"So, what did Mr. McLean want?" Nikki asked, with a curious glance at Bridgette. They were sitting at their usual table in the cafeteria and everyone seemed intent on finding out what Bridgette and Mr. McLean had talked about. Bridgette had been unable to find Nikki and Gwen after she had left Mr. McLean's room, which had frustrated her as she had wanted to tell them about what Mr. McLean had said. But now that she had them here she felt strangely hesitant to spill the beans.
"Bridgette?" Nikki asked. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Huh, what?" Bridgette asked, looking up from her food to find the entire table staring at her with expectant looks.
"I asked you what Mr. McLean wanted from you." Nikki repeated, with a concerned glance at Gwen, who nodded.
"Oh, um, he...he just wanted to talk, I guess." Bridgette replied, avoiding Nikki's eyes.
"Bridgette, don't lie to us." Gwen said, her expression serious. "We know something happened with Mr. McLean and we want to help."
"Nothing happened, I swear." Bridgette said, her level of irritation beginning to rise. "All he said was he was concerned that I was becoming distracted and then he asked me to come by his office on Friday for lunch. I don't see what the big fucking deal is."
The shudder that passed over the table at these words was nearly tangible and Bridgette noticed it almost instantly. There was something her friends weren't telling her about Mr. McLean and it seemed to her that they had been waiting for something like this to happen. She looked at each of them in turn, her eyes finally coming to rest on Geoff, who gave a guilty smile and looked down at his food.
"Alright, what's the secret." Bridgette asked. "What is it you guys aren't telling me?"
"Secret, what secret?" LeShawna said, with a quick glance at the others. "What are you talking about Bridgette?"
"Don't do that LeShawna." Bridgette said. "I'm not stupid and I'm not a child, so don't fucking treat me like one. I know you guys aren't telling me something and I want to know what it is."
Gwen sighed. "Looks like we're gonna have to tell her guys." she said, with a glance at Geoff. "She's bound to figure it out eventually anyway." Geoff nodded and Gwen continued, not looking at Bridgette. "Okay, so the truth is, Mr. McLean has somewhat of a reputation for flirting with students, hitting on them really, and we think he's targeted you."
Bridgette was stunned. She had been expecting something bad, but nothing like this. How could they have kept this a secret from her? Weren't Nikki and Gwen supposed to be her friends? Wasn't Geoff her boyfriend? Weren't they all supposed to be her friends? So why, what had made them hesitate to tell her the truth?
Bridgette stared at her friends, her anger thudding in her ears. "So you're telling me, what, that Mr. McLean is some kind of pervert and you think he's gonna try and fuck me, is that it?" she spat, unable to keep her voice level. Geoff gave a reluctant nod. "And you're just telling me this now, because, what, you didn't think I could handle it?"
"Well, yes, no, I don't know." Geoff stammered, not looking at her. He looked at the others for help, but none of them seemed to want anything to do with a pissed off Bridgette. Geoff moved to reassure her, but Bridgette pulled away revulsion and hatred burning in her eyes.
"Fuck you." she snarled. "Fuck you all. Some friends you are." With that, she rose from her seat and ran from the cafeteria without a backwards glance.
"Bridgette wait!" Geoff shouted. "Let me explain." But she was out of earshot and he didn't have the heart to follow her at that moment. He gave the others a helpless glance, as if they could somehow change what had just happened, but he knew they couldn't. He also knew they may very well have killed his relationship with Bridgette. With that gloomy thought in mind Geoff and the others headed off to class, each of them hoping this wasn't the end.
No one saw Bridgette for the rest of the day. It seemed she had skipped out early and by the end of the day the gang was in a throughly depressed state. Geoff was particularly bummed because he was convinced he and Bridgette were done. However, he was not about to give up that easily.
"We should have told her sooner guys." Izzy said, as the gang headed to Bowl-o-Rama.
"Bra, you saw how she reacted at lunch." Jude said, with an uncertain glance at Geoff. "I mean, she practically tore us apart back there, who's to say she wouldn't have done that no matter when we told her."
"No Jude, you're wrong." said Geoff. "She only freaked because we waited, and I'm going to fix this, somehow."
"Dude, you don't even know where she is, how do you expect to talk to her if you can't find her?" Owen asked.
"Well, I could call her." said Geoff. "But this is one conversation I'd rather have face to face, so I'm gonna go find her. Bridgette's only been here a few weeks so there's only a few places she could go, seeing as she doesn't know the city that well. So my guess is she's either at home, at Bowl-o-Rama, or still at school somewhere. Regardless, I will find her and I will explain why we waited. I will fucking fix this."
With that, jumped into his truck and took off. He would check Bowl-o-Rama first, though he was not surprised when he got there and found no sign of Bridgette. He then headed to her house, breathing a little easier when he saw her car in the driveway. He pulled up and killed the engine and then took a moment to gather himself before heading to the door. He knocked three times, but did not get a response. "Bridgette, it's Geoff." he called.
