Tainted Love (Sweetest Taboo #2) (17 page)

If he didn’t do what they asked, they told him, they wouldn’t hesitate to go to the principal and make allegations about his inappropriate demeanor. Tom knew that the principal was already watching him closely, as a result of the rumors circulating in previous years about Isabel, so if these girls went to him saying that Tom had come on to one of them, or did anything inappropriate…

“Well, Mr. Stevens? Have you thought about our offer?” Taylor asked abruptly. “I hope you know that I’m not prepared to wait for ever.”

Tom drew his eyebrows down in displeasure. Never mind the fact that his career was in jeopardy; the fact that this haughty and abrasive cheerleader was forcing herself on him and trying to blackmail him was both disturbing and dangerous.

“Taylor,” he said in a hushed voice, “I know you think you believe what you heard about Isabel and me is true, but I can personally assure you that I would never do anything like that with a student. So no matter how many times you throw yourself at me the way you’ve been doing, I’m not going to take you up on your offer. And as a teacher, an adult, and one of your cheer coaches, I wish you’d be more respectful in your communication with teachers and coaches alike. Behaving this way will likely get you in a whole lot of trouble one day.”

She drew back, her brown eyes narrowing. “Are you threatening me, Mr. Stevens?” she asked, with an aggressive tone. “Are you saying that you’re going to get back at me?”

“No, of course not. That’s not what I’m saying at all. Why would I want to do something like that?” he sputtered, surprised at this sudden change in the conversation. “I –”

“I suggest you think about your job, Mr. Stevens, and your life. I know what you’ve done, and I’m sure you’ll do it again,” she hissed, drawing closer again. “And if you’re going to sleep with anyone, why shouldn’t it be me? Don’t forget that I’m the one with the power here, not you!”

With that she turned and strolled casually away, chatting away with her two followers as if nothing had happened. Tom’s eyes followed her, both shocked and disgusted at her behavior. This was by far the most disturbing and uncomfortable thing he’d ever experienced, and he wasn’t even sure how to best handle it. Tom certainly couldn’t tell anyone about it, given the circumstances. How would he explain why this particular student thought she could get away with her demands of him? How would he describe the fear he felt at her threats? True, the idea of going to the principal about a teacher’s actions was something that any teacher would worry about, but how could he tell anyone why this threat had particular significance to him? If he mentioned Isabel’s name, it would be like opening a can of worms and potentially opening himself up for further criminal investigation.

He closed his eyes, wishing Isabel was by his side. He’d be able to tell her, and she’d have some advice for him, he was sure. Even if she didn’t know what to do, she’d at least listen, and sympathize, and tell him that it was going to be okay. But he hadn’t heard from her in several days, and his confidence was starting to diminish by the day. He’d try calling her tonight, again, he decided. She was bound to pick up the phone. Tom knew she was really busy with midterms, but he was sure he would reach her after dinner when she usually took an hour’s breather to cook, eat and enjoy a glass of wine. Tom knew her daily routine like the back of his hand, or so he thought.

As he turned to walk through the door and into his classroom, he noticed that several teachers were gathered nearby talking excitedly to each other, watching him. In fact, they weren’t simply watching him; they were all staring, without bothering to hide their newfound interest in him. A couple of them glanced after Taylor and her two gal-pals, their thoughts were as plain as day on their faces. They were judging him, he realized, and the encounter he had with Taylor and her friends was likely confirming some of the questions those teachers were asking themselves, and maybe even each other. As far as they were concerned, Tom was clearly guilty. His eyes scanned the small gathering of teachers, searching for a friendly face, and finally came to rest on the swim coach. Vicky, he remembered. She had swum for him two years earlier, and taken over the coaching position when he stepped down.

She was a friend of Isabel’s and had always been approachable to him when she was on the team.

Instead of offering a smile in support, though, she was glaring at him through squinted and slivered eyes. She met his eyes, shook her head in disappointment, turned and walked away from the gathering.

