CLIV- The Other Shoe

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

"Are you sure you'll be okay here?" Becca asks at an arm's length.

I nod, "Yeah, I'll come visit soon." I promise as I hug her one more time. I'm trying not to wince, but my torso is healing and it hurts to put weight on it. I take a deep breath after we pull away and force a reassuring smile on my face.

I move on to Jenny, she hugs me from the side. "Call me when you get home."

"I will, and I'll send you pictures of Noelle. Or not?" She asks, treading lightly.

She's not offending me, "Of course I want pictures or her."

We pull away and the last person to say goodbye to is Luke. Despite my pain, I wrap my arms around him. We've never needed words to express our friendship. So he smiles at me, "Take care, Livia."

They call their plane over the intercom, warranting me one last goodbye before they board. My mom leads them on the plane, making sure to wave one more time. When I can't see anyone but strangers, I turn to Seth and Hunter. "Thanks for taking me guys, Shawn had to work today."

"No problem, they're our friends too." Hunter says. Seth hasn't said more than a few sentences to me. "When do you go back to school?" Hunter asks as the three of us walk through the airport.

I look up at them, "Tomorrow. Today I have a meeting with someone from the school board today."

Hunter stops walking, "What? Why?"

I shrug, "Probably because of Dean. I was kidnapped on campus and Dean went to school here." The thought of Dean transferring schools here still startles me.

I hear Seth sigh beside me. "Oh. Do you want us to walk you to class after?" Hunter asks as we continue walking.

"Yeah, like you did last year. No, thank you." I laugh dryly even though I'm appreciative of them. It's just that no one knows anything happened to me. I can go back to school, and pretend like nothing happened. For once, I have an advantage in the situation.

We make small talk for the rest of the time. Nothing really from Seth but I don't push him to say anything. Seth and I have never been as close as I've been with everyone else. I almost feel bad for not letting him in on everything, but I just wasn't ready. Either way, I'd like to fix our relationship. When we get closer to the car, Hunter begins walking ahead of us. I turn my attention to Seth and talk quietly. "Hey, can we talk later?"

"Just us?" Seth retorts.

I nod, "Maybe we can meet at the diner later?"

For a moment I think he's going to say no, maybe tell me to fuck off. But he doesn't. "Yeah, okay. There's something I need to tell you anyway." This surprises me, but I agree and we make it after my meeting.

"Are you guys ready?" Hunter asks as we get to the car.

"Yeah."



When I walk to the office I'm supposed to be in, the receptionist lets me in pretty quickly. There are chairs for multiple people, but only one man in the room. "Livia Gardner," He says, standing up and holding out his hand. He's an older man, in his late forties, with dark skin, and a bald head. "I'm the Dean that covers your area of studies, my name is Mr. Garret." I shake his hand and smile politely.

Once my arm falls back to my side, he tells me to take a seat across from. "It's nice to meet you." I say, then I lift up the folder I brought. "These are my doctor's notes for the school. I figure this is about why I've been out?"

He smiles tightly at me, "Not exactly. Though that will be sorted out with your teachers. I wanted to talk to you about some accusations that have been brought to my attention recently."

My heartbeat gets faster as I start to get nervous. "What kind of allegations?" I rub my palm on my pants.

Dean Garret folds his hands across the table. "You took History with Mr. Morgan last semester right?" I nod. "How did you like him as a teacher?"

I wasn't ready for this, but I have a pretty good idea of where this is heading. "Well, he always gets my grades in on time."

"Have you two ever been alone in the classroom?"

"I've stayed after to ask him questions but it's never for long." I shake my head, "I'm sorry but what is this about?"

Dean Garret looks at me plainly, "Just a few more questions. When you and Mr. Morgan are alone, does he ever make you feel uncomfortable?"

I laugh at this question, "Of course not! I'm not answering anymore questions until you tell me what this is about." If anything, this meeting is making me uncomfortable.

"Fine, I received a complaint about Mr. Morgan being inappropriate with a student. We're conducting an investigation to find out if it's true." The way he lowers himself lets me know he's upset about the situation.

