I couldn’t have Milo trying to lie beside me in the mess I’d made.
He blinked a few times toward me before turning toward his uncle. “If you ruin her life, I’ll never forgive you.”
“It’s not his fault, Milo,” I swore. “It’s not his fault.”
I thought that was what pained Milo the most, because he knew it wasn’t his uncle’s fault. Milo and I made choices. We made decisions that we shouldn’t have made, and now we had to deal with the consequences of said decisions. There was no one to blame except for ourselves.
After he left the room, shutting the door behind him. Principal Gallo somewhat deflated in his chair as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “He shouldn’t have even been in here. This was supposed to be between you and me, Ms. Evans.”
“I know, but he came because he knew I’d be here,” I whispered, staring down at my shaky hands. “He came because of me.” The realization of that settled in for me as I sat in that chair across from the man who held my whole career future within his hands.