Tom watched her go, knowing already that she was going to share what she knew to be true – rather, what she believed to be true – with Isabel. Tom knew that Isabel and Vicky still maintained contact and spent time together when Isabel came home, so it was obvious that this new piece of gossip would make it all the way to the East Coast, and fast. Unfortunately, Tom felt defeated because he realized there was nothing he could do about it.

Chapter Thirteen - Have a Little Faith in Me

S
usie and I walked out of the only class we shared,
Romantic Movement in America,
in the middle of an intense conversation about whether or not Edgar Allan Poe was crazy or genius. Susie thought he was absolutely insane, and that his shorts – which didn’t make sense to her – was enough evidence of his insanity. I was taking the stance that he was brilliant – which was awfully close to crazy, but not quite the same – and that one had to be brilliant to fully comprehend his literary works. We’d been having the same argument in class, in front of everyone, and hadn’t come to a suitable agreement yet. Which meant, of course, that we’d be arguing over this discrete point for at least another hour before we finally decided to drop it. Susie was just as stubborn as I was, and wouldn’t let go of a discussion until she felt that the other person had either truly accepted her point or truly convinced her otherwise. I loved Susie, but sometimes these ‘healthy discussions’ proved to be exhausting. I was somewhat relieved when my phone buzzed in my pocket, interrupting us.

When I saw who was calling, though, I hit ‘ignore’ and stuffed my phone back in my pocket.

“Still ignoring calls, are we?” she asked, rolling her eyes at me in her usual fashion.

I shrugged, not wanting to talk about it, but she kept right on. “Let me guess. That was our friend Tom this time?”

I smiled. I couldn’t help it. Her statement was so simple, yet so telling. And there was a world of information behind her tone and those expressive blue eyes of hers. I’d been back at school for two months already, and I’d been sharing more with Susie than I ever had before. The relationship with Tom was an open book, as far as she was concerned, though I hadn’t told anyone else.

“Well I don’t know what to do,” I responded quietly. “He wants me to come home for Thanksgiving break, and he’s calling me every day asking about it. And yeah, I promised him that I’d go home and visit, and that we’d try to see each other once a month or so, but…”

“Now you just don’t want to anymore,” Susie guessed. Or rather, answered for me. This admission was no news to Susie, who could now read my moods and emotions like a book.

“Exactly. It was so easy to promise it then, when he was right next to me and I couldn’t imagine not seeing him frequently. But now that I’m here, in our apartment, hanging out with you, classes, thesis – ”

“And with Marcus,” she interrupted, a demure smile framing her face.

“Well, yes, with Marcus,” I admitted, unable to control the bashful smile that formed on my face. “Tom just doesn’t seem as vital in my life as he used to. I just wonder if I’ve outgrown him, if maybe he’s something I wanted when I was in high school, and now that I’m older, he doesn’t fit as well with my interests and my life. Or maybe it’s just the fact that I can’t get those rumors out of my head and have branded him as being
guilty
in my mind?”

Susie hummed sympathetically, but went back to her notes as we walked, looking for more material to support her Poe theories. She knew the story – well, most of it – as well as I did, and knew that no matter what she said, how much convincing she attempted, it wouldn’t help me make up my mind. What I hadn’t told her was that I’d been receiving regular updates from Vicky, who was turning out to be the biggest gossip known to man. In fact, I’d just received another e-mail from her the day before. Although Vicky and I were good friends, I had never shared anything with her about my relationship with Tom, not in high school and not ever. She had heard about the rumors between us, though, as had the entire student body; however, she never queried me about it and I was relieved and appreciative at the same time. Given what she’d been saying lately, I thought she probably believed the gossip about Tom and me, but that didn’t mean she’d judged me for it. As far as she was concerned, I was her friend and it was her job to protect me from any harm or emotional trauma that might be headed my way; which was exactly why she sent me an email every day, letting me in on what she was hearing day in and day out.

