Chapter 12
I turned my back to him as I silently shut the door, acutely aware of his intense gaze on me by the prickling down the back of my neck. As I spun round to face him, he swiftly looked back down at his papers, feigning concentration as his jaw clenched. My eyebrows pulled together in concern; his whole demeanour was cold and unwelcoming.
Timidly, I approached his desk, fidgeting unconsciously with the bottom of my top. I hovered there uncertainly, until at last he could no longer ignore my presence. He put down his pen with a sigh.
“Is there something you require from me, Miss Miller?” he asked abruptly, his gaze hard and uninviting.
“I-I just wanted to thank you for last night, Sir.” I said hesitantly, giving him a small smile. “I’m glad that there’s someone I’m finally able to trust.” He sighed again, his expression softening slightly as a little warmth slowly returned.
“No worries, there was no need to cut short your date with Alex to thank me.”
He returned to his work, picking up a pen and scribbling a note underneath the opening paragraph. I fought back a smile; could this really be the reason why he was acting so hostile? Pure and simple jealously?
‘Don’t be stupid!’ I thought, suppressing the urge to roll my eyes at my own wishful thinking.‘He’s probably just trying to distance himself from you after last night!’
“Alex and I are just friends,” I muttered, watching his facial reaction intently. His eyebrows rose slightly, but I could not decipher his expression.
“For now,” he remarked smoothly.
“For always!” I retorted in exasperation. “I don’t like him that way!”
Mr Cooper cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Your relationship with other students is totally irrelevant to me, Miss Miller,” he said, his voice devoid of any emotion. “I was just commenting on the fact that you needn’t feel obliged to thank me. After all, I was just fulfilling my duty as a teacher. The welfare of our students is our number one priority.”
“Oh,” I said, completely thrown off balance. My stomach clenched and hurt washed through me as I absorbed his indifference.
“Now, if you will excuse me,” he continued, as he shuffled together his papers into an untidy pile and scooped them under his arm. “I really need to get these papers marked before lunch. I’m on a tight schedule.”
I stood there gaping, as he got to his feet and strode across the room towards the door.
“Wait!” I blurted out, unable to hold back my words. He paused with his fingers on the handle, his shoulders tensed at the pain inflected in my voice. I saw his fingers twitch and then tighten as he opened the door halfway.
“Please, J-Jared,” I begged, my voice cracking as I spoke his name. He froze again, before turning round in resignation. My breath caught as I saw the conflict in his face; his eyes were like deep wells of despair.
YOU ARE READING
Chemical Attraction (Student/Teacher Relationship)
Teen FictionWhat would you do if you lost everything that ever mattered to you? When Phoebe Miller loses her family in a car crash, her answer is to simply close in on herself. She is too scared to get close to someone new, due to the fear of losing someone els...
