Anvil

Wallace looked uncomfortable, and the others looked grim.

"What? What are you doing here?" she asked. Then her nerves flared. "What happened?" She spun to look back at Andre and saw dread in his eyes.

"May we come in?" Wallace asked politely.

Cassandra turned to stare at the three men in the hallway. She finally nodded and gestured for them to enter.

Principal Wallace slipped his shoes off and walked into the living room. The tall, dark-haired man in a sharply cut suit behind him frowned but took his shoes off too and went into the room as the third man, wearing a dull grey suit, nodded to her as he slipped his shoes off.

"Andre, bring the kitchen chairs into the living room," Cassandra said, and he moved. She quickly went to her bedroom and brought her desk chair out for the third man to sit in. Wallace and the dark-haired man were already sitting, and the principal gestured to the sofa for her and Andre.

"First, I'd like to apologize for the intrusion so early on a Friday morning," Harry began, and Cassandra nodded. "With me today is District Commissioner Scott Tennison and School Board Legal Counsel Burt Goldman."

"What's this about?" she asked.

"How long has Andre been having an affair with his math teacher, Mrs. Ilsa Jäger?" Tennison asked before Wallace could speak. The principal didn't look happy.

Cassandra's eyes widened, and she looked at Andre, who was looking back at her in fear. She touched his arm and his eyes locked on her hand. "I'm not mad, Andre. Has she been touching you?"

He nodded.

"He's been doing more than touching--" the commissioner began.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! I don't know you. Principal Wallace, I trust. You don't know Andre, and I'm speaking with him now," Cassandra snapped as she locked eyes with the man, who froze with his mouth open.

She turned back to Andre, who was still looking at her hand on his arm.

"When did she first touch you?" she asked as her body trembled.

He glanced up at her and saw her compassion. "The day before yesterday. The day I collapsed in the tub."

She looked at Wallace and saw his concerned look, so she explained. "Andre overdid his workout at school, and his muscles gave out while he showered at home. He told me a teacher touched--" Her eyes suddenly widened as the dots connected. She looked back at Andre. "Were you punishing yourself on the machine after the math teacher touched you?"

He nodded with a look of shame. "She... she had sex with me."

Cassandra surged to her feet as her rage exploded. Baring her teeth in a silent snarl, she glared at the principal, but he looked shocked as well. Then she felt Andre clinging to her hand. He was pressing it to his cheek as he whispered something over and over. Her anger slipped away as she made out his words.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

She sat once more and took his face between her hands to make him look into her eyes. "Andre, I'm not mad at you. You did nothing wrong."

When the commissioner made a sound of protest, Cassandra pointed at him with rage behind her stare, and he shut up.

She looked back at Andre, and he was back to staring at her hand, which was holding his.

"Andre can't stand people touching him. Principal Wallace knows of this," she said for their benefit. "How did it happen?" she asked Andre gently.

Andre glanced over at the men and saw a range of expressions. He was nervous talking about it in front of them, but Cassandra asked. "S-she treated me like Gloria," he whispered to her.

Cassandra's face paled as she stared at her brother in horror. His abuse continued. Her mouth opened, but she couldn't speak.

"What did he say?" Scott asked.

Cassandra glared at him with a wild rage desperate to escape, to hunt down and kill the one who hurt her brother. Then she saw Wallace's expression and struggled to rein in her emotions.

When she had control back, she spoke. "Andre was physically and sexually abused when he was younger by his stepmother. She had total control over him, and he couldn't fight back. This math teacher, she must have found out about this or learned on her own how to do it."

"Are we supposed to sit here and believe this story about Andre being forced to have sex with a very attractive teacher?" Tennison scoffed.

"Every time you open your mouth, you display your gross ignorance. How the hell did you rise to the position of district commissioner being this dense?" She held up a hand to stop his retort. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Get out of my apartment. You have nothing of value to add to this conversation!" Cassandra insisted, pointing to the door.

The man looked indignant, then stood to walk to the door. He looked back in surprise when the others remained. He grabbed his shoes and stepped outside.

"Lock the door, Andre," she said, and he immediately rushed over to the door and locked it. He returned to sit next to her, and she took his hand again.

