51

Emily felt her mind wondering back to Tom every time she tried to mark. The school had closed for a day, but it wasn’t enough time for her to recover from the shock of losing a student. Especially not when she was to blame.

‘If I hadn’t reported Adrian, would Tom still be alive?’

She’d asked herself that question a thousand times since hearing about Adrian’s motive for killing Tom. Apparently, he hadn’t meant to kill him, but had been enraged over the fact Tom reported him to the police for beating Sienna.

‘Only he didn’t report Adrian… I did.’

Emily sniffed and wiped away another tear before it could drip onto her work. She cradled a fresh mug of coffee in her hand as she graded papers, shocked by some of the answers. Some days she wondered why she bothered teaching at all. The students were clearly not listening to her.

A breeze wafted in as the door opened quietly and Damien appeared, smiling.

He wandered in without knocking or asking if it was okay and took a seat at the desk directly opposite her.

How could be possibly be smiling at a time like this? What was wrong with him?

"So I finally finished your book," he said. “What a roller coaster!”

Her pen dropped as her hands froze.

She couldn't breathe.

"What?" she asked. “Why? You said you wouldn’t—"

“I’d already started it by that point," Damien told her and smiled widely. He put his feet up on her table, scattering dry clots of mud onto the crisp white papers. “Obviously. I’ve been reading your work since you started teaching here.”

"I... erm... I don't—" Emily shook her head, trying to explain that she did not understand what was happening.

“It was you who showed Adrian,” she whispered. “Why didn’t I realise that sooner?”

"One of your characters…Damon, you call him... he's me, right?" Damien asked, ignoring her question.

He was right, but she couldn't admit it. The character was a less than generous representation.

"Oh... no," she cooed. "He's not based on you."

She watched in silent horror as Damien pulled out a sheet of paper and began to read.

"Damon was always up in arms about some issue or another. Last week he was rallying for a vegan option on the menu, this week it was the plight of the Iranian refugees on the agenda," Damien read, nodding, and making faces as did. "Alice often wondered if his political stances and generous charity work were more to feed his already overinflated ego than the hungry masses he claimed to care about."

Emily felt her face turn an uncomfortable shade of red as she listened to the words she'd written, both ashamed of her scathing review of the boy's character and her writing in general.

There was no denying it. It was Damien. Writing her least favourite students into her stories was an outlet of sorts, a way to release the stress they caused her.

"I wrote that a long time ago, Damien," she said. "I'm sorry."

She didn’t know what else she could say.

"You're sorry," he repeated quietly. "Not yet. But you will be."

Emily's face went numb. She blinked slowly, feeling tears swelling up under her eyelids.

"Please, Damien," she started.

"What did I tell you about pleading?" he asked.

"That it wouldn't work on Adrian," she said, remembering the conversation well. "But you aren't like him."

She hoped he wasn't. Prayed he wasn't.

'Any minute he's going to laugh and say, 'I kid,'' she assured herself, operating on sheer hope.

"Damien, I have two children. A five-year-old and a seven-year-old. Their Father is zero help and I have no family. I have a mortgage. Childcare fees. Loan repayments. If I lose this job, I'm completely screwed," she said, hoping he would understand. That he would see her as a human being and find it in his heart to take pity on her.

"Whatever will you do?" he asked, shrugging.

"I'm asking you to keep this a secret," she said, swallowing her pride and pushing any moral issues aside. It was wrong of her to ask but losing her teaching career over such a stupid mistake just didn't seem like an option.

"Asking me?" He smirked.

"I'm begging you," she uttered, her voice breaking. Tears streamed from her eyes as she stared at him, hoping to see the kindness he'd shown in the past. "Please don't ruin my life."

"I could ruin your life," he said. "Or... you could entertain me for my last few weeks of school life. If you do everything I say, I'll keep your secret."

His blue eyes were cold and dark as he pinned her with his stare, unblinking.

"Okay," she nodded, not seeing another option. If he kept his word, this thing would be over in a few weeks, and she could go on with her life. She could start looking for another teaching job in another town far, far away from here.

"The first thing I want you to do is write another book in your series. One all about the character Damon. And make him amazing," he said.

Emily nodded. She didn't know when she would find the time or where she would get the inspiration, but saying no wasn't an option.

As he turned to leave, a horrible thought occurred to her.

“Damien… y—you didn’t plan this?” she asked.

“Hmm?” He turned back to her. “Plan what?”

“Well… Adrian going to prison… Tom…” She couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

Damien snickered and shook his head as if she was being ridiculous. Of course she was being ridiculous.

He stared at her for longer than was comfortable before answering.

“Well how could I possibly have known what Adrian would do?” Damien smiled. Something about that smile—so self-assured and cold—was all the answer she needed. He’d done this. Somehow… she didn’t know how… but he’d done this on purpose.

Once he’d left, she sat for a moment, staring down at the random pattern of tear stains on the paper she was grading.