*****
It was getting dark. Charlotte left the tent to get some fresh air and clear her scrambled thoughts. All the dancing had left her dizzy. As the music grew distant behind her, she could hear the tinkle of silverware as caterers in kitchen whites set stainless steel food trays onto long tables outside. Dinner would be served soon, but the thought of food made her woozy.
There were other students outside, too, but mostly it was quiet. Charlotte sat on a bench and took out her phone. She needed a distraction. A game or music or anything to shut off her brain.
A dim figure emerged in front of her.
“I thought I saw you come out here,” Mr. Kerrigan said.
He must have been keeping an eye on her and followed her outside. The thought made Charlotte warm.
He sat on the far end of the bench. “Who was that boy who was harassing you?”
“You mean, Asher?” she asked. “He wasn’t harassing me. We were playing around.”
“It didn’t look like you were having much fun.”
She shrugged.
“You should report behavior like that,” Mr. Kerrigan said. “He needs to learn what’s appropriate and what’s not.”
She looked back down at her phone without really seeing the screen. “I didn’t mind it.”
“Boys like that are trouble, Charlotte. You’d best leave them a wide berth.”
“He’s not that bad. And you don’t know him.”
“I know what I saw, and he wasn’t respecting you.”
She stood up and moved away, but she had nowhere to go. “What do you care anyway?” she asked, unable to keep the hurt from her voice. She had her back to him, which somehow made it easier to say what was on her mind. “You don’t even want me around, right?”
“Charlotte, that’s not true,” Mr. Kerrigan said. “That’s not even the tiniest bit true.”
She spun on her heel. “Then why are you telling me to go away? I thought you liked when I visited? That’s what you told me.”
He looked uncomfortable. “Charlotte,” he said in a very low voice. “I think we should have this conversation with the school counselor present.”
“You think I’m crazy?” she asked shrilly.
“No, I think we’ve had a misunderstanding, and I think an objective, third-party perspective might help us sort everything out.”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” she stuttered. “Who’s misunderstanding what?”
“Sometimes, you behave in a way that is very sexually suggestive,” he said. “And as a teacher that makes me uncomfortable. It’s dangerous. For both of us. And though I do care for you, Charlotte, it’s not in that particular way…”
“Are you saying that I act like a whore?” she asked, and her voice must have been loud because several people were staring.
“I would never say that, nor do I think there’s any truth in that.”
She was breathing hard. “Just tell me what I did wrong. Tell me why you’re punishing me.”
A middle-aged woman with a nametag that said, ‘Linda Tabor, mother of Kayla,’ came up beside them.
“Is there a problem over here?” she asked.
“Uh…” Mr. Kerrigan looked down at her nametag. “Linda, do you think you can call one of the deans over here?” he asked.
“What do the deans have to do with this?” Charlotte asked, feeling panicky. “What did I do that’s so wrong?”
Linda shot Mr. Kerrigan a questioning look, then called over her shoulder at some of the other parents who were standing a few feet away, watching with evident curiosity. “Daryll, can you track down Pete?”
Charlotte pulled away. “Am I in trouble?”
She was feeling smothered – all of these adults were coming around, staring at her like she had done something terrible, and she had no idea what it was. Why did the deans have to get called over? In her confused state of mind, she realized it was her fault. That’s what Aunt Sheena had said. It was that hug yesterday. He was disgusted with her; she had crossed a line. Now she would get kicked out.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry about the hug. I’m sorry about what happened at your house that night…And I’ll give you all the gifts back. I promise. I won’t come by you classroom anymore….” She kept talking, apologizing, unable to make herself stop. She was remembering all the times she had screwed up before, all the times Dom had hit her for messing up.
Linda’s grip on Charlotte tightened. “What’s all this about?”
Charlotte looked wildly from face to face. They all seemed to be looking at her accusingly. She was going to get kicked out. She knew it. “I always mess things up. I always…I just thought…I just thought he cared. We spent all those times together in the classroom and…”
One of the deans appeared beside them. She didn’t recognize this man. He was tall and lanky with red hair and glasses. “Hi Will,” he said. “Is there a problem?”
Mr. Kerrigan was standing several feet away now, as if he were keeping his distance. “Hey, Pete. This is Charlotte Banks. She’s a junior. Charlotte, this is Mr. Brown, he’s one of the freshman deans.” He turned to Mr. Brown and said, “It seems we’ve had a rather thistly misunderstanding.”
“What about?”
Mr. Kerrigan was about to explain, but the mother, Linda, interjected. “We should let Charlotte speak for herself.”
All eyes suddenly turned on Charlotte.
“Why don’t we go somewhere to discuss this,” Mr. Brown suggested. He mumbled something into a walkie-talkie.
Charlotte found that she was shivering. She had no idea what was going on, but Linda was throwing a sweater around her shoulders.
The next thing she knew, she was being led back towards the main aquarium building and into a fluorescent-lit office where she was sat down on a cold, plastic chair. Brenda still had her arm around Charlotte’s shoulders. Mr. Brown stood across from them with Mr. Kerrigan at his side.
“What seems to be the problem, exactly?” Mr. Brown asked, obviously confused.
There was a short silence.
“I’m sorry, but I would rather not have this conversation with her present,” Mr. Kerrigan said, gesturing to Linda.
Linda’s arm tightened around Charlotte’s shoulders. “I think Pete should know what Charlotte told me a moment ago.”
Mr. Brown looked worriedly back and forth between Mr. Kerrigan and Linda. “It’s probably best if I spoke to each of you alone first.”