The lawyer spoke. "You mentioned earlier that Andre didn't like to be touched, but he shows no discomfort when you hold his hand."

"Only her."

They looked at Andre, who glanced at her, then dropped his eyes to her hand in his.

The principal cleared his throat. "One of the reasons we're here today is to let you know that there has been another violation of Andre's privacy. Someone shot a video of Mrs. Jäger and Andre having sex in her classroom, and they posted it online. It's very explicit and surprisingly clear, considering where they must have filmed it from. Both Ilsa and Andre are clearly visible. Contrary to the commissioner's claim, Andre does not appear to be enjoying himself and quickly flees once the act is complete. We do believe he was being forced into this relationship with the teacher."

Cassandra's mouth was hanging open in dismay as she stared at Wallace.

"We've come to let Andre know he doesn't need to attend the last week of classes this year. His record will show he completed the year and achieved excellent grades." His expression became a little awkward. "I've only just been made aware of this today when one of the office administrators brought it to my attention. They received amended grades for your art class, and Ms. Rubio included a note to show her reasoning for increasing your grade average. She wrote she approached you earlier this year to do a quick assessment of your interpretive capabilities?"

Cassandra looked at Andre, and he nodded as he remembered the morning.

"Ms. Rubio said she recognized some behaviors which matched her nephew's, who is autistic. She suggested Andre might be on the spectrum, just not officially assessed and diagnosed by a physician."

Cassandra scowled at the teacher, and he raised his hands. "It's not a bad thing. It just might help explain some behaviors, and you might be able to get some assistance for Andre."

"I don't need assistance. Andre is perfect the way he is. It's true, he doesn't socialize with the other students, and he gets targeted by bullies, but you dealt with that to our satisfaction. He's fully capable of functioning in society. He had a job until the damn photo was leaked, and his boss took offense." She took a breath to calm herself. "My next question is, what are you going to do about this bitch who abused him? Are we pressing charges?" she asked.

The lawyer spoke again. "While what Mrs. Jäger did isn't illegal due to Andre being over eighteen years old, it was unethical and violated the school's code of conduct. This is grounds for dismissal. We'll also be working to have her teacher's license and certification revoked. Even the District Commissioner wants to see that happen."

Cassandra looked at the two men. "Just how widespread was the distribution of the video?"

Wallace looked uncomfortable. "I'm not an expert, but I believe it's on the Internet, so it's available worldwide."

She gave Andre a sad look, and he looked at her nervously. "How are we going to give you a normal life with all this notoriety?" she said quietly.

"I don't need normal. I'm content with this," he said, and she sucked in a quiet breath as his dark eyes held hers. She nodded, then looked at the two men.

"We're moving to be closer to Andre's college. Hopefully, we can shed these terrible events and start anew there. Until then, I have to get to work. Thank you for taking the time to visit us today. We appreciate it."

Wallace took that as it was time to leave and walked to the door with the lawyer. "Once more, we're terribly sorry these activities happened to you on our watch," Harry said to Cassandra and Andre, who nodded to him. They slipped their shoes on and left.

Cassandra turned to face her brother and took his face in her hands as she looked into his dark, soulful eyes. "I'm sorry she hurt you. Principal Wallace will see she's punished. We're going to get away from here and make a new life for ourselves when we go to Cambridge. You'll see. In the meantime, you're done with high school. Congratulations!"

She moved forward to kiss his cheek, catching him by surprise. He turned to look at her, and their lips met. Her eyes widened, then she pulled back. "Naughty boy! Getting me all tingly before I go to work!" She bit her lip as she slipped her sneakers on, then smiled at him as she left.

Andre stared at the door, stunned by what had just happened. She kissed him and... she liked it?

He looked toward the living room and realized he didn't have any plans for the rest of the day.

He adjusted his shorts as they were running out of room as he recalled his sister's soft lips on his.

There was at least one thing he needed to take care of right now.

-=-

The school was in a state of frenzy. No one could concentrate because of the scandal. Everyone was talking about the video of that skank Jäger fucking Marin. The teacher had been called into the office first thing, and she hadn't come out.

Speculation was running wild.

