Madame Williams ( teacherxstudent )

35

TW: mention of suicide

LOU'S POV

"You must write complete answers." Miss Williams said as she passed papers to the students, explaining what the test consisted on.

I felt my stomach drop, because every time I heard her voice I also heard the voice of Diane, not my English teacher. I also felt so bad for Diane, and I could see in her face that she didn't have a good night sleep, probably because of my sister finding out we're a thing. Nicole hadn't talked to me yet, she hadn't contacted me or responded to any of her calls whatsoever, which worried me.

I had been so focused on Diane that I had completely forgotten of the only friend I have left, Nicole. She had been acting strange, suddenly moving from campus after she had told me she really enjoyed it there, acting distant and secretive. Maybe she missed Pete and she was still dealing with the breakup.

Diane passed by my desk and patted my shoulder twice, as some sort of sutil caress and then kept passing through each desk to deliver the papers. I looked up and watched her keep walking through the desks when she had already delivered them all, and I could see all heads looking down in the classroom, but I was the only one looking up to the marvelous woman in the room.

She looked at me, her expression was serious but she managed to show me a small smile and winked an eye at me before she gestured for me to keep my eyes on my paper.

I noticed there was no dirty blonde sitting next to me, today the spot was free, which was odd because Ashley would rarely miss school, unless she was dying.

Before I knew it, the bell rang. Everyone handed their papers rapidly and Diane seemed just as surprised as I was on how time could fly so fast. I heard whispers around me, some girl talking. What I could make out of the conversation was that apparently Ashley had left earlier today, because some detective wanted to speak to her.

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I was hiding in the parking lot, waiting for Diane to open her car so we could get the hell out of here. I looked around to see if Ashley's car was there, but of course it wasn't. Why would a detective want to speak to her? If it was about Maya then that wouldn't make any sense, because since when does a suicide get investigated... it's pretty obvious who the killer is.

Diane waved as she approached and then made a hand gesture, like for me to hurry up and get in the car fast. She unlocked it in record time and then we were both inside. I panted a little, maybe it was the creepy feeling of Ashley's sudden disappearance or maybe it was the tiredness after a long school day.

"So, how did your test go?" She asked, smiling. I loved that she smiled even when everything was shitty, and I loved that she acted like she wasn't the teacher in the room just a few minutes back.

I sighed, "I think it went well, I just don't do so good when it comes to writing answers, specially with this thing." I motioned to my cast, "I'm more of an alternatives gal."

"Oh, really?" She teased, "Then you must have enjoyed the part of the back."

"What? What part of the back?!"

Diane laughed, "You're so cute." She said and leaned to kiss my cheek, being careful of my broken arm.

I blushed, "You're so mean."

She rolled her eyes. Her car smelled different today, more woodsy like. She had mentioned she thought of getting a new car fragrance before I broke my damn arm, before we fought, before my sister knew I'm dating my teacher.

"What are we gonna do?" I said, my voice above a whisper.

Diane's smile faded, "I don't know, Lou. I just know I'm terrified, I can't focus, I can't eat... I'm scared I'm not only jeopardizing my whole life, but yours too."