by Kit Kyndall
Manion looked relieved as he sagged back against the wall when they stepped back. “All this fuss for some slut who—”
He didn’t get a chance to finish that statement. Lex’s left hook clearly took Manion and Kip by surprise. It surprised Dalton too, since it happened so quickly.
Manion slammed back against the wall, cradling his cheek in his hand as he glared at Lex. “How dare you? I’ll file charges against you.”
“It’s your word against theirs,” said Kip, “And I happen to know they have an airtight alibi. You had that and more coming, so I suggest you accept it and move on.”
With a last glare of rage at both of them, and a sneer for Kip, Manion turned and rushed away.
Kip sighed and leaned against the wall, and Dalton found himself putting a hand on his teacher’s shoulder. “It’s okay. We aren’t going to tell anyone what happened, though I’d love to see him destroyed.”
Kip nodded. “I was actually thinking about Candace, not that piece of shit. Did he hurt her?”
“He still alive, isn’t he?” asked Lex in a menacing way. “If he’d managed to do more than grab and hold her for a moment, I don’t think Dalton would’ve let him walk away.”
Dalton frowned. “I wouldn’t let him walk last night, but Candace was the voice of reason, pointing out we’d be the ones in trouble instead of him. That reminds me, dude,” he said to Kip with a meaningful look, “You can’t tell her about this. We kind of promised we wouldn’t confront him.”
Kip frowned for a moment, looking unsettled, and then he grinned. “I won’t say anything, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to realize something’s up when she sees the shiner Lex no doubt gave Manion.”
The three of them had a good laugh, though Dalton wished it had been more than one punch to the face. Manion was a slimy piece of filth, and he needed to be taught a lesson he wouldn’t forget when it came to touching women without their consent—especially their woman.
Chapter Four
Candace
Candace barely stifled a gasp when Manion entered the classroom a couple of minutes after the last student, and after the bell had rung. He was keeping his face averted, but she still saw a bruise on his cheek. Her stomach twisted with anxiety at the sight, especially when he met her gaze and glared at her. She was positive one of her guys had something to do with that bruise.
“Oh, what happened to you, Monsieur Manion?” asked Malone. She actually got out of her chair and rushed to the front of the classroom, looking like she would reach out to touch him before stopping herself. “That looks awful.”
“I walked into a door,” he said sullenly and with a lack of conviction.
Candace sank deeper in her chair, more convinced than ever that Lex or Dalton, or perhaps both of them, had a hand in his contusion.
“Oh, that’s too bad. I’m so very sorry for you, monsieur. Is there anything I can do to help?” asked Malone.
“And me,” volunteered another girl at the back of the class.
“Me too,” said yet another one, giving him a moony-eyed look that made Candace’s skin crawl with revulsion.
“I’m fine, girls, so let’s get back to class, shall we?”
For the rest of the period, Manion gave every appearance of focusing strictly on the lesson and behaving in a professional manner. She was shocked to see he wasn’t up to any of his usual tricks of touching girls on the shoulders or standing behind them to look down their sweaters.
Unfortunately, his focus seemed to have switched entirely to her, and it was all negative. Every time he looked at her, he glared with cold rage. It went beyond the nasty leers he’d sent her before, and these inspired an entirely new kind of fear within her. It was obvious she’d made an enemy in Manion, rather than just having him be a perverted problem she had to solve.
Feeling shaken, she went to the dining hall after class and found Octavia, Dalton, and Lex already seated at a table. She didn’t bother with a tray as she rushed to them and sat down. She leaned across the table and lowered her voice to whisper, “Did you go after Manion?”
Lex and Kip both looked the picture of innocence. “You asked us not to,” said Lex.
“You made us promise,” said Dalton.
She wasn’t entirely fooled, and she wasn’t a fool. “You didn’t answer my question. Did you?” When they fell into silence, it was really all the confirmation she needed. She sighed heavily. “Look, I appreciate you guys trying to protect me, but I think you made it worse. He just glared at me the whole period.”
