harm him rises up.
He’s why I’m here.
I didn’t know what my purpose was when I first sent my resumé around to schools. I wasn’t sure which direction I was moving in, where I would land. I simply followed the outline I had written for myself, with the help of Dr. Leighton.
She’s been my mentor since before I graduated from high school. She was there for me all through college. And she’s the voice inside me when I feel lost.
The final bell of the day rings, and I’m like one of the anxious students, leaping out of my desk chair to gather my satchel and bag so I can leave the school grounds before the crush of cars congest the streets.
I ignore the niggling urge to look for Carter. After his display in the hallway, I need to reevaluate…everything.
I plug my phone into my car charger and push it into the cradle as I steer onto the main roadway, heading out of the downtown area. I punch Dr. Leighton’s contact into my phone.
She answers right away. “Ellis, how are you? How is Black Mountain?”
Just hearing her voice makes me feel brittle, fragile. “It’s been…challenging,” I say. There’s no use mincing my words or trying to hide my emotions. Dr. Leighton is skilled in the art of reading me. “There’s this student,” I begin, and I delve into the difficult feelings Carter has brought on in just the short time I’ve started my career.
Dr. Leighton is quiet on the line as she gives my dilemma serious thought. Then: “Ellis, I think you know what I’m going to say.”
I grip the wheel, aggravating the cuts on my palms further. I’ve been driving aimlessly, following the winding road as it leads up the mountain.
“Reese—” I use her first name to put us on equal ground; something I’ve never done before “—he’s special. I thought at first it was because of who he reminded me of, but there’s so much more—”
“Do you trust my assessment?” she interrupts.
My foot lays heavy on the accelerator as I climb higher up the incline. “Of course.”
“Then you know how dangerous this situation is for you. This particular student is too much of a challenge for your first year, hell, your first week in the field.” She takes a beat. “It’s my professional opinion that, if you truly want to help this youth, you need to step aside as his counselor.”
A white-hot cinder sparks in the hollow of my chest. It burns as I swallow. “I understand,” is all I say.
“Do you, Ellis? You need to make me believe this, or else I’ll have to—”
“I promise,” I say. “I understand. I don’t want to jeopardize my career.”
“You’ve come so far,” Dr. Leighton encourages. “I’m so proud of you.”
Words my mother never voiced before she left this earth. The fire in my chest consumes. I let the road ahead guide me, not thinking about the destination.
“I’ll do the right thing,” I assure her.
“I know you will.”
The sky purples with the setting sun as it gradually dips behind the mountain top. The trees become dense as I travel around the bend. I should turn around, go home. But I’ve yet to explore my new town, and I’m curious where the road ends.
I’ll do the right thing.
Is the right thing really to walk away from Carter? Who else will understand him on the level that I do? Sometimes, the right thing is speaking up, going against the majority rule, and embracing the unknown, the danger.
A break in the tree line appears, so I ease my foot off the pedal. There’s a clearing off to the right. I flip on my blinker—even though I’m the only car on the road—and turn onto a worn pathway carved between the wooded boundary that separates the edge of the mountain from the road.
I curse as bare branches scratch my Audi and claw the windows. The teeth-grinding screech tearing along the silver paint grates my nerves, but I keep going until I’m through and the clearing opens up around me.
The site is breathtaking. Even in the dim evening light, there’s a shimmering twinkle from the lake water reflected onto the side of the mountain. A high ridge shapes a rock outcropping into a crescent, and just below, a flat plateau overlooks a small cascading waterfall.
I grab my phone and leave my car, needing to get a closer look and take a picture. As I follow the narrow trail around the rocky embankment, I can see where campfires have