Sometime later that day Bridgette found herself sitting on a bench in the park not far from the school. She had no idea how she had gotten there or what had drawn her to this spot. All she knew for sure was that her life was over. After seeing Duncan that morning she had fled the school and had spent much of the day wandering around in a haze, trying to come to grips with what had happened. She knew she had to confront Duncan, and eventually Geoff as well, and explain her reasons for doing what she had done, but she could not bring herself to do it yet. She still had to come to grips with it herself first before she could even think about confronting anyone else. At least Geoff hadn't been there that morning and so had been spared the pain of hearing her admit the truth. But Bridgette was certain the others had told him by now and she knew he would have something to say about what had happened. It made her sick to know that she had had such a good thing going and it had all gone away because she had been too blind to see how her actions were affecting others.
Not for the first time that day tears stung her eyes as she thought about the cold, hateful looks on the faces of her friends. How had it come to this? How had her life gone from such a high to such a low? More importantly, how could she fix it? Bridgette knew the answers to the first two questions, but she had no idea how to answer the third. As she struggled to find an answer, her phone buzzed, drawing her out of her haze of sorrow. She glanced at her phone which indicated she had one new text message. It was from Beth and seemed urgent. Bridgette was puzzled by this, what could the nerds possibly want from her? And then it clicked, like a light turning on inside her brain, something Noah had said when she had first become a tutor, if she ever broke the protocols that governed tutoring in the school she would be stripped of her right to tutor. That's what the nerds wanted her for, to tell her that she was no longer a tutor and add one more piece of her life to the list of things she had ruined.
An hour later Bridgette arrived at the school's tutoring center, where Beth's text had said to meet, to find Beth, Noah, Harold, Tutoring Director Sandi Jones, and the other nerds waiting for her. It surprised her that Darth, Julie, Cody, and Sierra were there, since none of them were tutors, but she supposed the nerds didn't separate just because they didn't all tutor. She had never asked the four of them why they weren't tutors but it didn't really matter now. She was about to be cut off from their world and that was the only thing on her mind now, the thought that she had failed them as well.
"Well, shall we get started?" Beth asked, with a quick glance at Bridgette. It was clear that she was uncomfortable with the idea of telling Bridgette she couldn't be a tutor anymore.
Noah nodded and motioned for Bridgette to sit, which she did while keeping her eyes on Beth. The look on Noah's face was terrifying, like that of an overly stern father who was preparing to punish his disobedient daughter. "I assume you know why you have been called before this council today?" he asked, his gaze piercing.
"Yes." Bridgette answered, doing her best to ignore the look in his eyes. "I'm here so you can tell me I can't tutor Duncan anymore."
"And do you understand why we must strip you of your right to tutor at this school?" Noah asked, satisfaction in his voice.
"Yeah, I fucked up, that's why." Bridgette said, wanting very much to punch him in the face as she spoke.
"Yes, you broke our protocols." Noah said, smiling now. "Which we warned you would lead to your termination. You used time that had been set aside to help your charge study to engage in personal activities of an inappropriate nature and were dumb enough to get caught."
"Noah." Sandi said, shooting him a warning look.
Noah nodded, realizing he was being too judgmental. "Sorry." he said. "We are not here to judge your intelligence, and I apologize if I offended you."
Bridgette nodded. Yeah, and you can stick that apology up your ass.
"So, what Noah is saying is you are no longer a tutor Miss Wells." Sandi said, trying to convey sympathy. "It is regrettable, you were an excellent tutor, but this is how it must be."
"I understand." Bridgette said, with a quick nod. In reality, she didn't understand why she couldn't continue to tutor Duncan just because they had made love a few times. It wasn't like they hadn't gotten some studying done first. But she thought it would be better not to question the rules at the moment, given that she had lost most of her social support net that morning.
"We'll need your badge back." Harold said, speaking for the first time.
For a moment Bridgette was confused and then she remembered, Harold had given her a handmade badge to carry with her so people would know she was a tutor. She had been weirded out by the gesture, but Beth had explained it was a tradition that had been started years earlier, so Bridgette had taken the badge. Now that she was being stripped of her position as a tutor, she found that she did not want to give the badge up, but she fumbled in her pocket and pulled it out. For a moment she stared at it, amazed by how possessive of it she had become, it was only a piece of cardboard with the word tutor scrawled on it in black marker after all. She fought to hold back the tears and handed the badge over to Harold, who did not meet her eyes as he took it.
"I'm sorry things turned out this way." he mumbled, turning away from her and pocketing the badge.
You're not the only one, Bridgette thought, though she wanted to say a lot more.
"Well, that's pretty much it Miss Wells." Sandi said, with a faint smile. "Thank you for your time and good luck."
Bridgette nodded and moved towards the door, pausing when she saw the look on Beth's face. Where her friends had shown hatred and disgust, Beth showed sorrow, as if she sympathized with Bridgette's situation. As Bridgette looked around the room she saw the same look on the faces of the others, everyone except Noah who still looked stern and disappointed. Bridgette nodded in acknowledgement of their sympathy and left the room, only to have Beth catch up to her minutes later.
"Hey, I just wanted you to know that you have my support." Beth said, trying and failing, to meet Bridgette's gaze.
"Thank you Beth." Bridgette said, not looking at the nerd queen. "For what it's worth I've always thought you were a good person, but I don't think you should be too friendly with me from now on. It could be hazardous to your social standing." They both smiled at the joke and Bridgette left.
Beth watched her go, sorrow filling her soul, and whispered, "Don't give up hope Bridgette. Things may not be as bad as they seem and there are still people you can count on to be your friend."
