My mom clapped her hands, and my father almost dropped his newspaper in his breakfast.
“Candace, you look splendid. Twirl, twirl around.” My mom circled her finger, and I entertained her by doing so.”
“Oh, you look beautiful. Art, doesn’t she look stunning?”
My father looked a little lost for words, and my mom crinkled her face up at him.
“Oh, darling. You’ve noticed your little girl is all grown up.” She grasped his hand. “She’s almost eighteen, Art but she’s still our little girl. You don’t have to worry about her moving on for a while yet.”
My father coughed and took a drink of his tea. “You look very elegant, Candy. Only it’s a shock to your father seeing you look so grown up.”
“Well, as Mom said, I am almost eighteen, and I felt it was time to grow up a little, instead of looking like a studious mouse,” I asked the hovering staff for a bowl of fruit, which always pleased my mother. She could be so vacuous sometimes. However, I had my dress for the party, and I needed it to stay fitted to perfection. “Just a black coffee as well, please. Thank you.”
My father returned to his paper, and I chatted to my mom about the plans she’d made for my eighteenth. I told her that I would meet with her and the planners from now through to the party date and requested she avoided any extra tutor dates of Mondays and Thursdays.
“Tonight, you could come and look through my new purchases,” I told her.
“Yes, darling. Oh, I made some calls. Your closet will be installed by the end of this week.” She informed me. At the moment, my purchases were mainly in a guest room, still in their packaging. I closed my eyes and said a mental goodbye to my library, vowing that when I had my own place, it would be the first thing I arranged. “That’s fantastic,” I told her. “I need to get ready for school.” I rose from the table, kissed her and my father on the cheek and went to grab my new tote and wait for Larissa and Jeff.
“Girl, you look sensational.” Larissa declared. Even Jeff, who was usually so quiet on the journey to school, to allow us to gossip, opened his eyes wide. “Candy, you look hot. Julian is going to come in his pants when he sees you.”
“Jeff!” Larissa scolded. Jeff just shrugged and started the engine.
“Bring it on,” I whispered to Larissa. “Julian can do what he likes today. I’m not going to notice.”
“Oh, I love this.” Larissa giggled. “School just got much more fun.”
I was the hot topic of conversation at school. The girls all wanted to know where my clothes were from, who did my hair and no doubt bitched about me behind my back. The boys stared, and I got some wolf-whistles. I saw Julian’s jaw drop just before I turned on my heel and walked in the opposite direction to where he was.
This time when it came to the seating arrangements at lunch, Julian stood at the side of me.
“Is this seat taken, Candy?”
I turned to him and looked at the empty seat next to me. “Looks free to me,” I said, then as he took it, I turned my back to him, so I was facing Larissa. My best friend was dying not to laugh.
I felt a tap on my back, and with an eye-roll, I turned back around.
“Yes?” I looked Julian up and down, letting him know I was checking him out to see if he was good enough for me.
“I was just wondering about prom.” He said.
I looked at my watch. “Shoot. Is that the time? Lar, come on, we need to get to the gym.” I gave her a stare that meant go along with whatever I said.
“Gosh, yes.” She jumped up, abandoning the rest of her sandwich.
“Catch you later,” I told the rest of the table, and we were on our way.
“I’ll get you another sandwich later.” I apologized. “But I needed to leave Julian hanging.”
“Got ya, babe. You should have seen his face. He looked so pissed.” She guffawed. “I love it. Now, I guess we aren’t going to the gym.”
“You have met me before, haven’t you? Go to the gym? Hahaha. No, let’s go to the bathroom so I can check my appearance. It’s English next,” I winked.
“Candace Appleton, are you going to flirt up a storm with Mr. Hotty-pants Newell?”
I winked. “I don’t do things like that, Miss. Davenport”
“I don’t think I know what you do or don’t do anymore. You’re becoming a new woman.”
“Emphasis on the woman,” I told her. “No going back. I no longer accept being treated like a child.”
Chapter 5
Parker
I’d been restless all day, knowing that after lunch she’d be in my class and that after school we had yet another private session. I had my best shirt on—how pathetic was that?
Then she walked into the room, and my heart almost stopped. A student had left my room the other day, but a full-blown woman had walked into my classroom right now. Her hair was a couple of shades darker and glossy and a few inches shorter, her make-up made her face look sculptured, just perfect, accentuating those innocent looking eyes and that delicate rosebud pout. I wanted to destroy that innocent face by plowing my cock straight down her throat while those eyes looked up at me begging for more. My dick twitched in my pants, and I had to take a seat at my desk. The way she strolled into the classroom was different. It was a move of confidence, of self-assuredness. She knew how good she looked; she owned it. But her face never came up and looked at mine. She was engaged in chatter with Larissa Davenport and other students who were desperate to speak to her. She commanded them all. Something had changed in a short space of time for this transformation to occur and I wondered if it related to the conversation we had had when I had dropped her off Thursday after her tutoring, about her being frustrated with being treated as a child. I was well aware right now that she was not a child.
