Chapter One

I walked into my history class, expecting the same old thing. But when I went to sit down, my teacher walked in. I automatically noticed he got a haircut, shaved his face, and put on a nice clean-cut suit. I leaned over and whispered to Ella. “What happened to him?”

                “He changed.” She said, looking at her phone. I pulled out my huge history textbook from my backpack and discreetly stared at him. As if having a crush on the teacher was bad enough, it’s going to get even worse now that he’s gone and done this. I wish a teacher dating a student wasn’t against the law, I could get used to his nice big arms wrapped around me and relaxing by the fire after a long day at school. I must have dazed off because I was suddenly shoved by Ella. “Ashlee! He’s called your name five times.” I looked at Mr. Martin and shyly giggled under my breath.

                “Present.” He smirked and shook his head.

                “Ok guys, today we’re pairing up for an Ancient Greece project.” He counted how many of us were in the class. “There are going to be three people in each group. Ashlee, Bree, Ella, you’re group one.” Oh great, this is going to be the greatest project in the world. We pushed our desks together while he named off the other groups and got out our notebooks. I had to quickly flip through the first six pages because I doodled his name over and over again. “What I want you to do is to come up with your perfect city-state. If you’re a girl, come up with the perfect husband, list all of his qualities and looks. If you’re a boy, do the same but with a wife. Get to it. You’ll be presenting these at the end of the week.” He went and sat down at his desk, opening his grade book. I couldn’t help but stare at his gorgeous ice blue eyes and nice light brown hair. There were suddenly fingers in my face, snapping at me.

                “Ash! Stop staring!” I shook my head and got my blue pen from my purse and started writing down characteristics. When we were all done writing them down, we decided to share with each other. “My perfect husband has blonde hair and emerald green eyes, he’s super sweet and does what he can to make me happy.” Bree said, smiling at her notebook.

                “My perfect husband has black hair with chocolate brown eyes. He’s super nerdy and loves to read the books I do. He loves me no matter what I look like.” Ella said, sighing at her notebook. We all know that’s about Cody. She’s been in love with him since eighth grade. They looked at me and suddenly I was nervous about saying the characteristics out loud. I don’t want him to accidently over hear.

                “My perfect husband has ice blue eyes and floppy light brown hair. He is a leader and he likes to take charge. He is the epitome of perfect-“I was suddenly cut off by Bree scoffing. “What?”

                “You’re kidding right? Those are his characteristics! This isn’t healthy! You need to let it go!” She said, quietly scolding me while Ella just watched.

                “NO!” I screamed at her and suddenly everyone in class, including him, were watching us. I believe I felt my face go red and I ran out of the classroom, with Mr. Martin calling after me. I ran down to the hall and sat down on the floor against the wall. I heard footsteps coming down the hall and I was suddenly nervous. They stopped right in front of me and when I looked up, my face went bright red again.

                “Are you okay?” He asked, kneeling down in front of me. I took a short breath in and looked at my fingers, which were shaking pretty badly.

                “I’m fine...” I said, leaning back against the wall again.

                “Are you sure? You ran out of the classroom pretty quickly.”

                “I’m positive. I just…” I’m trying to think of a quick answer to tell him because he can’t know about anything that is going on inside my mind. “I just embarrassed myself is all.” I laughed nervously, hoping he would leave it at that. But, instead of doing what I wanted him so desperately to do, he sat down on the floor right next to me. I could feel my heart pounding so hard inside of my chest and I felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. I really hope he can’t hear how hard it’s pounding. ``

                “Why don’t you tell me what happened? I can try to help in the best way I can.”

                “No!” I said, really fast without even thinking. He looked at me like he was a little offended. “I mean- It’s a girl thing.” I hit myself in the forehead. “It’s a crush thing…It’s confusing.” He chuckled and I looked up at him.

                “How about this, we go back to class and after school you stay after. We can talk about this confusing stuff.” He stood up and held his hand out for me to grab. I was wondering if this was my mind playing tricks on me but I reached for it anyways. When I touched his hand, I felt a jolt of electricity shoot through my body and my heart started pounding harder than I thought it could have at that point. He pulled me up and I tripped over my own two feet, falling into him and feeling his arms around me for a split second felt like heaven. I wanted to stay there and enjoy it forever but I jumped back quickly.

