Chasing Starlight

Chapter 25 - Ripple Effect

Rory sat staring out the window of the student council room behind his desk. His long legs were crossed and his elbows rested on the arms of the lush leather chair, making a slight steeple where his fingers gently rested together. It had been a week since school began, and the news broke over the school. It took merely half a day for the elite students to notice and interrogate Samia about the ring she wore.

From there, the news spread like wildfire, many of the girls bemoaning her 'stealing' the hot coach from them. Not to mention a surprisingly large amount of fans of Samia, so before the end of the day Monday, the entire school knew that Coach Webb and Miss Hawes were engaged. Rory had already known somewhat. Aras had told him what had happened, and even a fool could tell that she had said yes to him.

He had dismissed Aras, and stood for a moment, a cold fury rising in his chest. Years of rigid control kept him from screaming aloud, but as his mind digested it more, he couldn't contain it. His arm snaked out and with a loud crack, his fist shattered his large oval mirror settled near his door. He looked calmly at his bloodied hand, and while he felt in control again, the rage hadn't subsided for a moment.

To make matters worse, any plans he had to try to compromise her to ensure she stayed his, were completely blown apart by their announcement to the Headmistress before school began, and the damn woman allowed it. So when rumors began flying around about the engagement, he could scarcely walk down the hall without hearing about her.

After a few days, it even reached the idle gossip in the student council room. He tried to ignore them and finish sorting out the task agendas, but something snapped in him when he heard Isaac crying out, "The asshole already gets the attention of any girl worth looking at in our grade, and now he goes and swoops the hottest, youngest teacher here that any of us had a chance at."

Rory slammed his fist down with his papers, and in a deadly calm voice and icy stare said, "Your childish gossip needs to wait till after your responsibilities are over, no one cares." He put a heavy emphasis on the last three words. Isaac and the others cowed into silence, waited till he looked back down as his papers to start quietly shuffling theirs and murmuring about the work to each other.

Something had changed for Rory that night. She was in his dreams, making that maddening face. Fuck, that gym rat coach thinks he gets to see that?! His thoughts turned violent whenever he thought of the two them together. His heart felt like it had turned into a wild animal, clawing and scratching to be released from his chest. The touch of her lips, her willingly pressed into him, those sensations haunted him every spare moment. He didn't know what he wanted from her anymore, this was more than playing around. He just knew that he wouldn't stop feeling this way till he sees that face again.

Samia leaned out her balcony, slumped against the rails. She felt like she was living in some alternate world. Gone were the days of fruitfully pursing her dreams, now she struggled to maintain the appearance of a happily in love fiancee, feeling more and more disconnected from her work, and her students. Every emotion sat in her gut like a five pound stone.

When she woke up the next day, a 'good morning beautiful' text was waiting on her phone from Elliot. She shoved her head into her pillow and beat it with her fists, the wickedness and turmoil of last night flooding back into her mind.

"Everything alright, Mia Pea?" Her father asked from the kitchen, the smell of bacon sizzling.

"Yes papa, I'm just hungover a bit. " She lied, wishing it was so simple and easily handled.

"Oh my! Well I'll whip up some hangover punch for you, and you'll be feeling back to normal."

"Thanks papa." She smiled weakly. Under her blanket she slipped the ring off her finger and stuck it under her mattress. Her father was supposed leave later this morning, he had texted her last night that he was leaving sooner to avoid upcoming bad weather on the trip back. She secretly thought he might just be missing Catherine but mostly she was relieved to not have to hide this from him for long. She knew if he asked even one thing about it, she would burst into tears and confess everything. There was no way she was going to lay those burdens on her dad when he finally was happy again.

The goodbye hug was long, and a familiar pang of loneliness hit her as he walked down the steps to hail a cab to the Greyhound station. She shut her door and just slid down, hugging her knees to her chest. She lay her head on her knee and thought about crying. But she felt too tired to cry. Last night felt surreal, but the reality of what she had done was stuck under her mattress.

She shuddered, she had accepted for the worst reasons. There was no way things would ever be the same again. Her body still burned up with the memory of Rory pressed against her, and she had said yes to Elliots insane plan in a rash moment of upset.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot." She hit the back of her head against the door with each word.

No matter how many times she turned it around in her head, there was no way out of it without ruining everything she had worked for. She was already almost halfway through her required student teaching position, and she had put up with Rorys harassment already. Surely this would be easier, after all, she no longer had to hide or worry about Elliot being around her.

It was true she had felt something for him when they first met. He was handsome and kind, a gentleman. His outrage on the night of the ball was almost understandable, but she couldn't recognize anything about him in that moment. It was like a complete stranger took his body over. She tried to tell herself that it was just one time, but she knew if he found out what happened between her and Rory, that rage would come out again.

Rorys charming grin, his casual gaze flicking over her, his lips burning trails all over her. Her heart shuddered and flipped. Something had sparked in her that night, the look in his eyes, the heat between them. It was different from the comfort she felt with Elliot. It made her pulse race and stomach flutter. Rory may have tormented her, and she still hated that cruelty in him. That night she finally saw more, underneath the mask. A loneliness that echoed her own, and a need to be understood, and be known.

Each time her thoughts turned to him, she felt plagued with guilt. He may have started things between them, but she couldn't deny that she not just kissed him back, but wanted so much more. It left her dizzy and breathless, but that was always quickly quelled with shame and fear.

The ethics of her duties as a teacher have completely blurred, and now her only way out was to go through with an engagement to one man, while another was on her mind.

"This is so fucked. " She whispered, hating herself for being too scared to be honest. A thought occurred to her, and in her desperation for peace she siezed upon it. Maybe I can't change this starting as a lie, but I liked Elliot once. If I fall for him, I can put all this behind me, and Rory can find a new 'kitten's. Her conscious nagged at her but she dismissed it. Like everything she did, once she decided, she threw herself into it.