While I waited for the rest of the class to file in, I wondered what it was about Candy that appealed to me so much? I had other students who were pretty, dressed well, looked older than they were. None of them had ever caused the remotest flicker of either my heart or my dick. But from the moment I’d seen Candy, my heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest and my dick was in danger of blowing out my zipper.
“Class. If you can open your books to page 326 and start there, I’ll be back in a moment,” I told them. Then for the first time I went into the, thankfully empty, male staff toilets, let out my cock and jerked myself off in a frenzy. I cleaned myself up, splashed my face with cold water and called down to the cafeteria for a cold drink as if that was all I’d left the classroom for. When I returned, some of my class was doing as I’d asked, most were chatting. Only one person watched as I walked back to my desk. Her.
The rest of the lesson passed unremarkably, and Candy never seemed to look my way again. I wrapped up the class, and as the bell rang, I stared after her, ready to say I’d see her after classes ended. But she left the classroom from the back, chatting to a friend and never once looked my way. I wasn’t even sure at that point if she was going to show up for our session.
Chapter 6
Candy
“He could not stop looking at you,” Larissa whispered. “I think Mr. Newell has the hots for you.”
“Don’t be stupid. He’ll just be wondering why I look different.”
“His face said he wanted to fuck you.”
I folded my arms. “How does a face look like that?” I laughed.
Larissa stuck her eyes out like they were on stalks and licked around her mouth in an over-exaggerated pervert like way.
“Oh my God, Lar. If he looked at me like that, I’d send for the psychiatrists.”
“Well, don’t be surprised if he gives you detention for no reason.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, you have your extra lesson tonight don’t you? What will you do if he makes a move?”
“Sshh.” I attempted to quieten her down. “One, he does not have feelings for me. Two, he’s a teacher! Three, he’d lose his job if he did. Four, I’m going to learn more about English
.”
“You are such a spoilsport. Please flirt with him a bit and see what he does.”
“No.” I chastised her. “I have my eye set on Julian being my date for prom. That’s it for my romantic life. Let’s keep it realistic and uncomplicated.”
“Boring, you mean.” She said.
“Yes, boring,” I told her.
Usually, I told Larissa everything, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth. That the real reason behind my makeover was because I wanted Parker to look at me like a woman, not a student. That deep inside I wanted my teacher, no matter how wrong and forbidden it was. That it had been easy to turn my back on Julian because he meant nothing to me and I just saw my behavior towards him as karma for what he’d done to his previous girlfriends.
I left Larissa and went off to my next class. Soon I found myself walking back to Mr. Newell’s classroom.
“Come in,” his gruff voice once again answered my knock.
He straightened his tie as I walked in. “There’s no need to knock, Candy. I’m expecting you. Come on in, take a seat.”
I repeated what I’d done on Thursday, but this time I walked over with confidence as if I was his equal, not his student. I placed my tote on a chair at the side of me, rather than dropping it to the floor and I crossed a leg over the other and sat back.
“I never asked you on Monday, forgive my manners, but did you want anything towards gas?” I asked.
“What? Oh, no. Not at all. How are you anyway? No more fainting episodes?”
“No, I’ve made sure I’ve eaten properly.” I told him and then lost my cool a little and rambled on, “I permanently have something crammed in my mouth.”
He swallowed. I watched his Adam’s apple rise and fall, and he adjusted his tie again as if it was choking him. I flushed bright red. Candy, you idiot. I chastised myself. So not cool.
“Right. I thought we’d look at deus ex machina.” He said. And the lesson began.
We were awkward around each other.
The friendliness and joint enthusiasm for our subject from just a few days before had disappeared. Parker went into complete professional teacher mode, and I stayed cool and aloof while I answered. My appearance was supposed to have made him see me as a woman, but it appeared the opposite had occurred. He’d become more professional than ever. At the last tutor session he’d almost seemed like an older friend, a mentor, but today there was none of that.
When it came to the end of the lesson, I gathered my things away quietly.
“Thank you,” I said to him. “I’ll see you on Thursday? Same time?”
“Yes,” he nodded, then he turned back to put his belongings away.
“Are you walking out?” I pointed toward the door.
“No, I have a few things to sort out before I leave. You go on ahead.” He said.
I nodded and gathered up my tote and headed towards the door.
I was halfway through it when I heard my name. So softly, if the door had creaked, I’d have missed it.
“Candy.”
I turned, my face schooled into a mask that gave nothing away.
“You look really nice. Your hair and your clothes. Very smart. I think your mother will come to realize you’re not her little girl anymore soon if she hasn’t already.”
I ran a hand down my top as if seeing my clothes again through his eyes.
When I looked up, he watched me. His eyelids were hooded, his pupils dark. He was interested. Oh, my fucking god. He was interested, whether he was willing to do something about it or not.
“Thanks, Sir,” I said, cruelly reminding him he was my teacher as a form of punishment for the fact he’d kept me beyond arms-length for the whole of the lesson. I knew it was forbidden, the relationship between teacher and student, but right now I resented that if he felt for me the way I felt for him, he didn’t have the classroom door slammed and me pinned up against it.
His eyes widened as he realized I knew how he felt. That he’d given me a clue.