                “I am so sorry!” I felt my face go hot and it was a sign that I was very red in the face. “I’m just… I’m gonna go.” I sped walked down the hall and into the classroom. Everyone in the room stopped talking and watched me. I looked at the board and my eyes went wide. “Who wrote that?!” I screamed at everyone and I didn’t even wait for an answer before I tried going to erase it but Mr. M came into the room before I got a chance to do it. “Oh my god…” I said under my breath. He looked at the board and then at the class.

                “Who wrote that?” No one spoke up and I could nearly feel my heart stop. “I know it wasn’t Ashlee. She was out of the room.” Still, no one said anything and I just wanted to die of embarrassment. “If someone doesn’t come up and erase this right now, the whole class will be staying after with the principal.” I tried going to the board to erase it but Mr. M put his hand on my shoulder and I felt chills all up and down my spine and goosebumps appeared everywhere. “Not you Ashlee.” He kept his hand on my shoulder until Bree stood up and erased it off the board. “Thank you. I want everyone to write a 1500 word essay on how bullying is wrong and I want it on my desk tomorrow morning before first block.” Everyone groaned and the bell rang. They all scuffled out of there as I walked over to my desk to pack my stuff up. I wiped my eyes and put my backpack on my shoulder.

                “I’m sorry about all of this Mr. M…” I said, looking at my feet. “I don’t know who or why they wrote that on the board.” I sat down, remembering I was staying after school with him.

                “So, what is so confusing?” He asked, sitting on the desk. I felt my eyes water and I was trying to avoid looking at him but I looked up anyways.

                “Let’s just say…I like someone, so much, that I’m not supposed to.”

                “Does that have anything to do with what was written on the board?” I nodded my head and put my head down on the desk. “Which teacher is it?” I felt my heart come to a complete stop for what felt like forever and forced myself to look up at him.

                “I would rather not say if you don’t mind…” The door suddenly opened and Ella walked in, looking at her feet.

                “Mr. M? I wanted to tell you who wrote that on the board.” He stood up and walked over to her, leaning on the door frame. “Bree said it out loud, which got a punch in the arm from me,” I giggled and wiped my eyes. “Then Kayla went and wrote it on the board.”

                “Ella, I appreciate you coming and telling me this. You don’t have to write the essay for coming clean and you’re a good friend and student.”

                “Thanks.” She smiled and looked at me. “Ash, do you need a ride home?”

                “No thanks. I feel like walking today.” She nodded and left. I got up quickly and walked to the door. “I should get headed. It takes me a half hour to get home.”

                “Wait. I want to rearrange my classroom. If you help me, I’ll give you a ride home.” It’s like he wants me to be there longer. Should I stay?

                “Um…sure.” I set my bag down by the door and turned around. He got off the door frame and walked over to the desks.

                “I’m thinking… my desk can go right in front and then there will be rows facing my desk.” I shook my head quickly. “What are you thinking?”

                “How about…” I grabbed a piece of paper and drew my plan out. “We have a lot of the desks in a u shape and then there are four rows in the middle in front of your desk?” I handed him the paper and bit my lip watching him look it over with his beautiful eyes.

                “Yeah… I like that idea.” He smiled and it made me smile happily. We started moving the desks around and it took about ten minutes to get them all arranged.  “Okay, now we have to move my desk but it’s pretty heavy. Are you ready?” I nodded and grabbed the end of his desk. “Ready? On three. One…Two…Three!” We lifted the desk and moved it to the front of the classroom. When I set it down, it slipped and fell on my middle toe.

                “OW!” I screamed, pulling my foot from under the desk and sitting down quickly. I tried taking my boot off and tears sprung to my eyes from the pain. “I can’t get my boot off.” He kneeled down and pulled my boot off carefully and pulling the sock of carefully as well. “My toe is purple…”

                “Yeah…It looks broken… I can drive you home and then your mom can take you to the hospital.” My mom probably won’t even be there, considering she’s too busy with work to care about me.

                “Can you just take me? My mom is still at work.”

                “You’ll have to call and get permission for me to bring you there.” I sighed and grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed my mom.

                “Hello?” She answered, annoyed.

                “Hey mom. It’s Ashlee.”

                “Where are you?!” She shouted into the phone, loud enough for Mr. M to hear.

