His Slave

Chapter 1

I sighed as the bell rang, echoing through the classroom. We were dismissed, and the other students immediately ran through the hall like a herd of elephants. I took a deep sigh, knowing what was about to happen.

It's time.

Time for the class I despised the most. The class that made me feel the most uncomfortable. The class that made me want skip school.

It wasn't because of the curriculum. On the contrary, I loved what we were studying. It was world history, and we had gotten to World War 2 and the Holocaust. I loved learning about World War 2, and I loved history.

So what didn't I like about it?

The teacher.

My friends would always poke fun at me because I was scared of him. They didn't seem to understand why, no matter what I told them. I mentioned how I've caught him ogling me creepily during class, and they just brush it aside. I've told them stories of strange encounters I've had with him in the hall, and they say I'm over thinking things. I mentioned how he always seems to be lingering the halls when I'm around, and they laugh at me. I've said that he taunts me more than any other student, and they say that it's just in my head.

"You must be his favorite student or something," they'd constantly suggest with a shrug. My friends always considered what he would to do me as funny, but I couldn't find the humor in it at all.

"You're just being paranoid."

"Lighten up."

"It's all in your head."

They'd tell me over and over that it was nothing. That there was nothing to worry about and that I'm just delusional.

I didn't have the right vocabulary to describe the way he made me feel. Creeped out? Perhaps even scared? I had no idea. What I did know is that the vibe he gave off really rubbed me the wrong way.

I was following the throng of rowdy teenagers, most of which were heading to my history class. I made sure I was further behind so I wouldn't be the first one through the doors. I couldn't explain why, but the idea of me being the first student he'd see didn't sit well with me. But perhaps that's just the paranoia talking.

My classmates began to file in, so I took that as an invitation and I walked in behind them. We all spread out and found our desks. My assigned seat was, of course, at the front of the classroom.

He had a habit of sitting down at his desk and reading while he waited for the late bell to ring. Today was no exception, as he was at his desk reading a book. He seemed to be really into it, so I paid him no attention.

I sat down and immediately pulled out a scrap piece of paper with some doodles on it. I had saved it in case I was bored in class. I had a nasty habit of doodling on homework and tests, so I kept a spare paper out for when I had the urge to draw, whether it was out of boredom or pretending that I'm thinking through a question when really I just couldn't care less.

The late bell rang as I stared at my past doodles, and the teacher seemed to still be too invested in his book. I glanced up at him, and I could see his eyes dart back down to his book. Was he looking at me?

"He could've been looking at something or someone else.

"It was just convenient timing."

I could hear an echo in my head of my friends coming up with the perfect alibi for him.

As I considered whether or not he was looking at me, he cleared his throat. That was his signal to us that he was about to stand up and start.

"Okay everyone, turn to page 136. We are continuing our lesson on the concentration camps during the Holocaust," his deep voice echoed in the class, getting everyone's attention. He stood up from his desk and he stretched his arms in the air.

He was a tall guy. It was accurate to assume that he was over 6 feet tall. He had dark brown hair that was well groomed. His hair was just long enough to cover his face while he looked down. His eyes were a deep emerald color. I did have to admit that even though he gave me the creeps, his eyes had a very mesmerizing way about them. They seemed to stare right into your soul, and they seemed to force you to just stand there helplessly.

I realized that I was staring right into his eyes, not paying a single bit of attention to anything else. It took me a second to register the fact that he was looking right back at me. He had a slight smirk on his face, almost as if he knew that his eyes had just reeled me in. It made me shift uncomfortably in my seat, begging him in my head to look at anything or anyone else.

He seemed content with the level of discomfort that I was in, so he turned to face the whiteboard and he began the lesson.

"Did anyone even notice what just happened?" I quietly asked myself. I looked around the room, and noticed that no one seemed bothered by what just happened.