“Was he touching you?” asked Octavia.
“No, and he didn’t bother anyone else either, but his looks…” She trailed off with a shiver.
Dalton reached out to take her hand. “We’re not going to let him do anything to you. You’re safe.”
Her chin trembled as she bit down on her lip. She wanted to believe him. He was so earnest, as was Lex, who took her other hand. She allowed herself a moment of indiscretion to squeeze both their hands before pulling back and putting them on her lap. She let herself believe they were right. Maybe Manion would continue to be afraid of stepping out of bounds.
Even if he was angry with her, if the guys had convinced him to keep his hands to himself, it was worth dealing with the cold rage she’d seen. Showing it didn’t mean Manion would actually act on it, and while she wasn’t entirely convinced and certainly not going to drop her guard, she allowed him to leave her thoughts as she finished lunch with her friend and boyfriends before heading to a meeting with the school counselor.
She’d been notified that morning that her slot was coming up, and she already knew it was about colleges. Esther Olson was a black woman in her mid-forties, with a slightly round figure, yet a lean face. Her hair was a wild mass of curls, and she wore a smile that seemed genuine. “Have a seat.” She introduced herself, and they shook hands. “Do you have plans for college, Candace?”
“I’m planning to look in the Boston area, I think. I haven’t actually applied anywhere yet.”
Esther frowned. “It’s about time to do so then. The process can take several weeks, but I don’t think you’ll have any trouble getting accepted at your choices. Of course, BriarEdge is happy to provide your transcripts and anything else requested by the school. Do you know where you want to go for sure?”
She felt shy when she admitted her first choice, since it had been so unobtainable before this year, and her mother’s marriage. “Emerson College.”
Esther smiled. “That’s a good school. Do you have a major in mind?”
“Not yet. I think I’ll just take some general classes and see what I like and then pick a focus in the second or third year.”
Esther surprised her by looking pleased. “See, you do have a future plan. It’s best to keep your options open when you’re first starting, isn’t it? You never know what you’ll end up liking. You might even have more than one love.”
Candace couldn’t bite back a grin. Clearly, Esther was referring to academics and majors, but her thoughts immediately jumped to Kip, Dalton, Lex, and Jonas. “You’re absolutely right. And there’s nothing wrong with loving more than one, right?”
“Absolutely not. That’s why they invented double majors and minors.” Esther was so far disconnected from what Candace was talking about that it almost made her laugh, but she would’ve had to explain why she was amused, so she swallowed her mirth.
After speaking with Esther for another ten minutes, she accepted a stack of brochures that had instructions on how to apply to her various college choices. Most accepted an online application, but she also carried a couple for the more old-fashioned schools that still required a paper application. After shaking Esther’s hand, she left the administration building and returned to classes.
It wasn’t until later that night in the rec room that she got a chance to talk to Lex and Dalton. Sitting down beside them, with her stack of brochures, she said, “It’s time to apply for college.” She looked around, glad no on
e else was nearby. “I guess that means it’s time to figure out what we’re doing here.”
“We’re finishing school so we can go to college,” said Lex with a straight face before winking at her.
She rolled her eyes. “I mean us. Are we all trying to go to college in roughly the same area? I have to admit I fell in love with Boston.”
“Boston is cool,” said Dalton.
Lex nodded. “Totally cool.”
She frowned. “Cool is all? Do you guys have more input than that? This is everyone’s future we’re talking about.”
Lex grinned. “I’ll go pretty much wherever you go.”
Dalton smiled at her. “I’ve already been accepted to MIT, so the Boston area suits me just fine.”
She blinked and whistled. “Impressive. We’ve barely finished our first semester of the senior year. Did your dad pull some strings?” She winked at him.
Dalton shook his head, taking her teasing in stride. “Nope. I just applied early, and they were so impressed, they reserved me a spot contingent on graduation.”