                “I stayed after school today. Listen, I think I may have broken my toe. I need to go up to the hospital.” I covered the bottom of the phone. “What do I say?”

                “Say your friend’s dad. It would be weird to say your teacher.” I nodded and uncovered the phone.

                “My friend’s dad said he would take me.”

                “Fine. But as soon as you get home, you’re grounded and going straight to your room.” I rolled my eyes.

                “Fine. Goodbye.” I hung up on her before she got a chance to say anything. I looked over at him. “We can go now.” I hopped of the desk and almost fell but he caught me in his warm arms. “Sorry, I’m such a klutz.” I wasn’t really sorry because I absolutely adored being in his arms.

                “No worries…You broke your toe.”

                “I just realized something… How am I supposed to carry my bag? Or walk?” He set me down on the desk.

                “One minute.” He walked over to the door and grabbed my bag, walking out of the classroom. I smiled to myself and thought about how amazing it felt to be held by him. I just wish he wasn’t a teacher because than I would be with him. He walked back into the classroom and over to me. “Your bag is in my car.” He lifted my chin because I was staring at the ground, which shocked me. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?” My heart just stopped completely. He leaned down and gently pressed his lips against mine, making my heart literally jump outta my chest. When he pulled back, he kept repeating my name over and over again. Suddenly, there was a loud clap in front of my face, pulling me back into reality.

                “Sorry! I kind of dazed off.” I said, fiddling with my fingers.

                “It’s fine. Your bag is in my car.”

                “How am I going to walk?” He took a hold of my arm and put it around his neck, lifting me bridal-style. “What are you doing??”

                “Well…you can’t walk and I really want to get home. My cat will be wondering where his wet food is.” I giggled and smiled. “Why are you smiling so much?”

                “No reason.” I realized I was shaking from being so nervous and I was really hoping he wouldn’t notice but of course, since he is carrying me after all, he does.

                “Why are you shaking so badly?”

                “I’m not sure. I’m probably just cold.” He nodded and set me down in the front seat when we got to his car. He shut the door, and I squealed. I don’t think he noticed but it was pretty obvious. He got in the car and turned the key in the ignition, making the car roar to life. He backed out of the parking lot and drove off into the street. “So…how old are you?” I asked, twiddling my thumbs.

                “I’ll be twenty-three in three weeks. Why?”

                “Everyone in our grade thinks you’re like thirty-seven. I knew you couldn’t possibly be that old. Considering this is your second year teaching. I knew you weren’t old.” I swear I saw him smile and my heart frenzied into a fluttering attack. I swear, one of these days I’m going to die from him being so amazing.

                “How old are you Ashlee?” He asked, taking a left turn onto the main street.

                “I’m seventeen. Well, I will be in a couple days.”

                “So, you’re a Christmas baby then? That must be cool.” I shrugged. “Why not?”

                “My birthday just gets meshed with Christmas and everyone forgets about my birthday because they’re too busy with Christmas to care.” My phone started ringing and when I pulled it out, I saw my mom’s caller ID pop up. Great, what does she want? I slid the bar to answer it. “Hello?”

                “Where the hell are you Ashlee?!” My mom’s shrill voice rang through the other end.

                “I’m going to the hospital Mom, remember? I think I broke my toe.”

                “Um, no you’re not. Get your good for nothing a*s back here.”

                “No! I know you don’t care about me but I do and I’m getting my toe checked out! I’m going to be home when I want to, not when you want me to!” I hung up the phone and looked out the window, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to spill from my eyes.

                “Are you okay?” He asked, with a sincere caring tone in his voice. It just made me more upset and I wiped my eyes.

                “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing new and she can be a lot worse than that.” I mentally hit myself in the forehead. “I’m used to it though.”

                “Has she ever hit you before?” I quickly covered my wrist with the sleeve of my coat and looked at him. I wasn’t answering fast enough so he pulled over and looked at me. “Has she?”

                “Not really.” I said, looking away.

                “Ashlee.” I looked back at him and he was looking right at me. “That’s not an answer.”

                “Sometimes. I piss her off and deserve it most of the time.” He looked out the windshield and leaned back on his seat, sighing.

