Dream On (Stories of Serendipity #2) (28 page)

Next up were her students, both current and former.  Alyssa was touched by their words, all of which were glowing praises of what an “awesome” teacher she was and how she made learning fun.  A couple had even written essays that they read to the school board.  Jackie was in the latter category, and she addressed the issue of the kiss at the Pepper festival as “sweet,” and “between two consenting adults.”  Jackie then compared the proceedings to the Salem witch trials, the “word of a group of hysterical people condemning innocents.”

After Jackie sat down, a parent stood to speak.  The parents weren’t as glowing in their praise.  Some of them spoke of Alyssa failing their child, using this event as a soapbox for their opinion of Alyssa’s unfair treatment of their baby.  The President tried to steer them towards comments about the topic at hand, but their words were damaging.  In Alyssa’s eyes, anyway. 

After the parents spoke, the P
resident began calling on community members, most of which had heard the rumors and were eager to jump on the bandwagon that they didn’t want this influence in their schools.  Alyssa cringed at the insinuations, as well as the out—and--out lies that people told about her.  She hoped the school board could see through the fabrications.  She glanced over at Steven and saw his satisfied smirk.  It sent a shudder through her insides, and she looked away from him. 

Her gaze landed on Dalton in the back row, his head in his hands, shoulders slumped.  Her heart went out to him.  He was a victim here, too.  He was a member of this town, and everybody was bad-mouthing him.  It was probably worse for him.  Nobody was here to stand up for Dalton.

Steven was next, and Alyssa was tempted to drop her head in her hands on the table, but that could be construed as a sign of weakness, and she needed to be strong for this.  So she looked at him as he spoke out against her.

“I was married to Alyssa for five years, and she is the mother of my children.”  His voice held no warmth for her.  He spoke with a clinical detachment that made Alyssa’s stomach turn.

“She has made personal choices recently that disgust me, and I am currently seeking to take away her custodial rights to my children.  She has been "dating" Dalton Colt, and God knows what has gone on behind closed doors with those two with my children in the house.”  Alyssa watched, with her gut sinking, as he went on to list things that he supposed they did behind closed doors.  “Drugs, lots of them, I’m sure.  And the kinkiness of their relationship knows no bounds.  I had a private investigator in Dallas do some checking up on Mr. Colt, and he found out things that would turn your hair white.  I won’t go into it in front of the students present, but suffice it to say, they’re awful.”  He went on in his self-righteous manner, finishing his diatribe with a dramatic, “And we all know where drug abuse leads -- to stealing, and maybe even…murder.”  He sat down, a satisfied smirk on his face.

Jessie went next, but Alyssa didn’t listen.  She was wondering what she had ever seen in Steven.  Did he really believe all that stuff about her?  That she would do drugs, steal, and murder?  Why had he married her in the first place?

Alyssa didn’t notice it was Dalton’s turn to speak, until she heard his smooth, deep voice address the board members.  She looked up at him, and her breath caught in her chest, as he stood.  He looked really good in a suit, even though his tie was crooked, and his hair was tousled.  His complexion looked a little waxy, too, but Alyssa’s heart went out to him.

“I am here, not because you are dragging my name and by association, my family’s name through the mud.  The lies and implications, which you have set forth in these proceedings are not only a farce, but they are nothing but intimidation tactics, designed by him to manipulate Ms. Fuller.  You are nothing but a bunch of self-important, sanctimonious excuses for human beings that are being used as pawns in some elaborate scheme by Mr. Fuller to take Alyssa’s children away from her.  Taking her job is just an added bonus for him.  He wants her ruined, and I don’t understand it.  Alyssa Fuller is one of the best teachers I’ve ever seen.  She’s an excellent mother and a productive member of the community.  Her past associations with me, should have no bearing on her job performance.  My history should have no bearing on her job performance.  Whatever clout,” he pointed to Steven, “he has, is what this is all about.  This is a hypocritical proceeding, only in place to further his agenda.  And his agenda has absolutely no bearing on Alyssa Fuller’s performance in the classroom.  You should all be ashamed of yourself.”  He looked at the Superintendent.  “And you should know better.  As a leader of a school district, you should know people will use their own personal vendettas to try to taint public opinion of a teacher’s performance.”  His attention back to the room in general, he said, “You all should have done a little research into this before dragging Alyssa Fuller down into this abyss of moral turpitude allegations.  This is ridiculous.  You are all being used.”  He sat down in a huff of expelled air, as he ran his hands through his hair again, clearly distraught.

