Chapter Thirty-One
Noah
Wednesday morning arrived quickly, much to my relief. I arrived on campus five minutes before my Freshman English class started partly because I didn’t want to face Kale after our lunch on Monday.
If people were honestly talking about Iris and me, then I didn’t want to give them anymore to talk about by reacting to it. Plus, I needed to follow Kale’s warning and keep my distance from everyone as much as possible. We needed to be more discreet, or at least keep things off campus away from passing students and staff.
I scanned the group of students standing in front of my classroom door. Iris was nowhere to be seen, but there was still five minutes left before class started. I let everyone in the classroom and went straight to my desk to pull out the stack of papers I had graded the night before. After handing them out, I held onto Iris’ paper while I glanced up at the clock above the door.
8:15. I let out a disappointed sigh. After everything that had happened on Monday, I had looked forward to seeing Iris sitting at her desk with her usual warm smile. I looked over to where Jen sat quietly in her desk, but her gaze was focused on her graded paper. I tried to read her expression, but it was impossible from how she kept her face tilted downwards.
The next hour passed by quickly. I talked to a few lingering students before exiting the classroom with the intent to check my phone in my office for any messages from Iris.
“Professor Webber?”
I stopped at the sound of Jen’s timid voice. She stood nervously outside of the classroom door and toyed with the strap of her book bag when I looked at her.
“Can I talk to you about something?” she asked, quietly. “In private?”
Dread filled me at the pointed look she gave me. She needed to talk to me about Iris. We both glanced at the open office doors, and I motioned to the back door for us to slip out and talk privately.
We walked down the path halfway until Jen was confident that no one was in hearing range or around to listen in.
“There’s something you should know about Iris,” Jen said. “She was expelled from PHU on Monday evening.”
Jen’s words crashed over me numbly at first. I stared at her, trying to discern if I had heard right, but her grave expression never changed. There was only one reason why Iris would be expelled, and it made my stomach sick thinking about it: someone had found out and told Miles.
My conversation with Kale replayed in the back of my head. He had tried to warn me ahead of time that something was about to go down.
“What was she expelled for?”
“I think we both know why,” Jen said softly. I looked away from her at that to hide the shame I felt. “I don’t think any less of you or Iris for what happened. I mean, you’re both adults. You didn’t make the best decision, but I tried to tell Iris it didn’t make you or her a shitty person.”
I appreciated those words, but it did little to comfort me. I rubbed at my forehead with trembling fingers. “Have you heard from Iris at all? Maybe I should give her a-”
“She told me after seeing the dean what happened between you two. I tried to tell her not to despair about it, but she didn’t want to listen to me. That was on Monday, and she hasn’t returned any of my calls since then.”
Anger blazed in Jen’s eyes. “From what I’ve heard, it was her roommate that sold you both out because she had been suspicious about it for a while. I personally think it was out of spite and jealousy.”
“It doesn’t matter why she did it,” I said, grimly. “Iris is expelled because of me, so I need to try to fix it. It’s my fault, the situation we are both in right now.”
It made me uneasy knowing this had happened two days ago and Miles had yet to come looking for me. Iris’ silence was understandable.
A part of me knew that her expulsion had little to do with our relationship – it had everything to do with me not accepting that damn coaching position. Nausea crawled up the back of my throat. I had ruined someone else’s life again by being selfish.
“If you see Iris, please tell her to call me,” Jen said. “I know she’s upset and embarrassed, but she’s my only friend that I really care for.”
I nodded sharply. “I’ll mention it to her if I can get a hold of her myself.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Good luck.”
“Thank you, Jen.” I caught her gaze. “You’re a good student and a talented writer. You’ll go far with whatever you decide to do.”
She smiled softly. “I had a good professor to teach me a few things,” she said, and then bid me goodbye to hurry along for her next class.
The campus was motionless with morning classes in session. I popped into the hallway briefly to tell the students waiting that class was cancelled for the morning before heading straight to the admissions office.
The secretary looked up the second I pushed the door open a bit louder than I had intended. She didn’t bother hiding the disapproval in her eyes.
“Where’s the dean?”
Her nose wrinkled at the demand. “In a meeting. Please take a- Wait a minute!” I pushed by her desk to the door behind her and opened it without paying attention to her small hands grabbing at my arms. “You can’t just go in there. He’s in a very important meeting.”
I managed to slip out of her grasp. The door closed shut on her indignant sputtering and I strode down the long hallway. The door to Miles’s office was open as I expected it to be. There was no one else in his office. He turned around in his chair when I stepped into his office and closed the door firmly behind me.