                “No one deserves it.” He started driving again. “If you ever need anyone to talk to, I’m always here.” I nodded and looked out the window. When we go to the hospital, he got out and helped me out of the car. “Do you want me to carry you again?” That is such an unfair question. Of course I want him to carry me again but I don’t think I need him to. I took a step and almost fell flat on my face so he picked me up again. Guess I did need him to carry me. He brought me into the emergency entrance and checked me in. He set me down in a chair and sat next to me. I was still so nervous about him being so nice to me and treating me like a person instead of a student. “How’s your toe feeling?”

                “It hurts like hell. It’s like throbbing really fast.” Like my heart when you look at me. “It actually is bleeding a little near the toenail. I didn’t notice that before.” He patted his knee and I was confused until he pointed to my foot. He wants me to put my foot on his knee. This is getting to be too much for my little heart. He’s going to kill me. I slowly put my foot on his knee and he looked at it. The doctor called us in and he carried me to the room the doctor said we would be in.

                “So, what happened to your toe?” The doctor asked, examining it.

                “I dropped a desk on it. I was helping my teacher rearrange his room.”

                “It’s definitely broken. I’m gonna have a nurse put a cast on it and get you some pain medication.” I nodded and he left the room.

                “I’m sorry.” I shrugged and scooted back more on the table they had me sit on.

                “It gets me out of gym for a while.” He started laughing and I smiled. “What?” He looked at me.

                “You’re just funny.” Mr. M tells me. I giggled and looked at my hands. “Ashlee.” I looked up at him. “Your mom hitting you isn’t okay.” I sighed.

                “I know. She just can’t help it though. She hates me.”

                “I’m sure she doesn’t hate you.” He said, crossing his arms.

                “Yes, she does. I’m just an inconvenience for her. She’s told me this on numerous occasions.”  He got up and sat on the table next to me. “I don’t understand why she still has me around.”

                “She has you because she loves you.” I shrugged and tuned him out while the nurse put the cast on my toe. She got me crutches and had me practice walking with them around the room. We thanked her and went back out to his car. He opened the door and helped me get in with the crutches. It was a silent ride back to my house and as I was getting out, he handed me a pen and paper. “Write your number down.”

                “Why?” I asked, writing my number down.

                “I’m going to send you my number and a picture for the contact. If you ever need anyone, call me or text me. You can also talk to me at school. Just don’t think you’re alone.” I nodded and got out of his car and watched him drive away. I opened the door to my house and went in, nearly tripping over my pissed off mother whizzing into the foyer.

                “Where have you been?! The house is a mess!” I rolled my eyes and crutched past her.

                “I told you, I was at the hospital. I can’t clean and I’m supposed to stay off my toe as frequently as I can.”

                “I don’t care!! The kitchen needs cleaning!!” My mom followed me into the kitchen and pointed everything out. “The dishes are piling up and there’s nothing cooking!” I grabbed a drink and went to my room where she followed me yet again.

                “Well, why don’t you do it?! Or Jason?! You guys are the ones who probably made the damn mess!” She struck me across the face hard and I fell onto my bed.

                “Don’t you ever talk back to me again you insolent little b***h.” She left the room, slamming my door. My phones text tone went off and I looked at it.  This is weird. I opened the message.

Michael: Hey Ashlee, how are you doing?

Ashlee: I’m doing okay. Moms pissed at me for not being able to clean.

Michael: How’s your toe?

Ashlee: Broken.

Michael: Obviously.

Ashlee: It feels a little better I guess. Um…

Michael: What?

Ashlee: This is just a little weird texting my teacher…

Michael: Oh. Okay, I’ll see you in school tomorrow then.

Ashlee: Okay.

 

That was weird. The picture he sent me was adorable though.  I got up and crutched to the bathroom and looked at my eye. It was starting to swell and turn purple. I tried getting a warm washcloth and setting it on it to help it. It stung and watered really easily. I went back to my bed, laid down, and fell asleep thinking about how my day had gone with Mich- I mean, Mr. M.

 

Author's Note

I'm back! Tell me what you think :)

Reviews

[John Duprey]

Very interesting concept! I love the forbidden concept of teacher and student because it makes for interesting secrecy.

[Maya Jane]

I love the flow of this story. It's got tension, a little bit of romance, and a forbidden nature to it. It makes me want to see what is going to happen with Mr. Martin and Ashlee. It's a great idea and I want to see how the ending turns out.

[Bre-Anna miller]

i love it i can't wait to see what happens next