the staff bathroom and sneak in just to pee?” I take a shaky breath, balling my hands into fists. “Then that ridiculous excuse of a Dean said that I was making a mockery out of the school, and although I was the one who was nearly attacked by one of his students, it's somehow all my fault. I've received death threats from that student, I've been discriminated against because of my gender, and I was sexually harassed by some dimwit pervert coach. I've never been more humiliated in all my life. I think he might have even terminated my enrollment, but I was too angry to stick around to know for sure.”
Charles just stares, his mouth hanging open. “I, uhh … I don’t even know where to start with all of that. This has all happened in the last two days?”
I nod and his face begins turning red with anger. “Where the hell was Colton during all of this?”
I let out a sigh. “Look, don’t get me wrong, Colton is an A-class dickhead with a massive chip on his shoulder, but without him, I would have spent my night in the hospital doing a rape kit.”
Charles brows furrow. “Rape? You said you were nearly attacked?”
I glance away, not feeling comfortable talking about it to Charles. “Yeah, Jude welcomed himself into my bedroom yesterday afternoon and tried to force himself on me. If Colton didn’t walk by when he did … well, you know.”
“Shit, Ocean,” he says, his lips pressing into a hard line. “I’m sorry you had to go through that and under my roof none-the-less.”
“Thank you, that means a lot.”
“Now, about this coach and the Dean. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot I can do about the boys stealing your belongings while you were showering. That is unfortunate and I can only imagine how that would have felt being the victim of that, let alone being the only female among all those boys’ prying eyes. But you're tough, I see it in you. That’s why I had you enrolled there. It’s the best school with the best education and that’s what I expect out of the children living under my roof.”
I nod, wanting to agree but deep down, I’m not sure that I feel that tough.
“Was it Coach Sylvester?”
I nod again.
Charles groans. “I’ve had issues with that man for years. It’ll be good to finally get rid of him.”
“Get rid of him?”
“You don’t think I’m going to let him get away with this, do you? Expecting you to change in front of a room full of boys is unacceptable and disgusting behavior for an educator. I’ll be speaking with the other members of the board and I can assure you that he won’t be a problem any longer. Now, Dean Simmons,” Charles says with a grin slowly spreading across his face. “He’s been another issue I’ve been meaning to deal with. Leave it to me. I'll put in a call to my lawyers and see what we can do about this. Bellevue Springs Academy has always had a stellar reputation and I won’t stand for people like Simmons coming in and tearing it down. One school. United. Equal. That certainly doesn’t sound like he’s upholding our school code. I put him in that position and I can certainly take it away.”
I watch Charles for a silent moment, my eyes beginning to fill with tears. “Thank you,” I tell him, feeling the guilt start to creep up on me. “I don’t think I’ve ever had someone be on my side like this before, but there is something you should know.”
“Go on,” he says, his voice low and his eyes narrow on me suspiciously.
“After I got dressed for PE, I sort of kicked a soccer ball into Coach Sylvester's chest. He was fine for the entirety of the lesson and even demonstrated things, but when I was with Dean Simmons, he said that it was violence against a faculty member and now Coach Sylvester has been sent for X-rays.”
Charles lets out a sigh. “That makes things a little more difficult but nothing I can’t handle.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“What did I tell you, Ocean? As long as you’re living under my roof, you’re considered family,” he tells me, digging into his pocket and pulling out his phone. “Now run along and get yourself cleaned up. Make sure you drop Colton’s shirt into the hamper to be cleaned and pressed so he’s not down a shirt.”
“Oh, um … this isn’t Colton’s shirt. It’s Milo’s.”