Sweetest Taboo (27 page)

I found myself back under Tom’s spell, my mind racing in a million different directions. “But I still have so many unanswered questions, and so much time has passed—”

Tom raised his right hand and put his warm index finger on my lips to silence me. “I promise to answer all of your questions, I’ve always said you’re my one and only. Just say you still love me Isabel, that’s all I need to hear.”

My heart stopped and it felt like time stood still. I looked directly into Tom’s hazel eyes so full of yearning and I knew, in that moment, exactly what I needed to say.

Epilogue

T
he shocking truth is that relationships between students and teachers exist not only in the U.S. but also across the world. These love affairs may end well, or become tragic, but they all share one common theme: when they become public, they shock the world. The men and women of society react with disgust, surprise, fear, and even anger, judging the adult in the relationship to be a manipulative person, and the student to be the naïve, innocent victim.

These illicit affairs find the same treatment in the courts, where the adult parties are judged guilty of a range of crimes, from sexual molestation to outright rape, sometimes without benefit of an impartial jury. Decisions and judgments are made long before any testimony is heard, and certainly without regard to situation or circumstances. Those teachers lucky enough to avoid jail time must register as sexual offenders, and lose both their jobs and their reputations. They face a future that is dark, grim, and without redemption.

The students find themselves at the other end of the spectrum. They are coddled and treated as victims, handled with kid gloves, and counseled to go on with their lives. They may receive prescriptions for anti-depressants, to allow them to ‘forget’ what happened to them. They, too, have to deal with the long-term repercussions of the affairs, though – the sideways glances, the asterisks in their records, the knowing looks of those around them.

As we can see, society has already signed and delivered its judgment in cases like these: guilty, regardless of the facts. The world is full of after-school specials about sexual predators and older people who take advantage of adolescents.

But is that always the case? Are these affairs predestined to be manipulative and hurtful, where one party is the abuser and the other the victim? Or is there room for true love in any relationship, regardless of age, circumstance, and context?
Sweetest Taboo
seeks to explore that very idea – that a student and teacher
can
fall in love, share a mutual respect, and even build a life together, despite society’s prejudices. This work of fiction takes a new and daring look at the student’s side of the story, and reveals that these affairs may in fact find their origin in love, rather than manipulation. Finally, it represents the hope that both parties may go on with their lives, unscarred by the truth of their affairs. Márquez takes a brave and – to some – shocking leap into the realm of fiction and real life, presenting an unsettling fictional memoir, casting both student and teacher in a gentle light, and showing that true love may lie at the base of even the most illicit romance.

Tainted Love

I
n the second book of the
Sweetest Taboo Series
by Eva Márquez, Isabel thought her life was on track – she was doing well in school, moving quickly toward her future, and deciding who she wanted to be. Best of all, she’d reunited with Tom, the love of her life. But it doesn’t take long for her history – and his – to start catching up with them, presenting a range of uncomfortable questions. Does he really love her? Are they meant to be together? And what exactly has he been doing in their time apart?

Visit the official author website of Eva Márquez to read the first two chapters of
Tainted Love
.

Excerpt from
Tainted Love
copyright © 2013 by Eva Márquez