Closer to the Whispers

You are my Poison

**TW poisoning and violence, mentions of possible pregnancy loss**

Leo's POV

I graded the reports I had assigned last week, my mind only barely focusing on what I was doing. I left far less scathing comments, as usual, on the idiotic student's papers but made sure to keep the grades reasonable still. I had only given one B so far out of all the brain-dead student reports, and I felt that was more than generous.

"You know, if you want to pretend to be a poor high school teacher, the least you could do is answer a call from your father every now and then." My dad said, interrupting me while I was writing, 'This is the dumbest shit I have read today' on a particularly dense student's report.

"What do you want?" I snapped, not in the mood to socialize. He pulled over a spare chair that was comically small and sat down, watching me until I finally looked up at him.

"Do you have approval yet?" He asked coldly.

"The meeting is a few days away." I snapped.

"Then you will come back home, yes?" He asked me, his boisterous demeanor subdued, which was unlike him.

"Why do you care?" I asked, annoyed he couldn't find anything better to do than annoy me. He was just silent, and even though his expression didn't change, I knew he was here because he was lonely after losing my mom. He would never say as much, but the truth was between us uncomfortably hanging in the air.

"I have to finish the year, but it's almost time for holiday break. I will be chaperoning the vacation for the competition they held, but that still leaves a week I will be home." I told him more gently. He nodded, seeming to be encouraged by this.

"Nice classroom you have here. Much fancier than what I had back in the day, though I just went to a normal public school in the Bronx, you know?" He said, getting up and looking around at the insane amount of equipment the school had supplied to me, which was set up in the cabinets along the large room.

"With how much they charge, I should hope they manage to supply a decent science room," I said in agreement.

"What's all this?" He asked, opening a cabinet that was full of toxic and dangerous chemicals.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT. You're not wearing gloves." I yelled, jumping up and rushing over to him. I was absolutely sure before the competition that the cabinet had been locked, but I tried to close it, and it refused to properly close. The metal door had been bent at the lock and broken.

"Fuck. Who could want any of this?" I said aloud, trying to close the door again as if that would fix the bent metal.

"Why would a bunch of rich kids steal your chemicals?" My dad asked confused, and excited by the mystery.

"I have no..." My mind went back to when I first got back after the competition. I had seen Caleb rushing down the hall, but I figured he was just licking his wounds after losing to a girl. My breath caught in my throat, and I opened the door again, rummaging through, trying to find what was missing.

Nearly every box had been torn open in his haste.

"Fuck. Fuck. I need to find Isabella. Now." I said, rushing off, leaving my father to catch up to me.

"What's wrong? Why would Isabella steal your stuff?" He asked curiously, excited to have some adventure.

"Not her. Caleb. Our school had a massive competition and she won, but Caleb had been giving her a hard time before the competition. I saw him in the hall when I first got back but didn't think much of it." I explained, my panic rising with every step.