Finally, school security walked her back to the classroom with a box. A short time later, they escorted her to the front door. She'd been dismissed.

Steph and Brigette were standing side by side, leaning against the school's brick wall in the parking lot. They'd arrived just in time to see the back of someone running away, having just spray-painted SLUT and WHORE on the sides of Jäger's Mercedes. Now the ladies waited.

The ex-teacher hobbled around the corner, walking like she was in pain and clearly shaken by how quickly her life was turning to shit. She was almost to her car when she saw the new paint job and let out a little scream. She lost her grip on the heavy box, and it slipped from her arms, dropping to the pavement. Something inside shattered when it hit.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" she screamed in anger and frustration.

"Lost your teaching gig?" Brigette asked.

Ilsa spun to glare at the voice. "Did you do this?" she screamed, pointing at her car.

Brigette gestured above her at the security camera aimed at the lot. "Are you kidding? I'm not stupid enough to do something like that on camera."

Nodding toward the car, Steph smiled. "Something to be said about truth in advertising, though!" she called out.

Ilsa pulled her shoulder back defiantly. "You know nothing!"

"I know Andre didn't want your moldy cooch on his dick," Steph called back, then pointed to Ilsa's chest. "Listen, if you can't find anyone willing to risk leaving their kids alone with you, you still have those tits. You could probably earn some money stripping, hooking, or doing porn. I mean, who doesn't love a nasty bitch who takes it up the ass?"

Message delivered, Brigette and Steph walked away, flipping the bird to the ex-teacher.

-=-

When she pulled into her driveway, Ilsa frowned, seeing the Escalade parked in front of her door. Then she saw the vanity plate. FCASTLE. Shit, it was Freddie.

She snarled as she saw the man himself stepping out and grinning happily in her direction. Tall, broad-shouldered, barrel-chested, and that idiotic perpetual grin on his face. His wavy red hair was nice, though. She winced when she remembered she'd actually contemplated fucking him.

She parked her car and climbed out.

"Love the new paint job. It really brings out the bitch in your eyes," he chuckled at the vandalism.

"Not the day to be pissing me off, Freddie," she warned.

"How about pissing on?" he said with a grin as he handed her a thick envelope.

She frowned at it. "What's this?"

"Are you really that stupid? What's my job? Say it with me, divorce attorney. That's your copy of the paperwork to spring my client from your evil clutches. You've been served." He grinned at the stunned look on Ilsa's face.

"You've been colossally stupid, fräulein. You hurt a good man. A good man who happens to be my friend, so I'm going to do what I do best. If you have anything left when I'm done, well, that's moot because you won't have anything left."

His eyes blatantly dropped to stare at her chest. "Okay, you'll have those. I'm sure you can shake them under Bennington's drippy nose and get him to cough up a few shekels, but you'll have to let him fuck your ass too."

Ilsa shook the envelope at Freddie. "Derek would never--"

"You confused nice with weak. And you used up all of Derek's nice," Freddie said as he walked backward to his truck's door. "See you in court, slut. Or is it whore? You really should have stuck with one or the other." He said, gesturing to her car's new decoration.

Ilsa watched him drive away, his middle finger pointing to the sky from his window.

That gesture was becoming too familiar today.

Chapter 13

Andre carried the groceries up the flight of stairs. Their new apartment had air conditioning, but the stairway up to their second-floor doorway didn't. It was a hot one outside, and he was looking forward to getting inside. They had the top floor of a lovely two-story home not too far from the MIT campus. It took them two weeks to move in and furnish it as best they could with their limited funds.

Cassandra found the apartment for them after an extensive hunt and many phone calls. The woman who owned the building, Marielle Beaumont, was a senior and lived on the lower floor. She seemed to like him as he told her he'd be willing to care for the building's maintenance needs, including raking leaves and shoveling snow. He was handy, she said.

He let himself into the apartment and put away the groceries. Marielle had invited them to dinner tonight to celebrate their settling in, so Andre took a quick shower and put on a nice collared shirt and his tan slacks. His new look was a disguise to prevent people from connecting him to the long-haired goth man from the sexy video.

