Discipline (27 page)

“Glad you came home, babe,” he exhaled as if
it were any regular day. He jogged over to kiss me, but I jerked
away quickly, a look of disgust on my face.

“You need to stop this.”

“What?”

“You need to stop treating me like I’m still
with you, like I’m mistaken for living my life as if we’re broken
up. You need to stop acting like I am any of your business anymore,
like I don’t have any say in removing myself from your life and
going to live one of my own.
Aaron
is not your business. He
is my business and you are going to leave him alone. If you dare to
spread one lie about some affair starting between us while I was in
high school, I will take legal action, I won’t even hesitate.”

Ben took a step closer to me. “So all these
times that you told me you weren’t fucking him, you were. The least
you owed me was the truth.”

“I don’t owe you anything.”

Ben gave a short laugh. “That’s where you’re
wrong, babe. You owe me everything. At this point, your whole
damned family owes me more money than they could earn in a year
from that fucking stupid spa.”

I took a step back. “What?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? Your mom cashed my
check a couple weeks ago,” Ben said, a thrill in his voice as he
closed the gap between us. “Two hundred thousand dollars for that
spa of hers that’s going to bleed money from day one. Poor woman,
she’s got no idea what the fuck she’s doing,” he smirked, catching
me by the waist as my knees gave out. “Hey, hey. Come on. Don’t
worry about her. She’s not the brightest but she knows to take at
least fifty grand out from that check to cover her own ass — pay
off some bills, buy a few new bags. Maybe lease another car if
she’s dumb enough.”

I was on the couch now, my fingers gripping
the white leather sectional that I’d spent my last night in the
apartment sleeping on. My legs had given out completely at the news
of the investment. I couldn’t believe it. My mother had gone ahead
and done it. She’d sold her soul to Ben. Whether the spa flourished
or failed, she owed everything to him.

My voice was hoarse as I stared straight
ahead as he walked toward me. “Why did you do this, Ben.”

He touched my face with his sweaty palm. I
jerked away but his hand found my jaw, holding it still. “I spent
three years making you mine, you can’t erase that. You were damned
good to me, I know, but it’s because I showed you how to be that
good. I was your school, I was your work, I made you into the woman
you are. So you don’t get to run around showing off the things I
taught you to other guys, and definitely not that fuck of a
teacher. You need to realize that you were made for me, Nina. I’m
not going to waste my time looking for another one of you. No one
else is gonna know how to be good to me the way that you were.” He
knelt before me, his grey eyes boring into mine. “Babe, just come
home to me already. I gave you a better life here than you could
ever make for yourself. Don’t act like I didn’t.”

“You didn’t.” My retort came quickly, making
his nostrils flare. “You made me your servant. Not even that. An
object. I had not an ounce of your respect and I still don’t. I was
completely empty, I was a shell of a person who devoted everything
inside of her to you. And I never even felt good around you, I only
tricked myself into thinking that I did because every once in
awhile, I got to be surrounded by glitz and glam and because
sometimes, my father would call and sound relieved for the first
time in ages because Mom magically paid off a bill. But even that
isn’t worth it to have every drop of life sucked out of me.” I felt
the blood rush back to my feet, the floor feeling steady beneath
them again as I regained sensation. “I remember now. What it’s like
to be happy and confident. To feel good, to feel actual
pleasure.”

Ben stood, looking down his nose at me. He
wet his lip, pausing for several moments. “You’re saying I didn’t
give you pleasure?”

“Not once.”

“Fuck you, that’s a lie,” he hissed. I shook
my head. “So you liked it better with your teacher, huh?” he asked,
his voice menacing.

I was silent. As much as I wanted to, I
didn’t answer. I didn’t want to give him any more ammo. So I sat
still, staring ahead, thinking about what legal action I could take
against Ben since it was becoming apparent that I couldn’t save
Aaron from him. Slander was a word that came to mind. That was
something, wasn’t it?

“Answer my question, Nina.” I ignored him
again. “Damn it,
answer me!
” His shout echoed through the
room. “Yeah. Okay.” He wiped at his mouth, smirking. “That’s what I
thought. Where’s that confidence now, Nina?” he asked, disdain
dripping from his voice. “Never had any, never will.”

