Honor Student

chapter Three

“Emma? You think this is funny?” he scolded me. I tried to stifle my giggles and shake my head no, but when I held back a laugh, I also stopped breathing causing me to feel woozy. He grabbed my upper arm and squeezed entirely too tightly, pulling me down the hall towards his room. Luckily, the halls were empty and no one saw how ridiculous I was behaving.

“You’re lucky I don’t have a class this period.” He said as he glanced around the hall before shutting his door, pulling down the little shade that covered the window. It suddenly hit me that I could be suspended, and all the suffering I had been putting up with would be for nothing. He ran his hands through his chestnut brown hair and it fell perfectly back into place. I realized I was staring and quickly looked away as he fidgeted with his ruler. I should have been pleading with him to not report me but my head swirled and I just could not summon the energy to care. I bit my lip nervously and waited for him to yell at me some more.

“Stop biting your lip.” He said angrily and slapped the ruler on the desk, apparently losing his train of thought. I jumped and bit my lip harder by accident, drawing blood.

“I’m sorry.” I said under my breath, not knowing what else to say. I touched my lip and pulled my fingers back, looking at the smattering of blood. He stood up from his desk and walked towards me. My stomach fluttered. He brushed his thumb across my lower lip, his blue eyes locked dead onto mine. I sucked in a ragged breath and held it, afraid that if I moved it would break me from this dream.

“Breathe.” He whispered as he leaned in close enough for me to feel his warm breath across my face, sending a chill down my body. A loud ringing broke the spell and he closed his eyes for a moment before turning to dig his cell phone out from his pocket. I stood there awkwardly as he talked. His answers were clipped and I could not tell if the person he was talking to was male or female. His eyes danced up and down my body as he spoke and I could feel my cheeks burning. I bit the edge of my lip but quickly released it as he narrowed his eyes at me. I decided to start wandering around the room and reading the posters on the wall. I felt rude standing there listening to his conversation.

“You should get to your next class. The bells about to ring.” He said quietly into my ear. His hot breath on my neck made my body melt. I had not even heard him end his call.

“So, I’m not in trouble?” I asked, too nervous to turn around and face him.

“I didn’t say that.” From the tone of his voice, I could tell that he was smiling. I sucked in another ragged breath and nodded my head.

“Yes, Sir” I grabbed my books just as the bell rang and snuck back out into the hall as everyone else filtered out of their classrooms. I could not tell if I was still buzzing from the weed or from my encounter with Mr. Honor. Halfway down the hall Claire and Becka rushed to my side.

“Oh my God Emma I am so sorry!” Becka apologized.

“Who was it?” Claire asked, she had looped her arm with mine and I was not sure if it was a friendly gesture or if she was still too stoned to walk straight.

“Come on! Tell us! Did you get in trouble?” Becka asked, stepping in front of me so I would have to answer.

“I think it will be okay.” I replied, not sure what had just happened. Part of me thought I had made it all up.

“Did you tell them our names?” Claire asked and I could tell all she was worried about was herself. I paused for a moment as they hung onto my every breath.

“No. I did not say your names. You guys owe me big!” I finally said, letting them off the hook. They threw their arms around me and thanked me. “I got to go. I can’t miss another class.” I said as I pried their arms off me. Claire frowned.

“Want to hang out later?” she asked. I did not know how to respond.

“Get to class, Ladies!” A voice boomed from behind us and goose bumps suddenly covered my body. It was Mr. Honor. Claire and Becka reluctantly let go of me and I snuck a glance over my shoulder. His blue eyes burned into mine. I turned back around quickly and made my way into class.

Everything was a blur. I could not keep my mind off him. At the end of class, Becka and Claire were waiting by the door.

“Here’s my number if you want to go out after classes.” Claire said as they followed me down the hall. It was the end of the day and Mr. Honor was standing outside of his classroom as we filed by. I could not help but stare at him.

“We were thinking of checking out that new scary movie everyone is raving about. It starts at eight.” She continued, oblivious to the fact that I was not paying attention.

“Sure.” I said, not really knowing what I was agreeing to. Mr. Honor smirked and I could not help but grin back at him.

“So you’ll come?” Becka asked and I stopped dead in my tracks as Mr. Honor slid back inside his classroom. “Yea, I’ll come. What time did you say?” I asked.

“Eight o’clock. Don’t be late, the place will be packed!” She warned me and I smiled.

“I’ll be there.” I promised and they headed off to the parking lot.