Chapters (95)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Video #1
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Video #2
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Video #3
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- The Final Video
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
He looks almost sad. “Hunter, I don’t want to see you in trouble with the police. Or in personal turmoil. That was never my goal here. And you may not believe me, but it’s been tearing me up inside that you didn’t know. And that you’ve been suffering as result of this. I am very fond of you, Hunter. The truth is, your…friendship has meant a great deal to me as well.” He clears his throat. “But you deserve to know. I guess everybody deserves to know, given how dire things have become. The walls are closing in, and everyone is going to know the truth anyway. You might as well hear it from me.”
Seventy-Three
“But,” Ron says, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That can’t be true. Unless you’re saying you just accidentally followed us when we left the dance, which I don’t believe. Did you do it because you were worried she was going to tell me about your relationship, and you wanted to stop it? Is that why you ran us off the road?”
“I’ve got to give you credit, Hunter. You’re a smart young man. You’ve got about half of it right. Unfortunately, it’s the most important parts you’ve got wrong.”
Mr. Feltz pulls in next to us. He gets out of his car, and as he’s locking the door, he glances over at us. Feltz studies us for a moment with concern on his face, but then he shrugs and walks off.
Here I’d always thought Feltz was the odd duck, the guy who didn’t quite fit in. But had he ever done anything to a student like Ron has?
“I behaved inappropriately with Chloe,” Ron says. “I see that now. And my behavior may have contributed to what happened on that road. But I didn’t touch her. We didn’t have any romantic or physical involvement. And I didn’t kidnap her or anything else. Quite the opposite. Chloe repeatedly made it clear she wanted nothing to do with me beyond my mentorship.” He swallows. Hard. “And I tried. I tried to do more. I pursued her, knowing she’d be graduating this year. I thought about her all the time, and I wanted more. But I want to assure you, she never reciprocated. She didn’t want what I wanted. To be honest, the girl was hopelessly in love with you.”
I don’t know if I feel better or worse.
“You were harassing her?” I ask.
“That’s such an ugly way to put it. Like I said, we had a connection. An intellectual connection that I wanted to explore further.”
“What happened at homecoming? Why was she so upset? Was she going to tell me about what you were doing to her?”