Chapter 6

Stephanie

I jump in my chair. “Bri, you scared me to death. Make some noise next time, will you?”

“Did you seriously just tell off Chloe?” her eyes are alight with excitement.

“No, I just told her she needs to deal with the people outside today. I am not losing out on several days of teaching for something that is not my fault.”

My students start filing in for class, and Brielle takes a step backwards. “I’ve gotta go, but I’m so proud of you.” She heads out the door, and I shake my head. This is a mess.

“Hey, Miss Winston,” Dante says as he stops in front of my desk.

I push all my negative thoughts aside and focus on my student. Dante’s a good kid. He’s gotten close to Aiden and Brielle; they go to most of his hockey games when they can. Aiden has stepped in to encourage him and put into him. “Hey Dante, what can I do for you?” He’s usually pretty quiet and sticks to himself; I’m actually surprised he’s at my desk talking to me right now.

He looks away for a moment and then back at me. “I, uh, just thought you should know. There’s some...bad stuff going around about you online.” He rubs the back of his neck, looking all kinds of uncomfortable. “Just thought you should know, so you could fix it.”

I stare up at him in shock. “Where?” It’s the only word I’m capable of.

He shrugs. “Everywhere.” I grab my phone. “Maybe start with the Green Thunder fan page,” he says.

I’m already looking it up. “Thank you, Dante.” I pull up the social media accounts for the Green Thunder. It takes only seconds for me to find what he’s talking about. There’s a post about Sebastian, and then...My eyes widen when I take in the post. I look up at Dante and then back at my screen. “What in the world?” My eyes skim the comments for just a few seconds before I stop and put down my phone. I keep my face calm, but inside I’m fuming. I can’t believe the things people are saying about me. I face my students and focus on the task at hand.

By some miracle, I get through my next few classes. When lunch rolls around, I don’t even get up from my desk. I pull out my phone once again and look online. This time I just type in Sebastian’s name. Immediately, pictures pop up of me. None of them are great; they’re of me outside the school. Each one has a story with it, and none of them paint me in a good light. I scroll through memes, threads, socials, and more.

“Stephanie?” I drop my phone, startled as Brielle comes into my classroom. “What are you doing?” she asks. I stare at her a moment, not even sure what to say. I feel like I’m going to be sick to my stomach. I vacillate between anger and sadness; it’s as if my mind doesn’t want to shut off from all the things I read online. “You didn’t come to lunch, so I thought...hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Steph, what happened?” she asks, taking a seat at one of the student desks.

“That idiot Sebastian happened,” I tell her.

Her eyes widen. “What did he do now?”

I shake my head. “He’s made a mess of everything. I was looking online. I—”

“Oh, don’t do that,” she interrupts me quickly. “Just...don’t.”

“Too late.” I sigh and shake my head. “I don’t usually care about what people think about me, and I still don’t, but this is so bad. The things people are saying about me, the names they’re calling me…”

“I know it’s easier said than done but ignore it. Ignore it all. Remember when you told me that? Remember when you told me not to read everything that was online about me?”

“Yeah.” I don’t say anything more.

“You at least need to eat,” she says gently.

“I will.” I take a deep breath and look up. “I’m fine. Correction--I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Her concerned gaze shows me that she’s doing just that. “I gotta get to class, but please don’t let it get to you. You’re a really good person, Stephanie.” I snort at that, and she grins. “Except maybe when somebody sets you off.” We both laugh, and she leaves. A quick glance at the clock shows I only have a few minutes before my next class starts. I reluctantly turn back to the task at hand. I need to get my focus back on my job. I do well until nearly the end of my day.

I’m in the middle of teaching about Napoleon’s invasion of Russia when somebody knocks on my classroom door. I finish the thought and turn to see who’s interrupting me. “Hi, I’m Chloe. I represent the Green Thunder. Are you Stephanie Winston?” I nod. “Is now a good time?”

I stare at the woman for just a moment. She’s every inch a professional; I can respect that. She’s wearing a classic pencil skirt, heels, a soft blue blouse; and every hair is pulled back into a perfect bun. But the fact that she’s interrupting my class and doesn’t see a problem with it...yeah. That’s the part that’s bothering me. I keep a professional smile on my face. “Hi, Chloe. It’s nice to meet you. As you can see, I’m in the middle of teaching, so if you wouldn’t mind—” I don’t get to finish what I’m saying because a tall man walks into the room behind Chloe.

Sebastian strides forward like he owns the room. “Hey Class, is your teacher doing a good job?” He grabs the history book out of my hand. “Ooo World History.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me. “Fun stuff.” Before I can say anything, he turns to my class, looking down at the page it’s open to. “Napoleon. Oh, man. Did you know that he wasn’t even actually that short? Everybody depicts him as a short man, but he really wasn’t. Did you know...” he moves away from me as I reach for the history book, keeping it just out of my reach. “...that he wrote a romance novel?” He nods at my class, who are staring at him with amazement all over their faces like he’s the best thing since sliced bread. “It’s true. Look it up.” I manage to grab the history book and tug it back.