The gavel banging on the conference table quieted the murmurs that were floating through the crowd of onlookers.  Alyssa felt a sense of dread as the President said, “We thank you all for your input.  The rest of the meeting will be closed for private discussion among the school board members, so you may all be excused.”  He dismissed the crowd of people and waited expectantly while everybody filed out of the room.

Alyssa tried to steer clear of as many people as
possible on the way to her car but was unable to completely avoid them.  She was bombarded by well-wishers, as she ducked her head and mumbled thanks to each one.  Dalton’s words were noticeably absent, the only ones she really wanted to hear.  Once in her car, she let out a pent-up breath and drove home.

That night, Dalton replayed the evening’s events in his mind.  He was completely overwhelmed by the lack of respect for Alyssa’s privacy these people had in the name of protecting their children’s sensibilities.  It was obvious to him Steven had a hand in this, and he couldn’t understand why it wasn’t obvious to everyone else.

He had seen the shock and dismay on her face, when Steven and others stood to speak out against her, just as he could see the relief on it when others stood to speak on her behalf.  Luckily, there had been more of the latter than the former, and if the school board were as fickle as they seemed, that would sway them in her favor. 

If she lost her job because of him, Dalton didn’t know what he would do.  He had pushed her into trying something with him, and it had backfired in a way he hadn’t imagined.  The entire community was judging her right now, and it was his fault.

He sent her a text message…

Alyssa, I’m so sorry this has happened.  I understand now, why you didn’t want to start anything with me.  I’m not good enough for you.  After tonight, it has become clear to me how detrimental I am to your life.  Please forgive me.  I will always love you.

And then, Dalton vowed to himself he would leave her alone.

Chapter 23

The next day Alyssa forced herself out of bed and to work.  She taught her students as if her life depended on it, not sure if it did or not.  She caught up on all of her paperwork, staying until seven o’clock that night to turn it in.  She didn’t want anybody to have any more ammunition against her, still unsure about the school board’s decision.  They had decided to make her wait until Monday to learn of her fate.

When she got home, she found Jessie and Summer waiting on her porch with a pizza and a bottle of tequila.

“It’ll be okay, sweetie.  We’re not going to let you be alone tonight.  It’s girls’ night in.”  Summer hugged her hard, as they went inside.

“Thanks, but I don’t really feel...”

Jessie interrupted.  “Doesn’t matter what you feel like doing.  We’re here, and I brought a pizza with extra cheese, so we’re getting hammered and bloated.  It’ll be fun!”

Alyssa managed a wan smile as Jessie and Summer took the liquor and pizza to the living room.

“So, what did they decide?”  Jessie asked around a mouthful of cheese.

Alyssa shrugged, “I won’t know until Monday.  They’re making me sweat through the weekend.”

Summer was the first to break the silence following Alyssa’s words.  “Wow. How cruel.”

Jessie concurred wholeheartedly, and they passed around the tequila bottle.
 They ate and drank in silence a little while longer.

“I’m sorry.
 I’m not buying it.”  Jessie spoke up.  “I hate that Steven still gets his way, when it comes to you.  You’re not married anymore.  He shouldn’t have a say in what you do.  And here he is, not only dictating your personal life, but he’s spreading rumors that are damaging your professional life, too.”
“He shouldn’t, but it’s the kids.  They’re his, too.  I don’t appreciate how he’s going about it…”  Alyssa pushed her pizza away, half-eaten.