There was nothing new. Tom had been seen quite frequently in Christine’s company, but I’d already heard about that. Now, there seemed to be rumors about a handful of others girls – a group of cheerleaders, who were shadowing him around campus. This new piece of information surprised me. I’d disliked the thought of Christine, but she’d at least been a friend of the family, and even baby-sat Tom’s girls from time to time. Cheerleaders, however, were not Tom’s type, and the rumors about Tom being in the company of several cheerleaders made me very suspicious. What could he see in them, after all? They weren’t in any of his classes, from what Vicky shared, and she’d written one entire message about how terrible these cheerleaders were.

The types of girls who stole their friends’ boyfriends, she’d said, in a not-altogether-subtle reference to Tom and me.

Reading that made me feel uneasy. Vicky wasn’t privy to any information about Tom and myself, not then and certainly not now, and I was not prepared to fan the flames of gossip by letting her in on my big secret.

The last time I spoke to Vicky over the phone, I had spent a good half hour feeling sorry for myself in my room and wiping at my tears with the corner of my pillowcase. I was well aware of the reasons for Tom’s proximity to Christine – her father was a friend of Tom’s, and Tom simply drove her home every now and then as a favor to her parents. I’d heard that explanation from both Tom and Christine’s mother. And I was sure that all adults involved – as well as Christine – repeated that justification whenever questions were raised on campus.

But I’d also witnessed – and remembered – the way Christine had looked at Tom when I was in their presence. I’d noticed the way his fingers lingered on her wrist when he returned her jewelry. More importantly, I’d been that girl, and knew exactly what those lingering and subtle caresses meant. I knew what it felt like to have his eyes on me, making me feel as though no one else existed but he and I.

I had experienced for myself where those afternoon drives led, and what went on in the cab of his truck. Tom had been taking calls he didn’t want me to know about, even when we were reunited and spending day and night together at the B&B.

No matter how much I tried to reason away the relationship with Christine, my mind lingered on those images, the ones scorched in my memory. And now that there were other girls rumored to be chasing him, or at least girls that were hanging around him, I failed to stop the wheels in my mind from spinning out of control.

Since returning to the East Coast, and after we had our little talk, my conversations with Tom had been strained and awkward, thanks in part to Vicky’s updates. I’d been avoiding the visits, telling him that I had too much to do, and that I was busy with classes, mid-terms, tutoring and the like. I wanted to believe in Tom’s innocence and discount all of the rumors Vicky had shared with me, but his history with me clouded my judgment. There was also Marcus. Although I had my reservations about where our relationship was going, I still found myself increasingly attached to him. In fact, being three thousand miles away and having a life of my own in DC, started to make me feel like the easiest thing in the world would be to let Tom slowly slip away. True, I loved him. How could I not? But every day my trust in him eroded more and more. When I thought about Tom throughout the day, as I often did, it was only to wonder what exactly he was doing and with whom. What had he been up to during our year apart? I knew what I’d done, and continued to do, but it was something he would never want to know or hear about. Had he done the same? He’d chosen another woman over me before (his wife), who was to say he hadn’t done the same now that he was separated from her and, technically, a free man?

I had come back to school in love with Tom, and had spent the first couple of weeks missing him badly. Now I was beginning to forget why. I was starting to learn how to live without him, and I even convinced myself that Marcus could serve as a suitable replacement, even though he didn’t treat me with near the respect Tom did.

Eventually I found myself ignoring his calls altogether, unable to stand the tension of having to consciously guard my conversation. I didn’t want to give my feelings away, nor did I want to have a difficult confrontation with him about the rumors Vicky was sharing with me. And was it even my place to say anything about those rumors while I was sneaking about and seeing someone else? Really, who was I to judge him in this way? I certainly had no intention of giving my relationship with Marcus away. Besides, there was a good chance that I was exaggerating the situation, and jumping to conclusions – or that Vicky was leading me down that path! – and I didn’t want to say anything that would come between us later. Tom was a very sensitive guy and if he thought, for one minute, that I believed he was being unfaithful – and behaving inappropriately with students – he would be extremely hurt. The last thing I wanted was to hurt Tom in any way, because I just didn’t know what was
really
happening back home. But little did I know, I already had hurt him.