Reining Her In (Student/Teacher Romance)

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

I stood in the corner with my bottle of water, and it felt like everyone was staring at me. I kept my gaze on the ceiling, trying to breathe deeply. The music was quieter than normal, and it wasn't taking me the same way. I wasn't filled with the urge to dance.

There were more people here than the last party, and not as many drugs. People knew I'd taken ecstasy, and they were judging me for it. I could feel all their eyes, clawing at me.

Barney was off chatting to someone else, but he wasn't as obvious as me. I'd been chatting away, the person had frowned, and I'd known. I was being an idiot.

Grabbing my coat, I slipped from the room. People probably noticed. Everyone was just waiting for me to do something stupid. Outside the room, I closed my eyes. I was restless, my jaw still clenched, but the euphoria was dimmed by paranoia.

People knew I was high, and they were just dying to video me doing something stupid. I'd be the target of the school for weeks if I did.

So, I needed to leave.

Pulling my coat tighter around me, I headed for the grounds. I couldn't go and lay in my bed, I was too energised. I was at the peak of my high.

I knew it must have been cold, but I couldn't feel it. My bare legs embraced the cool breeze as opposed to the sweltering hot room we'd been in. Having discovered which room Mr. Campbell was staying in, we'd taken our party to the other end of the abandoned block and turned the music down a bit.

Figures danced in the corner of my vision, and I turned my head. There was nothing there, just trees swaying in the wind. I screwed my eyes shut, and opened them again.

I was being an idiot, but I couldn't stop it. Maybe someone had followed me. I was a stupid drugged up girl and everyone in there had known it. A pale spec glowed on the other side now, and I turned towards it, my heart racing. Nothing, again. Just the moon being revealed as a cloud blew past.

I fumbled with the lid on my water bottle and took a small sip. It would be over soon. It wouldn't last that long.

"Penelope." A voice sounded from behind me and I jumped, turning around and backing away automatically. In the darkness of the night, I didn't recognise Mr. Campbell until he'd taken another cautious step forward. "Are you okay?"

"Shit, you scared me," I muttered. I shoved my bottle of water in my pocket, and wrapped my arms around myself. He was judging me, I knew. I could feel those eyes on me, and I just wanted it to stop. "What are you doing out here?"

"I saw you when I was coming back from the kitchen."

"Oh."

We stood in silence for a moment, and I tried not to bounce on my heels. I didn't want to give myself away.

"You must be cold." He looked to my bare legs for a second. "You should go to bed."

"Ah, no, I'm fine." I shifted my weight, my hands clenching and unclenching where they held my upper-arms. "I'm just going to walk around the grounds for a bit."

"It's past curfew. I'm pretty sure I should be making you tell me where the party is and sending you to bed."

My mind was overthinking everything. Everything he said, and my responses. I was pausing between each sentence. "I'm not going to do that."

"I could probably find the party by process of elimination."

I shrugged my shoulder. I just wanted him to leave me alone. I could deal with this alone. "Right."