My Favourite Part

05: old feelings die hard

Scott Kellerman had sat by Evangeline Channing in their Economics lessons for as long as she could remember. Except for when his friend Dylan, or her friend Barbara, would steal his seat, and she'd have to give him an apologetic smile and he'd return an insouciant beam as he slid into the seat behind her.

When they were much, much younger, he'd been her year 2 Valentine. His mother had made him a solitary red velvet cupcake which Scott had, very distinctly, iced a wonky pink 'E' onto. After he'd given it to her, they sat together every break time behind the jungle gym, and if one of them hadn't been in one day, they'd compensate by spending the entire lunch break playing make-believe - always Harry Potter.

Once, he'd invited her on a play-date. Evangeline's mother worked days and nights, so she never ran into Scott's mother who seemed to live at the school gate, gossiping about mothers like Evangeline's who can never manage to make it to even one PTA meeting.

While they waited outside the school gate, they joined hands in innocent excitement. When Scott yelled, "there's my car!" and a man in uniform descended from a black Mercedes E Class and held the back door open for them, she let him run with her hand in his towards the lofty automobile. When they arrived outside an even loftier manor with marble pillars and Scott's mother was at the door waving them in with red velvet cupcakes like the ones from Valentine's Day, Evangeline was sure she'd stepped into a dream. Which was why she'd cried so hard on the bus ride home when her mother told her she was never going to that pompous McMansion ever again. After that, Evangeline started spending recesses in the library.

By year 10, the two existed in totally different social spheres. Evangeline's high-spirited and sundry, and Scott's artificial and absolutely loaded. It so happened that their circles intersected through Cara - her family and his often sat together in centre court at Wimbledon.

"It was so weird," Cara would report back to Angie and Barbara under the bleachers during lunch, "I said hi or whatever and we talked about the fucking weather or something. And then he's like so how's Evangeline? Does she have a boyfriend?  Sorry but who even calls you Evangeline? And does he know you to ask about you like that?" Evangeline would laugh it off, Barbara would quip about how irresistible Angie must be to have a year 2 crush wrapped around her little finger. And that was the last of Scott -until year 13, present day.

Once the initial awkwardness between them had passed, Scott and Evangeline were cordial, maybe even acquaintances. He had been happy to reunite, and she'd been pleasantly surprised by how cool he was, now that she had the chance to decide for herself. She'd never considered him romantically - he struck her as the kind of teenage boy who did stupid things like put a lads' nights before her, and not let their torsos touch when they made love even though they were intertwined in the most intimate way.  Nonetheless, he was cool. They were cool.

Which was why now, Evangeline couldn't figure out why Scott would have done what he did.

• • • •

The heads are still staring me down, and I almost feel bad for putting them through this. The worst they've had to deal with before this is kids smoking pot in the bathroom and throwing wet tissue at the ceiling. Now...

"I'm sure you know why we've called you here, Evangeline," my head teacher Mr. Madison starts. The deputy head Mr. Kelly is stood behind me like a henchman. I don't say anything - he's calling me Evangeline; he means business. "A classmate of yours is... concerned about you."

My eyes snap upward towards Scott, behind the closed door of the office. He looks away. I shrug. That doesn't go down well with Madison.

"Evangeline," he says again, with less patience, "this classmate of yours claims to have seen you with a teacher... outside of school hours." He says outside of school hours like it's a dirty word and it takes all my self-restraint not to roll my eyes. I bite my tongue before I answer.