A Proscriptive Relationship (36 page)

When I finally calmed down, I groaned, dropping my head into my hands. That could have been considered a confession from Mr. Heywood. Something I never believed in my life to be possible. Something I should be jumping up and down screaming about. But no. I played it off as though Mr. Heywood was gay. I groaned again. Unbelievable.

After allowing myself to wallow in my idiocy, I trudged inside and headed straight for Lance’s room.

*

 “
Holly!” he exclaimed when I entered. He was lying in his hospital bed, propped up and wearing casual clothing. His expression was bright, so that was a good sign. I could barely make out the bandages under his shirt.

“Hey,” I greeted, smiling. “How are you?”

“How am I?” he repeated, raising an eyebrow. “How are you?”

“I’m fine . . .”

“You haven’t changed at all!”

“Was I supposed to?” I responded, growing more confused.

“Well, after three months, I’d expect you to look a tiny bit older.”

“What are you talking about?”

He frowned, looking at me like I was an idiot. “I’ve been unconscious for three months, remember?”

“What? No you haven’t. You’ve been out for two days . . .”

His expression twisted from shock to annoyance. “My mother is so going to get it . . .”

I laughed. “Your mom told you that you were out for three months?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “I freaked out about it for a full hour this morning. I can’t believe she tricked me!” He went to cross his arms over his chest, but grimaced in pain and rested them at his sides again.

The smile quickly dropped from my face. “You sure you’re okay?”

He gave me a sheepish look. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please, Lance. Being shot is as bad as it looks.”

He sighed, rubbing his hand across his face. “Yeah, it was pretty bad at the time.”

“What exactly happened?”

“There’s not much to it. I was leaving work and before I knew it I was surrounded,” he explained, sounding like he had explained it a thousand times before. “They asked about Mr. Heywood and I told them I didn’t know him. They said they knew about that time at the towing place.”

“You weren’t even involved that much,” I muttered.

“Well, anyway. There was a little, er, hand-to-hand violence between us and then one pulled out a gun and that was that,” he finished, pursing his lips. “But when I told the police—”

I gasped.
Right! Of course he would speak to the police!

“
What did you say to the police?” I demanded. “Oh, no . . . Lance, did you mention Mr. Heywood? Please say you didn’t.”

“I didn’t,” Lance responded slowly. “Why?”

“It’s a long story. Just know that it’s a good thing you didn’t mention him.”

He didn’t seem satisfied, but let it go. “I just told them about the one who shot me.”

“Good. I hope they throw his ass in jail for life for what he did to you.”

Lance nodded solemnly. “Me too . . . but at least I’ll have some cool scars and a wicked story to tell everyone.”

I frowned at him. “Don’t make light of this, Lance . . . I nearly had a heart attack when I found out you were shot.”

“Good to know you care,” he responded with a wink.

“You’re my best friend. Of course I care!”

He sighed lightly. “Holly, don’t you think this situation is getting too dangerous for us?”

I looked at him, a frown on my face. “It’s been too dangerous from the beginning.”

“Then why are you still involved?”

“As of now, there is no way I can get out of this,” I told him, leaning back in my seat. “I’ve sort of dug my own grave . . .”

“You may have dug your own grave, but the one who gave you the shovel to do so is Heywood,” he pointed out, a scowl appearing on his face.

“And the one who chose to stay in it is me,” I returned.

“What if you end up in deep trouble? Or dead? You need some space between yourself and Heywood.”

I immediately shook my head. “No, it’s too late for that. They already know who I am, it’s not like not interacting with Mr. Heywood would change anything now.”

“Then don’t get any closer.”

Well, too late for that. He basically said he had feelings that he shouldn’t have for a student. And then made the point even clearer tonight. It seemed too impossible, but there was nothing else he could have meant. I felt my face flush.

Lance narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously. “Holly . . . did something happen between you and Heywood?”

“W-what? No!” I responded quickly, waving my hands in front of me. “Ha, are you kidding? No way.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Holly, don’t lie. You’re an open book, I can see right through you.”

