Chemical Attraction (Student/Teacher Relationship)

Chemical Attraction Chapter 22

Rolling over so she was on top, Stacey violently punched me in the stomach and viciously pulled my hair. I fended her off as best as I could, slapping her hands away but everything was a messy blur.

I could hear excited shouts and felt the claustrophobic presence of students pressing close around us, as the fight chant began. Adrenaline pulsed through my blood and I writhed furiously on the floor, once again rolling over on top. I raised my hand to slap her again but was abruptly dragged away, enclosed in a pair of strong arms.

“Let go of me!” I shrieked my head off, and my elbow collided with the person’s stomach. I heard a groan of pain, and I jumped with shock as I recognised the voice.

“Phoebe, calm down! It’s me!” I heard Mr Cooper pant.

I let him pull me a safe distance away from Stacey, who was now struggling in the arms of Mr Thompson, my maths teacher. Her face was streaked black and red from mascara and tears and her blonde hair was a tangled mess. I felt a savage, animalistic pride stir within me, before I was overcome with sudden exhaustion. Crumpling to the floor, I broke into uncontrollable sobs, my body going into shock.

I could hear Mr Cooper speaking to me in soothing whispers, but I could no longer process what he was saying. Everything had become too much for me. I wanted to scream and shout, and lash out in anger against the world, but I was overwhelmingly tired. The full impact of the pain was creeping up on me, and I winced as my salty tears stung the scratches on my face and my left ankle started to throb.

Eventually, I calmed down enough to realise that the canteen was practically deserted; all the students had left, hurried out by the teachers. Stacey had been sat down a couple of tables away with Mr Thompson and was glaring at me, her eyes dark with loathing. I flinched and averted my eyes. It suddenly hit me that antagonising her had not been the best thing to do, considering she still knew about me and Mr Cooper. I bit my lip anxiously at the thought.

Suddenly, the canteen door was flung open and the headmaster strode in. My stomach flipped at the sight of his furious expression. I could see a vein throbbing in his temple, and his bushy eyebrows were two straight, angry lines. He was livid.

“Mr Cooper, Mr Thompson, please escort these students to the nurse to get cleaned up, and then bring them to my office immediately!” he ordered curtly, before storming out.

I buried my face in my hands and moaned. I was going to be expelled, I knew it…

“Come on, Phoebe. Up you get.” Mr Cooper murmured in encouragement, pulling me off the floor.

I struggled to my feet and quickly realised that I couldn’t put any weight on my left leg without serious pain. Almost falling over again, I clutched at Mr Cooper’s shirt, and he grabbed my shoulders to steady me. His hands lingered slightly and I shook them off, casting a nervous look in Stacey’s direction, but fortunately, she had already left with Mr Thompson.

“I can’t walk,” I gasped. “My ankle…”

Pursing his lips, Mr Cooper stared at my ankle. I could already see that it was beginning to swell up, and the throbbing pain was intensifying.

“I’d carry you,” Mr Cooper said. “But I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’ll just have to lean your weight on me and hobble along as best as you can.”

Luckily, the nurse’s room was located fairly close to the canteen, but it still took quite a while to get there. I buried my face into Mr Cooper’s chest as I limped along, secretly inhaling his warm, comforting scent, calming my frazzled nerves.

By the time I arrived, the nurse had already finished checking up on Stacey.

“You’re perfectly fine,” she said briskly to Stacey, her voice laced with icy disapproval. She had obviously been informed of the fight. “Just a couple of scratches and bruises.”

 Her eyes alighted on me and my awkward positioning of body weight and flicked down to my ankle.

 “Oh dear,” she said softly. “That’s going to need to be bandaged.”

 Guiding me over to the bed, she sat me down carefully while she thoroughly examined my left ankle. I yelped as she tried to touch it and gingerly moved my leg away.

 “Hmmm, definitely a sprain,” she said. “But luckily it’s not too serious. I’m going to bandage it for compression and it’s going to need to be iced on 20 minute cycles for the next few days. But you’re certainly not in a position to go walking around the school, even if it is to the Head’s office. Your ankle needs rest. You’ll both have to stay here and someone will have to fetch Mr Jackman over.”

 Her instructions were firm and neither of the teachers dared to argue.

 “I’ll go fetch him,” Mr Thompson volunteered, and swiftly left the room.

 While we waited, Nurse Hutchinson firmly wrapped up my ankle, and I gritted my teeth so as not to express any pain in front of Stacey. I wouldn’t give her that victory. She then placed my ankle on a chair for elevation and draped an ice pack across it.

 “Better?” she asked, and I nodded weakly. Now that I wasn’t putting any weight on it, the pain was receding, and the ice pack was helping reduce the swelling and tenderness.

 The nurse then briskly cleaned up the scratches on my face, tut-tutting as she did so.

 “Fighting on school property,” she said, shaking her head crossly. “You’re both young women, not wild animals! What on earth were you thinking?”

 I looked away shame-faced, risking a glance towards Mr Cooper. He was staring at the floor, seemingly deep in thought. His face, usually so easy for me to read, was closed off and uninviting and his eyes were hard. I deliberately didn’t look in Stacey’s direction. I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing her smug expression and somehow wished I’d been able to inflict some real damage. But maybe it was for the best that I hadn’t, considering the circumstances.

 Sighing slightly, I shifted around on the bed, trying to get more comfortable. Then the nurse’s door swung open, and Mr Jackman entered, followed by Mr Thompson. His eyes shifted around the room, taking in my bandaged ankle and shame-faced expression. He fixed both me and Stacey with a piercing glare and his voice rumbled like thunder as he spoke.

 “Miss Miller? Miss Turner? There had better be a very good explanation for this.”