I felt my lip curl.

“I liked it better with him. Everything was
better with him. Because he is a genuinely smart, interesting,
compassionate and
good
man, unlike you. The fact that he
used his dick better was just an added bonus.”

I sucked in a breath.

God, the apartment felt so silent. So still
after I said that. Heartbeat aside, I could hear a faint ringing in
my ears. I didn’t look at him, but I could feel his expression, a
palpable fury looming over my head. Everything felt as if it were
happening in slow motion.

Which was good because it gave me time to
shove him away when he lunged to grab me.

“Get away from me!” I shrieked, springing to
my feet, barreling into his chest and hurling all my weight against
him so he fell back against the coffee table.

“
I’ll fucking kill him
.”

I heard his breathless, gravelly words from
the door. I’d made my way over to it after blindly kicking my feet
at him a couple times. Or maybe not so blindly. As I jabbed my
finger into the elevator button, I looked frantically over my
shoulder to see Ben clutching his groin, struggling to stand on his
feet.
I did that
, I realized, my body pressed against the
wall as I waited anxiously for the sound of that bell.
Hurry,
hurry, hurry
, I pleaded silently.

“I’m gonna find that son of a bitch — ”

Ding
.

The elevator door opened. Darting in, my
finger jabbed at the buttons inside until the door closed in front
of me. But not before Ben growled one last threat, sounding barely
human anymore.

“
I swear to fucking God, Nina. He’s
dead
.”

CHAPTER
19

I got you, girl
.

The text was from Adriana. I was bailing on
my shift for the day and I wasn’t sure how many more I would miss.
All I knew as I stumbled out of Ben’s apartment was that I needed
to get to Woodhill. I didn’t know when he planned to go, but I knew
I had to arrive before him. I didn’t care how much money it would
cost to take a yellow cab to Woodhill, I was doing it.

“Pick up, Aaron, pick up, pick up,” I
pleaded in a whisper as I pressed my phone against my ear. It was a
quarter to four. He was probably still in school — he usually
stayed till about six, even later during wrestling season. But his
phone had to be on at this point. The school day had ended more
than an hour ago. “Come on, please pick up, please pick up.”

I cursed under my breath when I heard the
sound of his voicemail. Hanging up, I dialed again, but within a
couple seconds, the ringing stopped. I stared at my phone. My
battery was dead. “
Shit
.” I’d left in uncharged that morning
because of Aaron and now I had no way of warning him about Ben.

Desperate, I borrowed the cabbie’s phone,
but only to be greeted once again by Aaron’s voicemail.

“Are you okay?” the cabbie asked, giving me
an odd look through the rearview mirror.

“Yes,” I lied. “But please drive fast if you
can. Thank you.”

He obliged, speeding through yellow lights
until we reached the interstate. I closed my eyes throughout the
ride, listening to the hum of the tires on asphalt, trying
desperately to calm myself and remember that I had a head start,
that Carlo, Ben’s driver, had a tendency to abide by yellow lights,
and that we’d likely arrive to the school before five. There were
still a good amount of students and faculty around at that hour. I
could warn the front office and security about Ben. If it came to
it, they could help me restrain him.

I was almost calm by the time we reached
Woodhill.

“Turn here, it’s faster,” I rasped. My heart
absolutely hammering against my chest, I stared out the window as
the yellow cab pulled into the front of the school. It was 4:40PM.
Kids were still outside, staring quizzically at the vehicle as I
hastily paid for my ride and burst out of the side door.

“Aren’t you Jake Decker’s sister?” a
freckled girl asked as I rushed up the steps. “What’s up with the
yellow cab?”

“Yes, I’m his sister, I… had to come from
the city. Can you tell me where Mr. Cole is right now? Which
classroom?”

The girl’s blonde friend laughed. “Wow, you
might be more desperate for him than the freshmen.”

I stared, staying for no more than another
second when my question remained unanswered. With the girls
bursting into giggles, I rushed through the front doors, eyes
darting back and forth to scan the hallways. They were still fairly
busy. Kids with North Face backpacks and Longchamp tote bags leaned
against their lockers, some of them socializing, some of them
discussing homework over open textbooks. Most of them took at least
a few seconds to stare at me, either because they recognized me or
because I was so obviously not a student as I was blatantly
breaking the dress code with my short shorts. I paid them no mind
as I continued up the hall, stopping outside the front office.

