“Who is he, Director? He’s not just a regular student.”
Clausen clears his throat and pulls off his glasses. After carefully folding the arms, he places them on the desk and clasps his hands. “I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”
Duh. I try to keep the irritation from my face.
“Part of why I called you here was to review something I should have told you yesterday. I just wasn’t expecting you to meet so soon. I don’t want to warn in explicit terms, but I will for your protection. Daniel’s gift is a liability to all of us. You, me, the other students, and especially himself. He poses a threat to everyone he comes in contact with.”
“I see. So what’s his gift?”
“You know I can’t share that.”
I fight to suppress my frustration, but fear I fail when he sighs.
“I’m sorry, but understand that it’s a matter of confidentiality and it will benefit you just as much.”
“It’s not that,” I cut in. “It’s this whole situation that doesn’t make sense.”
Maybe I’m pushing my luck, but I’m so tired of this. “You’ve created an enigma with all of this ‘stay away from him’ and ‘watch out for Daniel’ nonsense. And then you expect us not to be interested in his story? Everyone keeps warning me to stay away from him, and yet you give him hell for not participating with the rest of us when he tries to avoid us. How can you tell me he’s dangerous one minute and then force him into our lives at every turn? That seems irresponsible at best. Criminally negligent at worst. It makes no sense.”
If he’s upset by my outburst, he doesn’t show it. “We have rules. He needs to know he can’t break them.”
I bite my tongue, afraid the accusations will fly, and I’m determined to conceal what I’ve seen. “Is this really why you called me in here? Another warning, yet again, to stay away from the very person you’re shoving in my face?”
I don’t know what he’s thinking as he studies me in silence, but I don’t regret my attack. I’ve only been here a day and I’m tired of the hypocrisy. Honestly, I’m just tired, exhausted from this constant navigation. When it becomes clear I won’t get an open response, I lean back in disgust. “You know, the irony is I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about him if you didn’t give me reason to. You created him.”
“Have you touched him, Rebecca?”
My heart stops. “Of course not.”
His eyes dig into me. “I don’t believe you. What did you see?”
“Why are you so worried? What does it matter even if I did? What are you afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid for me, only for you. His world is a dangerous one that I don’t want to see you part of.”
There it is again. Dangerous. The word everyone loves to throw around but no one wants to define.
He sighs and takes on a sincere expression. “Look, this is coming across all wrong. Can we just rewind for a minute? We need to protect you, and to do that, I can’t be everyone’s friend all the time. I’m okay with playing the bad guy for your safety. I can read it on your face, in everything you’ve said. You think you know something. Something that will get you hurt, and I can’t let that happen.”
I glare at him and cross my arms. “I told you, I didn’t see anything.”
“No?” he says. “Well then, I hate to even ask this, but if you’re truly not happy here, would you like me to call your mother to come pick you up?”
“Is that a threat?”
He looks hurt. I don’t buy it. At least, I don’t think I do. What do I really know? I’m fighting him over something, and I have no idea what.
“Not at all. Of course we want you to stay, but if you won’t be honest and let us help you, we have no choice but to remove you from the danger. You made an excellent point earlier. We thought we could do a lot of good for each other, but now I’m concerned.”
“Because I’m not a gullible fangirl who can be manipulated by Ben’s charm? That’s why you pair Ben and Laura with Daniel, isn’t it? They’re able to influence newcomers to shun him like everyone else.”
“Rebecca, please. This is exactly what I was afraid of. Now you’re fishing for conspiracy theories. Just tell me what you saw when you touched Daniel and we can work through it. Otherwise…” He picks up the phone, and my heart slams against my ribs. I hate being extorted but what choice do I have? I lose either way. Maybe he really does want to help. Maybe he’s manipulating me. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter because going home isn’t an option if it means leaving Daniel to the fate I witnessed. Not until I have confirmation I’m wrong.
“This feels like a threat,” I mutter.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, but that tells me I’m making the right call.” He sighs and reaches for the buttons on his phone.
“Wait! Okay,” I say, cursing to myself. “I saw a woman. I don’t know who she was.”
