Teacher's pet

chapter 5: after school

After German class, I went to the science block, walking very slowly in hope that one of the other seven people would reach him before me.

He was waiting at the open door of our classroom. He smiled at me as I approached him.
"Hello joy, come inside"
"Hi sir, has no one else arrived yet?", I asked bewildered, as I stepped into the classroom.
He closed the door behind me. The sharp noise of the door screeching across the floor felt like a warning to me. Maybe I should make up an excuse and leave.
"They told me they're not coming today, they have something to attend to" he said suddenly walking to his chair.

Really? What was it that all of them has to attend?
Suddenly I felt like I shouldn't be here.
"So would you like practice questions or past papers?"
"Both if possible please" I replied.
He sat down at the front desk, I stayed standing opposite him. I mean this shouldn't take too long.
I stood awkwardly, shifting my weight from side to side.
"How are you feeling about the exam?"
"Um I'm a bit worried, I need to study a bit more"
"Okay I've printed out the things you asked for, let's go to the office and get them together" he said.
As he walked toward me, he spoke quietly-" Joy, you're so smart, amazing and beautiful, there's nothing for you to be worried about. As long as you prepare well, you'll do absolutely fantastic".
I smiled awkwardly, opening the door to get rid of the tension in the air.
He stopped me, putting his hand above mine and shutting the door.
I quickly pulled my hand back to myself, my heart racing.
He was opposite me, his face directly in front of me as he leaned down and in closer to me.
His stare was too intense...I looked down instead.
He whispered," if you need anything else, you are welcome to come to me whenever".
I attempted to smile again, hiding the discomfort I felt so strongly.

He opened the door and walked away, I followed him. I breathed a sigh of relief- at least I was out of such an awkward situation.

We reached the office. As I looked around, it was relatively empty. A single teacher was there but looked so engrossed in her work she didn't even notice us come in.

"Aw joy, the ink is out, I'm gonna have to replace it quickly"
"Oh okay, thank you"

The ink stock was next to me. I was just about to move away as I was obstructing the path to it-
He reached his arm out and picked up some of the ink cartridges.
My heart sunk when I realised the heavy feeling of his arm against my chest. I instinctively pushed my shoulders together, getting as much coverage as I possibly could. Then it was gone. He replaced the ink cartridges in the printer nonchalantly- as if nothing had happened.
He handed me the papers and I managed to say "thank you" before leaving as fast as I could.

As I walked out of the school and home, my mind was occupied. Despite the layers of uniform we had to wear, I could very much feel his forearm across my chest. He had pressed his arm so hard into my breasts in that short time that it had hurt. The sinister feeling lingered.
He had acted like it was nothing. Maybe it was an accidental brushing- no not brushing.
Anyhow, I felt uncomfortable and dirty. As soon as I reached home, I took a shower- scrubbing my body to remove the invisible dirt.

When I got dressed, I noticed the redness spiralling around my upper body in the mirror.