"Well who would've-" I stop because I know exactly who it was. Seth has been acting weird towards me all day. He was also not happy with me when he found out. I just can't believe he'd actually go to the school about it. "Mr. Morgan has been nothing but professional to me." I lie through my teeth.

Dean Garret is silent for a while, perhaps to gage my expression. I try to remain still until he speaks again. "Well, I'm glad." He stands up, fixing his suit in the process. His finger gestures to the folders in my hand. "On second thought, I will take these and make sure they get through. Thank you for coming in Ms. Gardner." Taking the hint, I stand up and leave the folders on the desk. I make it to the door when he stops me, "Oh, will you please tell Mr. Morgan to come in?"

I hesitate, hand over the handle for what feels like eternity. Is he in trouble? Is this it for him? Should I turn around and confess or let this play out? One thing is for sure, I need to do something. "Sure." I throw over my shoulder as I exit the room. Sure enough, Shawn is sitting in a chair in the hall.

"Livia." He says as he sees me.

I whisper to him, "What are you doing here?"

"The Dean wanted to speak with me. I got the email this morning." Seeing him there is like one of my worst fears coming true. Someone has finally outed us, and it's time to pay the consequences. "What did he want with you?"

"He wanted to talk to me about you. Shawn this is bad I-"

Shawn interrupts me as he stands. "It's okay, let me handle this. I'll see you later okay?" His eyes are begging me not to freak out so I don't.

"Yeah." I say. "Okay." Then I walk away and hope Shawn doesn't lose his job.




I rush into the diner angry at the person I'm going to see. The second I make it to the table, I slam my hand down. "What the hell did you do?"

Seth frowns at me, "Just let me explain."

"Explain what Seth? First you tell my stalker where I live, and now you're trying to ruin my relationship?" People are starting to look at me so I decide to take a seat across from Seth.

"I was just trying to protect you, Livia." I scoff at him and cross my arms over my chest. "Mr. Morgan is taking advantage of you, I had to do the right thing."

I lean in, "The right thing would've been to stay out of it. This is something that could ruin a person's life." He doesn't seem to grasp how serious this could get for Shawn.

Seth looks around to make sure no one is still paying attention. When he looks back to me he says, "There's a reason this is frowned upon." The reason that two consenting adults can't be together is outdated. Not everything is about his job title. "I know you're mad at me but I'm not sorry for what I did."

Seth and I lock eyes. I'm so angry for what he did that I can barely think straight. "I don't think we can be friends anymore Seth." I try not to be dramatic, which is why I've forgiven Hunter and Luke. Seth went too far, he told Dean where I lived, believed him over even Hunter. He told the school board and didn't even have the balls to warn me about it. I've tried to understand him, understand his motives with me and then with Hunter. I invited him into my life after what had been my most traumatic experience. Yet Seth doesn't understand a single thing about me. We're not friends, maybe we never were.

"Hey guys, what can I get you?" Katie asks as she visits our table.

I get myself out of the booth and stand, "I was just leaving. See you, Katie."

"Oh. Bye." She waves me off, looking awkwardly to Seth.

I leave and head to the apartment to figure out how in deep we are.



Shawn's P.O.V.

I sit on the bar stool and order a beer from Ty. The meeting with the Dean has me questioning everything. Admittedly even about Livia. Things like why did I have to work at her school? Why couldn't I get out of this career sooner, for us? "Hey, I got your message. What's up?" Jack asks as he sits on the stool beside me.

I check on Ty, he's down at the end of the bar cleaning glasses. I lift my beer and take a drink, "The Dean told me there was an accusation against me."

The surprise on my brother's face is evident. "Someone caught you?"

I shrug, "I don't know, that's all the Dean said."

"Did you lose your job?" He asks, getting Ty to order a drink for himself.

I wait until the drink is in front of him to respond. "Not yet. They told me that we could either continue the investigation or I could resign." I'm not under contract since it's only my first year. It's a way out, or at least something to think about.