“It doesn’t matter, because he thinks I think he’s gay, probably.”

“ . . . I don’t think I want to know now. But Holly, if those guys think he has feelings for you, it would make this whole situation worse.”

“What? Why would you think . . . oh . . .”

“Holly?”

I stared at Lance, a look of alarm on my face. Shawn wanted Mr. Heywood dead partly because Mr. Heywood stole his girlfriend back then . . . so what if for revenge he wanted to take me from Mr. Heywood because he thought Mr. Heywood cared about me? But where would Shawn even get the idea Mr. Heywood cared for me? I’d been with Jeremy the first time we met . . .

“Hello, Holly?”

I snapped out of my thoughts, trying to school my features into something nonchalant. “Sorry, just thinking.”

“I understand how you feel about him,” Lance said. “And it’s not like I’m going to stop you two from being together, but I’m more worried over our safety than your love life.”

“It’s unbelievable, huh,” I said, now grinning at Lance. “Mr. Heywood of all people . . .”

He grimaced. “Can you worry about this situation for at least a second?”

I gasped, remembering earlier. “Crap! He still thinks I think he’s gay! But Lance, I didn’t know what to say! It was so embarrassing when I figured it out, all I could think then was that I needed to get out of the car because I didn’t know what to say, so I just blurted out he was jealous because he wanted Jeremy and—”

“Holly! Stop being such a girl!” Lance interrupted, making a face. “I don’t want to hear about your damn proscriptive relationship .”

“Oh? Who knew you knew such big words!”

“Holly.”

“Okay, okay. I just feel happy. You’re alive.” I laughed, waving him off. “I kinda got a confession: it’s just nice to get some good in all this crap.”

His expression softened. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But don’t get used to it . . . this is only the beginning.”

I sobered up and nodded. It would be a long time until everything was okay—and
safe
—again.

LESSON twenty-five

“
What are you doing?”

My eyes flew open in shock and I took a sharp inhale, turning around to see James grinning at me. Immediately, I relaxed, letting go of my breath.

“
Why are you waiting outside the biology room?” James asked, raising his eyebrows. “Can’t handle the smell?”

“
Uh, sure,” I responded, directing my gaze to my feet.

“
Wimp,” he joked with a small laugh.

A small forced laugh left my lips as well. I couldn’t tell James the reason I didn’t want to go in there was because of the teacher. After last night, my palms were sweating at just the idea of talking to him. It was going to be so awkward! I chewed on my lip, reaching for the door handle, and then pulling my hand away at the last second.

C’mon, Holly. Man up!

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the doorknob with a shaky hand. Why was I so nervous? It’s not like we could talk about what happened during class; there were too many students around. But it was still going to be awkward. I sighed. I’d have to face him sooner or later.

Without further hesitation, I quickly pulled the door open. To my surprise, an old man was sitting at the teacher’s desk. He had a face full of white hair and a small tuft of it on top of his head. I frowned, surveying the man with my eyes. I’d never seen him before.

“
Um, where’s Mr. Heywood?” I asked, looking around the room quickly.

“
What?”

“
Where’s Mr. Heywood?” I repeated, louder this time.

“
Come closer, I can’t hear you.”

Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I walked up to the teacher’s desk and leaned over it, speaking loudly and clearly. “Where is Mr. Heywood?”

“
What?”

Was he kidding? I stared at him incredulously. The old man cocked his head to the side, and then realization flashed across his face. “Hold on, I think my hearing aid is off.”

This time I did roll my eyes, but a grin also made its way onto my face. The old man fiddled with the hearing aid on his ear, and then looked up at me expectantly.

“
Is Mr. Heywood here today?” I asked once more.

“
Oh, no. He’s absent today. I’m his substitute.”

For some reason, I felt disappointed. Mr. Heywood had taken the day off? Did something happen? Was he sick? Disappointment was quickly replaced with worry. I cleared my throat. “Is he okay?”

