Reining Her In (Student/Teacher Romance)

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

My dorm was empty when I returned. I lived with four other people, and none of them were there.

Mr. Campbell had kept everything at bay, but I'd come home early to keep him happy and now I was paying the price. Lying in bed, I tossed and turned and tried to keep my mind off the party.

If I thought about it too hard, I felt sure I could hear the music, pounding into the room and tempting me. It would be in full swing—I could go down, even take half a pill just to prep me up, and start dancing. It would still be a good night.

It would be doubly good: I'd have had Mr. Campbell's company, and now I'd get my friends', too.

I buried my face in my pillow, and tried to concentrate on the film I'd put on. The tiredness should have been pulling me under by now—I'd been up awake for nearly eighteen hours—but it just wouldn't come. My favourite character in my favourite film died, but my eyes didn't even sting like normal.

All I could think about was the party.

A knock on the door startled me out of the sleep-deprived stupor I'd found myself in half an hour later. Running a hand through my mussed hair, I pulled open the door.

Ruby stood on the other side, tears trailing down her face. I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around her, allowing her to sob into my shirt. I ran a hand over her long blonde hair until she began to calm down. She'd been mumbling choked words, but I hadn't heard any of them.

She pulled back and wiped at her face. A mixture of sparkly eyeshadow, mascara, and red lipstick covered it. I grabbed a face wipe from my bedside table, and patted the space on the bed beside me. "What happened?"

"That stupid video." She sniffed, and grabbed my bedside mirror, pausing to remove all her makeup. "Someone here saw it, and now everyone has seen it, with those stupid edits. People have been coming up to me all night and making lesbian jokes, and trying to get off with me for a laugh.

"I really convinced myself it was going to go away, but everyone knows. Everyone knows and so soon my parents are going to know."

I let her curl into my side, and pulled the covers over us. She was freezing. She must have been walking around the grounds before coming to my room.

For once, I had no idea what to say. She was right. Her parents would probably find out if everyone at school knew.

"The people at the party are ignorant dickheads," I said. It was true. "And they're enjoying the novelty. It will settle down soon."

"I don't even care about that. I know they're just shitters who don't know anything about the real world, but I can't lose my tuition."

"We'll sort something out," I promised. "You don't even know that your parents will find out." I struggled to meet her eyes as I said it. There was alcohol on her breath, and I knew she must have drank an obscene amount. "You only have one year to go. We can handle that."

If it came down to it, I'd convince my dad to pay somehow. That was nothing to him. Nothing compared to Ruby's devastation if she had to give up her dream.

She curled into my bed and I went to fetch her a glass of water. A big glass.

She sipped at it, and I turned off the film. It was one she'd always hated. "Penny, what am I going to do? Are people going to judge me forever because I like girls?"

My eyebrows shot up, but I swallowed my reaction. "Of course they're not. You know what people here are like, we're in a Catholic school. In the real world, people don't care about these things, not anymore. You're going to be working in the riding industry and the biggest commentator on the scene is a lesbian. It's just this school, it's suffocating."

She nodded against my shoulder, and let out a massive yawn. I turned away from the stench of vodka on her breath. "You're right," she agreed. "I can stay here, right? I don't want to go back to my room by myself. Someone from my room was laughing at me tonight."

"Of course you can." It was a single bed, but we'd manage. My conversation with Mr. Campbell came back to me—was it that I was the kind of friend Ruby couldn't confide in, or would she have never told anyone until she had to?

I pushed the thoughts away, and pulled at the cord which turned the light off. We were going to get an awful sleep. People would be coming in from the party, and I could guarantee that they wouldn't all come in at once. The door would be slammed plenty of times, and drunk people never spoke quietly.

"I'm proud of you," Ruby said, snuggling against the covers and stealing half of mine. I yanked them back.

"What for? I should be saying that to you."

"For not coming to the party. I thought you'd give in."

"Oh." I omitted to tell her about Mr. Campbell. We were best friends, only we didn't tell each other our deepest secrets. "Yeah, it's been pretty rough. I'm not convinced I would have made it if you hadn't shown up just now."

"So you managed to get out and go for a long ride without getting caught?"

I hesitated. Honestly, I wanted to tell her. I was in that stage where I was overwhelmed with girly feelings and I wanted to gush about how Mr. Campbell had been so good to me. But I couldn't just say one thing—it was all or nothing. Either, he'd covered for me all this time, or I hadn't seen him at all.

"I did. I told you it was a good plan."

"I'm proud of you," she repeated, though the last word was muffled in a yawn. "I'm really sorry if I throw up on you."

I resisted the urge to kick her onto the floor. "You won't be forgiven."

She gave me a nudge with her shoulder, and we settled into silence. We were crushed together, but it was comforting. This was how it always worked when one of us was sad, we'd sneak into the other's dorm and have a sleepover.

Dorm security wasn't exactly tight. Sleep overs and parties weren't difficult to get away with.

"Penny?"

"Yes?"

"I'm really glad you're my friend."

I smiled into the darkness, and guilt lingered on my mind. "Ruby?"

"Yes?"

"I really fancy Mr. Campbell."

She flipped over and grinned. "I knew it. You can't hide anything from me."

I didn't tell her everything, even though I knew I could have done, but it felt good. He'd been right—having an all-in friend was good. Just telling her that I had a crush on him was like a weight from my shoulders.

"I still think you're going to be disappointed."

"I know I'm going to be disappointed."

"Crushing on people is fun, though, even if it doesn't work out. That fluttery stomach and all the ogling. And he at least talks to you. I mean, in the stables the other day you were having a conversation."

I bit my lip. "We were literally insulting students. That has to mean something about how comfortable he is with me, doesn't it?"

Ruby pulled a face. "You were insulting me, weren't you?"

"You were being a bit of a wimp."

She slapped my arm, and then collapsed onto her back, laughing. "Maybe it'll work out. You never know."

"I absolutely know." Even if he did like me on a more than professional level, it could never extend beyond friendship. If not reporting me for doing drugs would eating him up this much, then he could never sleep with me and forgive himself.

I should stop thinking about it for both our sakes. He would be a lot happier if I avoided him and let him forget all about the fact I was making him keep secrets.