Oh my God, how could I be obsessing over shoes when there’s a burglar in the house? Maybe I really do need help.
While I’m contemplating what to do next, I hear another sound from the kitchen. This time, I distinctly hear the sound of a girl swearing.
Addie?
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Chapter Fifty-Four
EVE
ADDIE SEVERSON IS in my kitchen.
I’m certain that it’s her. There’s no other teenage girl who would be sneaking around my kitchen at nine o’clock at night. She’s already done it once before. Maybe she thinks that Nate is still here and wants to see him. I have no idea if he informed her that their relationship is over, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t.
At this point, I abandon my attempt to put on my sneakers. I don’t want to call the police on Addie. She’s already been through it once, and none of this is her fault. This is Nate’s fault for misleading her. For not telling her that a thirty-eight-year-old man has no business kissing a sixteen-year-old girl.
I haven’t been kind to Addie this semester, and now I feel a flash of guilt. She was struggling all semester in my class, and I could have done more to help her. I should have done more to help her. I resented her, because she destroyed the reputation of the man at the school who I looked up to the most, but ultimately, it wasn’t her fault.
That girl has been crying for help all year, and I could have helped her. My husband simply took advantage of her.
I’m going to make this right.
I walk in the direction of the kitchen, my footsteps quiet on the wooden floor in my bare feet. I open the door to the kitchen gingerly, not wanting to startle her. Sure enough, there she is, crouched on my kitchen floor. It looks like she knocked over the frying pan I had on the stove, which contained the remainder of last night’s dinner. I must not have cleaned it up, with all the excitement of finding Addie hiding in the bushes.
When she hears the door swing closed behind me, she looks up sharply. She scrambles to her feet, blinking furiously. Addie is a couple of inches taller than I am, with a sturdy build. She looks like she could be an athlete, but she hasn’t joined any teams. In the time I’ve known her, I’ve never seen her in anything besides baggy sweaters and jeans that are a size too large, her face scrubbed clean of makeup. She’s pretty, but in an unassuming sort of way. She does not look like the sort of girl who you would think would be having an affair with her teacher.
And yet I saw it with my own eyes.
“Mrs. Bennett,” she gasps. She snatches the frying pan off the floor and places it down on the kitchen counter. “I…”
I hold up a hand. “It’s okay. I know why you’re here.”
“You do?”
I nod. “I know about you and Nate.”
She squeezes her hands together, her eyes not quite meeting mine. “We’re in love, Mrs. Bennett. I’m sorry.”
“Addie…” This girl is so far gone. Maybe I should go to Higgins after all. Maybe it’s the only way to get this to stop, but I do want to try to spare her that. “You have to understand that Nate is a lot older than you. A lot older. And he’s your teacher. It’s so inappropriate to be in a relationship with him, and honestly…he’s taking advantage of you.”
She doesn’t like hearing this, which is not a surprise. “He’s not taking advantage of me. I promise. You just… You don’t understand. Maybe you’ve never experienced anything like what we have, but if you had, you would understand.”
Oh, Lord. She is so brainwashed.
“I do understand,” I tell her gently. “I know how you must feel, but it’s just not healthy. You should have a boyfriend your own age.”
“It’s not about having a boyfriend.” Her round cheeks turn pink. “You don’t understand. Nathaniel and I have a connection. I know he’s older than me, but I understand him in a way that I’m not sure you ever will. I’m sorry, but it’s true. And…it’s cruel for you to keep us apart.”
“You think that, but—”
“It’s true,” she says through her teeth. “I’m sorry you’re the kind of person who can’t understand the love that the two of us have for each other, but that’s not my fault. You don’t have to rip us apart. If you care for Nathaniel at all, you’ll let us have this.”
It’s like talking to a person programmed by a cult. I thought I might be able to talk sense into her, but I’m not certain anymore. Maybe it’s best to be straight. “Nate has been lying to you, Addie. He’s telling you what you want to hear. A man his age is not capable of having normal adult feelings for a teenage girl, especially not one of his students. He’s manipulating you.”