Chapter 45

5 p.m. Wednesday

Regan was walking into her dorm with Joy, Ruth, Katrina and Lisa when the dorm supervisor stopped her.

"The headmistress would like to see you in her office," the woman said.

"I have a study session at six," Regan said.

"She said she wanted to see you immediately," the woman replied.

The others had stopped to wait for Regan.

"Go on," Regan told them. "I have to see the Gargoyle. I'll see you at six, Joy. Whatever this is, it shouldn't take long."

Gwendolyn DuMont's door was open when Regan arrived at the administration building a few minutes later. Regan knocked and the woman looked up from her reading with her ever-present scowl.

"Miss Riley," she said in her upper-crust New England accent, "please come in and take a seat. I will be with you shortly."

"I have a study session at six," Regan told yet another person.

"Indeed," DuMont replied, gesturing to a chair in front of her desk. She resumed her perusal without another word. Regan sat patiently for a few minutes. She wanted to call Andy before her session and this old bitch was cutting into her time.

"Ms. DuMont, I have a number of things I need to attend to," Regan said as she stood. "If you wanted me here at 5:30, you should have told the dorm supervisor that. If you're not ready for me now, I'll come back in the morning."

"Sit," the woman instructed sharply.

"Do you think I'm your dog?" Regan asked angrily. "If anything, you're my bitch. If I want you gone, I think I could accomplish it in about, oh, a heartbeat."

DuMont took a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily.

"Please resume your seat, Miss Riley," she said. "You have been accused of academic dishonesty."

"By whom?" Regan demanded. She still stood in front of the headmistress but now her fists were balled in anger.

"Your chemistry teacher," DuMont answered.

"On what basis is that idiot making this claim?" Regan asked.

"Please take a seat, Miss Riley," DuMont said. "And I thank you not to raise your voice in my office."

"Get her in here," Regan said sharply.

"I'm afraid Miss Greyston has left for the day," DuMont said.

"Get ... her ... in ... here," Regan said again. "If someone is going to accuse me of cheating, they're going to do it to my face – and they're going to back up their accusation with proof. Get her in here. NOW!"

"Miss Riley, there is no reason for histrionics," DuMont replied.

"Oh, you haven't seen histrionics," Regan said in a voice that was dangerously soft. "But you will very shortly. Now you have the option of getting Miss Greyston back on campus so I can confront her or I will have my mother and her attorneys here in half an hour. I'll let you pick your own demise, Ms. DuMont, but know you've bitten off more than you wanted this time."

The headmistress did her best to appear impassive but the threat carried real weight – and she knew it. She chose to ignore both of Regan's options.

"Miss Greyston says that your performance on the test this morning far exceeded your normal work," she said instead.

"Really?" Regan said. "I'd like to know how she comes to that conclusion. I've received A's and B's on every single test this semester. Did I somehow score a 200 percent? Because the lowest mark I've received on a grade this term is 91 in the class."

DuMont looked down to her papers again. The test in front of her showed Regan had scored a 98 on her chemistry exam on Tuesday.

"Get her in here," Regan demanded again. "Have her bring her grade book and a copy of the test. I'll take it again right now. The one formula I messed up, I looked up. I'll get a hundred on the fucking thing."

"Miss Riley, please use language appropriate to a young lady," DuMont said.

"Screw you and screw Emily Greyston," Regan replied.

"If you will tell us who gave you a copy of the test, we will not suspend you," DuMont continued. "You will, however, receive an F for the semester in chemistry."

"Like hell," Regan said loudly as she pulled her phone from her pocket. "This is the last time I'm telling you. It is not a request. It is a demand. Get that dumb bitch back here immediately with her grade book and a copy of any chemistry test she can find that applies to the section we just covered. I will ace it – and then you and she can bend down and kiss my rosy red ass."

"As I've told you, Miss Greyston has already left for the day," DuMont said.

Regan shrugged and hit a number on her telephone.

