Madame Williams ( teacherxstudent )

19

DIANE'S POV

It was odd having Lou missing class, and based on what her counselor had said when I asked, she was 'ill' and 'resting'. I sighed because that didn't sound like a reason for Lou to suddenly stop going to school, she would have found a way to contact me, to let me know. But she didn't and that scared me... it scared the worst part of me: my paranoia.

My school shift had ended and I was in my classroom finishing grading some papers, and then I came through with Lou's one. She had added a little note at the side of the paper, drawing a smiley face and a 'hello'. It made me smile and chuckle.

Lou was complicated, Lou was trouble yet she was angelic and well behaved when her brain wasn't filled by things that made her rage. She was a labyrinth, and also such a simple map to read... yeah she had taken over my thoughts in a matter of seconds and I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing. I wanted to speak to her, get some reassurance that what we did during the weekend wasn't something 'predator of me' or a mistake.

Maybe telling her I loved her was the wrong choice and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

So I gathered my things, put the papers in the folder I had them in, and got ready to leave school.

I jumped in my car and stopped at my house, then I drove to Lou's.

I knocked twice on the door, hoping to meet with her eyes, instead I found someone else there.

"Hey, how may I help you?" The redheaded woman asked me, showing me a friendly smile.

I smiled back at her and hoped I didn't look as nervous as I felt, "Hi, I'm Diane Williams. Laura's English teacher. Sorry for coming like this, out of the blue."

"Ah! Williams! It's so nice meeting you. I've heard a lot about you." Mrs Jensen said, opening the door wide open, "Come on in."

So I did come in. The woman closed the door to her house and then guided me to their living room. I saw some of Lou's school books on top of a coffee table that soon her mother quickly removed from there.

"Want some coffee? Tea?"

"No, thank you. I'm alright," I said, "Mrs Jensen, I bet you must wonder why I'm here." I said politely, feeling a knot form in my stomach. I sat down on one of the couches.

"What did she do?"

"Oh, Lou? She's done nothing... she's an impecable student." I said truthfully, looking around, getting to meet this new place I hadn't seen before. There were a lot more pictures of Nicole than Lou, but the ones of baby Lou were definitely my forever favorites.

Mrs Jensen's eyes widened, "She is?"

I nodded, "Yes, indeed. She's the best in my class. I came to deliver her this." I handed Mrs Jensen the book that I had in my hand and she smiled down at its cover.

"I read this in high school, I remember." She ran her manicured fingers on the book's cover and sat on a sofa nearby.

"It's a classic." I cleared my throat, "The class will start reading it and I wanted to give it to Lou. I know she must be ill and tired, but I figured it would be better if she was ahead than behind."

Mrs Jensen looked up to me, "You know, I imagined you were older, not this young." She motioned to me and I blushed at the compliment.

"Thank you, Mrs. Jensen. That's very kind of you." She was not a monster like Lou had described, she was pretty decent. "Actually, I hope I'm not intruding, but I was hoping to see Laura."

"Oh, sure." She handed me back the book, "She's upstairs. In her room I assume."

"Okay," I muttered and stood up. Mrs Jensen directed me to the stairs and as soon as I started walking upstairs, I heard her muffled crying. Her mother disappeared into what I thought was the kitchen, so she couldn't hear.

There was a bedroom in which there was no door, and I immediately knew it was hers... the decoration, the poetry books... her backpack. There was another door from which the crying came from.

I sighed, my heart aching for her. I knocked on the door twice, "Just leave me alone!" She cried.

She must have assumed I was her mother, so I went ahead and opened the door, "Leave!" She cried again.

Laura was cuddled in her sister's bed, her back was to me and I couldn't see her face, but I could tell she was wearing a shirt of mine that she must have stolen from our secret trip.

"Leave me alone, please." She whispered.

I pouted, feeling depressed all of the sudden and closed the door behind me, "It's me."

She turned around almost immediately and I met her red eyes and puffy face. I dropped the copy of 'War and Peace' to the floor as I walked quickly to her.  I sat down on the edge of the bed and grabbed her in my arms. Lou rested her face against my chest and pushed me to her with her arms.

She started crying again, "I missed you. You missed a lot these past classes..." I chuckled a little, feeling sad for her, for whatever that made her cry.

"I missed you too." Lou whispered in between shaky breaths.

I caressed her hair, "Kiss me," Lou requested.

I groaned, "Lou, we can't now."

"Please."

I pecked her lips quickly, thinking her mother could appear any minute and I wouldn't be able to explain. Lou looked demolished, like someone had beaten her to death... emotionally speaking.

She sniffed and pulled away slightly, but still grabbing onto me tightly, "I was grounded all week, I couldn't go to school... and I'm sorry I didn't tell you. She took my phone and all, she checks on me every twenty minutes, just to make sure I haven't left the house.

I felt sorry for her and pecked her lips again, how much I had missed her lips... and her eyes... her beautiful blue eyes.

"What happened?" I asked her, brushing tears away from her eyes with my thumb.

She looked down and rested her forehead against my shoulder, "When you dropped me off, I found Nicole and my mother waiting for me in the kitchen. Turns out lying didn't do its trick this time." She shrugged her shoulders.

And a sense of deep guilt washed over me. If I hadn't taken her with me this weekend, none of this would have happened. "I'm so sorry, Lou."

"Don't be, please. I had a blast, and I loved spending time with you." She said in a lowest tone, figuring that they weren't alone in the house, "Why are you here though, did my mom let you in?!"

"Yeah, yeah. I told her I wanted to see you... she seems decent."

Lou rolled her eyes at me and I giggled, "She's a homophobe and all, but she did offer me something to drink."

"She's just being polite because you're hot."

I laughed out loud, "Oh really?" I said with my best British accent.

Lou laughed out loud now, "I hate you."

"You love me," I raised an eyebrow at her and moved some hairs away from her puffy face.