Easy A+

Chapter 1

Come to me, baby

– Lana Del Rey, Bel Air

. . . .

I feel myself getting overwhelmed. Sure, I haven't performed the greatest in this class. I've been trying extremely hard to keep up with the rest of my classes that this one has sort of been left on the back burner. When it comes to studying, I have far more classes that need prioritization over this one. On top of that, I've lost motivation for this class. Do I like to read? Yes. But do I like being told what to read and then be assigned work to follow up with after completing said book? Absolutely not.

Nevertheless, this is wildly inappropriate. He could go to prison, and my entire life would be scrutinized for as long as I'm in this town. The whole school would find out, and he would be in major trouble. I couldn't do that to him. He has so much at stake—we both do.

Although, I have been slipping with this grade. I'm excelling in the rest of the classes, but when it comes to this one, the tests are always difficult for me. I interpret something one way, and the test thinks differently. I truly do like reading and writing—that's never been an issue for me, but it's the damn tests.

"Woah, that's– The consequences are way too extreme for the both of us."

"We just can't get caught, then." He shifts in his seat and he picks at a small piece of lint on his pants. "Look, there's something about you. I can't explain it."

"I don't know..." I freeze midway and stare up at him.

I pause, thinking of a million things, but his beautiful face keeps pushing itself into the center of my thoughts. With the way my scores have been, I will never get my grade up past at least a B unless I start trying to analyze the material the way the test wants me to. So, before I can save both of us from failure, I agree. Is it mindless? Perhaps. Is it dangerous and risky? One hundred percent.

"But there is something you should know," I speak up before he can.

"What's that?"

My cheeks turn to fire and my heart feels like it's going to implode. Staring at the back of picture frames on his desk, I answer in a meek tone, "I've never had sex."

He's silent for a moment, seemingly like he didn't hear me, but when I glance at him, he's watching me with his head tilted to the side.

"We can work around that," is all he says as if it's as simple as that. "But first, there are some rules we both need to follow."

"Alright."

"Rule number one, no one, and I mean no one, will ever know what we're doing. If you ever need to speak to me about what we're doing, you must text or call me. Put my contact as a different name. Second–you cannot come up to me in the middle of school when someone can be listening. Thirdly, no sexual contact at school. And if you ever break any of these rules, I will drop your grade so low, it'll be impossible to raise it and when we plan to meet, we'll call it...Extra Credit. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," I nod briefly.

"The last thing, please, call me Harry."

This is all very disorienting to me. From the simple agreement, my heart rate is skyrocketing, my palms are sweaty, and my leg won't stop jumping. I agreed; why the hell did I agree? It's barely been two minutes since then and anxiety is bubbling up inside of me, threatening to explode and leave me panicked.

If it comes to the point of wanting to bail, will he let me? How long will this go on? Do I stop once I've reached an A level? If so, do we carry on without looking or speaking to one another? Lastly, and most importantly, I'm a virgin. I don't have any experience in this realm of life. Will I eventually lose my virginity to him or will it only be foreplay activities? These are all the questions I should and need to ask him, but I'm unable to carry the conversation on any further when he dismisses me.

"I think you should get back to your house, Miss Thomas."

I nod then gather my backpack that's leaning against the leg of the chair I recently sat on.

"Good work today. I will post grades tonight." He sits back in his chair and picks up the red pen he uses to check papers, reading over someone's essay.

"Thank you. See you in class tomorrow," I excuse myself, exit his stuffy office, and walk through his classroom to the hallway.

Moving along the gravel path to my dorm building, I get to my designated house before climbing the front porch steps. I step into the foyer and climb up the staircase to my bedroom that's right across from the bathroom. I open the door to see my best friend, Annie, sitting on her bed and looking through her phone.

"Where were you? You didn't come back to the house with the rest of us." She has her legs crossed against her wall. Her pale blonde hair fans out around her head.

"I just had to talk about an assignment with Mr. Styles." I slip my uncomfortable shoes off. I find a t-shirt and a pair of leggings, quickly changing into them and combing through my dark hair.

"He's hot. I'd love to talk to him—even if it is about some assignment." She turns her head to look at me as I pull out my homework for tonight.

"Mhm..." I trail off and stare out the window at the dark, thick woods behind the school, seeing nothing but acres of green scenery.

. . . .

I hope you liked it!

- Re-uploaded Jan. 29, 2021