Unaware of Beth's convictions, Bridgette made her way to her car, intent on taking th next step in her descent into hell. She pulled out her phone and texted Duncan, asking him to meet her at the park. He texted back that he would and she climbed into her car and drove to the park for what she hoped wasn't her last conversation with the punk. She arrived at the park to find it empty, which was fine with her. She didn't need spectators for the confrontation that was sure to occur and she knew Duncan wouldn't want people to hear either. He wasn't there yet, so Bridgette pulled out her phone and started playing Angry Birds, hoping it would take her mind off the days events while she waited.
A short time later Duncan arrived, riding his skateboard, since he didn't have a car. He looked surly, but Bridgette was unsure if that was because he was pissed at her or if he was just being his usual grumpy self. She had a feeling it was the former.
"Well, I'm here." Duncan said, pulling up short so his board hopped off the ground and into his hands. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I assume you saw that spectacle this morning?" Bridgette asked.
"Yeah, what about it?" Duncan asked. "Heather and McLean told everyone about us, what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is the nerds heard too and I can't tutor you anymore." Bridgette answered, shocked that he was acting so calm. "Also, my friends turned on me so I could really use some support right now, you know?"
"Yeah, cuz it's all about you isn't it, Blondy?" Duncan asked, his usual sarcasm tinged with a hint of disgust.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bridgette asked.
"Don't act like an idiot Bridgette." Duncan snapped. "You know exactly what I mean."
"Actually I don't." Bridgette said. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
"Fucking hell, you really must be an idiot." Duncan said. "I mean, for fuck's sake, can't you see that I'm pissed?"
"Well yeah, but why Duncan?" Bridgette asked. "And why are you taking it out on me?"
"Because it's your fucking fault." Duncan shouted, glaring at her. "I thought you cared about me Bridgette. I thought you were the answer to all my problems, but I guess I was wrong."
"Duncan, I...I still don't see what you're getting at." Bridgette lied. The truth was, she knew exactly why he was pissed, but she was not going let on that she knew she had failed him.
"Oh come on." Duncan said, rolling his eyes. "Don't you think I can see through your bullshit? You know exactly what I'm getting at. You failed me, damn it. You made me believe that I could be something more than the loser I am, that I could get out of this hell hole and make something of my life. But it'll never happen now, cuz you let the truth come out."
"And you think I wanted that to happen?" Bridgette asked. "I had no control over that. Heather was going to tell no matter what I did and you know that."
"No, I don't." Duncan said. "I don't know that. For all I know there were any number of things you could have done to stop her, you just didn't do them."
"What did you expect me to do?" Bridgette asked. "Did you expect me to kill Heather or something stupid like that? Because I'm not you Duncan, I'm not a criminal." She could see the hurt in his eyes at her words, but she didn't care. He was acting like she had allowed Heather to reveal the truth so she could get away from him, which was anything but true. If anything, Bridgette had tried to stop Heather because she had known what would happen and that knowledge had come to pass that morning.
"Well, I have my answer." Duncan muttered, not looking at Bridgette. "You're just like everyone else, you only see me as a delinquent and a criminal. But I...I saw you as someone who I could love, who I thought could love me. Don't you understand that Bridgette? I didn't just think of you as my tutor or a sex object, I thought of you as my love, but you were to busy trying to protect your image and keep your relationship with Geoff that you didn't see that we were becoming a couple. You ignored the signs and let me suffer."
"What was I supposed to do Duncan?" Bridgette asked, tears now beginning to fall. "I couldn't just dump Geoff and our relationship couldn't be public because I would have been stripped of my tutoring rights."
"But you could ignore the one individual in your life who needed you most?" Duncan asked. "How is that fair?" Bridgette noticed that it looked like he was fighting back tears as well. "You knew how much I hated my life, how much I needed someone to help me, but you refused to give me all of yourself. How do you think that made me feel, huh? How do you think it still makes me feel?"
"And how do you think Geoff would have felt if he had known the truth?" Bridgette asked.
"For fuck's sake Bridgette, I don't give a shit about Geoff or how he would have felt." Duncan snapped. "And I don't give a fuck about what your so called friends think either. I only care what you think and I know you want me."
"No Duncan, I don't." Bridgette lied, feeling a piece of her soul die at these words. "I don't want you, I never have. I wanted...something...and I took advantage of you to get it. I'm sorry, it was wrong and I shouldn't have done it."
"Fuck your apologies." Duncan growled, his eyes full of hate. "I loved you Bridgette, you inspired me, but I guess it was all a lie. Don't pretend to be sorry, we're done and I hope you never know love again." With one last look of disgust, he turned and walked away, leaving his skateboard behind as a reminder of what Bridgette had lost.
"Duncan wait, don't go. Let me explain." Bridgette cried. As she reached out for him he turned and backhanded her across the face, sending her sprawling.
"I said don't." he snarled. "Don't explain, don't apologize, I don't want to hear it. We're done, just leave it at that." He turned and walked away into the gathering darkness, leaving Bridgette to sob on the ground alone. And as Duncan disappeared into the shadows Bridgette knew for sure that there was no going back now. The life she had lived before was dead and it would never live again.
A/N: Okay, so, like I said it's gonna get worse for Bridgette before it get's better. But I promise it will get better. Also, just to make sure I'm clear about this, the tutoring department has strict regulations about the kind of relationship tutors are supposed to have with those whom they are tutoring. In other words, if the the tutoring department feels that the tutor/charge relationship is causing more harm than help (i.e. using study time for sex instead of study) they will bar that tutor from tutoring any longer, cuz the belief is if that tutor acts that way with one charge they will act that way with all charges. And, I'm sure it was kinda wierd to see Duncan being so emotional, but he really does love Bridgette and it hurts him that he can't have her. Also, he believes he won't graduate, yet again, without her help.