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The chair seems harder this time around, less comfortable.

I attempt to sit still, but Nora is a master at professional torture, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t get my leg to stop bouncing up and down.

My nails that have just begun to grow revert into nubs while I wait.

I rub my sweaty palms across my sweater and jump when I accidentally brush them against my keys in my pocket.

All the while Nora stays focused on the contents of a folder and diligently ignores me.

She still avoids eye contact when she turns to face me.

I don’t know if it’s supposed to intimidate me or not, but it doesn’t…

or at least not really. Thanks to my history as a devoted people pleaser and rule follower, there’s nothing in my file that she could hold over me.

She might think she did me a favor by hiring me, but she didn’t.

I earned it. I’m damn good at my job, and it’s the only semblance of relief I have going into this meeting.

“So, Emerson.” She drops the folder on the table and finally looks at me. She lowers herself onto her leather chair, glowering at me over the rim of the nonprescription glasses she loves to wear. “I’m assuming you know why we’re here?”

“I don’t, actually.” I’m so proud of how strong and steady my voice sounds. “Although I’m pretty sure there are a few possibilities.”

Nora’s eyes widen just slightly, but it’s enough to tell me she expected me to be a quivering mess.

She knows how much I hate confrontation, and while that’s true, I’ve never been a pushover.

I stand up for myself and what I believe is right, even when it makes me feel like I need to throw up.

That will never change…especially not today.

“Okay then…” She steeples her hands in front of her chest and leans forward. “Why don’t we start with the undisclosed relationship you’re having with a parent in your classroom?”

I figured that’s where she’d start.

“Sure, what would you like to know?”

“When the relationship began would probably be a great place to start.”

“Of course.” This is the one question I was hoping she would ask.

“I first met Mr. Miller at a rooftop bar in downtown Denver after spending the day at the Petunia Lemon conference you invited me to. Which, if you remember, was weeks before the first day of school where I would eventually find out that he was Isla’s father. ”

The realization that she’s responsible for me and Luke meeting washes over her face. Her eyes widen and her mouth falls open before she can catch it. Even if the rest of this meeting goes downhill, at least I’ll have that reaction to look back fondly on.

“And when you found out he was a parent in the class?” She pushes her hair over her shoulder and adjusts the glasses she has no reason to wear. “What did you decide to do then?”

“Nothing.” I resist the urge to squirm beneath her shrewd gaze.

“When the school year started, we weren’t speaking and as we rekindled our relationship, I didn’t think I was obligated to bring it to the school, seeing as we weren’t exclusive yet.

It hasn’t affected my students, not even Isla, nor has it caused my behavior in the classroom to change. ”

“So you’re saying that you’ll only do what’s required of you and nothing more.” She deliberately misconstrues my words. “Is that what I’m hearing?”

“I don’t know what you’re hearing, but I know that’s not what I said.

” Heat rises up my neck, and I try to ignore it.

I knew she’d want to get me worked up so I’ll say something she can use against me, but knowing doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

“I think my track record at school for going above and beyond what’s required is well documented. ”

“So is that what sleeping with a parent was to you? Going above and beyond?”

She aims those words at me with pinpoint precision, and as hard as I’m trying not to react, I can’t help but flinch.

“No, not at all.” Shame washes over me, leaving me feeling dirty and embarrassed. “It wasn’t like that. He helped me—”

“Oh, I’m sure he did,” she snarls, the mask of indifference falling from her face.

“I vouched for you, you know. Said what a great person you were and how hard you’d work to grow Petunia Lemon.

And then you turned around and not only spread malicious lies about us, but you came to Jacqueline’s house and pretended to be her friend while the entire time you were off screwing her husband! What kind of woman does that?”

“He’s not her husband, for starters. When it comes to Jacqueline, you know as well as I do that we were never friends.

” Sleeping with a parent already crossed enough boundaries, there’s no reason to try to make it worse with lies.

“And as much as you’re trying to convince yourself otherwise, I never spread a single lie about you or Petunia Lemon. ”

“Are you trying to say that you had nothing to do with Lucas’s article?”

“Not at all.” I lean forward and look straight into her eyes, taking the time to enunciate each word so she can hear just how serious I am. “I’m trying to convince you that the only person who lied about Petunia Lemon is you.”

Her head jerks back like I slapped her.

“How dare you!” Her face burns bright red. “I gave you the opportunity to be great and you didn’t take it. That’s not a result of me lying, that’s a result of you being a failure.”

I’ve had too many conversations with Luke and read his article too many times.

I’ve seen the numbers and statistics that prove it’s not about an individual not putting in enough effort, but a system that is set up to watch people fail.

But still, even knowing that, Nora’s words penetrate the armor I hoped would protect me.

Nora scents out the blood in the water like the absolute shark she is.

“Is that why you went after Lucas once you found out he was with Jacqueline?” She leans back, a smirk that hints at anything other than humor pulling at the corners of her mouth.

“You couldn’t beat her in Petunia Lemon, so you thought sleeping with her husband would make you feel better about yourself? ”

“He’s not her husband,” I repeat, knowing it’s no use.

“I don’t know what you want from me. I didn’t report our relationship?

Okay, fine. There’s no rule against dating parents, but I can still see how you’d have a problem with that.

You want to give me a warning or write me up?

That’s fine, do it. But Petunia Lemon? That has nothing to do with what we’re doing here. ”

“Is that what you think? That you get to decide what we’re doing here?” She laughs—out-and-out laughs—and that sinking feeling in my stomach from earlier returns with a vengeance. “I hate to tell you this, but you aren’t in charge here.”

“I never said I—”

“And what I think you’re failing to grasp right now is how serious this could be for you.