Speaking of his hair, he had much less of it and could no longer hide his face behind it. He had what Cassandra called a sensible cut. It was very short on the sides, with a few waves allowed on top. She couldn't keep her fingers out of it, and he found he didn't mind that at all.

He heard a key in the door and smiled as she stepped inside with a sigh of relief. She was wearing one of her new work outfits, and he thought she looked elegant and beautiful. She'd shortened her hair a little as well, but hers reached her shoulders now and still made his fingers itch to touch. He hadn't given into that need because he was still worried that she might not approve.

Her new investment manager position was challenging her mind, and she really enjoyed her first week. She told him her coworkers were friendly, and there was plenty of potential for upward mobility in the company. She teased him by saying they were all curious about the man she was shacking up with.

She quickly got ready, and they went downstairs for dinner. Marielle invited them in with a delighted smile, and Andre held still for her cheek kisses. She was very friendly, so Cassandra worked with him to not react badly when the older woman touched him. It was still a work in progress.

"Sandra, how is your new job coming along?" Marielle asked.

This was something else Casandra insisted he do to protect their new life in Boston. Before they moved, she arranged to have their names changed slightly to escape from the notoriety and break from their past. To everyone else, she was Sandra, and he was Andrew. She'd contacted his college and made the revisions so their records would now indicate his new name.

He could think of her as Cassandra and himself as Andre, but he was never to use those names in the presence of others. He found he could do that.

Cassandra filled in their landlord on the business and how much she was enjoying her new job.

The woman looked at Andre next. "I saw you go out earlier, Andrew, and return with bags."

He nodded with a smile. "Groceries."

"Are you excited about starting your new classes?" she asked. She was aware he'd be going to MIT and was very impressed.

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it very much," he responded, as Cassandra said he should.

Marielle smiled at him, then looked at his sister. "Your man is so well mannered."

Cassandra smiled widely as she nodded, and they shared a giggle as Andre glanced at his sister. Her man? She nodded to him slightly, so he didn't ask her about it here.

Marielle moved to the kitchen and soon returned with a taurine filled with delicious-smelling coq au vin.

She served them, and they began eating.

"This is delicious!" Andre told her with a smile.

"I can teach you how to make it if you'd like," she offered with a little smile.

"Yes, please!" he said enthusiastically.

Cassandra grinned as she was enjoying her meal, too.

The ladies dominated the conversation, as Andre wasn't much of a conversationalist.

Soon it was time to say good night, and Andre got his cheeks kissed again. He wondered at the double kiss and where it came from.

"You two are such a lovely couple. It makes me happy as it reminds me of my Leo," Marielle sighed with a smile.

Cassandra wrapped an arm around Andre's back and hugged him to her side as she nodded her thanks to the woman. Andre threw a nod in as well, which made the older woman grin at him.

Then they were climbing the stairs to their apartment. Once they were in behind the locked door, Cassandra faced him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"You're probably wondering why she thinks we're a couple. While I was looking for the apartment, I had more success saying we were a couple. For some reason, landlords were less comfortable renting to siblings. Maybe they thought one would move out and the other would have trouble paying rent? I don't know.

"This is why you told me not to talk to her about us?" he asked.

Cassandra nodded. "Until we are settled, and she's comfortable that we're good people." She got a wicked little smile on her lips. "I have to admit I might have shared the story at work, too. Telling them I was in a relationship helped keep the Romeos from trying to date the new girl. Then I began to enjoy the make-believe. Pretending you were my man."

Andre was trembling. This was what he wanted, too. His mouth moved before his brain could stop him. "Would that be bad?"

Cassandra locked eyes with him, and her eyes were so lovely Andre ached for her. "You mean for real?"

He licked his lips and nodded, terrified he'd offended her, but she didn't appear angry.

"W-wouldn't that... wouldn't that make me no better than Gloria?" she asked in a quiet, tight voice.

Andre's eyes widened in shock. "No! You're nothing like her! I love you!"

His guilty secret was out, his declaration exposed for her to accept or reject. Andre had never felt so vulnerable in his life.

Cassandra's heavenly lips were suddenly pressing against his, and a tremor of relief rocked through his body as his arms wrapped around her, pulling her softness against his hard muscles.