Next Generation (Book 4)

Upside Down

|Paul's POV|

We were in the living room, waiting for the girls to come home. Zach texted that he was on his way back with the both of them. The door opened not long after and we heard talking. Soon Zach and Vaughn appeared. Where was Murphy?

"Where's..."

"Murphy went upstairs to her room. She's not in a good mood. Zach got Mr. Shepherd to apologize to her. I wish he would've punched him in his face, but that's just me," Vaughn stated, taking off to the kitchen.

Zach shook his head before sitting down.

"What happened?" Steph questioned.

"I talked to the athletes, as promised, and spoke with Mr. Shepherd about Murphy."

"Wait, you spoke to him as in he's not suspended?" I asked.

Zach shook his head.

"No."

You have got to be fucking kidding me. Principal Hollis told us he'd be suspended pending the investigation and the board would make the final decision.

"So she sat there and lied to our faces? Looks like I'll be back at that school first thing in the morning. How dare she?!"

Steph had been keeping her cool through this ordeal, but this set her off.

"Mom, dad..."

We looked to the doorway to see Murphy standing there.

"Hey, sweetie," Steph said, softly.

"Can we just forget about all of this? Zach got Mr. Shepherd to apologize. I just want to move on. I'm not in his class anymore. Just forget it."

I could tell this was getting to her. Murphy had no problem standing up for herself, but she didn't like to prolong things either.

"Come here, Murphy," I said, shifting and patting a spot for her to sit between me and Stephanie.

She sat down and laid her head on Steph's shoulder. Vaughn came back in with snacks. She offered some to Murphy who shook her head.

"Murphy, this is not something your mother or I can or will ignore. Aside from the money we pay and have paid for you and your siblings to attend that school, behavior like this from a teacher is unacceptable. It is never okay for someone to make advances at you that you do not want."

"Dad, I get that. I just know everyone is going to be upset about their favorite teacher being suspended," she said.

"Their favorite teacher is a creep and if they're okay with that, they're weirdos," Vaughn chimed in.

Murphy cut her eyes at her sister.

"Vaughn this isn't happening to you, it's happening to me."

"I know it happened to you, that's not my point. You're my sister, everyone knows that. So, by association, I'm going to have to deal with it too. If you think you're going to get smart remarks, so will I. The difference is, I'm hoping someone says it to my face," Vaughn replied.

"Still, I'm not here for the rumors.

I watched Vaughn roll her eyes.

"Is it really a rumor when you know the truth? You wouldn't lie about something like this. If people don't know that, fuck them."

"Vaughn! Watch your mouth!" Stephanie admonished.

"My bad," she mumbled.

"Did you see him any other time today at school? Did he say anything to you?" I questioned.