you began to keep your distance, i kept mine, and my grades worsened. then you overheard me snapping at the kid in front of me— was it gabriel?— saying karl and i had broken up over the summer. it was true, but people didn't believe it because karl stuck around anyway, and i was more than happy to feed off the attention. but kids kept talking nonsense. as they always do.
it got to a point the rumour became believable to us, and well, it was a good thing. it kept us on our toes, didn't it? if other teachers heard, shit would unnecessarily get worse.
but it got to me, it really did. emotionally, i mean. suddenly people began looking down on me.
i was completely in the spotlight and wanted so desperately to get out.
