Chapter Nine:

Pathetically, the only time I had to myself these days was when I watched little boys play during gym class. Sitting on the bench, I held my head with the palm as my hand, released a gasp, and let my eyes wander as I watched the kids run from one side of the basketball field to the other frantically, yelling at each other like it was the day of the apocalypse, over some stupid red ball that was being thrown around like they were in the middle of the game hot potato.

Sweat filled the room along with the sound of leather sneakers scratching against the recently waxed beige floors.

Looking down at my wrist, I looked at the time. Twenty two minutes and forty four seconds until this class was over. Then I could go home for the day. Karen asked if I was free. I told her it was parent-teacher night.

A sharp high-pitched squeal filled the room and the sound of the sneakers scratching suddenly stopped short. Great. I was going to get in trouble. Getting up from my seat, I pushed through the circle that formed around the young kid that had a crimson stream of liquid streaming from his nose like water from the Niagara Falls. Both of his hands covered his nose as if they acted like a towel. His knees were bent and his head held low.

"Come on, let's go to the nurse, Kevin," I said, grabbing his bony shoulder.

Her hands were on her hips and the look of her eyes made me want to look down at the floor and shuffle my feet as I told the nurse that Kevin got pummeled with a basketball. Rolling her eyes, she walked over to the fridge and threw an ice pack at the kid, telling him to put it on his injury. She told me to wait outside like I was going to get detention.

Several minutes passed as I sat outside of the nurse's office. The halls were empty and all I saw were a line of metallic rusted green lockers covering chipped-white walls with fluorescent white lights bringing out every imperfection. Down at my feet was a poster to the school's poetry reading. Once a year it was held. Melissa told me last year she handpicked students to participate. She told me it took effort to get the talent out of some students, but when she got them to read their poetry, she knew she had done her job. I asked her why, and she told me because she knew by the looks on her students' faces that they now felt confident in their abilities. That was what teaching was about. It brought her joy. Why did I feel otherwise with my job—not only my job, but my life in general?

"You should get Kevin's sister. His nose is broken. He needs medical attention."

"Okay," I said as I got up from my seat. "Who is his sister?"

She handed me a slip of paper. "I wrote down her name and where she should be right now—assuming she didn't cut."

"This is Jessica McDaniels. I teach her health class!" I shouted.

"So then you should be able to find her." She widened her eyes as she said this.

Reading the name again, I said, "It's not like a needle in a haystack."

Turning around, I went up the stars, down the hall, and to the right was the chemistry lab. Students looked at me as I suddenly entered the room. As if the paper was going to provide some sort of explanation, I spoke towards the slip that I needed to speak to Jessica.

A smile was spread across her face as she got up from her seat and walked over towards me. We both left the room.

"Your brother, Kevin, got hurt. Apparently he broke his nose."

"How?"

"Someone hit him in the nose with a basketball."

"Oh no." Her voice almost sounded sarcastic.

"You're supposed to drive him home," I tried to sound authoritative.

Curling some of her platinum blonde locks, she asked, "Oh really?"

She smelt sweet, like sugar. Her eyes had a nice sparkle to them. Pieces of gold were floating in a sea of blue. A grin was on her face. It made me smile.

"Well I'm sure the nurse has to call your parents first. Tell them of the incident." Across the door from the chemistry lab supply closet. My hands shuffled along the wall until it felt cold hard metal. Twisting the knob, the room was surprisingly unlocked.

Lust got the best of me as all of the sudden I pulled her into the supply closet, slammed the door, and felt my body pin her against the wall. Moans escaped her lips the second my lips nibbled her soft skin. My hand covered her mouth so she could not moan, but I felt her teeth gently dug into my fingers. Soon my tongue occupied her mouth. Her soft fingers grazed against my chest as my hands caressed her bosom, reaching up to her shift, about to pull it up as her lips went downwards to my chin, to my neck, I pushed her away.

"What's wrong?" Her whisper was as soft as her kisses.

"You're my student. I apologize."

"Don't apologize." Her hands held my face as she tried to kiss me. I turned away and pushed her away.

"This can't happen. Sorry," I stated, again, looking down at the floor.

My left cheek stung as she slapped me across the face.

For the rest of the day and into the early evening, I wondered what had consumed me to make out with one of my own students. Never was I tempted in such a way. Even if logic played a role, he wouldn't have been able to stop me. Lust hooked me like I was a fish and he was bait. Thankfully, caution got me to push her away before the situation became even more worse and more serious. Going to work would be awful, as Jessica was a ticking time bomb. At any moment, she could tell the school what I had done, and there would be no way in which I could protest. I could be fired. I would be deemed a pervert. I would never be able to have a career.

Full of shock, I called Karen.

"Hello?" She answered.

Deep breaths were all that I could release.

"Hello? Anyone there?"

"Yes," I said slowly.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes," I continued.

"What is it?"

Who knew I would ever be in such a dilemma. I felt stupid.

"Chris? Honey?"

"Yes?"

"What's wrong?"

Telling anyone would show I was pathetic. How could I continue to be with her when I cheated on her with a student? Life wouldn't be the same.

"Do you want me to come over?"

"Yes," I answered.

A hug tried to reassure me that everything would be fine when Karen came over. My arms felt like two heavy logs which I couldn't lift when I tried to hug her back.

Her hand held my hand as she led me to the couch. Her eyes did not have a glow or sparkle to them. She continued to smell like cherries.

"What happened?" Her arms wrapped around me, trying to cuddle, but I pulled back. I scooted over to the other side of the couch. A pillow was our barrier.

"This is hard—weird to say," I stuttered. Cotton mouth filled my mouth as I continually licked my lips and swallowed. I crackled my knuckles of my right hand using my thumb.

"What is?" She asked. She inched towards me, causing me to stand. Her fingers dug into the cushions of the couch.

"This is over." I tried to sound the most authoritative I have ever been.

She got up and looked me straight in the eye when I said this. She glared, which made me want to look down, but I looked at the eyes which brought me no passion.

"Today, I was with someone else and it was great. I regretted having to end it," I started.

No tears filled her eyes, no blood boiled her veins, nothing besides, "Between us?"

"No, between her."

"Melissa?" My finger nails dug into my skin. I knew I would soon be bleeding from it, but a few scratches from her would not override the scars that I inflicted upon myself from being such a rash idiot.

"No."

"Who?" She tried to shake me. Perhaps she wanted to knock sense and sanity into me, but I lost that when day by day was full of the same thing, being a chore with very little reward.

"Does it matter?"

"To me it does!"

"Oh," I responded.

My left cheek stung as she slapped me across the face. I stood there like a scarecrow.

"Do you have nothing to say?" Her voice boomed, yelling at me, trying to penetrate through my closed ears.

"You have nothing to say?" She yelled again, but I stood there.

She walked towards the door, "You're a jerk, you know that? I did nothing to you, you piece of scum! I was only nice to you and I get this in return! Burn in hell!" She ranted, closing the door behind her like this was the ending of some dramatic scene.

I continued to stand there and felt like spreading a grin across my face once I knew that her should never contact me again.