Jack taps the glass of his drink with his forefinger in thought. He hums once before speaking. "Do you have any college experience in business?"

It's a random question but I respond, "Yeah, I minored in business."

"Great, you could always buy out my father's half of the company from me." That would mean us being partners. Not to mention I wouldn't be teaching anymore.

I look down at the counter, "I don't know. I doubt I'm qualified for co-CEO."

Jack sets his glass down, turning to me fully now, "I would teach you. I've been looking for someone to take over my father's half since I found out I was adopted. At the end of the day, the company is mine and I want to keep it in the family." I'm surprisingly touched by his offer but unsure. Still, he continues, "All I would have to do is write you a check for his half and have you buy it out. Everything would be approved and the pay will be a whole lot better than teaching." I know how wealthy he is, I could always tell by his special tailored suits and thousand dollar cuffs.

Money isn't what I'm after, I'm after purpose. Maybe this could be my purpose after all. Livia and I could stay together and for once, be free. No more looking over our shoulders, or hiding. "Let me think about it? I should get going anyways."

I place a twenty on the bar and nod a goodbye to Ty. Jack clears his throat, "My offer stands. Take as long as you need to think about it." Or at least until I get fired.

The problem is that I'm guilty. I've dated two students in my career. One an obvious mistake but the other being real. So real that I can't imagine a life where Livia doesn't exist.

Jack and I part ways and I go back to the apartment. Livia is sitting on the couch, looking through her yearbook. I set my stuff down and join her. "Reminiscing?" I ask, gaining her attention.

Livia closes the book, "No, just...looking." She sets it down beside her. "How did your meeting go?"

I sit across from her, leaning forward with my elbows resting above my knees. I begin to tell her what I had previously told Jack. Then I mention his job offer. "What do you think?"

"I think you love to teach."

I sit back. "I do but if this investigation goes poorly, I can't teach anyways. At least this way I'd leave of my own free will." Livia doesn't make eye contact. Her posture is tense as and she shifts uncomfortably. Not to mention she didn't even sound surprised by his job offer.

I eye her questionably, trying to figure out why. "Oh my God, you knew didn't you?"

"What?" Livia retorts.

"About Jack asking me to work with him. I can't believe you didn't tell me." If I had known about it sooner, maybe it wouldn't have come to this.

Livia gives in, "Fine, I knew. I wasn't supposed to mention it because Jack wanted to wait for the right time." One thing about Livia, is she's always worried about what other people think.

I'm not mad at her, though maybe I should be. "I love teaching."

She smiles softly, "I know you do. That's why I wanted this to be your decision. I don't want you to change careers because of me." I might not have a choice anymore. Besides, when is she going to learn that everything I do is because of her? Or at least because I love her. Livia stands up and walks over to me, she lowers herself and sits in my lap. I wrap my arm around her waist, "I told Seth I didn't want to be friends with him anymore."

"What? Why?"

"Because he's the one that turned you into the school board. He said you were just using me and it was in my best interest. Something along those lines." The usual things people assume when they find out about us. At this point, I'm not sure what to do about us. If I take the job, I'm no longer a faculty member of her school. I'm just the older boyfriend. Our age difference is something I can live with, people constantly against us will get to us eventually. It's not hard to realize what the right thing to do is. I just hope it makes us happy.

I reach up and move Livia's hair out of her face. "I think I'm going to turn in my two weeks." She's been through so much, we both have. Maybe we have an opportunity to actually do something for our benefit.

"You do?"I nod, feeling at peace with my decision. "It'll be weird at first but yeah, I think it'll work out for us." Even if we're not together, it's a great career move. "Besides, we promised that if something else came up, I would take it." I now realize she was talking about this job, but she was looking out for our future together.

"Yeah but-"

I lean in, "I'm taking it."

"Okay." She replies. "As long as you promise me one thing."

I begin to play with her hair, "What's that?"

"That you won't regret it." I stop my movements, I know what she's getting at. The truth is, I don't know that I won't. That's why it's called a risk.

"I won't regret it." I lie.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net