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“Would it be different—better, somehow—if we knew where the leak came from?” Kayla picked up the sandwich and took another bite. “I’ve been trying to decide and can’t.”
“I want to say yes, but I don’t really believe it. It’s not like that would change anything. Say it’s a student, what then? It’s not as if I’d want disciplinary action taken.”
“I would.”
My eyebrows lifted at her tone. “Kayla. They’re kids. You know it was probably they heard something and told a friend. The friend told a friend, who told someone else, and somewhere along the way, a parent heard and realized this was a great scoop.”
She stuffed the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and shrugged.
“You really want someone to get in trouble because they talked to a friend?”
Kayla held up a finger as she chewed. She took a long drink from her water bottle. “Maybe not. But I’d be fine with the parent—or teacher, did you consider that?—who went to the press getting reprimanded.”
I wasn’t sure there was any reprimand to make. People were allowed to talk about what they knew. Or guessed. If they happened to do that with a reporter, well, that was allowed, too. But I was also pretty sure mentioning freedom of speech to Kayla right now was a bad plan, so I opened my lunch bag back up and pulled out the soda I’d packed.
She scowled at me. “You don’t want them to pay?”
“Not really? It’s not as if they published lies. They just revealed information I’d rather not have out there. But now it’s out there and I have to deal with it. We both do.” The article this morning had made a big deal out of the relationship between Kayla and me. Was that what had her so angry? “Unless you want to step away. Get off the circus train, so to speak. I wouldn’t blame you.”
“Is that what you want?” She crossed her arms.
“No.” I reached across her desk and left my hand there, palm up, until she loosened and put her hand in mine. I squeezed her hand. “I love you. Nothing that’s happened changes that. But I also understand that you’re a private person and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’d like to go back to being a private person, but I don’t see it happening.”
“Ever?” Her wide eyes betrayed the panic that she’d mostly kept out of her voice.
I wanted to tell her that I absolutely believed that when this bombshell died off, the two of us could go back to relative obscurity. But I didn’t want to lie. “Not really. I’m building the learning center. That’s going to be news around here for a while—at least until it opens. Maybe longer. I’m setting up the scholarship fund. Which, again, is news. Maybe I wish I could have done it all on the down low, but now that it’s out in the open? I don’t see it disappearing. At least not locally. Not for a while. And probably never completely. I’d love to be wrong though.”
She looked away. “They’re calling me a gold digger.”
“What? That’s insane.” It definitely explained her anger, though. “I didn’t see that. Which article did I miss?”
“Not the press. The kids. You’re this hero in their eyes because you’re doing all these good things, but because our relationship is new, they assume I’m only in it because I found out about the money. Even though we’ve eaten lunch together forever.”
“That’s…horrible.” And it was from students, so it wasn’t like I could offer to beat someone up. Not that I was that guy in the first place. I could probably defend myself, but I didn’t want to be the one taking the first swing. “What did you do?”
“I ignored it. It’s not like they’re raising their hands and asking out loud. It’s the muffled cough over words thing. Or the oh-so-subtly visible doodle. You know how kids are.”
I nodded. I did. “Is there any way for me to help?”
She shrugged.
And here was the dilemma. Because I had ideas—lots of them. But would they make things worse instead of better? I didn’t know. And I really didn’t want to mess things up for her any more than I already had. “Well.Iknow you’re not a gold digger. You’re my best friend. You have been my best friend for years. That’s not new. I love you. And that’s not new, either. It just took me a while to get up the nerve to tell you.”
Kayla looked up and met my gaze, a smile slowly blooming on her face. “I love you, too. That’s not going to change because people are obnoxious.”
I chuckled. “That’s the spirit.”
“You should get back to your classroom. The bell’s going to ring in about five. I made the mistake of being in the hall when the kids were. It’s worse. So much worse.”
I winced. I couldn’t imagine worse, but I’d take her word for it. I stood and crooked my finger at her.
She tipped her head to the side before pushing back her chair and standing.
I closed the distance between us and pulled her into my arms. “We’re going to get through this. Together. Okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
And then I broke my long-standing rule against kissing Kayla at school. Because she needed it.
