Chapter 47 SHATTERED PRIVACY
Elias
Elias woke up to seventeen missed calls.
His phone had been on silent. Now it was buzzing constantly. Texts. Emails. Voicemails piling up while he’d slept.
Next to him, Alex was still asleep. Face peaceful. Unaware that the world had exploded overnight.
Elias grabbed his phone. Went to the bathroom. Closed the door.
The first call was from Jordan. Then Professor Hartley. Then his mother. Then Katie three times.
He called Katie back.
“Where have you been?” she demanded. “I’ve been calling for hours.”
“Sleeping. What’s wrong?”
“The news story. It went viral. Someone shared it online and now it’s everywhere. Twitter. Facebook. People are debating whether what you did was ethical.”
Elias’s stomach dropped. “But Carter retracted it. He said he’d stop.”
“He retracted the email. But the story already ran. People recorded it. Shared it. It’s out there now.”
“What are people saying?”
“Some are defending you. Saying you didn’t do anything wrong. Others are saying the age gap is problematic. That even if Alex wasn’t your student, the power dynamic was still there.”
Elias sat on the bathroom floor. The tiles were cold through his pajama pants. “This is a nightmare.”
“It gets worse. Someone found your social media. Posted photos of you and Alex together. People are figuring out who you both are.”
“How do I stop this?”
“You can’t. It’s already out there. All you can do is weather it.”
After they hung up, Elias opened Twitter. Searched his name. Immediately regretted it.
Hundreds of tweets. Most from people he’d never met. Strangers with opinions about his life.
TA dating a student is always wrong. Don’t care if they were in different classes.
Age gap relationships are inherently problematic. This is gross.
Let them live. They’re both adults.
Four year age gap isn’t that big. Y’all are reaching.
He’s 23 and the kid is 19. That’s predatory.
Elias closed the app. His hands were shaking. His chest felt tight.
Someone knocked on the bathroom door. Alex.
“Elias? You okay?”
He opened the door. Alex took one look at his face and pulled him close.
“What happened?”
“The story went viral. People know who we are. They’re talking about us online.”
“Show me.”
Elias showed him the tweets. The comments. The photos people had found and shared without permission.
Alex’s jaw tightened. “This is insane.”
“I know. I don’t know how to stop it.”
“We don’t stop it. We just don’t engage. Carter wanted to destroy us. We’re not going to let random people on the internet finish the job.”
“What about work? What about school?”
“We deal with it. Together.”
Elias’s phone rang. Jordan.
“I have to take this,” Elias said.
He answered. Jordan’s voice was careful. Professional.
“Elias. We need to talk about the news story.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s all lies. My ex is trying to cause problems.”
“I believe you. But we have a problem. The magazine’s social media is getting flooded with comments. People are demanding we fire you. Others are defending you. It’s becoming a PR issue.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Take the week off. Paid. Let this blow over. We’ll reassess next Monday.”
“Am I fired?”
“No. But I need to talk to the board. Make sure everyone’s comfortable moving forward. Can you give me until Monday?”
“Yeah. Okay. Thank you.”
After he hung up, Elias told Alex everything.
“They’re not firing you,” Alex said. “That’s good.”
“They might. If the board decides I’m too much of a liability.”
“Then we deal with it. But Elias, you didn’t do anything wrong. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“The internet doesn’t care about that.”
“Then screw the internet. We know the truth. That’s what matters.”
They spent the morning deleting their social media. Making their profiles private. Blocking strangers who were sending hateful messages.
At noon, Des and Sana showed up with food and moral support.
“This is bullshit,” Des said immediately. “People need to mind their own business.”
“They think they’re helping,” Sana said. “Calling out problematic behavior or whatever. They don’t care that they’re wrong.”
“What do we do?” Alex asked.
“Nothing. You do nothing. Don’t respond. Don’t engage. Let it die on its own.”
But it didn’t die. It grew.
By evening, a local blogger had written an article. Dissecting their relationship. Questioning whether Elias had groomed Alex. Whether the university should have done more to prevent TA-student relationships.
Alex read it and threw his phone across the room. It hit the wall. The screen cracked.
“I can’t do this,” Alex said. “I can’t watch people who don’t know us tear us apart.”
“Then don’t watch. Don’t read the comments. Don’t look at what people are saying.”
“How? It’s everywhere. My classmates are texting me. People I haven’t talked to in years are reaching out asking if I’m okay. Like I’m some victim.”
“You’re not a victim.”
“I know that. You know that. But everyone else has decided I am. That you took advantage of me.”
“We know that’s not true.”
“Do we? Because right now it feels like the whole world is telling us we’re wrong.”
Elias pulled him close. “The world can think whatever it wants. I love you. You love me. That’s all that matters.”
“Is it? Because your job is on the line. Your reputation. Everything you’ve worked for.”
“Then we’ll figure it out. But I’m not giving you up. Not for a job. Not for public opinion. Not for anything.”
They held each other while the world raged outside their apartment. While strangers debated their relationship. While people who’d never met them decided they knew better.
At midnight, Alex’s phone rang. His mom.
He hadn’t talked to her in months. Hadn’t told her about Elias. Hadn’t told her about moving in together.
“Hi Mom,” Alex answered.
“Is it true? What are they saying online?”
“Depends what they’re saying.”
“That you’re dating your TA. That he’s older than you”.
“He wasn’t my TA. Different sections. And yeah, he’s older. Four years. Not exactly scandalous.”
“Alex. This is serious. People are calling this predatory.”
“It’s not predatory. I pursued him. I wrote him letters. I asked him out. He said no at first because of the age thing.”
“You wrote him letters?”
“Yeah. Anonymous ones. It’s a long story.”
His mother was quiet. Then: “Are you happy?”
The question surprised him. “What?”
“Are you happy? With this person?”
“Yes. Really happy.”
“Then I don’t care what anyone else thinks. But Alex? Be careful. The internet is cruel. Don’t let them make you doubt yourself.”
After they hung up, Alex felt lighter. His mother’s approval hadn’t fixed anything. But it helped.
“She’s okay with us?” Elias asked.
“She’s okay with me being happy. That’s close enough.”
They went to bed exhausted. The week ahead looked impossible. Elias’s job is uncertain. Their privacy was destroyed. Their relationship is dissected by strangers.
But they had each other.
And maybe that would be enough.
At 3 AM, Elias’s phone buzzed. An email from Jordan.
He opened it with shaking hands.
Elias,
The board met tonight. After reviewing everything, we’ve decided to keep you on staff. Your work speaks for itself. We trust you. Come back Monday.
Jordan
Elias woke Alex up. Showed him the email.
“You still have your job,” Alex said.
“I still have my job.”
“See? It’s going to be okay.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. It is. We survived Carter. We survived the news. We survived the internet. We can survive anything.”
Elias wanted to believe that.
But as he drifted back to sleep, one thought kept circling.
What if surviving wasn’t enough?
What if the damage was already done?