Teacher

by Ella Emerson

  She turned around with hurt and anger on her face, placing her hands on her hips. “I’ll stay if you can tell me my first and last name.”

  Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

  “That’s what I thought,” she said, walking out and slamming the door behind her.

  What the fuck was I supposed to do now? I couldn’t even be with another woman without thinking of Trish. This was bad.

  On Sunday afternoon I met up with Kerrie, Courtney, Abby, and Sarah at the mall for a little relaxation and of course my favorite pastime—shopping.

  From the moment I showed up they were already giving me a hard time about Mr. Wild and my ‘progress’ with him.

  After I had purchased a rockin’ pair of UGG boots, we decided to take a break from our favorite stores and found our way to the food court. Each of us wanted Chick-Fil-A, but since they were closed on Sunday we decided for burgers instead. Sometimes I felt it was a good thing Chick-Fil-A closed one day a week to give the other food chains a chance. We found a seat in the corner of the white-tiled food court. The sun shone through the glass roof, making it very bright.

  “Any idea when you’ll be sleeping with Mr. Wild?” Courtney asked.

  “My cousin said last night he took her friend Brandi home from the club,” Sarah interjected.

  This piece of information got my attention. “What?”

  He’d kissed me the night before, told me he wanted me, and now he was picking up skanks at the bar? Was this true? My mood soured instantly as I listened to Sarah’s play by play of the evening.

  Her cousin, Helene, had seen Levi with a few friends and then ended the night by slow dancing with Brandi. I didn’t know Brandi, but just from the sounds of it I hated her.

  Jealousy clawed through me as I tried to pretend this news didn’t upset me. Just who did he think he was?

  Any amount of feelings I felt toward Levi Wild were quickly replaced after Sarah told me Helene saw them leave in Brandi’s car.

  The rest of the afternoon I tried to keep my interest in shopping. Levi was sure to pay for ruining my shopping mood. I loved shopping, just buying new outfits without any idea of where to wear them. It didn’t matter, the patterns and colors of different fabrics paired together with the perfect accessories was interesting to me.

  My father called my fashion sense a hobby, and when I told him I wanted to go to school to pursue a career in it, he laughed. Not only laughed, but some snorting sound through his nose as his head shot back with the thought of me ‘throwing my life away’. He wanted me to enter into medical school like he had. ‘A doctor is a good living and a respectable career choice,’ he always said.

  Both Drew and I were expected to major pre-med, and without this as our major my father said he wouldn’t pay for college tuition. But, I hated the sight of blood. I hated needles, and I especially hated hospitals. The need to talk to my father to make him understand had to happen soon. College applications were already in, and he was already chatting away to the Dean of Admissions over at the University of Michigan about getting me in there.

  But, Michigan wasn’t in the game plan, and neither was Levi Wild. I needed to remember that.

  As the girls and I entered Neiman Marcus on the upper level of the mall, I turned to Kerrie. “I don’t want to sleep with Levi anymore.”

  “Did something happen? Why not? Besides, I don’t think it’s such a great idea.”

  Just then I remembered Kerrie and Hunter had most likely slept together. I leaned into where only she could hear me. “Did you and Hunter, you know?”

  Her cheeks turned bright pink as she tried to hide her smile. Her green eyes shone and she raised a hand to cover her lips. “Yes,” she said.

  “And? I want all the details.”

  Courtney, Sarah, and Abby were peering through the aisles of shoes as I dragged Kerrie over to a secluded corner by the scarves and purses.

  “It was good.”

  “Just good?”

  “I don’t know what you want me to say, Trish. Yes, it was good.”

  I knew what she meant, my first time wasn’t exceptional either, but I felt maybe she and Hunter would be different because they cared deeply for one another.

  “It will get better,” I said, nudging her in the side.

  “I know, and Hunter is trying, too. We just need to find time alone so we can practice.” With those words she cracked up laughing and her light brown hair dangled in her eyes.

