Perfect Student

Chapter 21

I felt a deep dread ache in my bones at the thought of attending my last class of the day. I thoroughly considered skipping but ultimately decided that I was in enough trouble as it was. I shot an apologetic grimace at Mrs. Cliff as she walked in, but she simply smiled brightly back. Did she not know what had happened? I glanced towards the back to see James, but he was writing something down, not meeting my gaze. We spent class discussing our first classic book, which would be 1984 by George Orwell.

Mrs. Cliff passed out yellowed copies from the library that were filled with dog-eared pages and smelled like dust. I flipped through the pages of the pocket-sized novel, relieved to find that they hadn't been written in yet. She spent a large portion of class reviewing our homework, then prefacing the book. As she started explaining what our upcoming project would be, the bell rang.

"I guess I'll finish explaining about our project tomorrow," she said, making a couple students groan. I rolled my eyes at that. The project sounded quite interesting to me, and this was an honors class, after all.

I waited in my seat as the class cleared out and Mrs. Cliff followed behind. Trinity stood and waited for me, but I shook my head, telling her that I would text her later. She walked out of the room with a suspicious look between me and our teacher.

James didn't speak so I began drafting my text to her in the notes section, trying to avoid sharing the entire story. Trinity wasn't the type of girl to go out and get drunk with her boyfriend. And if I told her the story that I was telling the school, she wasn't going to accept that I had vandalized and trespassed for no good reason. I deleted the last sentence I had written when James spoke.

"No cell phones in detention," he said from my side, startling me. He held out a hand expectantly and I placed my phone in it, pouting when I saw it drop into the pocket of his khakis.

"I already let him know," James replied coolly, sitting on the desk in front of me and looking down to meet my eyes. I couldn't bear the thought of him demanding to hear the truth from me again, so I spoke quickly, trying to distract him.

"What's detention like? I've never had it before." I picked at one of my nails beneath the desk as he answered.

"It's a punishment, meaning that you will helping me with whatever menial task I need to complete while you contemplate your actions," he told me. He grabbed a stack of papers from the desk beside him and shuffled them, trying to make the corners straight. His face looked like he was trying to solve a complex math problem. My mouth twitched with a smile I tried to suppress the second he looked up at me.

"What?" he asked tempestuously, morphing his face further into a man that I'd never met.

"It's just... you," I tried to explain, releasing a little chuckle at his mystified expression.

"Me?" he asked, setting down the papers and crossing his arms over his chest. His muscles flexed in his white buttoned shirt. I giggled again and his eyes grew sharp, although I could see that he was smiling inwardly.

"You're James... not Mr. Mason," I explained, rolling my eyes. "It's just weird!"

He raised an eyebrow without answering, making me blush self-consciously.

"I grew up," he offered, giving me a look as if to suggest that I hadn't. "I'm an adult now."

"Yes, we are," I said, tapping a finger to my chin. "Weird."

"We?" he asked with a laugh, giving me a teasing look.

"We," I said back fiercely, lifting my chin as if daring him to argue.

"No, Addy. You are the same little girl you've always been," he teased, stepping forward and dropping the stack of papers on my desk. I looked down to see a pile of the pop quizzes we'd taken the other day. The copy on top was filled out in red marker and had "ANSWER KEY" scrawled across the top.

"Begin grading," he said, pressing a green pen down into my palm. I let out a sigh I hoped he caught as he strutted to the back of the room.

"Get to work," he said as I twirled the pen between my fingers and glanced longingly out the window. I bit my lip to keep from grumbling as I began marking the first quiz, ignoring the satisfied grin that came to his lips.