Page 69 of I'm Gonna Get You Back
My throat constricted when neither Delaney nor Reid moved.
West sighed. “Clara, what just happened was… unfortunate. I enjoyed your documentary very much and appreciate all your contributions to Woodhurst. We’ll of course do our best to get to the bottom of what transpired here today, but… I can’t make any promises.”
Reid’s face went furious. “That’s it?”
My pulse flew, but I met Principal West’s eyes when I asked, “Is Josh disqualified?”
“Why would he be?”
The silence was cacophonous.
“Because he was in the video, too!” Delaney’s arms flew to either side as she stated the obvious.
West cleared his throat. “Though less than wholesome, it isn’t only what transpired in the video that is of concern.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Mom asked.
The leather chair West sat in creaked as he leaned back and rubbed his brow bone with his thumb and forefinger. “It’s that word has gotten around suggesting some students with connections to the program have been used in exchange for putting in a good word for those seeking to use them.”
“And you believe that?” I asked, my shaky voice almost lilting to a laugh at my utter disbelief.
He leveled his gaze on me. “It’s not about what I believe. It is now too difficult to refute. Joshuadidput in a good word for you, and it is now impossible to know whether that was done in good faith.”
The fight in me started to wane. Maybe Ihaddone nothing to earn it other than throw myself at the principal’s son.
“Furthermore, Legacies are role models. We cannot choose someone who clearly has no regard for the rules.” He sniffed. “Or their own reputation for that matter.”
“This issounfair. We all break the rules all the time—” Delaney started.
I reached out and gripped her wrist, telling her to stop for her own sake.
West shot her a disapproving look. “Be that as it may,youractions weren’t just on display for the entire community, including half the board. I’m afraid my hands are tied.”
There was no winning, though that didn’t stop Mom from trying. She ushered me out after giving my arm a reassuring squeeze and closed the door firmly behind her. She and West argued in his office for what seemed like hours. Despite it all, he wouldn’t budge. She went home, fuming. My friends went home.
Reid didn’t.
We wandered outside. The assembly crowd had long since dispersed. We slowly walked along the road outside school when it finally hit me. It was over.
“I’m never—” I pressed a hand to my mouth because I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
I’m never leaving Woodhurst.
In a few steps, Reid closed the distance I always tried to keep and swept me up. Pressed into the warmth of his neck, the tears came. He gently rocked me there on the side of the quiet mountain road as everything I thought I had been building turned to rubble and dust at my feet.
“It’s a detour,” he breathed. “Not a dead end.”
I was terrified that the minute I let go of him, I would plummet intoa level of low I had only seen from the outside. Into a hole so deep, no one could ever pull me back out. So I stood there and let myself need him the way I never let myself need anyone. Held him while I still had him.
After I calmed down, I pulled away, my thoughts careening in a thousand directions.
“What can I do?” Reid asked.
“Nothing. It’s over. It’s all over.” I wanted to cry more, but no tears would come. A strange, welcome numbing spreading all over my body.
Reid shook his head. “We can fight this. This isprofoundlyfucked up. These are impossible standards, Clara. It’s not your fault.”
“Impossible or not, those are the rules,” I said with a shrug.
