Page 145 of The Other Side of Green

“And neither of you thought to mention it, in that meeting. You both sat there and acted like you didn’t know each other.” Greene’s cheeks flooded with a deep purple.

I hesitated. It seemed so stupid now. “I was so shocked. I thought he might have been dead.”

Greene made a strange, gurgling sound and I quickly ran through my roster of useless facts that might help me save his life. “Dead. Why on earth would he be dead?”

I crimped my lips together. Greene stared at me through his glasses and I cringed back on the seat.

“And neither of you felt like saying, ‘Sir, I think we may have a conflict of interest here’?”

My face folded into a wince.

He stared down at the pictures again. “And Brittany?”

“That’s a lie. The Collins family had it doctored so I’d say they weren’t racist bastards. They made Brittany sign the statement and then when she played for them they laughed in her face, belittled her. I might not be her biggest fan, but no one deserves that.”

He leaped up from his chair but then paused and stabbed the picture of me and Jack on the desk with his pointer finger. “And this one? Is this doctored too?”

My cheeks flooded with heat. “No.”

“Lyra, Lyra.” Greene shook his head, his shoulders slumping. Lifting his hand, he rubbed at his face. “I wish you hadn’t told me.”

“But I need help. I don’t know what to do. I can’t lie for them, I just can’t.”

He looked me straight in the eye, lines etching into his face. “Don’t you see, it doesn’t make the blindest bit of difference. You and Jack have broken one of the university’s most important rules. A rule that is put in place to protect students and staff.”

“But it’s not the same. We haven’t broken a rule because we’ve always known one another. It’s not like we’d never met and then started an affair. I’ve got photos of us together as kids, they are in my Grams’ box. I can go and get them now to prove it.”

He held up his hand. “It doesn’t matter. Jack is your teaching aide. He worked one on one with you. Maybe if he hadn’t been your pastoral aide it would have been different.” Greene seemed to age a hundred years. “But he was. You both lied.”

“It wasn’t a malicious lie; it just wasn’t a whole truth.”

He looked at the picture of Jack and me again. “And where was this taken?”

I bit on my lip, unwilling to speak any more. Whatever I said now would only make it worse. “Blue’s Bar.”

Greene dropped his head, rubbing at his chin. “Jack’s bar?” He snorted a dry laugh.

This conversation hadn’t gone at all how I wanted it to.

“I just wanted you to know so you could help me, help us.” My chest strained against a tight band. “Can you help us? I won’t stand there and lie.”

Greene looked up at me, his eyes shadowed. “Lyra, you won’t have to lie. Jack won’t be a member of staff anymore.”

“What?” God, the band around my chest threatened to cut off my air supply.

“I told you, it’s the rule that protects students and staff. No relationship is allowed between them.”

“But what about his PhD?”

Greene shrugged. “Shame, because he really did have a gift. The university will never let him become a full-time member of staff now.”

“This is crazy. I mean if it had been Shaun Parks I could understand, but Jack… I’ve known him forever.”

“Lyra, you’ll have to leave this with me.”

“Please tell me you’ll try to help? I was just trying to protect him, that’s all.”

He gave me a simple nod and I stood on wobbly legs. “Sad thing is, Lyra, it looks like no one has been protecting you.”