Angel in the Courtyard [Book 2]

Chapter 97 - Tomasia

The driver parked the car in front of a two storey townhouse. I wasn't familiar with the neighbourhoods across the pond and I had no interest in becoming familiar with them either. The only reason I was there was to set the record straight. I wasn't going to have any more doubts about what went down at school, and I wasn't going to shy away from facing those who had done wrong. I unbuckled my seatbelt and checked my phone to verify the address.

Yes. This was the place.

"Would you like me to escort you inside?" my driver asked.

I shook my head. "That's quite alright. This is something I have to handle myself. If I don't return in fifteen minutes, feel free to come and collect me."

"Understood."

I got out of the car and walked up the dingy front steps. There was a tattered welcome home mat on the ground and a dead potted plant set by the window. I pulled the screen door before knocking on the hard surface. I waited patiently for a couple of seconds before knocking again. Maybe no one was home. That would be just my luck. I was about to knock for the third time when I heard a voice coming from inside.

"Relax!" they called. "I'm coming."

My hand dropped to my sides as the renter  answer the door. He looked nothing like I expected him to; I was used to seeing him dressed formally and clean shaven, so primed and proper that the girls in my class called him a Greek god. Now, he had gym shorts on, a stained tank top, and his hair was pulled back by a headband.

"Hello, Falcon Salim."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, looking rather irritated. "Didn't your boyfriend and his friends do enough?"

"This has nothing to do with them," I replied. "I felt like we had unfinished business and I wanted to rectify that."

The former student teacher was about to close the door on me, when I stuck my foot in the crack to stop him. "I don't know you well enough to assume anything," I said. "But what Findlay did to you in middle school was not okay, whether it was consensual or not, you were just a kid. None of it was right and considering what you are willing to risk for her makes me wonder if she has been grooming you this whole time."

"G-Grooming?"

I forced open the door he was trying to close on me. "Back then you caught her eye," I said as a matter of factly. "And just a few years ago it was my boyfriend who caught her eye. I wish there was a way for me to throw her in prison but alas. Zander's family is going to be filing a restraining order against her, but more than that, they want him to testify in court."

"What the hell does this have to do with me?" Falcon asked, glaring.

"I know I can't convince you to testify as well," I replied. "I also know I can't force you to believe that she doesn't care about you, that you're only a tool to her—so, I'm here to ask for something else."

He went quiet. It was like he was giving me the floor to say whatever I wanted.

"We can't help who we love but we can tell right from wrong," I said. "I was just a girl who happened to be in love with one of Findlay's targets, but she destroyed my world. She took everything from me because of jealousy, and as someone who's a Jackheights alum, a teacher, can you honestly say that was okay?"

He couldn't hold my gaze.

"You never met me," I went on. "I never met you. I had no ill will against you either, so I'm sure you can agree that I didn't deserve any of that. And yet you took my chances of becoming the school president away, you used my boyfriend and my brother's past to manipulate me, and you did it all for someone who's nothing more than a predator."

"What the hell do you want?" he yelled.

"An apology."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"I want nothing more than an apology," I replied. "If you can give me at least that then I can assure you that your future won't be as bleak. I can assure you that my brother and boyfriend won't track you down and kick your ass. Again."

"Y-You're blackmailing me for an apology?" he spat. "You've got some nerve!"

"Yes," I smiled. "I have a lot of nerves but lucky for you, I'm only asking for this. I'm not one to use my family connections for anything but if the fear of the Devil and his demons doesn't scare you, then just know the picture of you with that predator will follow you to every job interview and every career path you choose to explore for the rest of your miserable life."

He clenched his fists in response. I felt my phone vibrate in my pockets just at that moment. I pulled it out and read the message from Matilda; you need to come to school ASAP. It's an emergency.

"I—I'm sorry."

I tucked my phone away and faced the former student teacher. "Now that wasn't so hard," I smiled. "Apology not accepted."

He grimaced in agitation.

"But I appreciate your cooperation," I continued. "Next time you feel compelled to use minors for your mistress's sick and twisted games, just know that I will personally make sure you hand out more than apologies."