“Candy, I-”
I knew I was about to get some rejection speech, so I quickly looked at my watch. “Shoot, is that the time? I’ve gotta run.” I said, in almost identical words to my conversation with Julian at lunch.
The door closed behind me, and although I felt like running, I walked to the car lot where our driver was waiting for me.
I slept terribly that night, tossing and turning and dreaming of a fight at my party between Parker and Julian. I was determined to keep up my new appearance, so I made sure my concealer did its job and masked the dark rings under my eyes. I was at my locker in the afternoon when Julian came over.
“Hey, Candy.”
This time I had to talk to him. He was right there at the side of me, and I didn’t have the energy to rush off. I stuffed my belongings back in my locker while I turned to him.
“Julian, hey.”
I looked him over. He was good looking, no doubt about it and he wore shorts that highlighted the definition in his calves. Baseball did good things to his body. His skin glowed with its healthy golden tan, and his blonde hair shone with highlights that his friends got from chemicals at salons, and he got from fresh air and the sunshine.
He smiled at me, revealing his perfect white teeth. He’d definitely not been born with those, but then neither had most of our school.
“I wondered if you’d like to catch a movie sometime?” He asked.
I was about to turn him down when Parker appeared at the other end of the hall. He froze in place watching me talk to Julian.
“Sure,” I told Julian. “That sounds fun. Maybe we could double date with Larissa and Jeff and go to the Surf Shack afterwards?”
“Sounds great,” Julian replied. “Tomorrow night? If that’s okay with the others?”
By this time Parker had walked down the hall towards us, and he strolled on by, right past where we were standing.
“I’m sure tomorrow night will be fine. It’s a date.” I told him, and I watched Parker flinch at my words. Then he picked up his pace and walked off down the hall.
Julian grinned at me as he walked away. “I’ll wait to hear from you.”
“Okay.”
I stood with my head against the locker as my mind whirled with what just happened. Did Parker come down the hall deliberately to hear what we were talking about? I headed off to my lesson. I was so confused about everything.
On Wednesday, Larissa and Jeff had said they were fine with our double date, and we were all set for after school when Julian came rushing over in the cafeteria.
“Candy. I’m so sorry. I can’t do tonight.” He looked pissed and frustrated. “I got after school detention.”
“Seriously?” I asked him. Julian had never in all the time I’d known him caused any trouble in class.
“Yeah, that new teacher, Newell. He’s a dick.”
I felt like my heart dropped into my stomach at his name.
“I only reached for a spare pen from Tate’s desk, and he accused me of cheating on the test we were doing. It was only a mock. The guy’s a total dick. I’m so sorry, Candy. Can we reschedule for tomorrow?”
I shook my head. “I have extra class tomorrow from school. Friday?”
“Sure.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Sorry about that. Oh, and I got the invite to your party. I didn’t realize you were eighteen next week. Not a lot of notice for one of the parties of the year.”
“That’s my mother for you. Does everything last minute to create drama and chaos.”
“Well, I’ll be there. Maybe, as your date?” He said.
I nodded. “We’ll see how Friday goes, but yes, if you like, you can be my date for the following Friday too.”
He smiled, and I watched as he dashed off to class. Maybe I’d misjudged Julian. He seemed like a nice guy. I needed to focus on him and not Parker Newell. But why else would Parker have kept Julian after school if not to ruin my date.
Chapter 7
Ca
ndy
I woke determined. I was attending my after school tutor session, and I didn’t yet know how but I was going to discover if Parker Newell, definitely, for a fact, was interested in me. I couldn’t in good conscience date Julian, as much as he seemed a great guy if I had the remotest chance to get up close and personal with my teacher.
I dressed in an Ulla Johnson black eyelet peplum top and a Maison Margiela wrap mini-skirt that hit just above my knees.
Julian couldn’t stop telling me how fantastic I looked. The rest of the school had heard we were dating and when he sat next to me in the cafeteria at lunch, I noticed a lot of dagger eyes from other girls, especially Brandy. We chatted nonsense like what we were going to eat at the Surf Shack and mock-argued about which movie we would all see. Larissa and Jeff joined in the chat, and it was nice finding myself part of the crowd. My upcoming birthday party was also a hot topic of conversation, with other students telling me their parents had cancelled vacations in order to attend. I found it all incredulous, but it showed how much influence my parents had on the Upper East Side. I wondered if anyone would notice if the subject of the party failed to make an appearance? Then I remembered the outfit I’d purchased, and I smiled to myself. My mother had no idea. She’d had dresses sent to the house and had chosen one for me. I wouldn’t be wearing it. Her choice was demure and for a daughter of a prominent power couple of New York. Mine was the dress of a woman who now knew the power of a good wardrobe.
After school, I went to Parker’s classroom and pushed open the door without knocking. Then I took my seat and once again crossed one leg over the other, this time revealing the top of my thigh.
“I thought we’d look at improvisation today.” He said to me like I was dressed in a nun’s habit.
“Whatever you think. You’re the teacher.” I said, and I bit my lip.
Rule Him: A virgin student/teacher forbidden romance (School of Seduction Book 1) Page 4
