The Ice Prince

Chapter 4

I tried to back away, but he slammed me against the blackboard, jamming me with his body. For the first time, I noticed that he had muscles under those formal shirts he wore. He glared at me like a raging bull at a matador. A funny metallic taste filled my mouth. I didn't want to hit a teacher or get in trouble. Because that could mean a call to my parents, and I couldn't afford that.

He was about to ram his fist on my jaw, when I intervened. I am weird in weird ways. I don't know what got me saying "I'm not gay, Mr. Waters. Please don't assault me!" (I have nothing against gay people) and we burst out laughing.

Soon, we got talking, and I found that I was right about his age. He was 22, and that was close enough to being a teen to laugh at my outburst. Just like that, we became friends.

"You have something going on with Leia?" he asked me, serious again, but not outraged.

"I think she never got over me, sir. I don't date, and she's been running behind me for the past two years to date her. So if there's anything between us, I assure you it's not from my side. In fact, I thought she'd given up on it finally, till you kindly put us in these pairs." I replied, honestly. I did tone it down a bit, because I didn't want him thinking that Leia was two-timing on him. Frankly, she wasn't a bad person. I just didn't want to date her, and she didn't seem to understand that.

"Do you want me to change your partner?" he asked, in a friendly way.

"I think I can survive the week."

He smiled at that. "So you're really not interested in her, huh?" he asked as if to confirm.

"Really." I replied, suppressing my grin at that. But I couldn't suppress my next question, which came out before I could hold it back "So are you interested in her?"

His eyes darkened, but then his face softened again. "I thought I'd announced it when I made clear my intentions to assault you, Ashton." He chuckled. I could see why the girls swooned over him. He was young and manly, spoke with a genuine English accent, and he had a habit of raking his hands through his hair. I used to do it inadvertently too, till I realised that girls somehow got attracted to it. Strange people, girls.

"True enough, Mr. Waters. Your secret's safe with me." I grinned. I didn't exactly care about a teacher dating a student. It was their life and they could do what they wanted. I've never been a total stickler for rules.

"It's Justin, when I'm not teaching." He said, and we shook hands. His handshake was like mine, firm and strong.

"Justin, then." I replied. "You can rest assured that I won't be making a move on Leia." I added.

"You want to hang around with us? Well, a couple of my friends, and Leia, of course. We're going partying on Monday."

"Sure. If you ever plan a Wednesday, I can get you into Jerry's." I replied, happy to be making friends.

"Jerry's? Make that this Wednesday!" I could hear the party-animal inside him roar in pleasure.

"How many?" I asked him, wanting to make sure I got the numbers right.

"Marc, Cay and Jake, that's three. Plus Leia, you and me. So six of us in all." Justin said. I liked it that he included me in the tally, like I was a part of his group of friends already.

"Done. Wednesday at six, then." I told him. The Manager at Jerry's had often told me to get my friends on Wednesdays, which were the least crowded evenings at Jerry's.

Then I unlocked the door and went my own way to the cafeteria, happily inhaling the lemongrass smell of the corridors. I saw Leia sneak into the classroom as I left. I could just hear Justin locking them in.

'Weird man' I thought to myself, but I couldn't decide whether he was weirder or I was. Because the meeting had been meant to be a warning to me that Leia was out of bounds, and I'd ended up becoming friends with my English teacher who was also the secret lover of the girl who wanted me to be her boyfriend but I wasn't because I didn't date which she didn't understand.

Life. It's complicated.