Sitting inside was Ms. Burke, the middle
aged secretary who’d manned that desk since I was a freshman.
I
should warn her about Ben
. I knew I should, but a part of me
wondered if I could take care of the situation quietly instead. If
he didn’t end up showing, I’d have unnecessarily informed the
school about my ex’s jealousy over a member of their faculty.

Though a heavy feeling in my gut told me
that Ben was coming, I nixed my idea to warn the front office,
continuing to pace down the hallway towards Aaron’s classroom. I
was about six doors away when I heard the giggles trailing me. The
freckled girl, the blonde and another one had followed me inside,
no doubt hoping to witness a trainwreck. A favorite pastime of
Woodhill girls was watching graduates visit and unsuccessfully
throw themselves at Mr. Cole — these girls no doubt hoped to watch
my charms fail against him as they stalked me.

Shit, an audience already
, I thought
with disbelief as I came to being just two doors away. But I
couldn’t dwell on the thought, especially as my long strides
brought me to Room 108A, Aaron’s classroom.

I breathed a sigh of relief just to know
that Ben hadn’t beat me to the room, and only after did I soak in
the image of Aaron sitting peacefully at his desk. He had yet to
spot me, hand rubbing his chin as he marked something down in his
green grade book. He looked so damned cute in his blue button up,
so handsome as he concentrated on his work. I hardly wanted to
disrupt him.

“Oh my God, she’s just
staring
.”

I heard the girls’ whispers from a few feet
behind me. They hushed and shrunk into each other when I turned to
glance at them, muffling snorts and giggles with their hands while
daring to peek at my expression, though I was sure I didn’t have an
interesting one to give them.

Swallowing, I turned back to face Aaron, who
was just looking up from his grade book. I opened my mouth to say
his name but before I did, he looked my way, as if he’d somehow
already heard me.

“Nina.” He rose promptly to his feet, his
eyes sparkling first with happiness then confusion upon catching my
look. “What happened? Are you okay?” Concern escaped from his lips
even as he eyed the trio of girls behind me. “What’s going on?” he
asked gently.

We stood in the middle of his classroom now.
I’d somehow gravitated inside, a desk away from the one I’d sat at
when I was his student. I looked up at him, feeling tears
immediately welling at the sight of his earnest eyes, the
unquestioning way they showered me with comfort and tenderness.

“Is it Ben?” He dared to touch my forearm
despite our audience in the hallway.

“I’m sorry,” I choked, nodding. “Kelsey told
him about the Hamptons,” I whispered. “I don’t know if it was her
idea or his, but Ben wanted to say that you were some kind of… that
we started this while I was still your student and I… I got furious
and went to his apartment — ”

“You went to his apartment alone?” Aaron
asked, unable to hide his surprise. I could hear the girls
murmuring behind us now, no doubt sensing something different about
this meeting.

“I shouldn’t have but I was so
angry
— ”

“Baby.” Aaron frowned, wiping the tears from
my face. “I told you not to worry about him.”

“
Why
do you keep saying that, Aaron?”
I asked, frustration raising the volume of my voice. “He’s coming.
He said it. He could be in Woodhill right now.”

“What. Is going on.” I heard the whisper
from the hallway. I watched Aaron’s eyes slide past me to look at
the girls for a second before feeling his fingers wrap around my
forearm.

“Let’s go somewhere else to talk.”

Wiping hastily at my tears, I let Aaron
guide my out of the classroom and into the hall, where the trio of
girls gaped at us, frozen for about five seconds until I heard
their footsteps start to follow.

“Aaron, I’m so sorry for putting you through
this — ”

“Shh. Don’t.” To my surprise, he leaned over
and pressed his lips against the top of my head. Behind us, one of
the girls erupted in a squealing shriek. I couldn’t tell if she was
excited or dismayed — all I knew was that the sound was loud enough
to turn every one of the dozen or so heads in the hallway, even get
some to poke out from the classrooms.