Some Kind Of Temptation

The Sun Never Shines

It had been 5 months.

Elizabeth had experienced every emotion she thought possible in that time, and usually cycled through them on a daily basis. Because of the timing of it all, her friends thought it was because of the breakup with Chase, and whilst surprised because they didn't know she was that into him, they were still supportive.

She buried herself into her schoolwork to avoid thinking about Stephanie too much, but it was impossible. They'd had a little under 4 months together and yet everywhere she looked she saw painful reminders of her. She loathed sitting in what had been her English class.

She had to convince herself daily what she knew was right. Stephanie did what she did for her. She had to tell herself this because she was battling intrusive thoughts and conspiracy theories from her own imagination and what the other girls were guessing had happened.

A popular, more extreme theory for a long time was that she'd been kidnapped. This came about because the next morning the first class to walk in to her room said it had been wrecked - desks and chairs were scattered, the trash was upturned, everything on top of her desk had been swept onto the floor and there was a smeared handprint in the dust on the board, and what looked like scratch marks in the varnish of her desk.

Elizabeth did her best to ignore it all. It was in the middle of Spanish one day she got a call to the principal's office. As she sat outside the door, the thought crossed her mind that the truth had come out. Maybe at least that way she'd get to find where Stephanie had gone.

The secretary called over to her, smiling warmly.

"You can go in now, Elizabeth."

Principal Leary was a domineering woman. Despite the fact she must have been almost 75, her mind was a sharp as a tack and she knew everything that went on in the school. Well, almost, thought Elizabeth ruefully as she stood before her.

"I must congratulate you, Miss Montgomery."

"Congratulate me?"

She held out a piece of paper and Elizabeth took it. Her GPA: 5.1.

"You're the top of the class. By a good margin. You want to go to Brown, correct?" Elizabeth stared at the paper, stunned. Tears began to prick her eyes as she realized how desperate she was to tell Stephanie. "Elizabeth?"

"Uh...Brown, yes."

"You'll be a real asset there. Oh come, now. No need to be emotional. You have a valedictorian speech to write."

~

"Elizabeth, can I speak to you, please?"

She rolled her eyes at her friends as they left class, promising to catch up with them.

"What is it, Mr Egan?"

"I hear you're our class valedictorian."

"Apparently so."

She'd had an active resentment of her Spanish teacher since finding out about about him and Stephanie. Her natural aptitude for languages was her saving grace - she definitely gave Spanish the least amount of study time.

"You know, you've really got my generosity to thank for it."

He perched on the edge of his desk and smirked at her.

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, I can tell you've been slacking in my class. So I did you a favor. I knew what was bothering you, and honestly, I felt partly responsible, so -"

"Mr Egan, with respect, you have no idea what you're talking about."

"She didn't want to hurt you."

Elizabeth felt her stomach jolt as she watched him steadily.

"What did you say?"

"She was so conflicted. She told me everything the day she left. She had feelings for both of us and it was just too much to take."

"You're lying."

"You knew she was seeing me at the same time?"

"I know she went on a date with you as a distraction and gave you a pity fuck." His eyes flashed. "Whatever she left for it has nothing to do with you."

She turned to leave and he quickly grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing!?"

He pulled her into him, his face inches from hers.

"It has everything to do with me. You know she was begging me not to hurt you? She said I could do anything I wanted to her so long as I left you alone. It's really hard to get into it when you're fucking someone and she keeps crying about a spoilt little girl."

Elizabeth stared at him in horror.

"Her classroom -"

"She put up a fight in the end. I can't stand bitches who lead you on then change their minds at the last minute. I had to remind her who she was doing it for to get her to stop fighting and just take it. The fucking crying though -"

"I'm going to the police." She was reeling in shock as she tried to process what had happened. Of all the scenarios she had dreamt up, never something like this. "Get off me."

"Think they'll believe you? There's no evidence. You and her though...even if I couldn't find proof that kind of thing sticks, Elizabeth. Everyone will believe it. So what you're going to do is keep your pretty mouth shut and say 'thank you, Mr Egan.'"

"Let go of my arm."

He loosened his grip and she slapped him with everything she had.

"Fuck you, Mr Egan."