“
No, no, he’s fine!” the old man responded, speaking too loudly. “From what I hear it’s just a personal day off.”

I relaxed, nodding my head. “Okay. Thanks.”

“
It’s nice to know young people these days still care about their teachers,” the old man commented, smiling at me.

I escaped to my seat and a frown appeared on my face. It was funny how much my mood dropped after finding out Mr. Heywood wasn’t in school today. It was just a small thing, but it was weird, because he was always in school. With a shock, I realized what the reason could be: he was avoiding me. Probably because I basically said I thought he way gay! I slumped lower in my seat, holding in a groan. Me and my stupid, big, lying mouth.

The rest of the day passed quickly and before I knew it the final bell rang. I was planning on visiting Lance, so I headed home straight away. As I came to my driveway, I noticed my mother’s car in the driveway.

“
Mom?” I called as I opened the door to my house, dropping my backpack and kicking off my shoes. “You here?”

“
Bedroom!” a muffled voice responded from the upstairs.

Following the sound of her voice, I found her in her bedroom, putting clothing into a suitcase. She gave me a quick smile when I entered, but returned her attention to folding the clothing in front of her.

I narrowed my eyes in confusion. “Why are you packing? And home early?”

“
Night duty,” my mom responded. “I’m staying at my coworker’s place because she has night duty too and she lives closer.”

“
Gee mom, thanks for warning me in advance,” I responded, shaking my head. “I didn’t ask Casey if I could stay the night.”

“
Honey, I’m going to be gone all weekend. I thought I told you. Guess I forgot.”

“
How could you forget to tell me something like that?” I demanded, looking at her in shock. “I’ve never stayed home alone for more than a night!”

“
Don’t worry,” my mom responded, waving her hand. “I wasn’t going to leave you by yourself. I arranged a place for you to stay already.”

“
But Lance is still in the hospital,” I pointed out. “I’d feel like a moocher at the Greysons’.”

My mom shook her head. “No, you won’t be staying at their house.”

“
Then whose?”

“
Your handsome teacher’s place.”

My mouth went dry and I stared at my mom like she had three heads. Well, she might as well have three heads since she was thinking like an alien. I small laugh escaped my lips.

“
That’s funny mom.”

“
Is there something wrong?” my mom responded, furrowing her brow in confusion. “I thought you two got along.”

I blushed slightly. “We do, but . . . mom, he’s my teacher. I can’t stay at his house. He’d get in trouble and so would I! Surely that’s against school rules.”

“
No, it’s not, since I’m the one who asked him to look after you while I’m gone. It’s a teacher’s duty to watch over a student. And he seemed more than willing to help out.”

I stared at my mom in disbelief. When was she going to deliver the punch line? I couldn’t spend the weekend at Mr. Heywood’s after what happened! It was embarrassing enough just to think about coming face to face with him after last night, let alone to stay over at his house! Was my mom crazy?

“
Are you really serious?”

“
Yes,” my mom responded, sighing. “Even though you’re almost eighteen, it’s still dangerous to spend the whole weekend alone. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“
No, I understand. It’s fine. I’m just a little surprised. When are you leaving?”

“
In a few hours. I still have to go get some groceries for the trip. I hate paying for hotel food.”

“
When am I going to Mr. Heywood’s?”

“
You’re supposed to call, um, Henry?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know any Henry . . .”

“
Hold on,” my mom said, holding up her finger. “That’s not his name. Gerry? No, that’s not it either. Jared?”

“
Jeremy?” I guessed.

“
That’s it! You’re supposed to call him for a ride whenever you’re ready,” my mom told me. “Mr. Heywood has something to do today until around seven.”

I frowned slightly. That “something” was probably going to visit Haley. A little jealousy arrived in me, but I quickly threw it away. She was in the past. Mr. Heywood loved me now, not Haley. But I wanted to know why he always seemed to be visiting her these days.

“
Speaking of which, who is Jeremy?”

“
He’s Mr. Heywood’s friend, and mine too.”