Beneath the Boardwalk (Alex Turner)

10 {twirling a pen in his teeth}

A/N: First off I'd just like to say I'm freaking out cause if you search up "arctic monkeys" on wattpad my other am fanfic "I Wanna Be Yours" is the FIRST to show up (like holy crap!) and this one is already 11th even though it just hit 1K reads?! That's freakign awesome! Okay I'll calm down ah ily guys and I'm actually so excited for this story, cause I have so many ideas and I promise it'll get better. Waay better. ;)

- - - 

"He what?!" Matt's jaw drops. He stops right in front of the courtyard on campus. 

"Shh!" He has got to be quieter. "Yeah, I know."

"I mean, I knew that guy was nuts but I didn't realize he was like that." Matt shakes his head. "I need water."

I laugh, and we find a spot to sit. My classes don't begin again for another half hour. It's suprisingly nice out, so all I'm wearing is a jean jacket. Matt unscrews the bottle lid and finishes it off. "So what are you going to say?"

"Fuck, what am I supposed to say. I thought this was just going to be a regular English class."

Matt stays silent for a second. He turns to me, squinting slightly. "I think you should."

"What?" I thought Matt was supposed to be my reasonable fri--nevermind. "Why?"

"Don't you have a 'lil curiousity, Quinn? I mean, barely anybody wants him in this school anyway. You could get him kicked out, depending on what the guy says." Matt shrugs. "This is the weirdest rumour I've heard 'round this school. From the things you've been telling me 'bout him, sounds like he just gets more mysterious around you."

I press my lips together. Valid point. If he tries anything, then I can always turn him in right? It's a stressful feeling, even having a slight thought that your English teacher may not be who he says he is. But he also might not. He could just be misunderstood. How am I supposed to know? "True, I guess."

"Listen Quinn, do whatever you're comfortable with."

I need to get off the subject. "Okay. So how's school going with you?"

"Fine. You know that project we're starting in bio soon? Breana asked me to be her partner."

I suppress a smile. "Oh, did she?"

"Yeah. We got a plan set out and everything," Matt nodded his head. "She's pretty quiet."

I raise my eyebrows. "Is that all?"

Matt shrugs. "I mean, in that cute kind of quiet." He turns away from me. Is he blushing?

"Do you like her?" I ask, excited. I'm sorry I'm not a person that minds their own business. 

"Quinn! All I said was that she was quiet!" 

I raise an eyebrow. "You said quiet in a cute way."

"Quinn!"

"You haven't said no yet."

"I'm leaving now."

I laugh. "You still haven't said no!"

He walks away, scoffing.

I call out after him. "You haven't said no, Matt!" 

* * *

I still had until tomorrow to decide. And I had to get through Turner's lesson today painfully by avoiding eye contact, which was obvious and he knew it. I was scared of what he was thinking. Hell, I didn't even know what I was thinking. 

He was talking on about poetry, almost ranting with a passion. For the whole lesson, I was really nervous. Watching the clock, praying it the lesson would end soon. I saw he switched the colour on his tie. It usually switched between black and a grey, but today it was a really dark shade of purple. 

Once it ended, after successfully avoiding conversation with him, I felt his eyes watch me leave the auditorium.

He was twirling a pen in his teeth when I left. 

* * *

I was up all night doing work. Matt texted me a few times. My store was doing well. Although I couldn't stop thinking of Alexander. I wish he acted differently, looked differently. 

I knew that if it was somebody else, they couldn't pull this mysterious behavior off. I'd want to switch classes, or tell somebody about what has happened. But it's something about his smirk, or maybe it's his eyes? Is it his confusing words, the ones that make me feel like I am the crazy one here? 

Maybe I am going a bit crazy. It's not okay for me to be thinking about my English teacher. Come on, he's my teacher? Just a teacher. All he's saying is one small favour. And he's only thinking professionally. 

He did say, strictly professional. He thinks nothing more. 

* * *

I was dreading, when the next day came, for the last class. I was bothered all day. I couldn't concentrate on any class. That guy Nick that sat beside me in art made small talk. He seems really nice. I noticed behind me in bio when we were working on projects (I got partnered up with some girl, can't remember her name) and saw Breana with a bright red face most of the time. They looked really cute together, I had to admit. 

I went to the washroom to splash my face with a bit of water before class. Dried my face off, then applied my usual dark red lipstick. You're gonna walk right in there, and ask what he wants. There's nothing bad that could happen. I tell myself a few things in the mirror, then stuff my hands in my pockets and make my way to the lesson. 

Turner was twenty minutes late. The people in the back were fooling around when he walked in, and for some reason he looked pissed. 

His heels clacked on the floor, and he was smoking indoors. Isn't that illegal? I don't know much about law, but I'm pretty sure you can't smoke in a public space. But nobody called him on it, because you could sense it when he walked in the room. He was pissed, and he was flustered. He was hiding behind that bed hair of his. 

He took a long drag and blew it out slowly. "I can't fucking teach today, I sincerely apologize."

The sarcasm was practically dripping from his voice. But nobody dared say anything.

"You can all leave, I don't care. Read that Shakespeare book. You should have it finished by Monday." Turner took another long drag. Then he looked at me, darkly almost.

"Except you, Greene. I need to talk to you. Now."