Chapter 72: January
*They’re called seasons. We have four of them. Winter, spring, summer and autumn. – Aramis*
“Miss, what did you get for Christmas?”
It was the first day back after the holidays and the kids were just as eager to show off in high school as they had been in elementary school. Evie knew that trying to do anything during homeroom was useless. The plan was just to keep the kids from killing each other.
“Mr. Turner, I’m not sure if it counts, but I got a house.”
“Man, I just got a new skateboard.” The boy said before turning his attention to the kids sitting around him.
It was homeroom. There were no assignments. No curriculum. Or standardized tests. It was just a way of splitting the school for lunches. A third went to lunch and then class, the middle third had lunch in the middle and the remaining teachers, like herself, went to class and then lunch.
Miss Walter had been behaving so far. But it was also only the first day back. And Miss Lowery was not in class. She could burst through the door at any moment and simply say ‘sorry, miss, newspaper’ as if that made everything okay.
Just as Evie thought this, the door opened and half the class chorused “sorry, miss, newspaper” with Priscilla. The teacher smiled at the class, her only sign of amusement.
By the time class was over, Miss Walter was still behaving. In fact, she was a little subdued from her usual self. The alarm on Evie’s phone chimed indicating that class was nearly over. Everyone began gathering their belongings.
“Miss Walter, if I could see you for a moment?” Evie said and the girl gave a small nod. She waited until the room was clear before she approached the desk. Evie handed her a box of tissues at seeing the tears in her eyes.
“Is there something that I can help you with, Miss Walter? You seem upset.”
The damn broke and her tears fell freely. Evie got up and closed the door the majority of the way. Then she picked up her phone, started an audio recording and guided the girl to a side table.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the girl, although she did not. But she had been married to a cop who drilled it into her head to never be in a classroom with a student by herself. In the classroom contract that all the students signed, they agreed to be recorded during any conferences.
If they didn’t read what they signed, that was on them. At the very least, it would be a life lesson learned.
“Miss Walter, what’s bothering you?”
“I think I may be pregnant.” She said between small sobs.
“Have you taken a test?” Evie asked, sympathetically. The girl shook her head no.
“Instead of coming to class, I want you to go to the nurse’s office. I believe that she has tests in the bathroom cabinet. The same one that she keeps pads and tampons in.”
The teen nodded and then dried her tears. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Why don’t you go to the bathroom and get yourself set to right?” Evie said kindly as someone knocked on her door.
The student quickly grabbed her bag and dashed out of the room.
Stopping the recording, Evie turned and saw Law and Ink coming into the classroom. Smiling she stood up and approached the two men.
“Brought you some lunch.” Ink said giving her a light kiss. “And your brother has something to show you.”
“What would you say if I don’t go back to Austin?” he asked handing her a cut with a Prospect patch on it.
“I would not object.” She admitted. “I want to see you ride Cade’s bike.”
“I love you, sister, but no. Talk to Roscoe lately?”
She nodded handing the cut back to him. “He’s going on a ride for Cade’s birthday.”
Ink wrapped her up in his arms. “It’s okay, pet. We’ve got you, now.” He whispered to her.
“I’m sorry.” She pulled away from him slightly, wiping at her eyes. “You’re so sweet and patient dealing with me. And I keep bringing up my late husbands.”
Ink tipped her face up and kissed her gently. “You’re still healing. Don’t ever apologize for that.”
Evie reached up and pulled him down and pressed her lips to his. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, pet. You better eat before your next class.” He stroked her cheek with his knuckles. “I work tonight, but Tank will be home around six. Dinner needs to be ready for him by six thirty.”
“Yes, Sir.” She murmured casting her eyes down.
“Such a good girl.” Ink said softly as he kissed her temple. He stepped away from her just as her brother gave her a wet willie.
Squealing, she slapped at Laws hands. “You ass!” she hissed as her brother walked out of the room laughing.
Ink shook his head and followed the other man out. As they approached the bikes, Ink looked over at the new prospect.
“Hope you got all of that out of your system, prospect. I don’t care if she is your sister, she’s our old lady. You don’t touch her.” Ink warned pulling his cut out of the saddle bag and sliding it on.
Law pulled the cut on and grabbed his helmet. “No offense, but she’s not patched. She’s not collared. You might want to do something about that.” He swung his leg over his bike and looked at the patched brother.
“She’s a complete sub. She’s not going to tell you she wants to be collared. Buy her a collar. The twenty-sixth is Cade’s birthday. His dad and brother are coming up to surprise her that weekend. Reed made her last collar. He would like to make her next one.”
Ink stood there and stared at him. “Anyone else said that and I’d kick their ass.”
“Probably.” Law agreed. “Want to talk to Reed?”
“Follow me. We’re going to go see Tank.”