  I smirked and started laughing. The image of her and Hunter wasn’t one I wanted to imagine. So I shook my head and continued over to where Courtney was trying on a pair of Marc Jacobs shoes.

  For the rest of the afternoon any time they brought up Mr. Wild, I changed the subject. I was still so pissed, almost felt like he used me. The kiss felt real in the car, but maybe I was a stupid teenager for thinking anything would transpire between us.

  We left the mall, and I headed home in an even worse mood. The irrational part of me wanted to call him, confront him, but I would never do that. He had every right to date, screw, or sleep with another woman. But, it didn’t mean it hurt any less.

  I was jealous, and I didn’t know what to do. Should I just move on? Forget him and the deal I made with my friends?

  I never even told them Levi and I had kissed I kept it a secret, yet I wasn’t so sure why I had.

  Stepping through the front door of our colonial house in the ‘burbs, I saw Drew sitting on the couch.

  “Mail came, Dad’s looking for you,” Drew said.

  Walking down the hall towards my dad’s office, I laid my purse along the table and continued.

  “Hey, Dad,” I said, knocking lightly on his door.

  “Ah, Trish, come in. Take a seat.” My father sat behind his cherry oak desk with a small lamp lighting the stack of papers perched there.

  “What’s up?”

  “Congratulations, Trish, your acceptance package to Michigan came in the mail today. We have a ton to discuss, I’m so proud of you.”

  In that moment right there, I was completely floored. The words were not forming in my mouth quick enough, and my father took notice.

  “It’s great news, Trish, I can tell you’re excited,” he said, standing up from his leather chair.

  My mouth hung open as I tried to think of the words to say. He walked around his desk, and I stood. He enveloped me into a hug reminding me of how proud he was of me.

  Shit. I felt like shit. But, you never achieve your dreams without taking chances, and I was about to take a big chance.

  I pulled out of his embrace. “Uh, Dad, I was actually thinking I would like to study at Columbia for fashion design.”

  My father took a step back as his eyes hardened. “Columbia, what do you mean?”

  I didn’t know if I should tell him I’d already applied and been accepted to Columbia. He would never allow for me to go.

  “I applied, and I don’t want to go to med school. I want to be a fashion designer.”

  “Nonsense.”

  “But, Dad…listen,” I pleaded.

  “No, we’ve talked about this before. You will go to college, or you can find someone else to pay your tuition.”

  It wasn’t even about the tuition, I wanted my father to actually see me. To gain his attention, to get him to know I lived and breathed fashion.

  “Dad, please.”

  “End of discussion,” he said, holding up his hand to me to signalize he didn’t want to hear anymore.

  I turned on my heel, stomping out of his office with my arms crossed over my chest and my chin held high.

  Flinging myself on my bed right over my purple and black comforter, the tears came. As soon as the floodgates opened I couldn’t shut them off. I was upset about college, my father, and Levi.

  Levi, just his name made me see fire. The thought he picked up a girl in the club on Saturday night and took her home bothered me. He didn’t appear to be that type of guy. He was a man, and I know they do things lik
e that, but for some reason Levi seemed different. The way his eyes glazed over in the car as he leaned in to kiss me was real. It was real and I needed to figure out what I was going to do about it. Or why I cared so much.

  It was supposed to be fun, getting into a little trouble to get my father’s attention, but now I wanted it for other reasons. No, I wasn’t in love with Levi…but I was attracted to him and now I was in it to win it.

  Win the chance of bending him to my will and making him want me. I wanted him too, and I would be sure to get what I wanted.

  So, in school tomorrow I would pretend nothing was wrong. My game plan was simple, I was jealous, so I’d be sure to make him more jealous than anything he’d ever experienced.

  Mark, yes he was the key. I’m sure he hated me…but high school boys were so easy. I knew I could tease him long enough to make Levi pissed.

  One small detail crept into my mind which I tried not to focus on. What if he didn’t care? What if he and Brandi were happy, and I was a fool?

  No, I knew it was real…and now we would see how real it was.