“Have you talked to a lawyer, t
o figure out exactly what you can do?  This looks a whole lot like slander to me.”

“No.”

“Stupid.”

Alyssa looked at Summer.
 “What?”

“I’m sorry, hon.
 But that’s stupid.  You have something really great with Dalton, and you’re throwing it away for Steven.  
Steven
.  You’ve lost your marbles.”

Jessie spoke up.
 “She’s right.  I’ve never seen you so emotionally involved as you are with Dalton.  You love him.  You can’t throw that away.”

“I can if it’s going to hurt my kids and my job.
 And I don’t love him.”  Alyssa said dejectedly.

“Yes, you do.
 I saw it at the bar, when you tossed back four tequila shots in a row, just because you saw him with Stephanie.”

“That was Stephanie.”

“You’ve seen her there before, and it didn’t drive you to a drunken stupor.”

Alyssa didn’t know what to say to that, and she was afraid her friends were right.
 “I appreciate you guys coming over and trying to cheer me up, but I just feel worse now.  Thanks.”  She curled up on the couch.

“Honey, we don’t mean to make you feel worse.
 We just want you to see what we see.  We see Steven continuing to manipulate you out of your happiness, and it pisses us off.”  Summer was never one to mince words.

Jessie drew Alyssa into her arms.
 “Just promise us you’ll think about it.  Dalton’s a really great guy, despite his past, which I personally find sexy.”  She giggled into Alyssa’s hair.

“I’ll think about it.
 But no promises.  I have to think of my kids.”

“If you’re thinking about your kids, then you need to fight for Dalton.  He’s good for them.  You told me so, last week, remember?  And everybody saw him with them at the homecoming game, coloring with them.  Were you listening last
night when he stood up for you against the school board?  He called them self-important, sanctimonious excuses.  That was awesome.  Did you see Dr. Cahan’s face when he said that?  Classic.”  Jessie took another swig of tequila before passing the bottle to Summer.

“Yeah, Alyssa.  He’s got it bad for you.  And he said all the right things last night.  Doesn’t that count for something?”  Summer added.

Alyssa took the bottle and felt the tequila burn a hot fire in her belly as she swigged.  “I can’t see him anymore.  Steven’s got me over a barrel here.  But I will go talk to a lawyer.  I’m going to have to.”

After the girls left, Alyssa stayed on the couch and thought about what they had said.
 She stared at her phone for a long while, wondering what would happen if she did call Dalton.  But she just couldn’t bring herself to dial his number.  So she went to bed, where she spent the entire weekend.

Steven didn’t drop the kids off on Sunday night, calling instead to tell her to get a lawyer, that he would see her in court.

Monday morning saw Alyssa sitting outside the principal’s office when he arrived at the school.  Her stomach was tied in knots, wondering what the school board’s decision had been.  When Dr. Cahan arrived, he looked at her and shook his head.  Tears welled in her eyes.

“I don’t know anything, yet, Alyssa.  I’m sorry.  I’ll shoot you an email as soon as I find out.  For what it’s worth, I’m on your side here.  I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong.”

Slightly mollified, she went to class.  Between first and second periods, she went to the lounge and called a lawyer Summer had recommended to make an appoi
ntment.  His secretary was nice and set the appointment for later in the week.

At lunch, she checked her email
and found one from Dr. Cahan, asking that she take her lunch in his office.  She boogied down there for his news.  When she arrived, she was surprised to see him talking to both the Superintendent, and the President of the school board.  After closing the door behind her, she sat in the only remaining chair.

The P
resident spoke first.  “We are terribly sorry, Alyssa.  Thursday night’s meeting was a mistake.  You are a valued member of our staff, and we shouldn’t have put you through that.”

Alyssa let out a relieved breath.  “So, I’m not fired?”