THE ACCIDENT

"Oh welcome, Mr. Westham! How are you doing?" Mr. Logan, the school proprietor, greeted with a broad grin as he stood up from his seat and walked towards the couch arranged circularly just in front of his desk. 

"I'm very good and you?" Cruz asked, as he also walked in and had a handshake with the proprietor. 

Jessica was embarrassed by her reaction but thanks to the pleasantries the men were exchanging, she quickly returned to her seat, her eyes staring down at her sneakers. 

Mr. Logan offered Cruz and Cade a seat across Jessica while he sat on the singular couch relaxing on his desk. 

"Miss Vegas, we meet yet again," Cruz said but Jessica just sighed and looked sideways, her hands resting on the sides of the couch.

"So, Miss Vegas, I hear you're having some problems with Cade here, can you tell us about that?" Mr. Logan requested, gesturing toward Jessica. 

Jessica immediately sat up and removed her hands from the couch, fixing her gaze on Mr. Logan, "I don't have any problem with him, Sir. I only sent him out of my class like he wanted, except he is the one having a problem with it." She replied abruptly.

Mr. Logan scoffed at Jessica's sneaky way of answering his question then he looked toward Cade, "Let's hear what you have to say, Cade." He instructed and Cade whose gaze was down all this while finally raised it. 

"I decided to skip one of her classes on the first day but she had a problem with it and we ended up trading hurtful words and since then, she hasn't let me Into her class. This has never been among the punishments we have received which is why I decided to report." Cade explained. 

"Cade!" Cruz scolded, unhappy with his rude response. 

"What?" Cade scolded back before Mr. Logan decided to intervene. 

"Miss Vegas, do you have anything to say about his response?" He asked politely, infrequently fondling his blonde hair. 

"Well, Sir, Last weekend I clocked 27. I finished high school at 18 and spent 4 years for my Bachelor's degree, a year for my Ph.D., and another year for my masters. I didn't go through all that to be insulted by a 17-year-old." She narrated with so much disgust and anger. 

"Let's assume you decided to punish him, why does it have to be something outside the book?" Mr. Logan asked. 

"As for the punishment, I went through the punishment guide and I noticed that two weeks was the maximum number of days students are punished with the cleaning of any part of the school environment but from my observations, he doesn't look like someone who can clean his pants talk more of the school so I decided to give him a more befitting work which is just skipping my classes. He's spent a week already, with just another week remaining. Until then, he can't attend my classes." She explained, a smirk forming on her pinkish thin lips as she noticed the frown on Cruz's. 

"The school's assessment would be starting soon, how do you expect him to cope after missing so many classes?" Cruz intervened angrily. 

"I don't give a f*ck. It's not…"

"Miss Vegas, mind your language." Mr. Logan warned. 

"Ok, sir. I don't care what happens. It's not like he'd pass. I don't know what his problems are with female teachers but he is already doing woefully in their subjects, so it won't be a big deal if he…" 

"You don't care? Do you even call yourself a teacher? You don't care what happens to your stud…"

"Mr. Westham, he is not my student. I haven't taught him anything. By the way, to be a surgeon and a businessman at such a young age, must mean you're a genius. They wouldn't be a better teacher for your brother than you but luckily, the only thing you teach him is how to be rude and jump after everything in a skirt." Jessica yelled, unable to contain her anger any longer.

"Miss Vegas! Mind your language!" Mr. Logan scolded and Jessica just breathed out. 

She was really enjoying her duel with Cruz. She never thought anything could upset him so much as talking bad about his brother and Jessica was very pleased to find this weakness. 

"I swear you will pay!" Cruz cursed underneath his breath, his face contorted with rage. 

Cade on the other hand was tired of hearing such degrading things about himself and with puffy eyes, he took to his heels. 

"Cade!" Cruz called out as he ran after him. 

"Tsk, so childish." Jessica smacked her lips before looking toward the raging Proprietor. 

"Sir, can I…" 

"You must think so highly of yourself right now." Mr. Logan interrupted as he stood up and arranged the black-tie of his gray suit. 

"If you had a problem with his brother, you shouldn't have taken it out on the kid like that. I admit he was rude to you and you had all the right to punish him but you shouldn't emotionally abuse him like that. He came out first in the national science examination in his junior high. A very smart and lively kid suddenly turns cold, rude, and dull within a year isn't it obvious to anyone that something is wrong?" He paused briefly as he searched through his desk for some documents. 

"Sir I…" 

"Don't interrupt me!" He hushed with a gesture of his index finger on his lips. 

Once he found the document he was looking for, he tossed it to Jessica. 

"That's his previous record. All the awards that he had won and other educational achievements. As a teacher, you are supposed to try and bring all your students together and find lasting solutions to the ones with problems, not discriminate against them. I thought you were psychologically prepared to be a teacher but it's obvious you're still a newbie." He concluded as he finally sat on his chair.

"You may leave now." He notified, concentrating his attention on some other documents on his desk. 

Jessica felt dejected and guilty after listening to all the Proprietor had to say about Cade and with heavy feet, she dragged herself towards the door. 

"I don't know why he still wants you employed here." Mr. Logan mumbled inaudibly but somehow, Jessica was able to make a sentence out of it. 

'Someone above the proprietor and the board directors? Who could that be?' She wondered as she finally stepped out of the office. 

Regaining her employment after just a few hours of being rejected still felt unusual to her but who could have possibly helped her? This was the perfect route to attaining her dream job and she didn't want to lose it no matter what, whoever it was must be an angel in disguise. 

She couldn't wait to get to her office before she started going through the file in her hand inside the elevator. 

"Student of the year award! I've never won that in my life." She gasped as she went through the record.

As she arrived at the lobby of the building, she noticed the crowd in the parking lot of the building and the worried look on their face followed by the pulse wailing of an ambulance's siren drew her attention and she couldn't help but join the crowd to see what was going on. 

She found her way past the crowd and to her surprise, Cade was being rushed in a stretcher into the ambulance by none other than Cruz, his body covered in blood. 

The driver seat of Cruz's Tesla Model 3 was completely smashed into the iron rails of the parking lot. 

Cruz paused briefly before entering the ambulance after Cade as he noticed Jessica's presence. If eyes could kill Jessica would already be dead with the murderous glare he gave her. 

 Blood drained from Jessica's face as reality dawned on her, her knees became weak and shaky, her hands trembling. 

"Now he is definitely going to make me pay!" She mumbled to herself as she lost her balance and fell to the ground.