"There is no need to involve your parents," DuMont cut in. "If we do that, I will have no choice but to suspend you."

"And I will bury you," Regan replied.

"Dad, put Mom on the phone," Regan said brusquely when her father answered.

"Uh, sure, honey," Robert replied. "Is everything alright?"

"Nope," Regan spat staring directly at Gwendolyn DuMont. "Put Mom on the phone."

Regan hit the speaker function so the headmistress could hear.

"Regan?" Rita asked moments later. "What's going on?"

"I've been accused of academic dishonesty and, apparently, suspended for calling you," Regan said flatly.

"What?" Rita asked, her voice suddenly filled with anger. "Who accused you of cheating?"

"The spinster chemistry teacher who probably was around when the first atom was discovered," Regan said. "I scored three points higher than my class average and suddenly I'm performing 'far above my previous work' or that's what I've been told."

"Is the woman there?" Rita asked as Robert gathered up the car keys.

"Oh, the headmistress informs me that Miss Greyston has left for the evening and is unavailable," Regan said in a mocking voice. "It's probably her night to work the dungeon at the local S&M Club."

"Regan, I know you're upset but please maintain your decorum," Robert chimed in.

"No, Dad, I'm not upset," Regan countered. "I'm fucking pissed. I've asked repeatedly to confront Miss Greyston and to have her present my semester grades for comparison to this test and have been denied repeatedly. I've told the headmistress I am willing to retake the test right here and right now to prove I didn't cheat. Again, this offer has been refused. They are convicting me without a shred of evidence and I'm not going to put up with it."

"No, you're not," Rita said. Regan and the headmistress heard the sound of a car engine starting. "We're on the way. We'll be there in half an hour or less. Can Mrs. DuMont hear me?"

"Oh, yeah," Regan said, never taking her eyes off the woman in front of her.

"You have until we get there for the teacher to become available and return to campus," Rita said in a voice that would have frozen a citrus tree. "She will need her grade book or you will need to access my daughter's class grade on the computer for reference. She will need a copy of the test – and she might want to bring a copy of her resume so she can update it while Regan retakes the exam. And Mrs. DuMont, I wouldn't plan to live in the comfy house the school provides its headmistress for much longer if I were you."

"This can be avoided if your daughter simply tells us where she got an advanced copy of the exam," Gwendolyn DuMont said.

"That's the point," Regan hissed. "I didn't get an advanced copy of anything. Your teacher is full of crap and she knows it. So she hightailed it as far away from here as she could before the storm lands. Well, it's on the way."

"If the woman who accused Regan of cheating is not in your office when we arrive, there will be hell to pay, Mrs. DuMont," Robert said. "I want you to understand what you've just unleashed here."

"It is Ms. DuMont," the headmistress corrected.

"Whatever," Rita said, in a tone of voice that eerily similar to Regan's.

"Mrs. Riley, I think you and your family have disrupted the operations at Clairborne Benedict far too frequently for the board to back you in this matter," the headmistress said matter-of-factly.

"Then I'll buy their children ponies until they do," Rita said. "If you've got a vendetta against me, go head to head with me. Don't drag my daughter into things because you've just found out that money rules the world at private schools. In fact, Regan, I'm going to hang up. Your father has Dr. Milhouse on the phone right now. I guess I'll see where the board of directors falls on this matter. We're making good time so I'll see you in about 15 minutes. Mrs. DuMont, you better get that woman back there. You don't have much time."

Andy put away his phone and put it into his pocket.

"Do you and Tomas feel like taking a ride while Lupe works on the first draft of her essay?" Andy asked Rico.

"Where to?" Rico wondered.

"Chuck Pena is home and Paul's already over there," Andy said. "Elizabeth's father thought there might be no time like the present for you and Tomas to take a look at the accommodations and give your approval."

"We're going to scare the shit out of the little fucker, aren't we?" Rico asked, hopefulness in his voice.

Andy simply nodded.

"Let me get into my banger gear," Rico said. "I'll get Tomas and we'll be ready to roll in 10."

