“You don’t get to decide that anymore.”

Then I looked at my husband.

“Tell me.”

He stared at the ground for several seconds.

Finally, he said:

“I went to this school.”

I blinked.

“What?”

“When I was younger.”

“You never told me that.”

“I know.”

“Why not?”

Luke didn’t answer.

Rebecca did.

“Because of what happened here.”

There was anger in her voice now.

Not sudden anger.

Old anger.

The kind that had been sitting quietly for years.

Luke rubbed his face.

“When I was fourteen, I spent time with some guys who weren’t good people.”

Rebecca let out a humorless laugh.

“Not good people?”

Luke winced.

I looked between them.

“What did you do?”

He swallowed.

“We bullied people.”

My stomach dropped.

“What?”

Rebecca looked at me.

“He and his friends bullied me. And several other students.”

For a moment, all the sounds of the schoolyard seemed far away.

She continued.

“Luke was part of a group everyone thought was cool. Athletes. Loud. Popular.”

Then she looked at him.

“They targeted anyone they thought was weak.”

Luke didn’t argue.

Rebecca took another breath.

“They took my backpack once and dumped everything out.”

I looked at Luke.

He looked sick.

“They wrote things about me. Made fake notes. Followed me around between classes.”

Her voice shook slightly.

“One day, they locked me inside an equipment room after gym.”

My stomach turned.

“I was there alone for almost an hour.”

Luke spoke quietly.

“I wasn’t the one who locked the door.”

Rebecca looked at him.

“No. You were standing there laughing when Tyler did it.”

Luke closed his eyes.

Rebecca continued.

“I started having panic attacks after that. I missed school for a while.”

I turned toward Kayla.

She wouldn’t look at me.

“You knew about this.”

Rebecca answered before Kayla could.

“He was supposed to be expelled.”

I stared at Luke.

“Supposed to be?”

Kayla sighed.

“I spoke with the school.”

Rebecca laughed bitterly.

“You threatened them.”

“I defended my son.”

“You told them your husband would sue the district.”

Kayla looked at me.

“There were other boys involved too.”

Rebecca continued.

“Luke was suspended instead. Then Kayla moved him to another school.”

I turned back to Luke.

“How long have you known Rebecca was Ethan’s teacher?”

He hesitated.

“Rebecca saw Ethan’s file after the class assignments were finalized. She recognized my name.”

Rebecca nodded.

“I looked him up because I needed to make sure I wasn’t imagining things.”

Then she looked at me.

“I called him weeks ago.”

I stared at Luke.

“You’ve known for weeks?”

He didn’t answer.

Rebecca continued.

“I asked him either to move Ethan to another class or possibly another school.”

Her expression softened slightly.

“I know Ethan is just a child. I know he isn’t his father. But seeing Luke’s name brought everything back.”

She looked embarrassed.

“I thought I had moved past it. Apparently, some things stay with you.”

Suddenly, the last several weeks made sense.

I looked at Luke.

“You told your mother.”

He nodded slightly.

“She was the only person who knew the whole story.”

I laughed without humor.

“All those conversations.”

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