Sweet Caroline

#35 Making the world a little better every day

"Caroline?"

I spin around in my classroom when a male voice calls my name – my first name. Only colleagues do that at the school and I don't recognize the voice, so it's definitely not John or the headmaster.

"Mr. Thompson," I reply, frowning. Why is he calling me by my first name? He didn't come in to talk to me after the Christmas break, not even once. And now, at the end of the second week, he's here? Calling me Caroline? He smiles and makes his way over to me, but I step to the side to keep a table between us.

"I'm sorry for what happened," he says, his voice soft and his eyes intent on mine. "That's not how I wanted that to happen. I was drunk and stupid. I should have waited."

"Waited?" What the hell is he talking about? "Mr. Thompson, there is no place nor a time where I would have wanted that to happen."

"Come on," he says, his brow furrowing. "I get it, Caroline. It's complicated. I'm going through a difficult divorce and my kids are in your class, but it's obvious there's something between us."

"Yeah," I agree, moving away even further. "There are two tables and a chair between us. I'd prefer to keep it that way."

Hurt flashes in his eyes, but I don't care. "Are you saying that I imagined all of this?" he asks, gesturing between us. "You comforted me, Caroline. You asked me to dance. Saved me from a fight with my ex-wife, asked me to follow you into the teacher's lounge... What was I supposed to think?"

My first instinct is to apologize for giving him the wrong impression, but I stop myself. Nathan and I talked about this last week and he made me see the light. Giving someone the wrong impression – if I even truly did that, which I highly doubt – does not give someone the right to keep going when you say no. And Michael Thompson kept going even after I threatened to kick him in the nuts. That's sexual harassment. And it isn't my fault.

"You were supposed to take your hands off of me," I tell him, keeping my voice low so no one in the hallway will hear. "I told you no and you kept going. Sure, you were drunk, but that's no excuse. And obviously, you're not sorry for harassing me. You're only sorry that it didn't turn out like you hoped it would."

"Caroline..." He shakes his head. "Don't be like this."

"You know what," I hiss, getting angry now. "I'm beginning to see why your wife left you. Maybe she was right and you're the villain in this story. Now get the fuck out of my classroom and never call me by my first name ever again. I'm Miss Collins to you. And I think it'd be wise to let Mallory handle parent-teacher conferences from now on. If you ever want to talk to me again, let me know twenty-four hours in advance so I can make sure that the headmaster is there for it."

Mr. Thompson's jaw sets and he looks like he wants to strangle me. Try me, I think angrily. I'll fuck you up, goddamn bastard. I am so done with men thinking they can do whatever they want.

"Fine," he grunts. "You're too young for me anyway. Immature little vixen."

I don't even deign that with a response and just let out a relieved breath when he finally exits my classroom. When I can no longer hear his footsteps, I make my way over to headmaster Charlston's office and knock. He calls me in and I close the door behind me with a sigh. As I sink into the chair in front of his desk, he takes me in with his kind eyes.

"How are you doing, Caroline?"

"Ten minutes ago, I was absolutely fine," I tell him with a grunt. "Right now, I feel like shit."

He blinks when I curse, but doesn't tell me off. I tell him what happened and he lets out a lot of far worse words, shaking his head. He asks me what I want to do and I shrug. For the first time ever, I actually would like to report this to the police, but there is no evidence that he ever did anything. It'll be useless. Nathan would never be accepted as a witness, since he wasn't in the room when Michael groped me. Besides, Nathan threatened Michael and there are witnesses to that. I'll just have to bite my tongue and let yet another member of the male species get away with being an absolute and utter asshole.