Falling From Grace: Student-Teacher Forbidden Romance

Chapter 42

[RECAP: Father Gabriel is increasingly struggling to maintain his vows and resist temptation when it comes to his student Leonie...]

Gabriel had done nothing but think endlessly about Leonie, that was the problem. He had considered trying to see Leonie covertly.

The problem was doing this while continuing in his role as a priest. As her teacher, the ethical violation was bad enough, though he could cope with it. She was a legal adult, after all.

But as a priest, it was unthinkable. He couldn't carry out his duties and administer to the students' spiritual welfare while he broke his vows in the worst possible way.

Leonie was also significantly younger than he was. In a few months she might not feel the same way, but if he left the priesthood it would be permanent. He had meant what he said: he doubted he would ever get over her. He had the benefit of knowing how she compared to other women, but she didn't have the equivalent experience of men.

Maybe he should just quit anyway. His lack of self-control hardly befitted one who had taken holy orders.

As he walked along, one of his students came up to him. Suki Laverne. He didn't care for her much, there was something sly about her. She was a good actress though.

"Hello Father Gabriel."

"Hello Suki."

She was clutching a bunch of folders. None of the girls seemed to use schoolbags, it mystified Gabriel. They all carried books, folders and pencil cases around loose. Things constantly got dropped.

"I expect you've heard about this scholarship," Suki said.

"I was in assembly when Mother Benedict announced it, yes," Gabriel replied.

"Well..." Suki bit her bottom lip and then ran the tip of her tongue over her top lip. Gabriel had the horrible feeling this was supposed to be alluring. Perhaps another man might have found it so, but Gabriel didn't find her or other school students attractive. Leonie was a complete aberration, which was why he was so disturbed by his feelings for her.

"Well? Can I help in some way?" Even as he said it, he regretted it. He sensed he had fallen into some trap.

Suki's face lit up with a joy mingled with triumph. "I was hoping you would be able to help! I could really use some extra coaching for all the auditions it's going to involve."

They were nearly at the staffroom, which was Gabriel's destination. "I'm not sure that would be considered appropriate. Even if it were, the proper person to help you would be Sister Rosalind, as Head of Drama."

Suki looked pleading. "The thing is, I think it would really help to have a man's perspective as well. I mean Sister Rosalind is great, but she's a nun. I'm not sure she could really help with a scene between a man and a woman, for example."

She was so blatant. Gabriel tried not to let his amusement show. "And you think that I could, despite being a priest?"

"Well, yes. It's different with men, isn't it?"

Gabriel ignored this. He turned to her, just outside the staffroom door. "If Mother Benedict decides that special coaching is warranted for applicants, it will be announced in due course. Whether your acting coach is male or female is completely irrelevant."

He knew his tone was curt but he wanted to brush her off and close this conversation for good. He felt there was a dangerous air about her. If she ever got him into a compromising position, she would manipulate it for all it was worth.

In the staffroom he had a meeting with Sister Rosalind about the production of The Crucible. He didn't bother to mention Suki's request. From his side, rehearsals were going well and the girls were really getting into their roles. They now needed to put some serious work into the set and costumes, which Sister Rosalind was taking charge of.

"I've roped in the Sewing Club to help us out. We'll have a look through any past costumes that may be usable. Then we can take fittings for anything new that's needed," Sister Rosalind said. "I had thought to put the younger female roles in grey and white, but to pick Abigail out in red. This means we can possibly adapt school uniforms to some extent, overlaid with white pinafores and caps. The menfolk in black, and the older female roles either in grey or brown. The aim would be to create a kind of monochrome with Abigail as a symbol of passion and bloodshed."

Gabriel liked the plan. "It sounds great."

"Keeping it simple is paramount, as there's not a great deal of time or resources. Unfortunately I believe most of the costumes in storage tend to be along Tudor lines, due to all the Shakespearean productions the school has done. Nothing that would really work for our era."

"I've assumed a reasonably simple set in terms of the stage directions," Gabriel said. "Just a few benches would be necessary. They're most critical in the courtroom scenes, which take up much of the latter half."

Sister Rosalind agreed. "We might be able to project some backdrops rather than paint everything. Sister Barbara is our technical genius. She managed to rig up quite a beautiful forest setting for last year's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which used photographs of the actual woods behind the school. They're wintry now, but that might work better for the darkness of The Crucible. We'll come up with a great set, whatever the case."

Gabriel couldn't think of the woods without thinking of Leonie. He wondered if it would be safe for them to meet there again. There were precious few places where he could risk being alone with her, even for a few moments.

And he wanted much more of her than that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suki is a problem.

She could become a very big problem...