after class :: malum

two ☼

Calum's eyes darted to the clock for the twentieth time that afternoon.

"Are you in a rush?"

"Huh? I mean- no, I'm not, sir."

Mr Clifford smiled. "Fantastic."

"We have quite a few more questions to get through, do you think texting chicks and Xbox can wait?" he jokingly asked.

Calum just shyly nodded, picking at the end of his grey sweater, the sleeves coming up past his hands.

Mr Clifford only smiled once more and nodded before reading the next question.

"Do you know someone that you are in love with or someone you might be in love with some day? If so, describe them but keep them anonymous if you'd like."

Calum's heart raced at the question. He was definitely not in love with anyone but, someone he could possibly be in love with one day?

He had no clue.

This whole essay was about love. Yet, Calum, the naive 16 year old, knew not even a slither of it.

"Hold still," Mr Clifford cupped his hands over Calum's sweater paws. The younger boy didn't even realise his hands were shaking.

"I-I don't know, I," Calum sighed, hating his stuttering. "You don't know anyone you could possibly be in love with?" Mr Clifford tightened his hands around the younger boy's.

Calum's stomach twisted at the touch and he chocked out, "E-Exactly."

"Ah, I see. Well lets say you do, right?" Mr Clifford released his hands from Calum's, resting them on his own knees.

Calum nodded, blinking once as his eyes never left his teacher's green ones.

"Describe that blonde friend of your's as the one you're in love with."

The younger boy couldn't help but snort, then cough to cover it up. "I can't do that, sir!" He laughed out, showing his teeth.

Mr Clifford kept a gentle smile on his lips, slightly admiring the sight.

"You can't? Because he's a boy?"

The younger boy stiffened, shaking his head slightly. "No. Not because he's a boy but because he's my best friend!"

Calum laughed again, even at the thought of being in love with Luke.

"Alrighty. How about me, my boy?"

There was a long silence, Calum's eyes never leaving his legs. He nervously chuckled. "That's inappropriate, sir."

"Describe me as your one true love. It doesn't mean that I am. I just want to hear your describing skills," Mr Clifford skimmed the paper in front of him.

"Right," Calum sighed, eyes flickering to the clock again.

4:32pm

4:35pm

"I can't."

Mr Clifford raised an eyebrow, leaning back a bit on his chair.

"I know nothing about love and I know nothing about you," Calum quickly spoke, rushing to get all the words out.

"That's what I was waiting for," Mr Clifford leaned forward, placing his hand on Calum's knee.

The younger boy's adrenaline went into overdrive because of the gesture.

"I wasn't waiting for you to describe my green eyes and how you get lost in them."

Mr Clifford lightly nibbled his bottom lip, caressing his thumb across Calum's knee.

"I wasn't expecting you to describe my lips that I bite so often and how much you want to kiss them all the time."

Calum felt his face redden.

"I wanted you to tell me what you did. I'm proud of you, my boy," his hand slowly travelled up Calum's thigh.

Calum's breathing hitched as it stopped right at his upper thigh, before pulling away.

He's never felt like this around anyone before.

"You seem uncomfortable by my actions."

He quickly shook his head, not wanting the teacher to become suspicious.

"I assure you, I mean no harm," His green eyes showed the sincerity in his words.

Calum only nodded, not being able to form a coherent sentence.

"You're quite an interesting boy," Mr Clifford spoke as he pulled off his jacket and loosened his tie.

"Being straight forward, I'm slightly infatuated with you."

He stood up and stacked papers into piles on his desk, pretending that what he said was not a big deal.

Calum was left speechless, again. "I'm quite boring," he managed to peep out.

"No you're not," Mr Clifford looked at the younger boy through his eyelashes, quickly licking his lips.

"You do these little things without noticing, I'm strangely infatuated with it."

Calum was replaying everything in his head already. Mr Clifford is infatuated with him and all the little things he does.

This is wrong.

"Sir, what does infatuation mean in terms of what you just told me?"

A small book was handed to him. It looked like a journal. "Only read the circled part."

in·fat·u·a·tion
inˌfaCHəˈwāSH(ə)n/
noun
an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something.

"It's the only word I can use to describe what I feel about you... Though, it's only admiration, my boy. It'd be quite an inappropriate relationship, hey?"

The younger boy nodded, letting his eyes flicker around the page, despite what Mr Clifford told him.

"How disobedient you are," the book was snatched from his hands, a playful grin on Mr Clifford's lips.

"Naughty boys get punished, right?"

This time, it wasn't Mr Clifford's words.

-
a/n: I love writing this so much.
Please comment, so that I know if you enjoy reading it just as much!

What are your thoughts? Is Mr Clifford being inappropriate?

Xo,
Pokemom