He had Charlotte wait outside while he talked with Mr. Kerrigan and Linda Tabor separately. It took a long time.
While Charlotte waited, one of her class deans, Ms. Savelo brought her a plate of food from the buffet and made idle chitchat. Charlotte had no appetite, but she shifted the food around the plate to please Ms. Savelo, and even forced down a bite of pineapple. Then, to her mortification and bewilderment, Aunt Sheena and Uncle Eddie came in through the door of the aquarium’s office. They were still wearing the evening clothes from that night’s fundraiser event.
“Mr. and Mrs. Kapono, I’m so sorry to call you in,” Ms. Savelo said, standing up.
“I’m not sure I understood from your phone message what this is all about,” Aunt Sheena said in a brisk voice.
“We’re not so sure ourselves, yet.”
“Are you okay, Charlotte?” Uncle Eddie asked.
“I’m fine. I don’t know why I’m in trouble,” Charlotte said.
Ms. Savelo went to the office door and stuck her head in. “Pete, Mr. and Mrs. Kapono are here.”
As they filed into the office, Mr. Kerrigan came out. He looked tired, but he smiled at Charlotte. “I bet you weren’t expecting to spend tonight like this, huh?” he said.
Charlotte wasn’t given a chance to react. Aunt Sheena nudged her into the room and they shut the door on Mr. Kerrigan, closing him out.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your evening,” Mr. Brown said once everyone was seated. “But one of our parent chaperones overheard
an alarming argument between Charlotte and Mr. Kerrigan this evening. Will explained to me that you are already aware of the situation, but in light of the serious nature of the accusation, I felt it needed to be addressed immediately.”
“What serious accusation?” Uncle Eddie asked in confusion.
“I didn’t know!” Charlotte exploded, because she couldn’t hold anything in any longer. “I just wanted Mr. Kerrigan to like me.”
Everybody turned to stare at her in startled silence. “Please don’t kick me out. I didn’t know it was wrong,” she said, her voice cracking in her dry throat.
Mr. Brown blinked. “Goodness, Charlotte. If these allegations are true, that would not endanger your place at the school. Mr. Kerrigan would be the one at fault.”
She looked at Mr. Brown warily. “But he didn’t do anything wrong either.”
Aunt Sheena sat up straighter in her seat. “Mr. Kerrigan is a close, personal friend of ours. As you mentioned before, my husband and I spoke with him yesterday about Charlotte’s predicament. He has been very forthcoming about the situation, and I’m quite positive he has done nothing to harm Charlotte.”
“Harm me?” Charlotte said. “Of course he’s not.”
“See?” Aunt Sheena said. “Will noticed that Charlotte had developed a school girl crush on him, and he very wisely chose to report it. Charlotte mistakenly believed she had done something to offend him, and that’s how all this confusion got started.”
“Yes, this is what Will told me, as well,” Mr. Brown said.
“Good, I’m glad we have this all straightened out. Aunt Sheena started to stand, but Mr. Brown lifted a palm to stop her.
“I’d still like to confirm a few things with Charlotte, if you don’t mind.”
“By all means.”
Mr. Brown turned his pale, gray eyes on Charlotte. “Is it true that Mr. Kerrigan has been giving you gifts?”
She didn’t understand why he would ask her this. “He loans me things.”
“What kinds of things does he loan you.”
“Music and books.”
“And, to make absolutely certain, I feel obliged to ask if Mr. Kerrigan has ever touched you inappropriately.”
“No.”
“But is it true that you’ve been to his house at night?” Mr. Brown asked.
Uncle Eddie interrupted a little belligerently. “What? Where is this coming from?”
“Our parent chaperone overheard Charlotte mention having been to his house at night on at least one occasion, and I would like to hear what Charlotte has to say about this,” he said apologetically.
“I visited him once,” Charlotte admitted, shrinking in her seat.
“There’s no crime in that,” Uncle Eddie interrupted. “He lives right next door. I’m sure there was nothing happening.”
“How many times did this happen?” Aunt Sheena asked Charlotte uncomfortably.
“Just once. He wasn’t supposed to know, but I fell asleep in his bed.”
“In his bed?”
“I was only sleeping there.”
“Did Mr. Kerrigan ever mention this to you two?” Mr. Brown asked her aunt and uncle.
“No,” Aunt Sheena said faintly. She had her hand to her throat.
“Charlotte, I hope you are being honest with us,” Mr. Brown said. “Because a teacher should never, ever have a physical or intimate relationship with his students. That is a very serious offense, do you understand?”
She nodded weakly. She felt funny all of a sudden. Light-headed and woozy.
“Earlier, you said you ‘didn’t know it was so wrong,’” Mr. Brown said. “What did you mean by that, exactly? What were you feeling so guilty about?”
“I ... I don’t know. I don’t remember saying that,” she said. Mr. Brown sounded so stern. Her brain felt as jumbled as a jigsaw puzzle.
“Has Mr. Kerrigan ever told you to keep his secrets?”
She shook her head.
“Are you certain? He’s never made you feel uncomfortable?”
“I promise, he’s never done anything to me,” Charlotte said, but she was trembling and she didn’t know why.
“I think she’s had enough,” Aunt Sheena said, standing up. “May I speak with you alone for a moment, Pete?”
Charlotte stood up and the room swam. She had not eaten anything all day, but she felt nauseous. The last thing she saw before passing out was Mr. Brown frowning at her with pity and disgust.
Chapter 14