Chapter 34

Tessa’s POV

I hadn’t seen Joseph for the rest of the morning. It’s to be assumed he was probably getting yelled at in the principal's office. A knot had formed in the pit of my stomach thinking about Joseph.

I hoped he wasn’t in too much trouble. I hoped that some of our words had gotten through to them, and they didn’t fire him.

But what if he did get fired?

I didn’t even want to bear the thought of that. I would have to attend that normal writing class and that was not something I wanted to do.

I found it difficult to concentrate in class, but I wasn’t the only one. Most students, and even the faculty, were drones of themselves.

Morgan was liked by most of her peers and teachers, so the pure thought of her no longer being here didn’t sit right with any of us. All our hearts were heavy, and we didn’t want to do any schoolwork because of it.

Thankfully, the teachers understood this and went easy on us for the most part. I even got an email from Joseph earlier this morning canceling this evening's class. I hoped it was to mourn Morgan and not because Joseph was fired.

I wanted to text him to ask him if he was still on the school property. If so, I was hoping I would be able to talk with him. But I decided not to text him. at least not right now.

“We are having an Assembly this afternoon in honor of Morgan,” Miss Kate, my math teacher, mentioned to us. “It’s mandatory. Everybody needs to be there.”

We all nodded in agreement before packing our things to leave, just as the bell sounded indicating the end of the class.

I wasn’t surprised that Ruby was waiting outside the classroom door. She had her arms folded across her chest already like she was getting ready to lecture me about something.

But she didn’t.

“How are you feeling?” She asked as we began walking down the hallway and toward our lockers.

“Like a zombie,” I confessed. “I just can’t believe she’s really gone. She was one of the nicest girls in the school.”

“I can’t believe an animal did all that danger to her,” Ruby shuddered.

“Why? Why else would it be?” I asked a little too quickly.

I instantly cursed myself for being so awkward.

She frowned and glanced at me sideways.

“I’m not sure,” she said, eyeing my face carefully. “But whatever it was, they were out for blood.”

She had no idea how right she was, except it wasn’t Morgan’s blood they wanted. It was mine.

I had a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I feared I was going to throw up.

“You aren’t looking so well, Tess. Are you okay?” Ruby asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said quickly. “I just need to run to the bathroom.”

Before she could say anything more, I was already running toward the bathroom at the other end of the hallway.

I was thankful nobody was there because I wasn’t going to be able to hold in my stomach any longer. I burst through one of the stalls and hunched over the toilet. I released the contents of my stomach instantly, nearly falling to my knees in the process.

Tears spread across my face.

This was all my fault. It was because of my blood that attracted these new vampires to Morgan. I was the reason she lost her life. I was the reason Joseph might have lost his job. I was keeping secrets from Ruby and losing her as my best friend.

Everything was falling apart, and it was all because of me.

It was my fault.

…

The assembly happened later in the afternoon and the entire school was there. I sat with Ruby in the center of the assembly hall, neither of us saying anything to one another. I knew there was a lot she wanted to ask me and talk about, but I kept my mouth shut and my eyes on my hands as I tugged my fingers nervously.

The assembly started with Principal Connors making a speech about Morgan. Then, he started to show a slide show that featured a bunch of pictures of Morgan with her classmates and friends.

By the end of the slide show everybody, including me, was sobbing.

Soon, Morgan’s mother surprised everybody by showing up and speaking on behalf of her daughter.

“It warms my heart that my daughter had so many people that loved and cared about her. Thank you so much for organizing this assembly in her honor. If she was here right now, I know she would want to hug every single one of you because that’s the kind of person she was. She was loving and caring. Her life was taken too soon, and I’ll never get to be with my daughter again…”

She stopped speaking so she could gather her thoughts. The entire room was dead silent. A pin dropping could be heard for miles.

A couple of sniffles from those crying were evident in the room.

“I’m so sorry,” she cried, tears flooding down her face.

The pure image of Morgan’s mom breaking down like this, caused a riffle effect. Everybody started crying once again.

She soon stepped down from the stage, unable to continue speaking.

Everybody was silent as Principal Connors stepped back onto the stage.

“I think we can all agree that it was incredibly moving. Let’s give her a round of applause,” the principal said as he clapped.

We all clapped as well.

“We have one more person who has been wanting to speak,” he continued. “Professor Evergreen.”

I couldn’t help but gasp, making Ruby glance at me sideways.

Joseph was going to make a speech.

He was here?

I didn’t even know he was still here. I thought he would have gone home long ago and slept for the rest of the day. It was still very much daylight. He must have been exhausted.

“Thank you for giving me the chance to speak, Principal Connors. I just wanted to address some things because some concerns were brought to my attention earlier this morning,” he began, scanning the room. “For starters, I would never force any of my students to come to my house. It was completely optional, and it was only to read and discuss books like a book club. What happened to Morgan was a tragedy and I understand she was only targeted because she was out late in the evening. I do apologize for making anyone uncomfortable. It was never the intention.”

He paused to gather his thoughts, and no one dared to speak.

“With that being said, I would have to agree with the concerns of the parents and faculty. It was inappropriate to host a dinner and book-reading party at my house without permission from the board. I don’t want another incident to happen…”

He scanned the room again until his eyes found mine and held them for a long while.

He spoke again, this time still looking into my eyes intently, so it was like he was talking to me alone.

“I think it’s better if students no longer come to my home.”