Some Kind Of Temptation

Went Envying Her And Me

TW: implied assault

She was doing the usual end of day routine when the classroom door opened.

"Do you ever take a - oh."

"Not who you expected?"

"No, sorry, Joe."

Her smile faltered as she looked at him. His usually bright, clear eyes seemed dark, and he had a manic energy about him. She wasn't sure why but she surreptitiously picked up a pair of scissors, holding them behind her back.

"Who were you expecting? Not Elizabeth Montgomery, by any chance, was it?"

Her blood turned to ice. She swallowed deep and sucked in a breath to stop herself being sick, desperately trying to stay calm.

"Why - why would I be expecting to see her?"

"Don't play games, Steph. I know what's going on."

Her mind was racing at a million miles an hour. Protect Elizabeth was the only clear thought she could form. Protect Elizabeth.

"Sorry, Joe. You've lost me."

He stepped towards her and she stumbled back.

Protect Elizabeth. If this man was going to hurt her, he'd hurt Elizabeth too. Her small fist gripped tighter around the scissors which were starting to slip in her hand with sweat.

"You're fucking her."

"What?!"

"Don't LIE to me, Stephanie. I saw her jacket, Christmas Day. You're sick. You think you can get away with that? You think you can get away with making me look a fucking idiot chasing you whilst you're screwing a student? You're done."

"Wait! Joe, wait. Please. Think of her, if this gets out it will ruin every chance she has, she'll never shake it off. Please Joe. I'll do anything, just...please?"

A dark smile flickered across his mouth.

~

Her hand shook as she wrote. She couldn't stop the wracking sobs as she tried to explain to Elizabeth what was happening without being able tell her why. The girl was too hot headed. She'd have gone after Egan herself and everything Stephanie had just done and was about to do to protect her would be in vain.

She tried to walk normally to the lockers in case someone was still wandering the halls and happened to see her, but it was too much. By the time she reached Elizabeth's locker she was holding onto the wall for support, doubled over in pain.

Pressing a tear-stained kiss to the letter, she slipped it through the vent in the door, knowing it would be tomorrow before she found it, and by then, Stephanie would be gone.

Clutching her resignation letter in her other hand, she made what felt like the endless walk to the principal's office; an office which many had said to her she would occupy one day. She cried again, this time for the life she'd so carefully built around this school.

After leaving the second letter on the principal's desk, she began to head for the main entrance. She stumbled across to her car, the last one in the lot. Fumbling in her purse for her keys, she tried not to look at the marks on her wrists that were quickly turning into bruises.

Before she could open the door, an overwhelming wave of nausea hit her and she collapsed to her knees, retching and screaming as she felt what Egan had left inside her trickling down her leg. She clawed at the ground, wishing she'd buried those scissors in him when she had the chance.

~

Elizabeth looked confused at the unfamiliar paper sitting in her locker, before opening it and feeling her heart skip as she recognized the writing. The lightness she felt soon turned to horror as she read it.

Despite what the letter had said, she flew out of school to her car, driving as fast as possible to Stephanie's place. Letting herself into the building with the spare key Stephanie had given her, she yelled her name as she sprinted up the stairs. She hammered on the door in vain as she unlocked it, bursting in to find the place deserted.

The books were gone, and the shawls. Some of the lamps were still dotted around - anything too big to fit in the car had been left. She wandered through the apartment, cold and uninviting now. The huge mirror stood proud as ever in the living room. Pushing the bedroom door open, the place looked as though it had been ransacked. Wardrobe doors hung open, and drawers were upturned on the floor.

Why would she leave in such a hurry? Was she in some kind of danger? Was Elizabeth? No - she would have warned her. Seeing the state of the place brought a strange comfort to her. This was a panic; she hadn't planned it. The vague letter she had left was deliberate. She was protecting her, Elizabeth was sure of it.

As she looked around the room, her eyes fell to the bed. Their bed. The mattress had been stripped and left, but there was something deliberately left behind on it. She blinked back tears as she walked over and picked it up.

It was Sappho's Ode To Aphrodite.