The Teacher's Pet

Chapter One

Thank you for choosing to read "The Teacher's Pet".
This is the first book in the secret society series.
You can read this as a standalone as well!
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Enjoy reading...

Kat Claire:
It's 3 in the morning, and I'm pacing through the room like a polar bear. Trying to take control of my thoughts and emotions. Which seems like an impossible task. In 3 hours, I have to get ready for school, in 4 hours I have to be at school. The numbers take up a large space in my mind.
If I didn't have insomnia I would be fast asleep by now, but nothing seems to help. Not even the strongest of the strongest sleeping pills. So I lay down for the 27th time this night and close my eyes once again, trying to fall asleep.
"Your friends probably don't even think about you."
"Your parents think you're worthless."
"You are worthless."
"You are not deserving of love or any kind of human affection."
I press a pillow tightly over my head, but nothing stops these thoughts. Once they come, there is no ending. I make my way over to the shower, the warm water sliding off my skin is the only thing making me tired recently.
And finally, after a 90 minute shower, my eyes fall shut and I fall asleep on the cold bathroom tiles, completely exhausted.

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"Katherine! Are you almost done?! You have been in there for at least..." A silence. "45 whole minutes." The silence gets filled with the loud banging on the door.
My head lifts up from the harsh tiles to look up at the little clock close to the sink. It feels like someone has poured cement all over my eyelids, they are fully impossible to open. I rub my eyes slightly with my hand and the blurry vision of the clock gets clearer. 5:45 AM.
"Almost dad!" I yell back, my voice still barely noticeable. A feeling of guilt fills my body. While I was sleeping, I made my dad late for work. I know how important his work is for him.
Crumbled and half asleep I leave the bathroom. If I wanted I could sleep for another 15 minutes, but if I do that I'm not sure I'll wake up at 6AM sharp.
"Are you all right, darling?"
"Fine dad, I'll get ready for school now."
The mirror in my room hits me hard. My face... Looks like an absolute mess. My eye bags have never looked larger, my skin never paler. I cannot even stand up straight. My hands are trembling, there is no need to try to hold them still. I can't.
Without bothering to eat breakfast or brush out my hair I make my way to school by bus. Sitting by myself as usual, as the old man from down the street sits in the seat in front of me. Reading the news paper, he must not have enough time to read it at home, so he reads it at the bus. It's the most adorable thing ever and makes every day more special for me.
All the little things in life are what keeps me from falling apart.
All the studying is making me tired, but sometimes I take a break and think about all the small and happy moments like these. Sometimes I wonder what his name is, if he has a wife, maybe even kids, or a job. I shake my heads and try to get my thoughts straight.
I almost fell asleep on the bus already, I can't afford to fall asleep and miss my bus stop.

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As soon as I'm at school my friends greet me, these girls are the only friends I have and will ever have. I don't need anything more than these girls, they're my happiness to my dark.
"Look who we have there! If it isn't our Kat!" Cassidy says.
"We were just talking about going out tonight, just to the club downtown." This, Mary says.
Mary is the party animal of our little friend group, which is why I like her so much. Without her we would never go out. She is the girl who makes plans for all of us.
"No, you were talking about that."
"Come on Cassidy, let's celebrate the weekend a bit, just one drink." Cassidy rolls her eyes excessively and crosses her arms over her chest. Her hair gets trapped in her arms. The beautiful long hair every girl in the school is jealous of. Dark brown- almost black -silky smooth, healthy hair.
"I'm down if you are." Hazel says to me. I was down the first time Mary suggested it, but I don't say that.
"Hmm, sure, I'll come along, but for now I really have to go to my cl..."
"YES! Oh my God, I love you so much girl." Mary wraps her arms tightly around me and pulls me into a hug, her body pressed tightly into mine. Softly I feel the arms of Hazel around me as well. Where there is a hug, there is Hazel.
Minutes that feel like seconds later we split up from the group hug.
"Fine, I'll come..." Mary is about to pull Cassidy in one of the same hugs she just gave me. "But only if you're paying."
"Yes yes, of course I'll pay your highness." Cassidy waves Mary's comment away through thin air.
"Well girls, it was fun seeing you all again. But now..." I stop mid sentence to check my watch. "I am 7 minutes late, thanks to you guys. Mister Harborn won't be too happy with me. See you guys tonight? 8PM at the usual spot?"
"You got it!" Mary yells, but I am already running down the hall, holding my backpack in my hand. The halls of my school are so immense clean, they should really pay the cleaners more.
I swing the door open without bothering to knock.
"I am so sorry for being late! I got caught up in the hallway and..." All eyes are suddenly faced on me.
Wrong classroom.
My cheeks light up bright pink. If someone holds a fire next to my face I will go up right into flames. "I..." I try to apologize, but not a single word comes out of my mouth. In the next classroom I knock on the bright white door.
"Come in." The familiar voice of mister Harborn speaks. "Ah, miss Claire, how lovely of you to join us this morning. You are exactly 12 minutes and 34 seconds late." He waits for me to explain myself. But when I have none he gestures for me to sit down. Thank God. They are usually way stricter in med school, but I really need these classes, so I do a quick pray to God that I am allowed in before taking my usual spot at the back of the class. Next to nobody. I like to sit alone in my classes, so no one can steal my homework or test answers, borrow something from me, or worse. Talk to me.
"We were just talking about my maternity leave, my wife is having our baby anytime, and when that happens I'll be out of the run for a while." I struggle to keep my attention to the class. I am fine with working on 4 hours of sleep but 1 hour and 15 minutes, that's... 75 minutes. My eyes begin to fall shut.
"Miss Claire! If you would like to leave the classroom, I advise you to do that now before we start with the real learning." My eyes fly back open, and I put imaginary sticks in between them to keep them wide open. The bright white of the room helps a lot as well.
"Where was I?" The expression on his face tells me he's thinking deeply. "Ah," he sticks his finger up in the air. "no need to be sad, there will be a new teacher. Never better than me, but by all means. As soon as I leave, he will be here to take over all of my classes. No longer looking at my pretty face."
Mister Harborn has a profound sense of humor, medical classes can be pretty boring sometimes, but he manages to make them funny. That's something this 'new teacher' won't be able to do. No one can be like mister Harborn. "No further questions? Great, let's move on... Please open your books on page 38."