Page 14 of Mr. B

Cassandra stood and returned to her seat. “Are we done here?”

“Um…sure.”

“And don’t worry about Bailey spilling the beans on this.”

“She told me you threatened her with long-term grounding.”

“I did.”

Wes nodded. “I’ll let you get back to work.” He returned to his office and sat in his chair. If he wasn’t the mistake, that meant Nick was. Wes stared at the screensaver bouncing around his screen. Mistake or not, there was no getting past the fact that she had dated him for over a year while being engaged to Nick.

Chapter four

“Above your pay grade, Polly.”

On Tuesday, Bailey appeared at Wes’ open door after last period. He looked up from his desk and waved her in. “Come on in, Bailey.” He’d been thinking about their conversation on Sunday and wanted to follow up. So, he’d sent for her.

She stepped into the room. “Am I in trouble? I swear I haven’t told anyone.”

“That’s not why I asked you to come see me. Close the door and have a seat.”

Bailey carefully closed the door, then went to one of the two chairs in front of the desk and sat on the edge of it. “I’m sorry I came to your house. I know I shouldn’t have.”

“Bailey, you’re not in trouble. I’m just a little concerned about why you jumped to that conclusion.”

“About you being my…” She looked down at her hands and picked at her blue nail polish. “It was dumb.”

“Did you spend the summer with your dad?”

“Yeah. Every summer in Seattle. I really hate Seattle.”

“But things went okay with your dad?”

“Yeah. It’s just…” She let the sentence drop.

He cocked his head. “It’s just what?”

“He wants me to move there after I graduate. He says if I do, I can go to Cornish.”

Wes thought for a moment. “Performing arts?”

“Yeah. Which would be cool. I’d love that. But…Seattle. And…”

“You don’t want to live with your dad?”

“He says it’s close, and he’d get me a new car. He has a big house…” She looked at her hands again. “I guess it wouldn’t be that bad. But he has a girlfriend and…it’s just weird now.”

“It’s a great school. Did you have somewhere else in mind?”

She smiled. “The San Francisco Conservatory of Music.”

Wes raised an eyebrow. “Wow. Um…that’s really cool.”

“Mr. Fuller says he’s sure I’d be accepted if I applied.”

“Have you done that yet?”

“No. Mom wants me to go to Boise State first for a couple of years, then transfer to somewhere further away.”