Harrison Woods is a 17-year-old girl attending Arbor Coast High, a boarding school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her dark past including her rocky relationship with her parents and her esteemed older brother's suicide are the reasons she landed herself at...
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On Monday morning, I showed up late to my first period class. The cause of my tardiness? A piping hot cinnamon latte from the cafe. I admit, I might have been addicted. Unfortunately, the line had been much longer this morning than it usually was. But I had no regrets. I had a delicious cinnamon latte in my hand and I was going to enjoy every sip.
Setting my latte on my desk, I turned to my class and sighed. "I almost forgot I had a job today. But then I remembered, so here I am. For the first 30 minutes, just work on analyzing the first chapter of The Tipping Point. We'll have a discussion afterwards."
As the class took out their books, my eyes were pulled in the direction of Harrison. Her hair was down today. It was straight. And her eyes as they concentrated on reading were still breathtaking. I watched her fingers caressing each page of the book as she read. Her right hand would periodically rest just under her chin as she turned to speak to West. Her lips as she spoke were taunting me with the idea of kissing them to see what she tasted like today.
I forced myself to look away. I couldn't be thinking such things. She was my student and that was all she could ever be. I couldn't allow myself to think of her as anything else.
After the night Harrison and I had shared together, she left that following morning without a word, and I didn't blame her. Although, a part of me wished that we could have cleared the air. I remembered that night all too well; I had gone against my morals completely and kissed her, even going further than that and surpassing the line of danger. I touched her. My body had been pressed up against hers. Our mouths had a hard time parting and our hands roamed all along each other's bodies. The worst part was that I had enjoyed every second and regretted nothing even though I knew how inappropriate the moment was.
I assumed that her friend, West, knew about what had happened between us at the party, and that made me think of Jason. I hadn't told him about what happened between me and Harrison. But honestly, I needed to get it off my chest.
"Class, I'll be right back," I excused myself, stepping outside to call Jason.
Ringing... Ringing... Come on, pick up!
Voicemail. "This is Jason. Well, no. It's supposed to be, but whatever. Couldn't make it to the phone right now and it's none of your business what I'm doing! You know what to do after the beep, I don't think I have to remind you."
Beep.
I sighed and left a message. "Hey, Jason, it's me. Look, I really just thought we could talk today. I've got something on my mind that's kind of been killing me. Maybe over lunch? My first break is at 11. Uh, that's it. I gotta go, but text me or something," I finished. I took a deep breath before heading back in, walking straight to my desk, not allowing a single look in Harrison's direction.
But the temptation was hard to resist.
When the class was over and everyone was gone, I slammed my fist onto my desk and rested my head.
