Mr. Iero

Chapter 6

*Ashley's POV*

I knew that I had to tell somebody about this.  It was just a matter of who I was going to tell.

I could certainly not tell my parents.  They'd ask who the father was, and easily get Mr. Iero fired and sent to prison.  Then of course I would be shamed by everyone I knew and everyone who would read about it in the newspaper.  No.

I couldn't tell any of my friends.  If I wasn't careful with who I told, they might start to gossip.  I would need help to get through this when it became obvious, and that's what I'd need my friends for.  I already had very few friends as it was, so I would just try to keep them around for as long as I could and hope that they'd stay when I needed them.

Abortion was not an option for me.  I didn't care what other people chose to do, but this was my choice.  And there was no way I was going to do that.

I had to tell Mr. Iero.  As little as I wanted to have to go through doing that, I wasn't going to lie to him.  I didn't care if he wanted to have nothing to do with it; I wouldn't have blamed him.  But he at least needed to know.  He was just as responsible for this baby as I was.

"Ashley?"

I looked up, startled by the voice.  Mr. Iero was standing next to my desk holding a pile of papers, one hand held out towards me.  "Yes?" I asked.

"Can you hand me your test?" he requested.

Suddenly I panicked.  I looked down at my mostly-blank test and back up to the teacher with my mouth slightly dropped open.  "I- but I-"

"I'm sorry to see that," he said.  "But the bell's about to ring and I need to collect everybody's test now."

I sighed in defeat and handed him what I knew I'd get back as an F.  I had only answered the first three questions before getting caught up in my thoughts.  Mr. Iero went around the room and collected everybody else's tests.  Soon after, the bell rang and everybody got up and went to the door.

"Have a nice day!" he called to everyone leaving.

I decided that this was a better time than ever to tell Mr. Iero everything that I had to.  I stuck around a bit longer, until everybody left, and then walked over to Mr. Iero's desk.  I waited for him to notice me and say something, but he seemed busy putting all of his things away into a briefcase.  "Mr. Iero?" I asked, hoping I wasn't bothering him.

He looked up at me and then back down to his briefcase, "Yes?"

I took a shaky breath, hoping he didn't notice how nervous I seemed.  "Do you have a minute?" I asked.

"If this is about your test, Ashley, I don't allow students to retake their tests."

"It's not about that."  I looked down to my feet and took a deep breath to prepare myself to break the news.  "Do you remember when-"

"I'm actually really busy right now," he interrupted.  "I have to be in a meeting in a few minutes, so if what you have to say is that important, you'll have to walk with me to the meeting."  With that, he picked up his briefcase and headed to the door.

I had to say it now.  Now.  Now.  Now.  Now.  Now.

"I'm pregnant," I said quiet enough that nobody in the halls could hear, but maybe he would.

Mr. Iero stopped in his tracks.  He turned around on the balls of his feet and looked at me with a very serious expression.  Neither he nor I said anything.  I was waiting for him to say something, even though I was terrified that he would become furious with me.

He walked up to me and left about a foot between the two of us.  He ran a hand through his hair and looked down between my eyes and my stomach.  "You're- you're... Really?" he whispered.   I nodded.  "And it's mine?" I nodded again.  He put a hand over his mouth and I heard him very quietly mutter, "No, no, no, no, no.  This can't be happening," as his eyes frantically searched the floor around his feet.

When he finally looked back up and met my eyes, he must've seen the worry in them.  "I'm sorry," I said, feeling like he'd yell at me if I said anything else.

"Don't- don't be sorry," he said with a sigh.  He checked his watch and then put grabbed a pen and a stray piece of paper.  "I have to go to my meeting right now."  He scribbled something onto the piece of paper.  "We're really not supposed to be doing this, but we've already broken one rule, so this one's nothing in comparison."  He handed the piece of paper to me, "Just come by sometime after four.  I have to go."

With that he quickly turned around and walked out of the classroom door.  I looked down at the paper and saw that he wrote an address on it.  I assumed that it was his.

I folded the paper and put it into my pocket.  I went outside to my car and went home.  I was actually going to go to Mr. Iero's house this evening, even though I had no clue what to expect.