” Nora talks right over me like I didn’t say anything at all.

She grabs the folder that’s been sitting on her desk and flips it open again, slowly scanning it over before spinning it to face me.

“What do you see when you look at that?”

I pick up the folder and try to find whatever Nora is seeing that could be so horrible.

My resume is in there, along with a few letters of recommendation.

My school picture from last year is there, and while it is bad, I don’t think it could be used against me for anything other than proof as to why bangs are not for me.

There are a couple of nice letters from previous parents, but the only thing I find shocking is that she still has paper files.

Unlike teachers in other grades, there’s no state testing to determine how well or not well a teacher is doing in their classroom.

Kindergarten doesn’t abide by the same markers older grades have, but even without them, I know I’m doing right by my students.

Every year, the first-grade teachers seek me out to tell me how my students are thriving in their classes, how prepared and confident they all seem.

That might not be in my file, but it doesn’t mean it’s not true.

“I don’t know.” I close the file and push it back across her desk. “I see a teacher who worked hard to get here and had good recommendations. I’m still getting acclimated with my new role, but parents have been happy and my students are doing well.”

“You know what I see?” she asks, and since I know she’s about to answer, I keep my mouth closed.

“I see someone who has old recommendations from college professors saying how much you loved working with students but how easily it could veer into disrespecting boundaries that might make you dangerous to keep in the classroom. I see a young woman who endured a serious trauma when she lost her father when she was young and now, as an adult, she’s forming inappropriate bonds with the fathers in her classroom to try to make up for it. ”

I don’t talk about what happened to my dad to anyone.

For obvious reasons, it’s a time I don’t like to revisit, and it always comes with those sneaky emotions I can’t control.

When I opened up to Nora about his death and how it affected me, I did so in confidence.

I was telling her why it was so important for me to make my classroom a safe space for my students.

For her to weaponize that is lower than low, and any inkling of respect I might have had left for her evaporates into thin air.

“How could you?” A feeling of hurt and betrayal I never thought possible slices me open, and I have to look down to make sure she didn’t actually stab me in the chest. “You know that’s not true. You’d never be able to prove it.”

“This isn’t a criminal case, Emerson. I don’t have to prove it.

” She rolls her eyes as if she’s put out by having to explain her evil plan.

“All I have to do is allude to it, and thanks to Jacqueline walking in on you two together, it shouldn’t be too hard.

I’ve honestly had teachers terminated for much less, and Colorado doesn’t have tenure, so it’s easy.

Unfortunately for you, your teaching record is so short, I’m not sure you’ll ever be able to find a position again. Unless…”

Panic hits me like a wave, pulling me down to the ocean floor.

Darkness shrouds me as the surface moves further and further away, until I’m certain I’ll never be able to breathe again.

Out of everything in my life, teaching is the one thing I know, without a doubt, I need.

It isn’t just my passion, it’s my purpose, and without it… I’d be nothing.

“Fine.” I give in on a breathless shout. “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it. Just please don’t take this to the school board.”

“Oh good.” A grinch-like smile pulls on her lips. “I knew you’d come to your senses eventually.”

I search for any trace of the friend I once had but the person in front of me is nothing more than a stranger. “What do you want me to do?”

Tears spring to my eyes as thoughts of breaking up with Luke cross my mind.

I know he’ll fight me on it, but he knows how much I love teaching and we won’t have to be apart forever.

It will suck, but we can wait to be a couple until Isla’s not in my class anymore.

Or at least I can wait and hope he can too.

“You need to get Luke to retract the article.” Her calm voice pulls me out of my head. “How he procured the information in that article was unethical and it is riddled with lies.”

It takes me a moment before what she’s asking begins to settle in. Unethical? Miss Blackmail wants to talk about what’s ethical now? What a fucking joke.

“He won’t do that.” I know how hard he worked on it, and I’m not even sure he could retract it at this point. “It’s been picked up by so many other outlets. What will a retraction even do at this point?”

While I was busy trying not to fall into an anxiety-ridden depression over the weekend, Luke was fielding calls and emails from news outlets across the country.

The article spread like wildfire and went viral overnight.

Petunia Lemon reps worldwide were reaching out to tell him their horror stories.

He’s even been in touch with a general attorney who’s looking into launching a lawsuit against the company.

I don’t want her to take me to the school board, but this is a bell that can’t be unrung.

“His claims aren’t credible. He needs to admit that the article is exaggerated and biased because of his lingering feelings for his ex-wife who, by the way, is thriving with Petunia Lemon.

If he retracts his article, the others will fall away.

” She must be brand-new to the internet and the way it works.

“If he doesn’t put out a full apology by the end of the week, I’ll have no choice but to bring you in front of the school board and begin the process of termination. ”

“Nora, please.” I’m ready to beg at this point. I know Luke says he loves me, and there’s a chance he would retract it. The problem is, I would never ask. “Please don’t do this.”

“I’m not the person who did this, Emerson, you are.” She stands with my file and looks down her nose at me. If it weren’t so concerning, this level of delusion would be admirable. “You have until the end of the week. I hope you make the right choice.”

She walks to the door and pulls it open. Quiet chatter fills the front office as people catch up after the weekend. I don’t know how long we were inside, but the bustle of teachers moving around has picked up.

I walk back to my room, staring unseeing at the artwork hanging on the walls, trying to figure out how in the fuck I’m going to make this right. Especially when the right Nora wants is wrong and the real right thing will get me fired.

And to think, I joined Petunia Lemon for a second job, and now it’s going to be the reason I have no job. I don’t know what kind of math problem that is, but I do know that either way, I’m 100 percent fucked.