“I was actually there for that one. I had to earn my paycheck somehow, so I swept the floor behind you.” I shrugged and smiled again.
“So you heard what they said.” He sighed and looked at the ceiling for a moment. “If my week couldn’t get any more fucked up—Bethany came to me for tutoring. Tutoring and Bethany Lewis. That was something I never thought I would hear.”
“I told you she wanted to apologize.” I folded my arms across my check and nodded.
“I didn’t think there was a lick of good in that girl, but I guess I was wrong. It seems like I’ve been wrong all week and it started last Saturday when I threw you out of here. I’m not going to pretend that I can wrap my head around your relationship with Bethany. I mean, I get why you like her—don’t get me wrong, she’s hot as hell. It seems like there is more there than that, though. She seems to care about you, so I was wrong about you two.” He leaned forward slightly. “This is me apologizing to you.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me.” I shook my head back and forth. “I’m the one that fucked up. I wouldn’t change anything, but it did put you in a terrible spot. I’m sorry about that.”
“I’m not done apologizing, I’m afraid. Before I left school on Friday, I drafted my resignation. I’m no longer going to be the Principal of Grantham University after this school year is over. I gave them enough notice that they can spend the second half of the year finding some other sucker to run the place, but I’m done.” He let out a sigh that sounded like one of relief.
“What? You’re quitting? The school is in a good spot. I made some real progress—you can keep it going. I’ll help you. We can take turns if you want.” My words came out in a hurried pace.
“No, I failed at that job. I didn’t realize that until I got the visit from the school board. I cowered in fear of the students, their parents, and everything that the school represented. That isn’t the kind of leader that place needs. I see now that my heart was never in it and even though it is in a much better place now, my heart still isn’t in it. I love teaching. I don’t like the administrative bullshit. I’m going to get back in the classroom and do what I enjoy.” He smiled and it looked like one of the most genuine smiles I had ever seen on his face. “I’m at peace with this, and that’s because of you. If you hadn’t come along, I would have drank myself into a stupor and eventually quit or gotten fired.”
“You’re sure you won’t change your mind?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise, but I couldn’t help but feel like he was telling me the truth.
“Not at all. I’ve never been happier.” He leaned back in his chair. “I finally know what I really want.”
“Then I’m proud of you, bro.” I stood up and waited for him to stand. We embraced in the first hug we had shared since we were forced to do it as children.
I regained my spot on Anton’s couch and the next day I started searching for a job. There weren’t many options for someone like me, but I finally got a job flipping hamburgers next to high school kids. It wasn’t my passion, but it was what I had to do to retain my freedom. Bethany visited me most days after school and we had a few stolen kisses before I had to get back to work. I took every hour of overtime they would offer and after about a month, I was able to get an apartment. It definitely wasn’t the best, but it gave me a place to lay my head in a real bed—and it allowed Bethany to visit on a regular basis. When I had spare time, I volunteered at the homeless shelter, and Bethany started becoming a regular there as well. It felt good to help people. I was living proof that it was possible overcome the demons, mend the fences that were bulldozed through, and find solace on the other side of a fractured past.
Epilogue: Bethany
“Hold on, Mom! I don’t even have a bra on yet!” I ran around my room, frantically getting dressed as the minutes ticked away—I was already late.
“I can’t help it! I want to get you in this graduation robe so we can
take some pictures before the ceremony.” My mother had the robe in one hand and a camera in the other.
“The pictures you’re taking right now are ones that only Anton will see!” I slid a bra over and covered my breasts before the flash went off again.
“What’s his email address? I’ll send them over.” She smiled and quickly snapped one of me sliding the robe on.
“Mom!” I pulled the robe down and glared at her.
“There we go. See, the camera motivated you to get dressed in record time and now we’re ahead of schedule.” She motioned for me to follow her down the stairs so we could get some family portraits.
My parents had been rather shocked to find out I was dating Anton. My brother didn’t show much emotion towards it. There was some tension in the beginning with my parents, but once they saw how much I loved him, they agreed not to stand in the way of our relationship. It was a good thing they didn’t try, because I wouldn’t have let anything keep us apart at that point. We didn’t tell them that he was temporarily the Principal at the school, just that he was Mr. Thorne’s twin brother. The age difference worried them, as did the fact he was an ex-con, but they softened to him the more he visited. He didn’t try to hide from his past or sugar coat it. He told them what he did, why he did it, and how much he wanted to change. In his own words, I was a major part of that change.
After Anton got a job, he started volunteering at the homeless shelter, and I came by to help him when I could. His heart was definitely in helping others and it gave him the opportunity to do that while earning some bonus points with his parole officer—some of which we were going to have to cash in soon if we were going to get permission to leave the state for our honeymoon.
“Hold your hand up, Bethany.” My mother motioned towards me. “I want the ring in the pictures so they can double as your engagement photos.”
“Seriously?” I rolled my eyes and moved my hand so that the ring was visible in the pictures she was taking.
“No, but one day when you tell our grandchildren that you were pregnant when you graduated high school, they can at least see that you were engaged.” She smiled and took some more pictures.
“I’ll be married long before the baby is born. I’m not even showing.” I held my robe tight against my stomach.
“Wait, hold that pose—the first picture of our grandchild.” She quickly snapped a picture.
Anton was overwhelmed with emotion when he found out I was pregnant. We had never taken any steps to prevent it and we fucked every chance we got, so it was only a matter of time before it happened. The fact we were five months into our relationship before I missed my first period was a miracle in itself. I knew Anton was my eternity long before that, and I couldn’t have been happier to be carrying his child. My parents weren’t completely thrilled with the news in the beginning, but after they had some time to sleep on it, they went into excited-future-grandparent mode. My mom had already filled one of our rooms up with more baby stuff than we would ever be able to fit in Anton’s apartment. Once the preliminary photos were done, we headed to the school and I took my place in line after sharing a brief kiss with Anton.
“BETHANY LEWIS.” MR. Thorne leaned into the microphone as he called my name to walk across the stage. “Finally...”
The crowd erupted in cheers when he added the last word and I shot him a glare when I got my diploma in my hand. We did the traditional pose to get the picture and then I hugged my unborn child’s uncle. The news of his resignation had shook Grantham University, especially since he had maintained most of the progress Anton made. I did my part, pointing out things that he could improve, and he even asked Anton for advice a couple of times. None of the people in attendance knew the truth about the transformation except for a limited few.