Chapter 44- Ella's POV

"Who are you?" Principal Barnes asked me, although I'm sure he knew whom I was. "What's your name?"

"Ella Campbell," I said in a low voice. I knew everything would change from now on, and giving out my name was dangerous.

"Hmm," the principal murmured, narrowing his eyes. His eyes darted to Nathan. "And you? Why are you snooping around? What's your name?"

Nathan's eyes met mine and then John's, and then he looked at the headmaster. "I'm Nathan... Nathan Reed. And I'm not snooping around."

The principal looked at John as if to confirm whether he was the same Nathan, but John's eyes were fixed on mine. I looked away.

Principal Barnes glared at both of them and shook his head. "The things that I've got to deal with are insane. You," he gestured at me, "come into my office. You two, wait outside," he continued, nodding at John and Nathan. "I'll deal with the two of you first."

My eyes met Edward's as I entered the office, my heart beating a hundred times a minute. He was undoubtedly as stressed as I was, but was better at masking it than I was. 

I sat down on the chair which I supposed had been previously occupied by John. This was it. The secret was out. The principal closed the door and shuffled to his seat.

"Miss Campbell, what is your relation to Mr James?" he asked me in a monotone voice.

I blinked. "He's my teacher," I mumbled. Why was he asking me and not him?

"Is that all?" His eyes narrowed.

"I'm friends with her brother," Edward intervened.

"I wasn't asking you," the principal replied, glaring at him. "Anyway I'm sure that's not all. At least, these photos prove otherwise." He turned the computer screen towards us and scrolled. Photos of Edward and I popped up. I gulped.

Edward shuffled on his seat. I looked away. But the headmaster was still waiting for an answer.  "Edward?" he tried.

Edward sighed. "We used to be in a relationship," he said. "But not anymore. We met before school started. And when we realised I would be teaching her, we decided it was better to end it, before something like this happened."

I waited anxiously as Edward fed the principal a bunch of lies, hoping he would believe him. But he just shook his head. I was sure that he was trying hard not to faint when he heard Edward admit to the relationship.

"I would believe you, but this video proves otherwise." He motioned to the video which showed us in the art room the day I had told him that I liked him. It felt like such a long time ago.

The principal's eyes narrowed so much that I could barely see his pupils. "I know you are lying Edward. You should be ashamed of yourself. But then again, I can see that this is not one sided. You two were both into this and it was everything but an assault. But it doesn't make it okay." His tone was vile and he looked at us in disgust. "And we're going to have to see how to deal with it. Unfortunately for you Edward, since your student here was, I suppose, under age when this happened, the blame falls on you. "

I looked at Edward helplessly. I didn't want him to be blamed, he didn't deserve it. But he just nodded at the principal, said that he understood and that it was alright. I felt a shiver run through me.  This was really happening and Edward could end up in jail again because of it.  Because of me.

"I'm going to have to call your parents," Mr Barnes told me. "And then I will decide whether to expel you or not."

The warning bells started ringing in my head when I heard the word expel. Ironically, not when he mentioned the telling-the-parents part. I was now glad that mum knew.

"Okay," I mumbled. I wondered if Nathan and John were listening in on our conversation, and if so m what they thought about it. Call me selfish, but I was actually glad that John obeyed the stalker's command to reveal Nathan's identity. Imagine how worse all of this would look if the principal were to find out that the blurred face on the photo was mine.  There would be no discussing whether I would be expelled, it would just happen.

Principal Barnes nodded at me. "You may leave. I will send for you when your parents get here."

I stood up reluctantly, not wanting to leave Edward on his own with him. As I made my way to the closed office door, I glanced back at Edward and saw that the headmaster had also stood up now, and was standing next to him.

"I cannot believe this Edward. I imagined John as being the kind of person to do this, but not you.  Not after how much I helped you to get where you are today," I heard him tell him. I opened the door.

"I'm really sorry, sir," Edward said.

I silently emerged from the office, just in time to hear John saying to Nathan, “Did you hear that? The guy hates me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gives me a warning or transfers me over this.” His eyes met mine and he smiled warmly at me. “Hey Ella.”

“Hey,” I mumbled, closing the door and leaned against its frame, trying my best to listen in to the conversation. The voices were muffled. “I wish we would just get it over with already.”

“It’s all too much for a Monday morning,” Nathan agreed. He put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry the principal found out, Ella.”

I sniffed, trying my best to hold back all the tension I had, and relieved myself from his touch. “I am, too. But you know what, Nate? If you had told us who the stalker is, none of this would have happened. We would have solved it already."

Nathan shook his head. "You don't understand. Did you see what happened when I told you that I know who it is and that it's a guy? I got into trouble with the principal just now." He glared at John. "Thanks for telling him about me, by the way."

John looked away as if ashamed. "I'm sorry. I had to. I would be fired if Barnes were to see that photo."

"Yeah, and I would be in much more trouble than I am now," I muttered.

Nathan sighed. "Yeah okay, sorry Ella."

Silence surrounded us and we all strained to listen in on Edward's conversation with the principal. The principal was the one who was speaking.

