Unreturned Love

Chapter 5

"So... To summarize, you visited Kayline and pissed her off by asking about her parents, and came here. For what, may I ask?" Leeane asked bluntly. "To ask after me, or to find out why Kayline got so worked up?" Leeane and Finn were seated in Leeane's bedroom, and Leeane was regarding Finn with suspicion.

"Both", Finn replied quietly. Leeane sneezed, and blew her nose.

"Oh? Mr Gerald, I might as well tell you that I didn't know teachers came house-to-house when their students are sick. And", Leeane continued, "what on earth gave you the idea that I'd be willing to tell you about Kayline's parents?".

"Because I'm concerned for her", Finn replied through clenched teeth. Leeane regarded him silently for a moment, then let out a sigh coupled with yet another sneeze.

"Look, Mr Gerald. I'm observant, I use my eyes. And I can tell that you're interested in her", Leeane said, her piercing eyes never leaving Finn's. She held up a hand when Finn opened his mouth. "And I have a right to be concerned. I don't wish to see my friend hurt just because some teacher couldn't control his hormones. I'm telling you right here and now, that it's impossible between you and Kayline".

Finn stared at her. He had always regarded Leeane as an exceptional student, one whom handed up her work promptly and efficiently. But this was a side of her that he'd never seen before. She was standing up now, eyes icy and piercing, and looked right into his eyes so that he felt as if she was looking right into him, reading him like an open book. The fact that her nose was a red as a lobster didn't  mark the overall effect at all. "I guess you're right", he threw up his hands, and stalked over to the window. "Fine, I'm in love with her. Happy now? It's not like I can control it. Damn it, it just came over me, and now I'm madly in love with her and there's nothing I can do".

"It's impossible between the two of you", Leeane repeated flatly.

"Why? Because I'm a teacher and she's a student?" Finn shot back.

"No", Leeane sighed. "We both know that, that particular barrier would mean nothing if you were really in love with her. But... Oh, it's just impossible. Take my word on it, Mr Gerald. I can't... Can't tell you".

Finn whirled from the window and grabbed Leeane's shoulders. "Tell me... Please".

"No. You can't ask me to tell you my best friend's secrets", Leeane said quietly, and shook her head slightly.

"Please", Finn looked at her, putting the plea in his eyes. "Leeane. If you've used your eyes as you claim you have, then you should know that I'm madly in love with her. I need to know. Please, I'm begging you". Leeane glanced up, felt pity stirring in her. Here was a teacher, one who was overstepping the rules, overstepping all forms of tradition. And he was desperate enough to beg her. She sighed, took her seat again. "Mr Gerald-"

"Finn. Just call me Finn".

"Alright, as you wish. Finn. What I'm telling you is being said in confidence. No-one else is to know of this. And you will not tell Kayline that you know all this". She said. Finn nodded, clearly aware that it was tough for Leeane.

"Then let's start", Leeane sighed.

"Kayline's parents divorced, about two years ago. But it wasn't one of those easy divorces. Not at all. Her farther used to beat her mother until she was bleeding, and had to be sent to the hospitals. They argued, often right in front of Kayline, argued viciously. When Kay tried to intervene, more often than not she was the one who got hurt instead. Her parents didn't care for her at all", she said, and this was the first time, her gazer flickered. "Her father was too busy smoking and gambling, and her mother was too much a career woman to even bother about the family. She had no one to call a parent, every reason to hate and resent her biological parents. But when they divorced, she was devastated. Utter breakdown. Her mother migrated to New Zealand to begin a new life there, and her father... Well, her father was scum. He left her to fend for her own, didn't even acknowledge the child that he'd fathered. I grew up with her, and I can tell you how much pain the divorce brought her. She refused to eat for weeks, and I had to be there to head it off before it got serious. She was penniless, and orphaned. At that time, she was living in my house as her father had sold the house for money. One of her unless was a wealthy tycoon who felt sorry for her, and so brought a house for her to live in. She lives alone in that house, so I usually go to her house or she to mine. We're best friends", she said simply. "Friends who depend on one another".

Leeane drew a deep breath. "After her parents... Kay never believed in love again. She once told me that fairytales only existed in books, and it was stupid to believe in them in real life. She had seen how love could change, change into something totally unrecognizable. Her life had been ruined as a child, and it left boyfriends, casually or seriously. And she never will. Kay made an oath to herself once. That she'd never fall in love, never suffer the consequences that her parents brought her".

"A child, tattered and broken, all hopes and illusions shattered. They ruined her future for her, Finn. She'll never believe in love, not after what her parents did. She grew up not believing in that word". Leeane said quietly. "Which is why it's impossible between you and her. Kay... She refused to commit herself to anything that will bring her agony that her parents brought her. Do you understand?". She finished softly, her eyes searching Finn's face for any hint of what he thought.

"That was cruel", he murmured, swallowed. "Cruel to doom a child right from the start, even before she'd had time to form her own opinion from her experiences".

"Yes, it was", Leeane nodded. "I was the one who saw her broken and shattered, giving up hope in life at all".

Finn let out a breath, and stared at the floor. "So it's impossible, after all. You were right. How can I ask her to love after all that she's been through?".

Leeane rose to her feet, and stepped beside Finn. "She's my friend. My best friend. I don't want to see her hurt again". And left the room. For a while, Finn merely stood there, despair and pity both welling up unbearably in his heart. He never knew, he could never tell her past from her behaviours. She had always been a cheerful and bubbly, never showing any outward hint of the dark past that she had. How could he decide what to do now? As he mused this question, he slowly walked out of the room, and into his car. Finn drove, but not back to school. He wanted to go home, to think. He needed to think very badly.

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Leeane watched him leave, so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice her. He's really got it in for Kay, she thought. Well now, we have a hell of a trouble. The cutest teacher in school falling in love with a student with a dark past who doesn't believe in love. Great, just great. Add the fact that the student's best friend also had a major crush on the teacher in question, and you have a hell of a mix.