I inwardly rolled my eyes. “I’ll be sure to bring that up at the next staff meetin’, Caleb.”

He snorted as he read something on the desk he was sat at. “They’re degradin’ to women, too.”

That piqued my interest.

“Go on then, read out loud what it says.”

Caleb snickered, “It says, ‘Bronagh Murphy has a phat ass’. It's spelled with a ‘ph’ instead of an ‘f’. Is that correct?”

I burst into laughter, but quickly had to cover my mouth.

Nico.

This was Kiera’s classroom, and she was both Nico and Bronagh’s tutor when they were in sixth year. That must have been one of their old desks.

“Miss, why’re you laughin’?”

I looked at Caleb, still smiling. “I know the lad who wrote that. He goes out with the Bronagh written on the desk. They’ve been together since they were in sixth year.”

Caleb blinked. “If he goes out with her, why did he call her fat?”

See? It wasn’t a compliment.

“He is from New York, and apparently in America if the word fat is spelled with a ‘ph’ at the start it means it’s a good big. He really likes her big arse.”

Caleb laughed, “Okay, that makes sense.”

No, it didn’t!

I shook my head and stood up from my seated position. I walked over to the desk and looked at the writing Caleb was talking about. Bronagh Murphy was written in capital letters while the rest was in lower case letters.

I’d bet my life that Bronagh carved her name into the desk over the years in school, and Nico added the rest to it when he moved here.

What a fucker.

I snickered to myself as I took out my phone, took a picture of it, and sent it to Nico and Bronagh with the caption: Vandalising school property. I’m ashamed to know both of you.

Nico instantly replied with a ton of laughing emoji faces and it made me snort.

“Why did you take a picture of it?” Caleb asked me.

“So I could send it to them. Chances are, Bronagh will kill Nico for writin’ it in the first place.”

Caleb snorted, “You’re a shit-stirrer.”

Usually, I’d scowl at a kid for using bad language, but in this instance, Caleb was spot-on.

“I know. It amuses me.”

Caleb laughed as I returned to my desk and sat down with a sigh.

“When is your baby due?” he asked.

I counted on my fingers. “Nearly ten weeks left.”

“Ah, that’ll fly in.”

I grunted, “Not when you’re the pregnant one.”

Caleb laughed but said nothing.

“So,” I began, “what did you do to get stuck here on a Friday evenin’?”

Caleb smirked. “Got caught in the girls’ dressin’ room with Charlotte Price.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Please don’t tell me you were doin’ what I think you were doin’.”

Caleb held up his hands. “The teacher who caught me didn’t see anythin’ because I pulled - I mean, I walked out before they could see any hanky-panky. You can’t get in trouble when there is no proof. I just got detention for being inside the girls room, not for shaggin’ Charlotte.”

The dirty little bastard.

“Condoms are left in the school reception for a reason, I hope you know that.”

Caleb continued to smirk. “I do.”

I shook my head.

Men were all the same.

“Are you really gonna keep me here until six, Miss?”

I looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was only twenty to six. I wanted to leave just as much as Caleb did. I caught his gaze and gave him a stern look. “If anyone asks, you didn’t walk out of this school until after six. Understood?”

Caleb stood up and saluted. “You’re brilliant, Miss.”

“I know.”

Caleb laughed as he swung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the door.

“Are you walking or do you have a parent to collect you?” I asked for my own peace of mind.

“Me da is in the car park.”

I nodded. “Okay, off you go.”

“See ya, Miss.”

I smiled then looked down at my own bag when Caleb all but ran from the room. When I no longer heard his footsteps patter down the hallway, I gathered up all of my things. I was moving at a snail's pace because I was tired. I was ready for this day to be over. When I got my things together, I hooked my bag strap over my shoulder, groaning under the weight. With a sigh, I moved away from my desk and towards the classroom door.

I looked up to where I was going and gasped when I realised I wasn’t alone. There was a man standing in the doorway of the classroom. A familiar man.

“Oh, hello.”

The man smiled. “Hello, Aideen.”

I stared at the man, and suddenly a sick feeling consumed my stomach. I recognised him as the man who I spoke to briefly in the hospital and later in the pub a few weeks ago.

What on earth was he doing here?

“Can I help you...?”

“Philip.”

Right, he already told me that before.

“Sorry, Philip.” I smiled, forcing sincerity onto my face. “Can I help you?”

He nodded his head. “Yes. You can help me a great deal, actually.”

I could?

I furrowed my eyebrows together. “Okay, what can I help you with?”

“You can sit down so we can have a little... chat?”

No.

That was the first thing my mind and gut screamed.

“I’m sorry, sir. It’s after hours and as you have no child that is under my care during school hours, you will have to set up a formal meeting.”

Philip chuckled, “Sorry, I phrased that as a question, when it should have been a demand.”

A demand?

“I beg your pardon?” I asked with a shake of my head.

Philip looked at my desk and smiled. “Ah, I see you got my flowers.”

I stared at the flowers that were delivered to my classroom weeks ago. A lot of the flowers had died, but because I liked the arrangement so much, I bought new flower and kept it looking pretty.

“You sent them them?” I asked, dumbfounded.

Philip nodded his head. “Of course, I met you for the first time in the hospital that morning, so I went out and got you flowers to congratulate you on your pregnancy. I couldn’t quite believe you were pregnant even though I had known for a few weeks.”

I was so scared in that moment, I had no idea who this man was.

“Who are you?”

“If you’ll sit down, I’ll happily answer your question.”

Every fibre of my being told me to get away from this strange man and to get away fast.

I stood firm. “I don’t want to sit down. I do not know you and would appreciate it if you left this room immediately.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Not when I finally have you alone.”

Excuse me?

“What?” I asked, taking a step backwards.

Philip smiled at me as he stepped into my classroom. I observed his face and noticed the scarred side of his face didn’t move, which made his smile that much more creepy. “I’ve been watching you for weeks now, but you’re hardly ever alone, and when you are, it’s only for short periods of time.”

He’d been watching me? For weeks?

“Why have you been watchin’ me?” I asked, a tremor of fear in my voice.

I was so scared I thought I would throw up.

Philip humourlessly laughed, “It’s a funny story, actually.”

I swallowed. “I doubt I’ll see the humour.”

“You wouldn’t.” He smirked.

I looked around for an exit. The windows were out because they were locked shut, but the classroom door was wide open. I glanced at the door, which was only a few feet away from me, then looked back to Philip, who was staring at me.

He evilly grinned. “Don’t do it.”

I ignored him and made a run for the open door, but within seconds Philip was on me. From behind me, he gripped my arms. He turned me to face him, and when I tried to dig my nails into his flesh, he stomped on my knee.

I screamed as pain erupted in my right lower leg.

“I asked you nicely to sit down, Aideen, just so we could talk,” Philip sighed. “I didn’t want to do that.”