I squint. “Hey. You’re right. That’s not my locker. This one says dirty slag. Hey, Luke, isn’t that a hate crime?”
Luke draws himself up to his full height. “Yes,” he says, his voice icy. “It is. You know, Amy, this is very concerning. I think it would be best that I make a report to the council, so they can perform an inspection of the school’s student support procedures.”
Amy is livid. “Luke,” she snaps. “You are blowing this completely out of proportion. For God’s sake, you don’t even work here anymore.”
“I’m still on the student board,” he reminds her peaceably.
She turns her scowl on me. “Did you put him up to this?” She demands. “Why? Because I wouldn’t listen to you when you came whining to me every single lunch break, wasting all of my free time? Because I released those pictures of you whoring around at my wedding?”
Luke stares at her. “Wait. It was you who released the pictures? You said you didn’t know who did it!”
Amy rolls her eyes. “Stop looking at me like that. It was my right.” She jabs a finger at me. “She turned up without an invite, dressed like a goddamn hooker, and went around snogging my guests. It was embarrassing. And you’re so goddamn stupid, I knew you’d never see what kind of a person she was, so yes. I took some shots on my phone. I wanted to give you proof that she was cheating on you.” She throws up her hands. “And you don’t even care! I don’t know what the Hell is wrong with you, Luke, but this little four-way you’ve got going on is disgusting. You used to teach children, for God’s sake. What do you think parents will think when they find out one of our former professors is a damn pervert?”
Her voice rises on the last word, and I see people throughout the room turning to look at us. A couple of my old PE teachers share a knowing look. Luke flushes.
Suddenly, I’m starting to regret my little plan. I thought we’d get in here, show off a bit, and come out again. I didn’t think about how bad it could look on the boys to all be seen with me. Apparently, my reputation as a total slag is infectious. I don’t want that on anyone else. It hurts.
Behind me, Josh’s grip on me tightens.
Luke swallows. When he speaks, his voice is very calm. “This has nothing to do with me or Layla. It’s about the wellbeing of the students.”
“But—”
Luke frowns. “That’s what our main focus as teachers is, right? Because if I’m telling you there’s an issue with child safety, and your first instinct is to sweep it under the rug, we’re going to have an issue.”
“There’s no issue with child safety!” She protests. “She’s making all of this up!”
Luke finally breaks. “FOR GOD’S SAKE, AMY!” He shouts, jabbing a finger at the lockers. “Someone has painted a slur onto a young girl’s locker! Someone is harassing a child. A minor. The proof is there in black and white, and I’m not going to let you ignore it just because you don’t want to handle the goddamn paperwork!”
Everyone else in the room goes silent. In the background, cheerful 90s pop plays through the CD player’s tinny speakers. Zack noisily scoops up a handful of crackers and starts crunching through them like they’re a tub of popcorn.
Amy takes a deep breath. “Perhaps we need to have a word in private, Luke,” she says coldly.
“I agree,” Luke counters, dipping to press a hard kiss to my cheek, and then stalking away to examine the lockers, leaving Amy to scurry after him in her little kitten heels. I watch them go, my eyes huge. What the Hell have I started?
“Nice,” Zack says, holding up a cracker to my lips and feeding it to me. “I love when he gets all righteous.”
“You probably shouldn’t crash the party and then eat all the food,” Josh mutters under his breath.
“Sorry, mate, you want one too?” Zack obligingly shoves a custard cream into Josh’s mouth.
Donny, who’s been watching everything go down with growing dismay, finally steps forward. “I need to speak with you,” he tells me lowly, not meeting my eye.
“Aight,” Zack straightens, dusting cracker crumbs off his hands. “Lead the way.”
Donny scowls. “Not with you,” he spits. “With Layla.”
“I assumed,” Zack counters. “If you think you’re going anywhere alone with my girl, mate, you’re even dumber than you look. She just told us you tried to grab her in a parking lot, for Chrissakes.”