Nothing to ruin that won’t ruin you. There was never an us.

“I don’t–”

“You have to promise. To swear. I love this job too much.” He looked around the classroom, at the posters, a memory attached to them all. One timeline belonged to a student who was in university now, studying history, who’d even returned a few times to help out with after-school activities whenever he was back in Bristol. That meant something more than money.

“Okay, fine. I promise I won’t tell anybody.”

Scott told her everything – about him and Casey, not everything – starting at the beginning, on their anniversary night. He made sure to stress Casey had been the one to send the photo of his dick; that alone was enough of a reason to tell Lauren, so she knew with certainty he wasn’t a creep. He finished with the boiler plate.

Lauren sat back, her hands on her knees.

“Aren’t you going to ask me if it’s a joke?”

“It does sound far-fetched.”

Scott nodded. “No arguments there. I feel like I’ve walked into Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It’s like she’s flipped a switch.”

She frowned. “I’ve heard of this sort of situation before, but never like this, never just…”

“Just there,” Scott said bitterly. “One day, when I got home. A new woman sitting in her place. I swear, I thought maybe it was Casey’s twin. Part of me still thinks that.”

“We’re really living in a simulation if that’s true.”

Scott laughed gruffly, not even a laugh, just pushing air out. “Yeah.”

“So what’s your plan?”

“Aren’t you going to tell me to go to the police?”

“No. The second she hears sirens, she’s sending those photos.”

“Yep.”

Lauren sat forwards. “So?”

“I’m looking into Natalie’s suicide note, which I should’ve done a long time ago. And I need to start looking into Casey too. But the thing is, if she hears about me snooping around, there’s nothing stopping her from releasing the videos.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad,” Lauren said. “This isn’t the fifties or whatever. People are more accepting these days.”

“Yeah, sure. But nobody wants their kids around somebody they’ve seen naked. That’s just a basic fact. Even if they know I didn’t do anything wrong – even if they know this was done to me – they wouldn’t care.”

Lauren nodded. “Let me help then. Casey doesn’t know me. I’m sure there’s something I can do.”

Scott looked at her closely, to see if she was serious. She was a young woman with a life of her own, presumably with friends and family and hobbies. A partner, a pet cat if he remembered correctly. It struck Scott how little he knew about this person. Perhaps he was rude; perhaps he was too used to being trapped inside his own head.

“Why, Lauren?”

“What sort of person would I be if I didn’t help?”

“A normal one. Most people wouldn’t want anything to do with this.”

“Maybe I’m not most people.”