  Tomorrow at school Levi Wild wouldn’t know what hit him.

  Pulling into my parking spot at school made me realize just how much I’d been dreading this. I was a grown ass man, yet I was nervous for what laid ahead today when I saw Trish. Having no idea how she was going to react to seeing me after what happened this weekend. The last thing I needed was her saying something to someone. I’d lose everything in a heartbeat.

  In the same breath, I was anxious to see her. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. The way her body was drawn to mine. Her taste, damn, her taste was so sweet, and I wanted more.

  Smacking the steering wheel, I threw my head back. “Act like an adult for Christ sakes,” I berated myself. Sucking in a deep breath, I blew it out and opened the car door.

  Just as I was about to reach my classroom I heard someone calling my name. I turned and saw Addie, the French teacher, rushing my way. “Morning, Levi.”

  I adjusted the strap of my brief case and forced a smile. “Morning. What’s up?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about the senior trip. We are going to need to get more information out to the parents, because we are going to need the money before we know it in order to book everything,” she said, talking so quickly I was hardly able to keep up with her. I’m not sure what she wanted me to do about it. I said I’d be a chaperone, I didn’t realize that meant I needed to plan the damn thing.

  “Alright, so what do you need from me?” I asked, wishing she would just let me get into my classroom and ready for what I was sure would be a long class.

  She giggled. Not just giggled, but I think she was trying to do some kind of flirty giggle, which made this a bit uncomfortable. “Well I figured we would need to sit down and figure that out, silly guy.”

  Silly guy? Hell, someone needed to teach this woman how to flirt. Now she wanted to get together? I wasn’t stupid, I realized she was trying to spin this trip planning into a date of sorts. I needed to turn this in my favor. “Okay, that works. I’ll meet you in the teacher’s lounge this afternoon and we’ll get it all figured out.” Yes, I knew I was being an asshole, but I wasn’t in the mood for this shit this morning. Not to mention, I had enough trouble with Trish, and I didn’t need another woman from this school in the mix.

  Trying to hide her disappointment, she forced a smile. “Oh great. See you then,” she said. Turning on her heel, she walked away.

  I entered my classroom, flipped on the lights, and dropped my briefcase on the desk. I just needed to get through this class and the day would be fine. Trying to get my head into the lesson for the morning, I got my Romeo and Juliet book out and skimmed over what I had them read last.

  The bell rang and the hall became alive with noise. As the class started coming in, I turned my back on them and started to write quotes on the board. The more students that came in, the louder it got and as the bell rang again signaling the start of class, I turned around.

  My eyes immediately fell onto Trish’s seat and I saw it was empty. A part of me felt relief and a part felt disappointment. “Good morning. I hope you all had a good weekend, but now that it’s over we need to get back to it.” My eyes skated around the room as I silently took attendance and when my eyes landed on Trish, I couldn’t believe what I saw. She was flirting with that piece of shit Mark. What the fuck was wrong with her? She called me for a ride when he nearly attacked her, and now she’s all over him. That girl had no idea how she was going to get herself in trouble with him.

  She didn’t pay me any attention, so I moved my hardened stare around the rest of the room. I hopped up onto my desk and opened my book. “Who can tell me where we left off on Friday,” I asked and everyone looked around like I just asked what happened six months ago. “Miss Tess, how about you tell me?”

  She looked up at me with a smirk and twirled her hair around her finger. “No thanks.”

  The entire class aahhed and oohed, and I felt my anger building. Trish was much too close to Mark and she reached over running her fingers in his hair, down his arm then rested it on his knee. I knew she could feel my angry stare on her. I could tell from the smirk she tried to hide. “I guess since no one remembers where we left off, no more weekends without reading.” Yes, I was pissed and taking it out on them, but I didn’t give a shit.

  “Come on, Mr. W. We were reading Romeo and Juliet,” Kerrie moaned out.