“Thank you, Mr. Hart, for your extensive history knowledge. We are all in awe,” I say deadpan. I meet his gaze head-on, ignoring his grin. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a class to finish.”

“Actually, Miss Winston, we need to talk,” Chloe says without looking up from her phone.

I resist the urge to let any response show on my face. “Well, actually, I’m in the middle of teaching. So, you will need to come back when I am finished.” I manage to say the words evenly without letting my anger show. I think.

She looks up from her phone. “I believe you called this morning and said it needed to be taken care of today. It was urgent. Right?” she challenges.

I take a deep breath, trying to keep my cool. Before I can say anything, Sebastian leans close. “It’s your turn, Teach.” I turn my glare on him, but he only grins. “It’s your turn to say something to Chloe,” he whispers loudly. I feel my face heat, and I literally feel like I’m going to explode. “Want me to cover your class for you while you two go duke it out in the hallway?” he asks. My class cheers in response to that and calls out a chorus of yeses. Sebastian grins at my class. “Yeah?” He tries to take my history book from me, but I jerk it close to my chest.

“You are not teaching my class,” I tell him heatedly.

“Miss Winston, we need to deal with this. Mr. Hart and I have a busy schedule and don’t have time to waste. So if you want this dealt with, now is the time.”

I wonder in that moment if it’s possible to literally see the steam coming out of my ears. My eyes lock on Sebastian. I’m going to—

“You good, Teach?” he asks, leaning towards me. “Your face is looking a little red. Maybe you need to take a break. I can take over for you.”

With that, I snap. “Class, read until the end of the chapter. No talking. Only reading.” I turn to Chloe. “Let’s talk in the hall.” She steps toward the door, and I whirl on Sebastian. “You,” I say in a heated whisper. “Hall. Now.”

His grin nearly stretches across his face. “Yes, Teach.”

“Stop calling me that!” I snap. I close my eyes, trying and failing to calm down. When I open my eyes, he’s still there.

“After you, Miss Winston,” he says with a flair.

I turn on my heel and march out into the hallway, reaching for some sort of control so I don’t lose it. I take a deep breath. You’re a professional, Stephanie. Act like it. I plaster a fake smile on my face. “Thank you for coming over to the school.” My chest feels tight, but I push on. “I appreciate you taking the time so we can fix this situation.”

Chloe frowns. “Yes, we saw the demonstrators on the front lawn.”

I’m taken aback. “Demonstrators?” I question.

“Yeah, those people out there holding signs informing us all of your fine character,” Sebastian says. I can hear the humor in his voice. I make my way over to the window that looks out onto the front lawn. I stare at the crowd that has gathered. I can make out the signs from here. I see everything from #forsebastian to #stopthehate to a bunch of them that have what apparently is my new nickname.

“Stephanie the Slayer,” I read out loud. “Are you kidding me?”

“Catchy, isn’t it?” Sebastian asks from right next to me.

I whirl around. “This has got to stop.”

“That’s why we’re here, obviously,” Chloe says crisply. “For some reason, the public has gotten fixated on you.”

“For some reason? It”s because of him,” I say, jabbing my thumb in Sebastian’s direction.

“It doesn’t matter who did what; what matters now is taking care of the situation,” Chloe says smoothly. I stare at her, fuming. She looks down at her phone, and I want to grab the thing from her and toss it out the window. Thankfully, I don’t. “Here’s what I’m going to suggest. I think we can fix this easily. We just need to get their fixation off of you.” I nod; I like where this is going. “We get the attention off of you and onto both of you.” I stop nodding.

“What?” I ask. Surely, I didn’t hear her right.

She looks down at her phone again. “We have you come to a few games, snap a few shots of the two of you together. Get a few shots of you with his family during the game. Maybe go on a date or two, and it’s sold.”

I stare at her. “What?” I am aware that my voice is higher than usual, but I can’t bring myself to care. “What’s sold?”

She looks up from her phone. “That you’re together.” She must see my face because she continues. “Once they see you together, they’ll give up on bothering you and trying to convince you to give our Sebastian here a chance. They’ll stop calling you a—” she pauses and glances down the hallway. When she sees students, she whispers, “The B word. Your image will change overnight. They’ll see that you’re a nice person.” She pauses. “Well, we can give that image anyway.”

My eyebrows nearly hit my forehead. Before I can say anything, Sebastian steps up next to me. “Sounds like you need me, Doll. Don’t worry,” he says seriously. “We can turn around that bad image for you in no time. You stick close to me, and we’ll turn your image around.”