I Loved You Before I Met You

41

   I look at Lauren and see a tear roll down her cheek. I want to rush to her and wipe it away and wrap her in a loving hug and clear up any misunderstanding but I can't. She swallows hard trying to fight back any more tears. I open my mouth but Lauren cuts me off "Kyler, let's just tell the truth and get this over with. Mr. Jones, I will go ahead and type up my resignation."

Mr. Jones looks at Lauren "Ms. James, are you saying these allegations are in fact true? You know if they are then you are out of a job and I will have to report you. You will also lose your teaching license and can never be a principal or teacher again. Luckily for you, you will not go to jail since Ms. Adams is 18. And as for you Ms. Adams, you will be expelled for the rest of the year and will repeat your senior year."

Lauren sighs but before she can talk I say, "Okay, I will tell you the truth Mr. Jones." He looks at me and nods. "Okay Ms. Adams, I am listening," he says. I take a deep breath and begin "the truth is... I am living with Lauren, I mean Ms.... James. I am living with her because my dad kicked me out for being a lesbian and he hates me. She offered me her spare bedroom because I have no other family here. My only family is in Pensacola where I moved from in March. School is already over with there so if I went back there I would have to repeat my senior year. We don't have much time left of school so that's why I'm living with Ms. James. She didn't want me to have to repeat my senior year because of my dad's actions."

Mr. Jones looks at Lauren "is this true Ms. James?" Lauren glances at me then to Mr. Jones "yes sir it is. It was not fair to Kyler for her to repeat her senior year for something that wasn't her fault." I interrupted "actually it was my fault. I'm the reason your marriage ended." Lauren looks at me real quick like she is telling me to shut up with her eyes. Before she can respond Mr. Jones says "so if your marriage ended because of Ms. Adams I'm guessing the sexual relationship is true."

"No sir, I think you misunderstood me. I blame myself because I'm the one that told her both of his other two marriages failed because he had cheated on them. She then found out he was cheating on her too. I just feel like I am at fault because I didn't keep my mouth shut." I sigh then continue, "I feel like I ruined Ms. James marriage because I revealed my father's lies and secrets. It has nothing to do with a sexual relationship between the two of us."

Before I can continue Lauren says "Kyler, that's enough. Mr. Jones I will resign as I have already said and you can take any other actions you need to take. Yes, I was wrong for not notifying the board about Kyler's home situation but with so little days left of school at the time; I figured there would be no issue. Clearly I was wrong and I apologize for not contacting you about the situation. Nobody knew about it and I'm not sure how Mike found out either unless he had been following Kyler to my apartment. She should not have to pay for me not following protocol and for her father's stupidity and hatefulness by not being able to graduate this year."

Mr. Jones looks at Lauren taking in everything she has said. "Well, Ms. James I understand why you allowed her to live with you but you should have contacted me about the issue. I'm willing to let that slide because that is not my main concern. My main concern is the sexual relationship allegation between the two of you."

Before Lauren can talk I say "Mr. Jones, I... I have... a umm... girlfriend. I care about her a lot and never want to do anything to screw that up. She means everything to me."  About that time Laurens office door opens and I look over my shoulder to see Lila standing there. I rush over to her and drape my arm over her shoulder and she looks at me funny. I just hope she goes along with what I'm about to do. "Mr. Jones this is my... girlfriend... Lila."

Mr. Jones nobs his head. "Well, if this is your girlfriend then why did you rush through Ms. James door at lunch calling her babe?" I look at Lauren and she is looking at my arm over Lila's shoulder and I can see nothing but hurt in her eyes. I know I have a lot of explaining to do once we get home this afternoon. I'm already in deep so I might as well finish selling my tale.

"Oh, Lila had told me she was coming to see Ms. James and when I got here I heard Ms. James talking so I thought she was talking to Lila. Isn't that right Lila?" I say looking at her. Lila catches on and plays along "yes that's right. We are crazy about each other sir. I love her and she loves me." Lila caresses my cheek and it feels so wrong. Out of the corner of my eye I see Lauren wipe a tear from her eye and I know I have royally fucked up. She apparently believes Lila is my girlfriend.

"Okay Lila, can you please go and I will be finished with your girlfriend in just a few minutes." Mr. Jones says. Lila nods then out of nowhere, she kisses my cheek and says "see ya in a few baby." I am completely caught off guard by her actions and just stand there. I look at Lauren and she looks down at her lap and I hear her sniffle. Once Lila closes the door I sit back down "if we are done now, I have class to get to. As you can see there is nothing going on between Ms. James and myself, remember she was my... stepmom." My heart is breaking by seeing Lauren's hurt reaction because I am the one that caused it. I never wanted to do anything to hurt her but I couldn't let her get in trouble because of our relationship. A relationship that I pushed for.

"Yes, I think everything is cleared up. Ms. James, your resignation is not needed. I apologize for this situation and see now that it was just a case of someone apparently being bitter. However, if I get one more concern on the same issues then I will fire you Ms. James and Ms. Adams, you will be expelled. I hope I make myself clear. You're free to go Ms. Adams and thank you for your cooperation." I nod. "I know it was Mi- my... dad. You don't have to tell me but I know it was because he is bitter and nobody else knows about his and Lauren's divorce." He looks between Lauren and I and nods his head. "Yes" is all Mr. Jones says.

"Thank you Mr. Jones" I say as I reach for the door to leave Laurens office. I look at her hoping she will look at me but she doesn't. "Have a good day Ms. James" I say hoping to get her attention. She just slightly nods while looking down at her desk. I leave her office and I know I have to fix this when she gets home. I cannot even think right now, so I decide to skip my last class and just head home.