Mr. Cumberbatch

Chapter 3- The Teacher

"I can't believe it's Benedict. It can't be him. He can't be my teacher! This cannot be happening!" Nicole kept screaming in her head.

"I can't just walk through this doorway, sit down at a desk, and act like everything is OK. EVERYTHING IS NOT OK". She began to panic and could feel herself becoming a little faint. She knew she had to sit down somewhere to try and revitalize her now dizzy head, and the only seating closest would be a desk inside his classroom.

Nicole held her breath and quickly darted towards the back of the class without ever looking up.

"Whew, I made it", she gasped when she saw that Benedict had never looked up from his desk positioned up at the front of the room.

The late bell rang and all the late students scurried into their seats rapidly before they could get into any trouble with the teacher. This one kid Shaun, who was nearly six foot five, took the last open seat directly in front of Nicole, giving her a bit of an advantage when trying to hide from Benedict. She sighed with relief.

"Ah Good Morning everyone," Benedict said while he pushed back his chair and stood up behind his desk.

"There's nothing better than a new school year of English," he said smiling and gesturing his hand towards the word 'Literature' written in his hand writing on the board.

"This year we will be diving into some beautifully worded poetry as well as some lovely well-written novels," he said with much enthusiasm. Everyone could tell English and literature were his true passions. He began to pace up and down the rows of seating while continuing to enthuse the class about the types of novels they will be reading this year.

Nicole started to take quick short breaths as he made his way down the aisle next to hers. She couldn't imagine how he was going to react when he noticed she was taking his class. He would know that she had lied to him that night at the bar, telling him she was a college student majoring in English. He could get hurt, and she didn't want to see him get hurt. She slouched down further and further into her chair with every step he took until he was standing almost directly beside her. She could smell his cologne. The same cologne he had been wearing the night that they met.

He glanced in Nicole's direction as he walked passed her desk. "The cultures and beliefs within each new novel expand upon hundreds of... of..." he said bringing his cheerful walk around the room to a halt in front of Shaun's seat. He slowly pivoted on his one foot and turned and faced her. She looked up at him and watched as the emotion in his eyes went from excitement to confusion to near utter pain. He shifted his melancholy eyes to the floor, and Nicole felt her heart sink deep into her chest. He slightly wiped a fallen tear off his cheek and cleared his throat. Stammering through his words he turned back around and faced the front of the class. "And that's why... why.." he said clearing his throat again. "I'm sorry I've seemed to have forgotten what I had been trying to say. But, it's okay, we can move on to a new subject."

He walked back up to the front of the room and wrote something on the chalkboard. Nicole kept shifting in her seat to see the board, but she just couldn't make out what it was.

"Oh, please don't do this," she thought as she read the word 'Fabricator' on the chalkboard.

"Mr. Cumberbatch?" asked a girl sitting up in the front row. "What's a fabricator?"

"That's an excellent question, thank you for asking. A fabricator is a person who tells lies," he said looking at Nicole. "We will be reading about many fabricators within some of our novels, and the types of destruction their lies can create. Some of their lies cause physical damage, and some are even capable of hurting someone emotionally," he said looking down at his pile of papers on his desk.

Nicole couldn't handle being in that class any longer. She needed to get out, or maybe even drop the class entirely. Luckily for her, the bell rang, ending class. She gathered up her things and jumped up out of her seat.

"Wait, Miss. Miller."

The words seemed to jump out and punch Nicole right in the face.

"May I have a word with you?" Benedict asked gesturing for her to come over to his desk.

Nicole made her way over to where he was sitting.

"Yes, Bened-? Oh, I mean, Mr. Cumberbatch?"

He waited to talk until every student had left the classroom.

"Nicole? What are you doing.." He cleared his throat. "Wha- what are you doing here?"

Nicole began to get teary-eyed. "I- um. I go to school here. I'm a student here. I'm not in college. I lied to you, and I'm incredibly sorry and that was so stupid of me-"

He cut her off.

"Nicole, I- I actually liked you. I thought you were finally a girl who I could talk to, and be with. Now, now all of a sudden you're my student. You've hurt me, and now I can't trust you. What we have... had... must come to an end if this is going to work," he said staring into her eyes which were now filling up with tears.

"But, Ben," She said laying her hand on top of his. He pulled his hand away and stopped her from talking once again.

"I can't let you do this. This is wrong. We will act like none of this ever happened. We have to hide our past feelings for each other because I am your teacher, is that clear?" He asked firmly standing up and looking down at her from above. He asked again, "Is that clear..?"

Nicole nodded her head and slowly walked to the classroom door. She stopped right before she left the doorway and turned around to look at Benedict. He now had his hands on his face with his elbows up on his desk. Nicole had hoped he would turn and face her and say everything was going to be alright, but he never did. 

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