Mr. Iero

Chapter 7

*Ashley's POV*

I told my mom that I was meeting up with a friend to go hang out around town.  It was already five o'clock, so I was reminded to be back at home at six for dinner.

I had looked up the address that Mr. Iero gave me online.  He lived a few towns away from the town where I lived, but it was only a twenty minute drive.  While I was driving, I was worrying.  I was worried about what would happen there.  Would he tell me that I had to get rid of it? Or would he maybe tell me that he'd be there by me every step of the way? Or would he just say that he'd stop talking to me?

When I found his house, I parked my car in his driveway and checked the rear view mirror to make sure I looked okay.  It wasn't that my looks would matter too much, but I didn't want to look like a panicky wreck when I went in.

I walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.  I waited for a bit more than ten seconds before I heard footsteps coming near the door.  When the door opened, I saw Mr. Iero standing there.  He looked a lot different, and it was probably just because he wasn't wearing a suit.  He was just in a pair of jeans and a striped tee shirt.

"Hey, come in," he said, moving to the side and letting me in through the door.  I watched as he closed the door again and then turned to me.  "So, um, why don't you come into the living room?"

I nodded and then he showed me into a room with a television, a couch, a table, and some other little things of his around the room like a stereo and a laptop.  We both made our way and sat down on the couch.  We sat in silence for about a minute when I decided we should start talking.  "Mr. Iero?"

Mr. Iero looked up at me.  "We're not in school.  Just call me Frank."

"Frank," I repeated, "I um...I just want you to know, before we decide anything else, that I'm keeping it."  Frank looked at me for a few seconds, an unreadable look on his face.  "The- the baby," I clarified.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he said.  "But yeah, that's fine.  I'd rather you keep it.  Well- I'd rather we not be in this situation at all.  But I'd rather you keep it than-"

"I know," I said, saving him from the trouble of having to explain his thoughts.

Frank nodded.  He looked at his hands for a moment and then back to me.  "Have you told anyone yet?" I shook my head.  "Not even your parents?" I shook my head again, curling my lips between my teeth.  "Why not?" he asked.

I tried to get a few words out of my mouth, but couldn't find the right words.  "They'd be really mad at me."

"Well, sure they'd be mad.  But wouldn't they support you?" he asked.

I breathed out a laugh.  "Not if they found out that their seventeen-year-old daughter got impregnated by her history teacher."

Suddenly Frank's eyes widened.  "Shit, I'm your history teacher."  I nodded, confused by how he seemed surprised by stating the obvious.  "And you're a minor."  I nodded again.  Frank put his head in his hands and started violently scratching his head, messing up his hair.  "Shit, shit, shit."

"I don't have to tell my parents," I assured him.

Frank looked back up at me.  "And how do you plan on hiding the fact that you're pregnant?" he asked sarcastically.

I looked at him with a face that said that I wasn't joking around.  "I mean that I don't have to tell them that you're the father."

He shook his head slowly.  "I just hope your parents are stupid enough to believe whatever you come up with."  I laughed and then he looked up at me, suddenly looking a bit worried.  "I uh... I didn't... you, um..." he took a deep breath and then looked me in the eye.  "It was mutual, right?"