The Teacher's Pet

Chapter Ten.

=Wednesday........................

Jade practically forced Belle to go back to school, her father hadn't returned since he had beat Jade and despite it all Belle worried about him. She walked to school and as the first bell rang slid into her seat. Alex looked up from his papers and smiled at her.

"Miss Whitley, would you mind staying after class?" He asked.

"No, sir."

Missy turned in her seat to openly glare at Belle and for once instead of shying away Belle lifted her chin and stared right back. Missy scowled then turned back to class with a flip of her hair.

Alex turned to the black board and began writing the schedule for they day, book reports were due on Friday and Belle hadn't started hers yet. She hadn't even picked a book yet.

She used most of the class to decide on a book and after picking one began writing her report, Alex spoke about poets and their inspiration but she only half listened. If he noticed she wasn't listening he didn't comment.

The bell rang and other students bolted from their desks, Missy paused by the door and Belle could see her talking to Alex but couldn't hear her. She shrugged, whatever issue Missy had with Alex was just that, Missy's issue.

Belle gathered her things into her back pack and slung it onto her shoulder as she approached his desk and Alex moved across the room, he carefully closed the door and despite having built up plenty of nerve a few minutes ago Belle was suddenly nervous.

"How is your stepmother?" He asked.

"Better today."

"I promised myself I wouldn't ask and that I wouldn't pry but...what really happened?"

She opened her mouth to speak and he interrupted.

"I just want to know that you're not in any danger."

"I'm not," She lied.

"If someone is....treating you unkindly, I will help you."

"They're not."

He moved towards her, stopping just a few inches away. He kept his hands in his pockets and she toyed with the end of her shirt.

"Is that what happened the night I found you in the library."

"No, I fell."

"Miss Whitley...."

"Why do you do that?" She interrupted.

"Do what?"

"Call me Miss Whitley, you barely ever use my first name but you call everyone else by theirs."

He pushed a hand through his hair and then began fidgeting with his tie in a gesture she knew only happened when he was nervous. He turned and paced away from her to stand behind his desk.

"I think you should go to your next class," He said.

"Oh....okay," She said.

She dropped her head and hurried to the door, she was just pulling the door open when he spoke. So low and so soft she wasn't sure she heard him at all.

"It's a defense mechanism you see, creates a boundary..."

"Do you need one?" She asked, closing the door and turning back to face him.

"Yeah," He admitted.

"Am I that awful?" She asked softly, afraid of his answer.

He shook his head and moved quickly from behind his desk and straight to where she stood, stopping inches away. He reached out and she flinched until he framed her face with his hands and tipped her head up.

"No, I am." He said.

Before she could reply he lowered his head and sealed his lips over hers. Her first kiss, her heart did a wild flip and she suddenly felt her brain shut off. Nothing mattered now but his lips on hers. He was gentle letting his lips lightly press against her and moving softly. She didn't really know how to kiss him back, her hands were shaking when she lifted them to his chest.

She had just started to delicately move her lips against his when he pulled away. He looked at her and he looked completely stricken as he dropped his hand and backed away.

"Miss Whitley....I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

She licked her lips and could still taste the peppermint gum that he had been chewing earlier, her legs were shaking and so were her hands as she smoothed the invisible wrinkles in her shirt.

"You really should stay away from me," He said.

"I'm not afraid of you," She replied, surprised that it was true.

"You don't me Belle, I.....it's best if you stay away."

She didn't agree and she didn't understand but she gave a small nod and he took a deep breath. The room seemed eerily silent and terrifyingly empty all of a sudden.

The bell rang and she jumped, he glanced at his watch.

"Get to your next class," He said.

She turned and opened the door, hurrying from the room. For once she was grateful for her ability to disappear in the crowd. To be able to sink into the crowds and the noise and be invisible had always seemed like a curse but now it was a blessing.

Alex was finally able to breathe once she was gone, he couldn't stand it when she was that close looking at him with those wide, innocent eyes. She trusted him and he knew that she shouldn't, knew it was wrong and that by even thinking about her was wrong.

She was weak, she was innocent, she was vulnerable and to take advantage of that made him exactly the kind of bastard that his father thought he was.

He'd been teaching at the school for four years, Belle was thirteen when he came to that school and the thought rattled him. It made him feel sleazy and unsteady, he'd never once in his career even been remotely interested by his students lives.

They filed in like robots and he tried to get them to appreciate learning, reading and books. Then they'd file out and most of them he barely caught their names, they didn't care and he burned out as well. He went through his days listless and bored. Then Belle came into school that day and dropped her books, she'd been in his class before but until that day he'd never noticed her.

Now, he couldn't see anything else. Work excited him again and as he got ready each morning he anticipated what she'd say in class and what he opinion would be on an assignment. While they students worked he was constantly aware of her every breath and suddenly his black and white world was full of vibrant color again.

It was dangerous and it was forbidden but he was beginning to realize that the harder he tried to fight it the weaker he seemed to be. Today he finally broke, he had been stretched like a string since he saw her at the bar and today he snapped. He couldn't focus and couldn't think of anything more important in that second that his lips on hers and the taste of her on his tongue.

Now hindsight was twenty/twenty and he realized what he was throwing away. His future along with hers, she'd never be treated the same if someone found out and he'd lose his job and possibly face jail time. It wasn't worth throwing away both their lives, not when hers was just starting.

He adjusted his tie as his next class filed in and he made his way to the blackboard, he picked up the chalk and realized he was shaking. His hand shook until writing was impossible and he gave up, turning he instructed his class to simply read three chapters then he collapsed into his chair. He stared at the ceiling and pushed his hands through his hair, closing his eyes and begging himself to let go and move on.

"Enough now," He mumbled to himself but deep down he knew, enough wasn't enough.