That got a response. The door opened a crack and something came flying from within the house, hitting him square in the face. He staggered back, but managed to keep his balance. He looked down and saw a shoe laying at his feet and then he heard Bridgette's angry voice. "Go away, I don't want to talk to you."
"Come on Bridge, please let me explain." Geoff pleaded, fighting through the pain in his nose where the shoe had hit.
"Explain what?" Bridgette asked, stepping out onto the porch. "How you and the others betrayed me? Is that what you want to explain Geoff? Cuz I don't want to hear it."
Geoff stared at her a moment before answering. It was obvious that she had been crying, her eyes were red and puffy and there were tear streaks running down her cheeks. Geoff took a deep breath and spoke, "We didn't betray you Bridge. We just thought it would be better if you didn't know, cuz, you know, finding out that your teacher is a perv can be kinda shocking. It's not that we thought you couldn't handle it, we just...I don't know...we just didn't want to scare you, I guess."
He glanced at her and was relieved to see that her expression had softened somewhat. "So he really is a pervert then?" she asked, forgetting her anger.
"Well, it's really more of a rumor than an actual fact, but he's never denied it, so we all just drew the logical conclusion." Geoff replied. "But no one has ever accused him of anything either, so it's really more of a topic for gossip than anything else."
"Do you think he is?" Bridgette asked, staring at Geoff.
"I don't know, to be honest." Geoff replied. "But Nikki, Gwen, LeShawna, Izzy, and Starr do, so I'm inclined to agree. Look, I'm not saying don't go meet with him on Friday, I'm just saying be careful, cuz according to the rumors he uses these private conversations to seduce girls. But, again, it's just a rumor."
Bridgette nodded before walking up to him and wrapping her arms around him. She looked into his eyes and for a moment forgot what she was doing before regaining her senses. "Sorry I freaked." she whispered. "And about the shoe in the face."
"Don't worry about it babe." Geoff said with a smile. "Everyone has their moments." He kissed her then, a long, passionate kiss that said their relationship was far from dead.
With her freak out behind her and her friends firmly on her side, Bridgette looked forward to Friday with a slightly larger feeling of dread. But she was still going to go through with it, no matter what the risks might be. However, there were others besides her friends who were concerned about her meeting with Mr. McLean, chief among them Duncan, who Bridgette hadn't seen since the party.
The day after finding out the truth about Mr. McLean, Bridgette was confronted by her stalker. She was surprised to find that he was willing to risk his tough guy image to protect her, but apparently Duncan didn't see it that way. It was all just business to him, just part of his assignment from the Kings.
"So, do you want to explain to me why you're fucking meeting with McLean alone?" Duncan demanded, his expression serious.
"I don't see how that's any of your business." Bridgette replied.
"It's my business because I know what kind of scumbag McLean is." Duncan said, trying to keep his anger in check.
"Okay, look, I've already heard this from people I trust more than you and I'm going to meet with Mr. McLean on Friday, no matter what." Bridgette said, her anger rising as well. "Why do you care what I do anyway? Wait, let me guess, this has something to do with the Kings, doesn't it?"
Anger flashed in Duncan's eyes, but he pushed it down. "Yes, it does." he said, shortly. "But you need to understand something Bridgette. If you're not careful you'll end up like all the other girls in this fucking dump, just another toy for a sick, perverted scumbag."
"And you'd know all about scumbags, wouldn't you Duncan?" Bridgette said, with a grin. "I know all about you, that you've been to juvi, that you're a low life punk who thinks he's better than he is. Don't play games with me Duncan, you won't win." Or maybe you will, since I don't actually know anything about you. Bridgette pushed the thought away and stared Duncan directly in the eye, awaiting his response.
But Duncan said nothing. With one last glare he walked past her and disappeared into the crowd in the hall. Bridgette took a moment to collect herself before moving on as well. Her latest encounter with Duncan had left her with still more questions, but she would have to wait until Friday to get the answers. Still, that would not stop her from pondering the questions until then.
For the rest of the week Bridgette was bombarded by warnings about Mr. McLean. Everyone, it seemed, was interested in making sure she was careful. Even Heather was keen to give her two cents, though Bridgette doubted Heather's intentions were genuine. And, yet for all the warnings she was determined to go through with the meeting. She had several reasons for being so determined. For one, a part of her was still not convinced Mr. McLean was really a twisted pervert and she had to see for herself if the rumors were true before she would fully accept them. There was also Mr. McLean's promise of answers about Duncan that motivated her as well and Bridgette knew that if she did not take advantage of this opportunity she may not get another. So, despite the growing feeling of dread in her chest, she would ignore the warnings, go through with her plan, and hope that everything turned out alright.
A/N: And that's chapter 10. Hope you enjoyed. So, what are Mr. McLean's true motives? Is he really a perv or does he actually want to help? And will Bridgette finally find out the truth about Duncan? The answers to these questions and many more are coming up in the next exciting chapter of the Trials of High School!