My Saviour (student / teacher romance)

Chapter 5

Hi guys, sorry this is a short chapter but I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless. I'll make sure the next one is longer. :) Enjoy!

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My saviour—I've really got to find out what his name is—raises his eyebrows when he spots me and steps further in.

"I thought I warned you about your language." His voice is softer now, the anger long gone much to my relief.

I harrumph and fold my arms over my chest. I should be elated being close to him again but I'm not. Strangely, I feel deceived.

He sits on the tree trunk, leaving a space between us. "I figured I'd find you here." He glances at me sideways. "Most kids tend to go here when they're trying to escape. They think we don't know it exists but we do."

He grins and my insides quiver. It's one of those heart stopping, knee weakening smiles. I feel my mouth trying to twitch into a smile but I manage to stop it.

"You don't smoke?" He gestures to the butts on the ground.

I look at him suspiciously. "Is this a trick question?"

When he laughs, he throws his head back and his Adam's apple bobs in his throat. His dark hair falls back too making me want to run my fingers through it. Bloody hell, I've really got emotional problems One minute I'm ready to kill myself, the next I'm fantasising about running my fingers through my teacher's hair...the same man who saved me.

Damn this is complicated.

"No," he says with a chuckle, looking back at me. "The school has a very strict rule on smoking but I tend to be a bit too lenient. I figure telling them off is only going to encourage them to find somewhere else to go." He shrugs. "So do you?"

I shake my head. "No. You?"

He gives me a half smile, looking almost inquisitive. "No, never have." He becomes serious, his mouth turning down slightly. "Natasha, I want to apologise for the way I reacted before."

My mouth drops open at this, surprised to hear a teacher say sorry. All the ones I know would never apologise.

"It's not your fault." I look at the ground and scuff the toe of my shoe along the dirt. "I overreacted and I'm sorry too."

Feeling a hand on my shoulder, my head snaps up and I look at him. His touch is just as I remembered, making every part of me come alive.

"I was surprised to see you," he confesses. "You were so different to how I remembered, it was like it wasn't you. You were so..." he trails off as he mulls over the word, "...angry. The girl I saved—" he cuts off and looks at me as though hoping he isn't going too far. When it appears I'm not going to freak he continues, "Well, I could sense that the girl in my class today, you, was not her."

I scoff and shake my head. "You barely spoke to me that day, how do you know what I'm like? I was as screwed up then as I am now." I don't dare tell him how upset I am that he didn't come and see me. It's petty really yet I can't stop feeling that way. Since we're talking properly though, I don't want to ruin the moment.

He shrugs. "Perhaps so but you wanted to live. You saved yourself but today, I could tell you didn't want to."

I hang my head as tears begin to trickle down my cheeks again. This man, who I barely know, can read me like a book. It's like one look at me and he knows my darkest secrets and fears. It's terrifying how he can tell so much just by looking at me.

"No I didn't," I confess in a whisper. "I was angry at you—" realising where my words are going, I snap my mouth shut.

"Why?" he persists.

I don't answer though. I just want to get away from him. This is getting awkward. Not wanting to go back to school though, I decide to avoid the question and ask him one instead.

"What's your name?" I decide to start with the basics.

When he looks at me, I can tell he wants to persist but he doesn't. "Adam Gregson but you're supposed to call me Mr Gregson." He grins then adds, "But I'll let you call me Adam outside of school."

This finally elicits a smile from me but I quickly hide it by looking away.

"You should smile more," he says after a lengthy silence.

I say nothing though because what I want to say is I have nothing to smile about but I know it's not true. Not right this second because Adam...Mr Gregson understands me and that's enough to make me smile for days.

Suddenly a siren rings indicating end of class and Adam stands. "You should get back to class for your next lesson." He goes to walk away then stops and turns back to me. "Let's forget this morning ever happened and start over, okay?"

Another smile breaks out on my face when I ask, "No detention?"

He shakes his head, his face serious. "No detention but I won't be so lenient next time. No swearing, okay? Did you know swearing is a sign of a limited vocabulary?"

"What a load of shi—" the look he gives me cuts me off and I smile shyly. "Rubbish," I add instead. "I have a good vocabulary."

He raises an eyebrow. "I beg to differ. I'm your English teacher too, I guess only time will tell."

Then he turns and walks away leaving me smiling dumbly after him.

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