Page 36 of For Your Own Good

Again, to be safe, he assumes they can and they do. That the police discover a pod has been tampered with. Not that Ingrid had beenpoisoned, for God’s sake. Teddy wasn’t trying to poison anyone. He’d just...manipulateda pod. A little bit.

But would they know it’s him? Maybe. He could’ve left fingerprints on it.

Teddy picks at the cuticle of his thumb so hard, it begins to bleed.

Ridiculous. This is all ridiculous, because Ingrid will be fine. She’ll wake up, and everyone will think she fainted, and it will all be over. The police department isn’t going to waste all that time and money testing every edible thing at the party, and they certainly aren’t going to test every coffee pod in the garbage. It’s absurd.

And it wasn’t intentional. He wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. Certainly not Ingrid Ross, whom he personally likes. She is on the board, after all.

He just wanted... He just wanted Sonia to stop being so smug. And to stop telling him what to do, especially about his own students. Perhaps he even meant to ruin her party. Just a little.

Ultimately, that was his goal. To bring her down a peg or two by having her faint at her own party. That’s all he’d wanted.

Totally harmless.

Then everything had exploded, into police and EMTs, and it became... unbelievable, just unbelievable.

Although, on the upside, it did work. He had never used that plant before, but it did what it was supposed to. Something to be said for that, especially since he’s not a scientist. He’s just Teacher of the Year.

And it’s not his fault the wrong person drank it. If those moms hadn’t brought the pods downstairs, it would’ve been perfect.

So in a way, he did succeed.

He looks out the window. The last police car is pulling away. That’s what he’s been waiting for. He leaves his class, briefcase in hand. If anyonesees him, it will just look like he’s leaving for the day. Normal, totally normal.

The dining hall is empty. Even the workers there have left. The door to the Stafford Room is closed but not locked. He walks right in like he’s supposed to be there.

The room is not empty. Damn it.

Frank, the math teacher, is on the floor looking underneath a table. “Oh Jesus, you scared me.” He stands up, brushing off his khaki pants. “I didn’t know anyone was still here.”

“I didn’t, either.”

“Yeah, I lost my pen earlier. My good pen.” Frank looks around the room, arms spread wide. “Still can’t find it.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Who knows, maybe one of the kids took it,” he says. “What about you? What are you doing here?”

Teddy does his best not to look toward the counter, where the garbage is. Unfortunately, the room looks like it’s been cleaned. The decorations are all gone, there’s no sign of the food, and the coffee machine has been removed. “I was just checking to see if anyone was still around. For any news.”

Frank shrugs, his muscular arms twitching. “Nothing yet.” He moves toward the door to leave.

Teddy has no choice but to leave as well, having no reasonable excuse to stay. They walk through the empty dining hall, and Frank says, “Weird day.”

“To say the least.”

“They’ll probably have counselors available on Monday.”

“Yes, I expect they will.”

“Probably should have a clergy member here, too,” Frank says. “In case someone needs it.”

Teddy doesn’t answer that.

Outside, very few cars are left in the parking lot. No one wants to beat Belmont now, not after what happened. Teddy turns to Frank to say goodbye, and as he does, Frank’s phone dings. Frank pulls it off the phone clip on his belt.

Teddy’s phone vibrates. The message is from the headmaster.