The Teacher Next-Door

Chapter Five

The next day at school was an absolute nightmare. When I walked onto campus everyone was shooting daggers into my body with their harsh eyes. What was scary was that I had absolutely no idea what I did. I knew that yesterday I heavily implied that Claire didn't know how to keep her man happy, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal?

I was actually ten minutes early this morning, so I had time to go sit in the cafe while I waited for my friends to show up. Usually, I would find someone to talk to while I waited, but it seemed like no one wanted anything to do with me. It was probably just me overreacting and thinking the world revolved around me, so I chose to ignore it. Tuesdays were an annoying day of the week so I figured everyone was just in a crappy mood.

"Pst! Mary!" Ross was hiding behind a vending machine. "Come here."

"Ross?"

"Shut up and get over here!" He whispered.

Confused, I stood up from the chair and walked over to him. He then grabbed my hand and began running with me down the hallway that led to a private studying room. He quickly locked us in and switched the lights on.

"Ross, what the hell?"

He exhaled and put his hands on my shoulder. "Why are you even at school right now? Do you want to get murdered?"

I stared at him, trying to figure out if I was being pranked. "What?"

His eyes widened. "Do you really not know?"

"Know what?" I asked, feeling my heart begin to race.

The moment Ross opened his mouth, there was a knock on the door— it was Michelle and Dennel. Ross quickly ushered them in, making sure no one else was lingering in the hallway.

"Mary! You're still alive." Michelle breathed, hugging me tightly.

"You gotta leave... like right now," Dennel said.

I surveyed all of them. "Can someone please tell me what's going on?"

"She doesn't know?" Dennel asked Ross.

Ross shook his head frantically. "No, she doesn't!"

"Know what?!" I snapped.

They all exchanged looks with each other, trying to figure out who was going to tell me what was happening. Finally, Ross held my hand in his and focused all of his attention on me.

"Mary, you really pissed off Claire." He told me.

I pulled my hand away, annoyed that he was being so vague. "Yeah, so? I thought that you guys would be happier about it."

"Nah you don't get it," Dennel stared at me intensely. "You really pissed her off."

I turned towards Michelle but she didn't have anything to say. Instead, she handed me her phone with the Facebook app already open. Hesitantly, I took the phone from her and read the tiny screen.

Claire Martinez

Wow, you would think that being best friends with someone for a year meant that they wouldn't fuck your boyfriend and look you in the eye every day... guess I was terribly wrong. Mary and Gavin, I hope you're happy together.

"Oh my God!" I put the phone in Michelle's hand. "Why the fuck would she even say that?" I cried.

Michelle pulled me in for a hug while I sobbed into her shoulder. No one said anything to me as I released all of the panic and betrayal I was feeling.

Yeah, I did say something really messed up yesterday, but was I wrong in putting her in her place? No one ever stood up to her and as her best friend I resented her for constantly putting me down to make herself look better. I definitely did not think that it was on the same level as accusing someone of sleeping with their boyfriend.

"So, did you?" Ross asked, scratching the back of his head.

"No!" I yelled, causing everyone to flinch. "Sorry, I just never expected her to do something like this."

Michelle shook her head. "She was horrible to you, Mary. You deserve way better."

All of them pulled me in for a much-needed group hug.

"I love you, girl." Dennel kissed me on top of my head.

"I love you too." I sniffled.

I pulled away from the hug and wiped my face. I could tell that none of them knew what to do. Hell, I didn't know what to do.

"Maybe you should just take a day off," Michelle suggested.

I thought for a moment. It was extremely tempting to hide from my problems, but I knew that the only person that would be benefiting would be Claire... and I was done trying to please her.

"No, I got this," I assured them.

I pushed past them and left the room, waiting to be eaten alive by all of the drama-hungry college kids. There was a minute left before first classes were to start, but I took my time walking there because I was already stressed out enough as is. Professor Jackson was patiently standing outside of his classroom like he did every morning, and he offered me a warm smile.

"Good morning!"

"Morning."

I saw the expression on his face change; he could definitely see that something was wrong. However, I ignored this and walked into the room. When I did, I instantly regretted making the choice to not run home.

Everyone's eyes were glued on me as if I had just walked in naked, which wouldn't be much of a stretch because the way they were looking at me felt extremely invasive.

I held my head high as I walked to my seat. Olivia was watching me the entire time I grabbed my notebook from my bag, so I decided to smile at her. She stared at me with an emotionless face before she turned her head.

I scanned the room for Claire's cheap-ass hair extensions, which didn't take me long to find. She was sitting at Professor Jackson's desk, typing on her laptop. When she looked up from her screen, she instantly glared in my direction. Her vengeful green eyes stared into mine for a painful amount of time. The longer we made eye contact, the angrier I grew.

She was going to pay for this.