  I was done already and class had just started. “Get your books out and open them to page seventy-five,” I said with a bit too much venom in my voice. My eyes landed back on Trish and the sight of her all over Mark appalled me after what he did. I felt a fire building inside of me that I hoped I could keep contained.

  As class moved on I continued going over quotes and asking them what they thought the meanings were. Only a handful of times I had to pull my gaze away from the fuckery that went on in front of me. I just about lost it when I saw his hand high on her thigh. “Don't waste your love on somebody who doesn't value it,” I blurted out and gained everyone’s attention. “I’m skipping around with quotes now. This one, I believe is pretty self-explanatory. However, it’s a great reminder for all of you, and nothing could hold more truth,” I said, locking eyes with Trish. “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night,” I said, quoting Shakespeare once again. “Can anyone tell me what this means?”

  “How the hell are we supposed to know? I can’t even understand it,” Mark yelled out and Trish laughed as if he’d just told the funniest joke.

  I ground my teeth together and right before I gave him the ass kicking he deserved, the bell rang. “Tonight you are reading the next twenty pages. Make sure you do because you never know when a pop quiz might happen.”

  They all jumped up and gathered their things. Mark whispered something to Trish before he picked his stuff up and walked toward the door. I watched him walk out and high five friends in the hallway. Fucking dog.

  I moved to the door and told them goodbye as they exited the class. Trish was at the end of the line piling out the door and when the last student left, I slammed the door shut, trapping her inside with me. She cocked her brows inquisitively then looked down at my hand that held the door closed.

  “What the hell are you doing,” I said through clenched teeth.

  She laughed, shaking her head. “I believe I’m going to my next class.”

  I grabbed her arm, not roughly, just enough to move her with me closer to the closet. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You call me begging me to pick you up because that piece of shit nearly attacked you and today you are all over him? What the hell is wrong with you?”

  She yanked out of my hold and crossed her arms over her chest. “I believe it’s none of your business, Mr. Wild. Just like what you do is none of mine.”

  I dipped my eyebrows in confusion at the anger that was pouring off of her. “What is that supposed
to mean?”

  She leaned in a bit closer to me and said, “You’re no better than Mark is anyway. You have no right to keep me here, and you sure as hell can’t tell me what I can and can’t do. I can and will do anything I want, with anyone I want. Just. Like. You.”

  “Trish, if this is about me saying nothing can happen between us…”

  She let out a laugh that held no humor, interrupting my thought. “This has nothing to do with that. This is me doing me, while you’re off doing whoever the fuck you want.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. How, I mean what, how could you possibly know what I did this weekend. Did you follow me?” The fire inside me was about to blow up at this point.

  “Don’t flatter yourself. It’s a small town. Maybe that’s something you should remember from now on. You took advantage of the way I felt toward you, and when your conscience got the best of you, you found replacement pussy.”

  The fire I’d been trying to contain exploded. I pushed her against the wall and as her books fell to the ground, I slammed my mouth to hers. It was rough, demanding, all-consuming and when I got a taste of her again, I knew I couldn’t stop this time. She had no idea what she did to me, and I was about to show her.

  I pinned her hands above her head as we continued this angry kiss. A kiss that made my cock rock hard and begging for release. When she moaned I broke the kiss and searched her eyes. “Nothing happened with me and Brandi this weekend. Nothing could happen because I don’t want replacement pussy, I want yours.”

  She gasped, and I pressed my lips to hers again. Still holding her hands above her head with one hand, I trailed the other down her body until I reached the bottom of her skirt.

  I pushed my hand under and rubbed small circles on her thigh. She thrashed beneath me, which turned me on even more. Slowly moving my hand, I cupped her pussy over her panties and she let out a yell that I kept quiet with my mouth. I rubbed her softly, feeling the heat and wetness through her panties. Feeling my way to the top of them, I reached my hand inside and was met with the softest, smoothest, wettest pussy I’d ever felt. I broke the kiss once again and nipped her bottom lip. “Fuck, your pussy is dripping with need. The idea that I made you this wet is so fucking hot.”