Read Point of Retreat for Free Online Page B

married?”
     
    I shake my head.
     
    “Me neither,” she smiles.
     
    I don’t like this. I don’t like how she’s looking at me-I’ve seen that look from her before. We dated for over two years, I know her pretty well. And right now, her intentions aren’t good for me.
     
    “I’m not married, but I am dating someone,” I clarify. I can see the slight shift in her expression, but she attempts to mask it with a smile.
     
    “Good for you,” she says. “Is it serious?” She’s digging for hints.
     
    “Very.”
     
    We both face the front of the room when the professor starts explaining the semester requirements and going over the syllabus. The rest of the hour, we don’t speak much other than occasional questions from her regarding the class information. When the professor dismisses us, I quickly stand up.
     
    “It’s really good seeing you, Will,” she says. “I’m excited about this class now. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
     
    I smile at her without agreeing. She gives me another quick hug and turns away. I gather my things and head to my second class as I think of a way to break this to Lake.
     
    Lake has never asked about my past relationships. She says there isn’t anything good that can come up from discussing it, so we never have. I’m not even sure she knows about Vaughn. She knows I had a pretty serious relationship in high school. She even knows I’ve had sex-we talked about that. I don’t know how she’ll take this. I’d hate to upset her, but I also don’t want to hide anything either.
     
    But what would I be hiding? Is it really necessary to tell her who all the students are in the classes I’m in? We’ve never discussed it before, so why do I feel the need to now? If I tell her, it will just cause her to worry unnecessarily. If I don’t tell her, what harm is it doing? Lake’s not in my class, she’s not even in school the days I am. I’ve made it clear to Vaughn that I’m in a relationship…that should be good enough.
     
    By the end of my last class, I’ve successfully convinced myself that Lake doesn’t need to know.
     
    ***
     
    When I pull up to the elementary school, Kel and Caulder are seated outside on a bench, away from the rest of the students. Mrs. Brill is standing right behind them, waiting.
     
    “Great,” I mumble to myself. I’ve heard the horror stories about her, but I’ve never actually had to deal with her. I kill the engine and get out; it’s obvious that’s what she’s expecting me to do.
     
    “You must be Will,” she says as she extends her hand. “We’ve met before, just not officially I believe.”
     
    “Good to meet you.” I glance to the boys who aren't making eye contact with me. When I look back at Mrs. Brill, she nods her head to the left, indicating she would like to talk to me out of their earshot.
     
    “There was an incident with Kel last week in the cafeteria,” Mrs. Brill says as we walk down the sidewalk, away from the crowd. “I’m not sure what the relationship is between Kel and yourself, but I wasn’t able to get in touch with his sister.”
     
    “We’re aware of what happened,” I say. “Layken misplaced her phone. Do I need to let her know to contact you?”
     
    “No, that isn’t why I want to talk to you,” she says. “I just wanted to be sure both of you were aware of last week’s incident first, and that it was handled appropriately.”
     
    “It was. We took care of it,” I say. I don’t know what she means by ‘handled appropriately,’ but I doubt she expects that their punishment was laughing about it at the dinner table. Oh, well.
     
    “I wanted to talk to you about a different matter. There’s a new student here, she seems to have taken to Kel and Caulder. Kiersten?” She waits on me to acknowledge that I know who she’s referring to. I nod. “There was an incident today that involved her and a few of the other students,” she says.
     
    I stop walking and turn