Sir

Chapter 10

I felt myself shaking.

How had my beautiful day turned into a terrible nightmare?

I ended up in our counselor's office. I managed to walk there from my classroom after I had gotten the text from Damon.
I told the counselor what was going on while I shook uncontrollably. Tae was still on the phone listening while speeding to me. I hadn't told anyone at my school about my past. I liked it that way so no one would treat me any less than what I was.
I told the counselor that Tae, my boyfriend, was on his way. I called him my boyfriend because I didn't want her to think I was with some random guy since we really hadn't established what we were or what we had.

The counselor went to tell the assistant teacher that I had an emergency so she was responsible for getting the kids from lunch. The counselor waited in the classroom until the assistant got back from the lunchroom with the kids to to make sure everything went well.

I was on the phone with Tae still stunned about the new information I had found out.

Damon knew where I worked. How is that even possible? I haven't been home in about two weeks now so he couldn't follow me from there. Had he seen me with Taehyung or Jungkook whenever they dropped me off? Did he know what they looked like? All the questions popping up in my head were driving me crazy.
I was so stuck on my thoughts that I didn't hear the door open behind me.
She cleared her throat gently as she walked in. I got startled and turned around.
Tae followed in behind her. 
I jumped up and hugged him.
"Tae! When did you get here? Why didn't you say you were here?"
"I did. But, I guess you had zoned out. I kept saying hello."
I looked at my phone that was on the desk in front of me. I was pretty deep in my thoughts.
"I'm so sorry," I said.
"It's okay. I know you're going through a lot."
"They called and said he was here when I was helping the assistant teacher get the kids settled back into their seats after lunch. I figured I could pick him up on my way back to you," said Mrs. Barco, the counselor.
"Thank you so much," I said with my face buried in Tae's chest. He had his arms around me holding me tight as if his life depended on it.

"What's going to be your next step?" asked Mrs. Barco.
"Well, I'm going to take her home where she will be safe," replied Tae.
"We can't go yet," I started to say. "I need to finish my day up with the kids." 
As much as I wanted to believe that, I knew there was nothing more I wanted to do than to go home with Tae and be in his arms and in his presence, but my kids were important, too.
"But, it's not safe for you here," retorted Tae.
"I'm not going to leave my kids halfway through the day, Tae," I said as I backed away from him and looked up into his eyes.
"Well, I'm not going to leave you alone knowing Damon knows where you work now. He's getting pretty bold and I'm not okay with that."
"Listen, I understand how you feel. I'm worried myself. But, you also know how much these kids mean to me. Today is Friday. Let me finish my day with the kids. You can come sit in the classroom with me. Then, we will have the whole weekend to figure out how to handle this."
Tae looked at me. He looked like he was thinking about what I just told him. He frowned slightly, but he knew how I felt about my kids.
"Okay," he finally said.
"Thank you," I breathed a sigh of relief.
I turned and looked at Mrs. Barco who was standing behind her desk.
"Thank you so much for helping me. Please don't tell anyone about what happened yet."
"You have my word," she assured me and smiled at me. "Take some time to get yourself together. I can step out."
"Thank you."
Mrs. Barco stepped out closing the door behind her.

I turned and look at Tae. He put his hand on my chin to look up at me.
"I want you safe in my arms," he said while looking down at me.
He pulled me back into my arms.
"Tae. This sucks so much. I'm so sorry for pulling you in this." I buried my face back into this chest and felt myself start to shake again.
"I wouldn't want be anywhere else right now. You needed me and I'm going to be here for you."
I took a second and just let him hold me.
After about a minute or two, I let go of him and fixed myself so I could prepare to get back to my classroom.

"You ready?" I asked him.
"Yes."
"You'll be asked a lot of questions."
He snickered. "I'm ready."

We walked out of the counselor's office. As soon as I closed the door, Tae took my left hand and held it as we walked to my classroom.
Even though I had a million emotions going through my head at the time, my heart slightly fluttered at the idea of him taking my hand. He held on to my hand pretty tight.
I stopped at my classroom door and took a breath.
Then, I walked in.

"Miss Y/N!!!" I heard a lot of the kids yell.
"Hey, my love bugs," I said back with a big smile on my face. Even though, that smile hid so much, I was still genuinely happy to see my kids. 
They all ran to me and hugged at my legs.
A few of them peeked behind me to look at Tae.
"Whose him?" I heard one of my girls ask.
"Guys, his name is Mr. Tae. Say hi to Mr. Tae."
"Hi, Mr. Tae," said all the kids in unison.
Tae looked at them all and smiled.
"Hi, everyone," he said and waved.

"Alright children. Let's get back to work."
All the kids went back to their spots at their little tables.
"Tae, you can sit at my desk while I work with the kids."
He nodded and went to sit behind my desk.
I continued my day. It felt weird to have Tae there. I knew his eyes were on me the whole time. Watching the way I moved and dealt with the kids. His eyes moving with me. I would catch him staring at me and I could feel myself blush. I felt safe with him there. Maybe that was a premature idea, but anything that brought me some type of reassurance is what I needed.
Soon enough the day was over and all the kids were leaving.
"Bye, Mr. Tae!" A lot of the kids waved to Tae while smiling. Tae smiled back at them with his boxy smile and waved to every single one of them.
My assistant teacher packed her things quietly. She knew not to ask too many questions, but she did check to make sure I was okay.
"I am. Thank you," I responded.
She hugged me and left.

I cleaned up the room well aware of Tae's eyes still on me.

"I have to be honest. I loved watching you with your kids. You looked very happy with them. I know right now everything isn't going right, but I can see those kids bring you a certain happiness and I think it's so beautiful."

I felt myself blush. I stopped straightening my book case and smiled at him.
"A lot of people don't realize how much of a dream it was for me to work with kids. I absolutely love it. If anyone gave me more money to do something else, I wouldn't take it. I love teaching."
Tae got up and headed towards me.
"And you do an amazing job."
I smiled and he kissed me on my cheek.

"You need any help with cleaning?" he asked.
"No, it's okay. I won't be much longer."
"Good because I want to get you home where you'll feel safe."
"Thank you."
"I'm going to go make some calls. I'm going to call the guard who's been staying with Taylor and Jungkook and see how things have been there. I also want to make your home is still safe."
"Okay," I said quietly.

I started to finish my cleaning while my mind went over again everything that was going on.
Damon, I hate you so much!!
I was so angry all over again because I felt like if I wasn't safe at my school, then no one else was safe. I had no idea what lengths Damon would take to get to me, but I didn't want to know. Was it safe for me to come back to work? I know Tae couldn't stay with me at work everyday. Even though I knew he would try.
At this point, I didn't know how to continue. I really didn't.
I just really wanted to get home and be in Tae's arms.

"I think you should talk to your principle about getting a replacement for now," Tae said breaking me from my train of thought from behind me.
"But...," I started.
"I know you don't want to. I truly understand after seeing you today, but it may be for your own safety and the safety of the kids. We have no idea what Damon would be willing to do."
I sat there feeling my heart slowly start to sink.
"Tae, I don't want to."
"I know, babygirl. I know. But, until I can handle him, I'm worried about you. I would be here everyday with you if I could, but we both know I can't."
Even though, I didn't want to leave my job, part of me knew deep inside that I had to. I had to make sure I was safe.
"I will see if the principle is still in her office," I said gloomily.
I walked over to the phone and dialed the extension that got me to the principal's office. She was still there. I asked her if she could come down to my room. She said she would be there in a few.
I finished cleaning up my room and packed my things for the day. As soon as I finished, there was a knock on my door. I went to open it.

It was Mrs. Allen, the school principal.