“I really am impressed.” She wanted to lean over and kiss him, but it was too risky in the open. “Boston really is okay with you, Lex?”
At his nod, she decided to text Jonas to tell him later. While in Boston, Kip had mentioned he was looking for new positions, so she would have to tell him the general consensus. She hoped they were all on board with the plan, because she didn’t know how to face a long-distance relationship with one of them, or even worse, someone deciding to break up with her because being apart was too much work.
She couldn’t imagine any of her guys feeling that way, but it was still the fear that haunted her as she went to her dorm and even into her sleep. She dreamed of the four of them walking away from her at various points, leaving her lost in a maze where she couldn’t find them. She woke in the middle the night with tears on her cheeks before trying to fall back to sleep with limited success.
February
Chapter Five
Candace
After the midterms, January slipped into February before she knew it, and Candace was happy to have the time pass. It brought her that much closer to graduation and the ability to stop hiding how she felt about the men in her life.
Since everything was going well, and Manion had taken to ignoring her, she’d been lulled into a false sense that nothing would change. That complacency shattered when Octavia burst into her room, making her and Isis both look up at the disruption.
Octavia was sobbing loudly enough to drown out the slamming of the door behind her before she collapsed to the floor. Candace stood up from the desk and rushed to her side as Isis did the same from her desk. She knelt beside her, pushing back Octavia’s hair. “What’s wrong?” Octavia’s mouth was bleeding.
“Manion.”
“Oh my gosh, what happened?” Isis rubbed her shoulder, stopping when Octavia winced. Candace looked down as Octavia pulled her shirt down slightly to show them a darkening bruise. Then she lifted her the other side of her shirt to show them handprints on her side. “I didn’t think he was going to let me go. If I hadn’t gotten lucky enough to be able to step on his foot really hard, he wouldn’t have.” Her lips were trembling, and tears streaked from her eyes.
“Enough of this.” Candace stood up and stomped to the desk, taking an empty flash drive from the supplies she kept in her top drawer.
“What are you doing?” asked Isis.
“This,” said Candace to she copied the video from Halloween onto the flash drive before playing it for both of them. “I know you won’t talk to the headmaster… Unless you’ve changed your mind?” When Octavia frantically shook her head, Candace bit back a sigh and suppressed the urge to continue lecturing her. “In that case, we’re going to confront him, the three of us, right now.”
“I can’t,” Octavia. “He almost—”
“He’s not going to get a chance to do that again. We’ll be there.”
“Hang on,” said Isis, reaching for her phone.
“We have to—” Candace started to say.
Isis held up her hand. “I just want to get video of what he did to Octavia, in case we need proof in the future.” Isis turned on her camera to record Octavia. “Tell me what he did to you. Manion, I mean, for the record.”
Octavia shared her story, including past incidences of Manion’s harassment. Then she lifted her shirt so Isis could video the bruised spot on her ribs, and then on her shoulder.
When Isis was satisfied, she turned off the camera. “I’m emailing it to myself, and I’ll send you both a copy as well, so we can all have a backup. What’s your email, Octavia?”
After Octavia provided it, Isis set down her phone, and she went over to help Octavia to her feet. Candace walked on the other side of Octavia, and the three of them left the dorm room. Octavia’s mouth was still bleeding lightly, but she hadn’t wanted to stop to tend to it. Apparently, she needed the adrenaline of the moment to get through the forthcoming confrontation, which Candace understood.
Part of her motivation was rage at how he treated her friends, and part of it was the need to shut him down permanently. He couldn’t be allowed to get away with this, and while she would’ve preferred to let Hastings handle it, at least she was finally getting Isis and Octavia to do something about it besides avoid him.
It was after class on a Friday, but they were likely to find him still in his office, since he’d just assaulted Octavia in that location a few minutes before. Candace was the one who opened the door, shoving as hard as she could so it slammed into the wall. She stormed through with Isis and Octavia right behind her, and they stumbled into her when she drew to a halt.