“Ah, Noah,” he said, nodding to me. “I’ve been meaning to come talk to you. I’m glad you came to my office to talk, instead.”
The blood pumping in my veins quickened to a fierce pace. I pushed aside the chair in front of Miles’s desk when he motioned a hand for me to sit. Resting my palms on the edge of his desk, I leaned down to look him directly in the eye. A small part of me laughed in pleasure to see fear flicker in Miles’s eyes briefly.
“Why didn’t you just fire me?” I asked, calmly as possible. This was a game of chess, and if I wanted Iris to be reinstated, I had to keep my cool. “If you knew what was going on, then why didn’t you just come to me and let me go? She’s a student about to graduate in a few weeks. I slept with her, and she’s completely innocent because I pursued it.”
Miles leaned back in his chair to put distance between us. “You think I didn’t know that this sort of thing was a possibility with you here on campus?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m sure you thought of it a couple of times.”
“Your reputation follows you around, good and bad, Mr. Webber. I wanted you to stay on this campus to coach and bring this school much needed attention in other areas.”
“Not the type of attention I think a dean wants,” I said, coldly.
“You’re right about that,” Miles said, sighing. “I was going to come find you today anyway to talk about these allegations. The board for PHU is not happy about it.”
“They aren’t allegations. It’s the truth.”
“I thank you for your honesty,” he said casually. “I have an offer for you to consider before this conversation goes even further.”
“What offer are we talking about?” I questioned warily.
The grin on Miles’s face put me on edge. I didn’t like the sight of it, or the way this conversation was going. If confirmed my suspicion that Iris’ expulsion had little to do with our relationship.
“Rugby season is year round, as you well know,” he started, eyes drifting up to a few trophies in a glass case behind me. “If you want to keep your job here at PHU, then I suggest taking up a position as head coach for those boys. They need a former champion to help wrap up this season. We need more trophies in that case behind you.”
I gritted my teeth in aggravation. It always boiled down to rugby for Miles. The thought of sitting on the sidelines again after the past few years of swearing it off caused my fingers to curl up into fists.
This was the only tool I had to get Iris back into school, though. If Miles was that desperate to keep me here, he could reinstate Iris so she could graduate. We both could put up with the stares and whispers for a few more weeks.
“If you want me to take the coaching job,” I started, crossing my arms across my chest, “then you have to let Iris come back to school. She did nothing wrong. It was all me.”
“She told me it was consensual.”
“It was, but I persuaded her to come to me. We broke the rules, I get that, but don’t punish her for being naïve.”
“You seem to care greatly about her,” Miles commented, rocking slightly in his chair as he looked up at me curiously. “For years, I read about your exploits in the papers. People looked away because of your raw talent on the field. Then, you were hurt, and it happened again to you and another player. Why is everything different for you now?”
“It’s none of your business why it is,” I snapped out. “I’m not here to rehash the past with you because it’s said and done and over with.”
“Fine. Here’s my offer to you, then: I will triple your pay to be head coach, and you won’t have to teach any classes. You just show up and coach and win championships the way you won them before.”
“I didn’t win all of those games honestly,” I said. “You know that, too.”
“I don’t care. I just want more championships under PHU’s belt, is all.”
“And what about Iris?” I demanded. “I won’t accept the job if she isn’t allowed to come back here.”
“I will not reinstate her,” he said firmly. “There are a lot of female students on this campus, Noah. I have to make a loud example out of this situation.”
“I’m not-”
“Listen to me,” Miles cut in loudly. “You have feelings for this student? Great. Go for it. I don’t care. She is no longer a student here on my campus, but you are the one who has to live with this decision. You’re going to need a paycheck to keep afloat, and her, too.
“You don’t think I have an idea where Iris comes from?” He laughed shortly. “Her mother’s a fall down drunk. She showed up with Iris her freshman year reeking and slurring. All of the funds that Iris has are scholarships directly through this school. Without any of it, she’s out on the streets.”
My heart pounded furiously in my chest. Clasping his hands together, Miles leaned forward to look at me directly.
“So, what’s it going to be, Noah?” he asked, quietly. “Triple the pay you make now. If you win championships, a bonus will be tacked on there. Think about it long and hard for a moment, then let me know what you want to do.”
I lowered my eyes to the ground. I had no other choice. I had to do the right thing even if it screwed Iris and I both over.