Restricted Effection

Chapter 11

We remained in the classroom until I'd calmed down enough to not burst into tears again. Tom kept me held in his arms until I became silent and my breathing became steady again.

"You don't have to come in tomorrow if you don't want to." He told me.

I nodded and took a step back from him, perching my bum on the table behind me. "I'd like it if you stayed home with me..." I bit down on my bottom lip.

He smirked and started shuffling with things on his desk. "As much as I would love to, I have a job to do."

I sighed. "Fine. I don't know what I'll do... I don't think I could stand staying at home all day, I'd have too much time to think."

"Do whatever is best for you, love." Tom turned his head and smiled at me, then continued to shuffle about on his desk.

The noise of children chattering in the corridor informed me that it was time to leave, as I glanced up at the clock. "I'd better get to Maths. I'm sure chalky will be wondering where I am." I slid off of the table, onto my feet.

Tom stopped what he was doing and made his way over to me. "He'll know where you are, after all he was in the canteen with me."

"Oh, yeah."

He smiled. "Enjoy the rest of your day, Lu. Don't let anything else get you down." He said.

"Okay." I smiled at him, then turned to the door. It was hard to not kiss him goodbye, but with a bunch of nosy teenagers gawking through the window, that wasn't the best idea.

"I'll see you later."

"Yeah, bye."

I slowly wandered to Maths, trying to miss as much as I possibly could, knowing that it would drag. I'd never really enjoyed Maths, and to be totally honest, I didn't know why I'd bothered to take A Level maths, it must've just been another crazy moment where I thought I could succeed.

When I entered the classroom, as expected, all eyes were on me. Everyone wanted to know why I was late. However nothing was said and Mr Chalk nodded at me, giving me an encouraging smile as I took my seat.

"Right, so as I was saying..." Chalky continued to talk to the class and I got out everything I needed for the lesson.

"Hey, what was wrong with you at break?" Imogen whispered. "I was worried, but I didn't come after you and Clarkson because I knew he'd sort it..."

"I'm fine. Just something to do with my Dad. He's coming up tomorrow." I told her.

"Oh, why's he coming up?"

"Nan died last night." I whispered, trying to forget the words that had just left my lips. I didn't want to remember it all, I couldn't break down again in front of everyone. "But I don't want to talk about it."

Imogen's face dropped. She appeared shocked about the news I'd just told her. "God, I am so sorry Luce." She whispered, then faced the front of the classroom, not mentioning anything else about it.

Eventually, the end of the day came, however I knew that I still had an hour left. Luckily Kevin had agreed to help me out with my ICT work, so I headed towards the sixth form area to wait for him.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm and yanked me into a classroom, I gasped, then realised it was Tom and giggled.

"You know, you should be more careful with me.. I'm still fragile." I teased.

"Well in that case, I won't touch you again then." He smirked and stepped back from me.

"I didn't say I didn't want you to touch me." I said, reaching out and grabbing his shirt, pulling him towards me. I leant back onto the filing cabinet and he placed his hands either side of my head, then leant down and pressed his lips to mine. As usual my heart pounded and my stomach filled with butterflies, but as always, I knew it had to end. I waited a second then gently tore us apart.

"Don't you have something to be doing?" I questioned.

"It can wait a few minutes." He said, leaning down to kiss me again. Before his lips managed to reach mine, we were interrupted by my phone starting to buzz. I lifted my hand up to my pocket, and Tom quickly stopped my hand. "Ignore it." he whispered.

I did as he said, and our lips met again, the buzzing stopping. We continued to share our moment before my phone buzzed again. I pulled back and grabbed my phone out of my pocket. "It's probably just Kevin, wondering where I am."

"Well in that case, I'm going to have to let you go, aren't I?" He stepped back again and turned to his desk.

I answered my phone and told Kevin I was in the loo, and would meet him in a few minutes, then hung up and looked at Tom. "Isn't Mr Byrne waiting for you?"

"He is. I'm supposed to be helping him find a new chemistry teacher, now that Miss Diamond has resigned."

"Hm, well, good luck." I smiled at him and walked towards the door. "I'll see you at four."

"You will." He smiled back at me, then picked up some things from his desk.

Kevin and I worked on my ICT work for a little while, then spent the rest of the time talking about my messed up family. He was a great person to talk to, and he always stayed so calm about things, no matter what.

After Tom and I had arrived home, we'd ordered a take away, then spent the rest of the night cuddled up on the sofa. He still had no clue what to do about our situation, neither of us did, but neither of us wanted to stop. I'd never felt more comfortable around anyone in my whole entire life, he made me feel special... Like a princess. Like I was actually worth something and not just a waste of space.

I couldn't imagine being without him now.