41

Emily wiped the sweat from her forehead and glanced up at the clunky air conditioning unit. The site team was supposed to replace it in February but so far, the new one sat untouched, collecting dust and taking up space.

As she flipped through the test papers in front of her, Adrian's name distracted her from the humidity. He had not answered any of the questions, she noted but had instead written out chapters of her book—the steamy ones.

Blood rushed to her face as she squirmed in humiliation, ashamed of herself for ever writing such rubbish. Reading it made her want to disappear—for a giant hole to swallow her whole.

At the very bottom of the page was a stark warning: 'Stop talking to Damien about me. He can't help you.'

This message knocked the last bit of hope out of her, leaving her deflated. It was sad and painful to admit, but she had been pinning all her hopes on Damien.

She was thinking about Damien as he appeared at the door, as if by magic. She'd seen him, and he knew it, but he still knocked on the door frame out of politeness.

As he approached, she went to talk, but was worried she might burst into tears if she tried to explain. Instead of vocalising the issue, she simply passed him the test paper and pointed to Adrian's warning.

Damien smiled and nodded as if he'd been expecting as much. "Yep, our little talk did not go well."

Looking down, Emily nodded and swallowed. "Thank you for trying. I truly appreciate it."

"Well now, there's no reason to sound so glum," Damien said. "Talking to him was the kinder option but not the only option. I have an idea that will save you as well as Sienna, the poor thing."

Sienna. She was the girl Adrian had been seeing. The one who had gone from a confident and popular cheerleader to a nervous wreck in a matter of weeks. Did Adrian have something to do with her decline in mental health? It wouldn't be too much of a surprise.

"I have evidence that he's been abusing her, but the police won't listen to me. You're a teacher so if you report that you've seen him beating her, they will listen to you," Damien said.

"You... you want me to lie?" she asked.

"No." Damien took his phone from his bag. "Turn on your Bluetooth and I'll send this video to you. It was taken in school."

Emily obeyed without further questions, dreading what she was about to see. Once the file had transferred, she clicked the little triangle to play it.

After only a second or two, she had to avert her eyes. Adrian was so much bigger and stronger, looming over the tiny girl before whacking her in the face.

"Delete the video," Damien demanded. "Now you can say you have seen him hitting her without lying about it, right?"

Emily froze. "B—but what if he... if he..."

"I'll wipe your books off the internet. Okay? Then if he snitches on you, it will seem like he is making up to get revenge on you for reporting him." Damien leaned in close, staring into her eyes. "This is the best plan for everyone."

"Right." Emily nodded, feeling odd—as if she were in a dream.

As Damien turned to leave a horrible thought occurred to her.

"Erm... d—don't read them, okay?" she stammered. "The books, I mean. Please don't read them."

Damien threw his head back and cackled. "I'm just guessing here, but I don't they'd interest me much."

"Right." Emily nodded. It wasn't so much that she was embarrassed about her content—though she certainly was—it was the fact she'd written a character based on him. An awful, hateful little shit of a character and if he read it, his kind and helpful attitude towards her might flip.

He stared at her a moment. For a strange and uncomfortable moment in which she almost convinced herself he was reading her mind.

"Just do as I say, and everything will be okay. Call the police. Tell them you saw Adrian hitting Sienna at school. You can do that, right?" He said, continuing to stare.

Emily nodded. "Right."

He nodded and smiled before turning and leaving. A swarm of year ten students piled into the classroom seconds later, filling the room with mindless chatter and the scraping of chairs as they got settled.

When Emily looked down, she noticed her hands were shaking.

She took a deep, shaky breath and whispered to herself, "Everything will be okay."