"I'm going to have to fire you, Edward," he said. Although the words were harsh, he sounded truly sorry to have to say them. He paused, as if thinking about it. "But if I do that, there's no way you would be able to get another teaching job. And it's impossible not to give out the reason why I'm firing you."

"I love teaching," I heard Edward say. He sounded forlorn. "But you're right sir, I made a mistake which is impossible to forget. I'm really sorry, I abused of my power, and I truly understand your point."

The principal- at least, I think it was him, cleared his throat. "Don't make me feel sorry for you Edward. This is a serious matter. I'm supposed to report you for this, inform the authorities-"

I heard a chair screeching which interrupted the principal in his words. Edward had stood up, I reckoned. "Please don't take legal action against me sir. I would end up in jail again and there is no way I would ever be able to get a job again after that." His voice was pleading.

"Edward, you broke the law. What do you expect me to do?"

"I don't know... really."

I sighed. This looked like it was not going anywhere. It was hopeless. I looked at the time, it was past eight o'clock. No point in trying to go to my first lesson. I wouldn't be allowed to enter in late.

"This really is hopeless," I said to John and Nathan.

John shook his head. "Don't worry. He won't press charges. Not to Edward."

"Why not?"

"They get on well. He helped him at his worst, he wouldn't put him in that situation again." John scratched his neck. He seemed to be uncomfortable talking about this situation, probably because he himself did not get on well at all with the principal. I sighed and looked away. I was not even remotely interested in John's problems. I had too many of my own to deal with his too.

I felt someone lean against the wall, close to me, and my eyes darted up to see whom it was, and saw that it was him, standing still and leering at me. Nathan noticed this exchange and pointed an accusatory finger at us.

"Wait, is something still going on between you two?" he asked.

I glared at him andtook a step back from John. "There never was," I said. "You shouldn't just post a photo of another person to someone without their permission, anyway." My tone was cold. It had been a terrible Monday morning so far, and Nathan wasn't helping. Half of this was his fault anyway.

"I posted one photo. You should tell that to the stalker, he's the one posting so many photos." Nathan's eyes narrowed.

"Well, I would have if you had told me who it is," I retorted.

"Guys, stop. You're attracting attention," John intervened, glancing at a couple of students who were staring at us open-mouthed. They were probably wondering what on earth two students were doing with a teacher, behind the door leading to the office of the principal. I glared at the girl who was staring. I really disliked people who observed others, got the wrong conclusion and just judged people. And I already knew enough of those, I didn't want to see any more of them.

 Nathan rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but abruptly the door of the office opened and the principal's head popped out. "John, may I see you now," he said, more in the form of a statement than a question. John looked confused, but nodded and followed him into the room. I noticed that the principal did not ask Edward to leave the room. Before he closed the door after John walked in, he inspected me for a couple of seconds, then said, "I'll be contacting your parents shortly."
And without waiting for an answer, he walked back into the room and slammed the door behind him. I stared at the closed door in surprise.

I was about to ask Nathan why the principal wanted John inside the office, when my phone vibrated. I opened the text, which was from an unknown number, and read it, and had to re-read it to understand.

"Whoops, I just sent John's unedited photo to the principal by mistake. I guess Nathan got into trouble for nothing. And you're in more trouble now... and John too. Sorry :)"

I raised my hand to my face in disbelief, and showed the message to Nathan, who also looked at it incredelously. We did what the stalker asked of us, and yet he did not keep his promise. He got me into even more trouble than I already was. I took a deep breath and put my phone into my pocket. I asked Nathan if he wanted to join me in the art room to wait there, and he agreed. We made our way up the stairs. I didn't want to hang around the headmaster's office anymore. I knew I was going to get expelled anyway, so what did it matter? Edward would obviously have it worse than I do because he is supposed to be the responsible one. And John... well actually, I didn't care much about him, he kind of asked for it. But I supposed that he could be fired too.

Nathan and I waited in the classroom, just sitting and doing nothing but expecting someone to come up and tell us what the verdict would be. Nathan too was going to get into trouble, I guessed, since he had sent that photo and masked the truth. A few students stopped by the class to talk to Edward and he told them he was not available. I didn't speak. I didn't want to be involved in anything to do with him at school. People would suspect that something was up. 

The door burst open and I looked up. To my surprise, it was my brother who walked in. His hair was pulled back and his jaw was tense. His eyes locked with mine.

"Let's go, Ella."

I stood up. "What? Why? Am I expelled?" I blabbered, firing a series of questions at him.

A half smile appeared on Malcolm's face. "No. You're okay. And Edward is going to be okay too."

Hello guys, another update :) sorry if it's not my best. I've just started university and it's not easy :P

Please vote and comment... I truly appreciate! I'm really pleased with the number of reads. Thank you so much guys ^-^

Dedicated to HAYLEY0RULES - thanks for your support and hope you like this :) xxx

I plan to finish this story very soon, so let me know what you think and how you think it will end.

The side/top photo is of gorgeous Edward :)

Thank you, take care xxxx