"Good enough," Andy said. "I'll head upstairs and look to see if Mom forgot anything we'll need in the next couple of days."

Rico was out the door before Lupe's voice caused Andy to stop.

"Can you help me with this first?" Lupe asked.

Andy's main goal was to avoid being alone with Lupe Fuentes at any time. Still, she was looking at her application so he walked over. It wasn't until he was almost next to her that he realized she had unbuttoned her blouse almost to her navel. Before he could flee, she stood and pulled his face down to kiss him.

Andy got his hands on her shoulders without touching her chest and pushed her away.

"Whoa!" he said. "What the hell, Lupe? I thought we understood each other."

"I understand I want to kiss you," she said. "Well, actually, I want you to fuck me but I'll settle for a kiss – for now."

"Lupe!" Andy said, shaking his head. She had opened her blouse fully and her small breasts stood out proudly from her chest. "Put them away, please."

"If you kiss me," she said stubbornly. "Otherwise, Rico and Tomas will come back in a few minutes and find me tits out on the table. I'll shove a stick up my pussy and be bleeding everywhere. I'll swear on a stack of Bibles that you put it in me."

"How'd you like to stay at Eisenhower and live in this building until someone kills you?" Andy asked rhetorically. "I can walk away and leave you to your fate if you want to play that way. I have nothing invested in this. I'll tell Regan you decided that you weren't interested and she probably won't even remember your name when you turn up in the bay."

"I just wanted my first kiss to be with you!" Lupe said, tears in her eyes. At least, Andy noticed, she wrapped her shirt around her so her breasts were hidden.

Andy rubbed his eyes.

"Am I that ugly?" Lupe asked. "Am I so horrible that you won't even kiss me?"

"It has nothing to do with you," Andy said with frustration. "You're a lovely girl. In a year or two, you're going to turn every head that sees you walk past. But I'm 18 and you're 14. I have a girlfriend. In a few weeks, we're not going to see each other for years – if ever again. You seemed to understand that I'm not like the rest of the guys in this building when it comes to everything except this. But I'm not like them when it comes to sex, either. I don't cheat on my girlfriends. I don't have sex with everyone who is willing. If you want someone like that, go down the hall and find one of the bangers. It wouldn't matter to him if his girlfriend was in the room. To me, kissing you would be cheating on Regan. Touching your breasts would be cheating on Regan. Going down on you or letting you go down on me would be cheating on Regan. As special as I think you are, I'm not going to cheat on Regan. As pretty as I think you are, I'm not going to cheat on Regan. That's not who I am – and I'm not going to change for you. OK?"

"Fine," Lupe said, buttoning her shirt back up. "I wasn't talking about making out on the sofa. I didn't plan for you to finger me or lick my pussy. I just wanted a single kiss so I can someday tell my grandchildren that my first kiss was extremely special because it came from a great guy who really cared about me. That's all."

"You've really never had anyone kiss you?" Andy asked.

"Not since I was like five," Lupe said bitterly. "Rico put a stop to anyone with a penis coming anywhere near me."

Andy sighed and looked out the window.

"One kiss – no tongue and no fondling," he said with resignation.

"A little tongue?" Lupe asked hopefully. "I'll go with no fondling if you want. Does that mean you can't put your hands on my butt?"

"No tongue and no hands on butts," Andy said in a firmer voice. "No hands on genitals. No hands on boobs. Just one little kiss."

"If we can't touch, can it be a medium kiss?" Lupe tried to negotiate.

"No more than 10 seconds," Andy said.

"Deal," Lupe said, grinning. She didn't wait for Andy to reply. Instead, she closed the gap between then and threw her arms around his neck. Her tongue came out to moisten her lips and her eyes grew wide when Andy moved his head toward hers.

Andy counted down the seconds in his head. He kept his mouth closed and gave her a nice, gentle first kiss. She tried to follow him when he pulled his lips from hers but he was too tall. She opened her eyes and blinked rapidly.