Page 37 of Tutoring the Bad Boy
Principal Gray shakes her head in mortification. “I’m so sorry, Coach Williams.”
The coach stands and shrugs her shoulders, obviously trying to ease the tension, even though I’m not sure there’s a way to tone it down. “It’s all right. She needs to make the decision for herself.”
I chime in. “I agree.”
“That’s it, Kaleb Quinn!” Principal Gray nearly loses it before looking at her guest and reminding herself to stay calm. “I think we’ve had enough of your comments for one evening.”
She finally makes me angry. “I won’t be silent just because you don’t like that I’m dating your daughter.”
The plan has definitely derailed tonight, and I’m not dissatisfied. It should derail. I’m beginning to think that MIT isn’t worth breaking Ginny’s heart, even if it’s only for show. In fact, I want to protect her from pain in every way. The thought catches me off guard, but it’s true. I care about Ginny, and the last thing I want is to see her hurting.
Principal Gray whispers to me, “I’ll see you to the door.”
“Great.” I get up from my seat and walk behind Norma. “Nice meeting you, Coach Williams.” I playfully wave.
Coach Williams looks at me like an alien. “You too.”
Outside the front door, I find myself in the same place where this evening’s adventure began. Principal Gray leans on the doorframe, yet again crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Kaleb, I’m not amused.”
“You should listen to Ginny. She’s trying to be honest with you.”
“Don’t tell me what my daughter is trying to do!”
“You’re right. I can’t tell you that. You don’t know Ginny’s innermost secrets, so you don’t know what she’s trying to do either.”
Principal Gray cocks her head in disgust. “What on earth do you mean?”
“I guess you’ll have to find out.” I turn and walk away in bad-boy fashion, but it’s not all for show. I know Ginny’s secrets. She feels as intensely for me as I do for her.
Chapter Seventeen
Ginny
“Go away!”I say, making sure my mom can hear it over her pounding on my door.
“Imogene Gray, open up the door this minute.”
Groaning, I lean my head back against the headboard of my bed. Can’t she just back off for once? I don’t want to talk. About Gilroy. About Kaleb. About…life. I just want some space to think. It’s like she’s afraid if I have a moment where she isn’t dictating my every footstep, she might realize that I can, in fact, stand on my own and not fail.
She pounds on my door again, and I call out, “I need some space.”
“You can have space when you’re attending Gilroy University,” my mom yells back.
Yeah, right. If I know my mother, every weekend at that university is booked with her. At the rate she’s going, she’ll probably get a new job as Dean Gray and position her office right outside my dorm room with my first job lined up. I feel like a puppet.
Mom keeps knocking, and I relent. What else am I supposed to do? It’s not like she’ll stop. I open the door, and Mom is scowling at me. “I’m sorry. I just…needed some time.”
“I want a reason as to why you ran out of the room, after dismissing Coach Williams.”
“Reason?” As if she’ll listen. She never has before. Why would she now? Instead of giving her a real answer, I go with a distraction question. “Why were you so mean to Kaleb?”
“I was not mean to Kaleb. He had no business being here.”
I put on my best poker face and play my hand. “Yes, he does. He’s my boyfriend, and I care about his opinion.” I guess that’s not far off. I do care about his opinion. If only the boyfriend part were real.
“Do you really think Kaleb Quinn’s perspective on anything is valid? If he had his way, he’d be riding that skateboard around Port Crest for the rest of his life. He’d be one of those old surfer dudes who still think they’re seventeen.” Mom pushes through the door and stands in front of the window, looking down. Perhaps she thinks Kaleb is down there, trying to climb his way up.
A sense of protectiveness comes over me. My mom doesn’t know Kaleb. If she gives him half a chance, she’ll realize he’s not the same guy anymore. “That’s not true, and you know it. Kaleb is going to be an architectural engineer. Maybe even get into MIT.” My eyes go wide as the last sentence takes flight. I quickly recover just before my mom turns to look at me, setting her hands on her hips.