Candace’s mouth dropped open at the sight before her, and she shook her head, certain something was wrong with her eyesight. No, there wasn’t. Malone was definitely wrapped in Manion’s arms, and it didn’t look like she was being forced to stay there.
With a gasp of shock, Malone pulled away from him, but it was too late. It was obvious the two of them had been kissing, and she wasn’t going to be able to talk her way out of it.
Candace couldn’t care less about their affair except she was positive her stepsister had no idea what kind of man Manion really was. As much as Malone irritated her, she felt protective on her behalf.
Manion apparently decided to go on the offense, and he frowned severely at them. “What’s the meaning of this? You don’t barge into my office without knocking. That’ll be demerits for all of you.”
“No, it won’t.” Without asking, Candace went to the laptop he had connected to the projector and put in the flash drive. There was a passcode on the laptop, so she gestured to it. “Put in your code.”
Manion looked uncertain, but apparently decided to double-down on the bluster. “I’ll do no such thing. The three of you march yourselves to the headmaster’s office right now.” His gaze focused on Octavia. “I’m particularly disappointed in you, Octavia.”
She trembled, but she didn’t break under his warning gaze. Instead, she tilted her chin. “I’ve survived much worse than you, and I’m done with this. You won’t touch me or any other girl again.”
Malone gasped. “What are you trying to say?” She looked at Octavia and then at Manion. “Please, as if he’d ever be interested in you. Jean-Claude wants a real woman.”
“Like these women?” Candace looked at Malone and tapped her finger against the hard drive. “Have him put in in his code if you’re so sure of him, and he has nothing to hide.”
Malone glared at her, but then she turned to look at Manion. “Let’s see what she’s trying to show us. Then we can laugh at it together.”
Manion was sweating profusely. “I’d rather not. There’s no reason to indulge their insanity when I can just get rid of them with demerits.”
“We can go to the headmaster to report how you’re all over Malone, along with showing this footage. Put in the code if you want to keep Malone out of it.”
When
Manion still made no effort go to unlock the laptop, Malone scowled. There was a hint of hurt in her expression as she stomped over to stand by Candace.
Candace braced herself, expecting a physical attack from Malone. Instead, Malone started typing something on the keyboard. A moment later, the laptop was unlocked.
“How do you know my code?” asked Manion in a strident tone.
“I’ve watched you put it in over your shoulder when I was in bed with you.” Malone didn’t look too enthusiastic about that admission. In fact, she seemed on the verge of crying even before the video of Manion creeping around in the ghoul costume previous to pulling down the mask revealed just how pervy he was.
Malone turned to him. “I won’t bother to ask if it’s true, because I can see it is. We’re through.”
“And you’re also through with harassing the girls, especially Octavia,” said Isis.
“You don’t get to touch any of us ever again,” said Candace in a menacing fashion.
Malone looked at her. “You’ve been with him too?” She seemed torn between anger, hurt, and jealousy.
Candace snorted. “As if I want to be with him. No, Malone, he’s been trying to take what he wants from various girls at least this whole year and probably for however long he’s been a teacher. Octavia has borne the brunt of it, and we’ve had enough.”
“Is this why you had a bruised cheek?” demanded Malone. “That’s why you wouldn’t let me convince you to report it to Headmaster Hastings when I found out my brother was involved? You didn’t want your sordid actions to come to light, did you? It had nothing to do with protecting me vicariously and preventing damage to my reputation if Dalton was suspended or expelled.” Malone shook her head. “I’ve been such a fool.”
“Chérie, you must listen—”
Malone glowered at him. “Don’t call me that. Don’t call me anything again besides Miss Westerly. We’re completely over, and if I hear about you doing anything else to any the other girls, I won’t hesitate to tell the headmaster that you seduced me when I was just fifteen.” Her voice broke on the last word.
