Unexpected Rendezvous

Chapter 42

Perrie's POV

"In conclusion, if such egregiously predatory behaviour isn't punished to the fullest extent possible, then no student in the UK can ever feel safe."

I lean against Jade, who's been sitting beside me on her bed while I read from the letter to the Board of Education that I just wrote on her laptop. "What do you think?" I ask.

She twirls a strand of my hair around her finger. "I think egregiously is kind of a distracting word," she says. "But otherwise, it sounds great."

"Really? I though it was powerful." I frown at my screen. "How about shockingly?"

"How about you take a break?" Jade asks. She kisses my temple, then my cheek, and then trails her lips down to my neck. "You've been working on that since you got here."

I resist the urge to melt against her. "I want to get it right," I say.

"I know," Jade murmurs, still kissing my neck. "But you're not single-handedly responsible for taking Mr Gray down, you know. That's someone else's job."

"Sure, except they're not doing it," I say, frustrated. It's the bane of my existence that the man who tried to kill me two months ago hasn't even lost his teaching license. "Maybe I should get Aunt Caitlin involved."

That's enough to make Jade pause. She stops kissing me, making me instantly regret my big mouth. "Aunt Caitlin? The romance author? Why?"

"She's friends with the Secretary of Education," I say, closing the laptop and placing it on the end table beside Jade's bed.

She blinks. "What, of Greater London?"

"No, of the whole UK. Aunt Caitlin went to Cambridge. She's connected." I flop on to my back and stare at Jade's ceiling. "I'm trying to be better about letting go of stuff I can't control, but it drives me crazy that Andre gets away with everything."

Jade stretches out next to me. "Karma will get him eventually," she says.

"Not soon enough. He probably has drug money stashed all over town while he waits for things to die down." I roll over on one elbow and raise my eyebrows at Jade. "And some clueless girl trailing after him like a puppy, doing his dirty work without even realising it. I bet you, Leigh and I followed him around for half a day, we'd find out all kinds of stuff."

Alarm flashes in Jade's eyes. "No," she says instantly.

"Why not? We're good at that kind of thing!"

"We're terrible at that kind of thing. If it was up to us, the police would've arrested Jordan Stephens."

"Alright, that's a fair point," I concede. Turns out that after all our suspicions, Jordan Stephens was just a run-of-the-mill struggling artist with poor judgement in business, real estate, and friends. "But we've learned a lot since then."

"Yeah, we've learned to mind our own business." Jade pulls me closer until our faces are only inches apart. "Perrie, listen. Do not go scorched earth on Mr Gray," she whispers, her dark eyes serious. "He's not worth it. Okay?"

"Okay," I whisper back, just before her lips brush mine. For a few perfect minutes, I don't think about anything except her.

Then a persistent voice reaches my ears. "Jade!" Ms Badwi calls. For about the third time, from the sound of her.

I sit up instantly, smoothing my hair and looking anxiously towards the door. Ms Badwi has that effect on me. Even though she's told me half a dozen times that she forgives me for Spare Me, and she's more than happy in her new job, I haven't shaken my guilt.