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Each student group was asked to write up a guest column about their historical figure to be published leading up to the 150th anniversary event. Linc Tate, a reporter with the blog, had told me he’d do the editing on the columns and call the kids if there were any concerns so they’d get the full experience. As a result, I hadn’t read them.
Thankfully, only one had been published so far, and it wasn’t the one Will and Toby submitted.
I whipped out my phone to text Linc.Do not publish the guest article from Toby Rhodes and Will Knox. They’ll be turning in a new one.
When I looked up, both father and son were watching me with uneasy expressions.
“Okay, I’ve alerted Linc not to publish it, but Toby, this isn’t good,” I said. “Your name is on this project too.”
“But we didn’t do it together,” Toby said, voice rising a little with his distress. “I’m doing the script for the re-enactment. Will did the column. I didn’t even know at first, but he was bragging and…” Toby’s eyes welled with tears. “Am I going to be in trouble?”
This was it, wasn’t it? Exactly the scenario Alexa had warned me about. Even though I hadn’t snuck around with Hunter as far as my boss and the town was concerned, I had put myself in a position to be conflicted.
Toby was a good kid. I didn’t want him to suffer the consequences of Will’s actions. And yet, I couldn’t be objective. How could I? I loved the kid.
I loved his dad.
“I can’t tell you what will happen just yet,” I said gently. “Cheating is a serious problem.”
“But you can just let us redo the assignment, right?” Toby asked, his voice hopeful.
I shook my head. “The school has a strict policy about cheating, and I’m too close to you and your dad to decide how it’s handled.”
“But you’re the teacher,” Toby protested.
“I’m sorry,” I said, a sense of failure rising. Iwasthe teacher, and I should be able to handle this.
Hunter cleared his throat, and I braced for an appeal on his son’s behalf. But of course that wasn’t Hunter.
“We have to trust Clark to know best,” he said. “If there are consequences, then we’ll deal with them, Toby.”
“But I told the truth,” Toby protested. “I told on Will even though I didn’t want to! Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“It does,” I assured him, reaching across the table to lay a hand over his arm. “I’ll take this to the principal and explain everything. She knows I’m dating your dad, which means I’m not objective. I have to remove myself and—”
“But it’s fake dating,” Toby interrupted.
I paused, reluctant to lie. I settled on a half-truth. “It’s real to her.”
“But it’snotreal. It’s fake. You can just tell her that.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?” he demanded. “I want you to decide what happens. You’ll be fair. I know you will. But she doesn’t even know me! She probably just thinks I’m some bad kid because of how I used to be.Please, Clark.”
Toby was getting more wound up, tears spilling down his cheeks.
Hunter looked at me, and I knew from his expression what he wanted. I shrugged helplessly. It was the worst time possible to tell Toby the truth, and yet it felt wrong to not give him the full explanation of why I couldn’t be the one to decide the outcome of this situation.
Hunter rubbed his son’s back with one hand. “Hey, kiddo, we want to be completely honest with you, like you have been with us, okay?”
Toby lifted his face, looking confused. “Okay?”
“Clark can’t tell his principal our relationship is fake because we’re not pretending anymore. We’re dating for real now.”
Toby looked confused for a beat. “But you’ve never dated a man before.”
“I know,” Hunter said, “but now I am.”
