"I would like for you all to write an essay for me on the performing arts practitioner, Brecht, for two weeks on Monday. There are no debarments; no exceptions. If you don't comply," He began to look around the room and his eyes settled on me as he said, "I will have to punish you."
I squirmed a little in my seat. I couldn't tell if he was directing this at me or the whole class. Before I could scrutinise his expression, he moved back over to the desk.
I began to blank out the class talking around me. Why did he have to say 'punish' like that? It made it seem dirty or something. Oh, man. No way was I going to start thinking of him in that way. I'd done well so far not fantasising about him. I knew that if I let my guard down for a second, it could ruin everything. It didn't help that he was so obviously attractive anyway. I had been trying to ignore that key aspect but now it seemed to be back and biting me on the ass.
Mr Way paid close attention to our group for the rest of the lesson. I wasn't sure but it felt like he was watching me more than anyone else. That could be true; he could be watching to see if my confidence had improved. More likely, he wasn't watching me at all. I was just letting my crush on him get to me. Seriously though, it was a pretty big inconvenience.
As soon as the bell went, I couldn't wait to get out of there. My mind was beginning to wander and think about what sort of punishment Mr Way had in store for anyone who didn't write the essay. I was very tempted not to do it just to find out.
I spent the next period trying to focus on German but failing. You have no idea how hard I was concentrating on not getting a boner.
When I noticed it was five minutes until my free period, I almost fell into a state of panic. No way was I going to Mr Way's classroom when I was imagining him punishing me. And I didn't just mean with a detention.
I went to the toilets first and stood in a cubicle, trying to focus on something else. Dead puppies. My grandma. Girls.
That seemed to do the trick and I made my way as slowly as possible to Mr Way's classroom.
He wasn't there when I arrived but the door was open as usual. I took advantage of his absence and sat on the stage, going on my phone and trying to distract myself.
I didn't notice him arrive at first. He usually made some grand entry but this time, he was suddenly next to the desk, watching me.
I had a bit of a double take before I realised he was actually there. I put my phone down and jumped back onto the floor. "Sorry, Sir. I didn't see you come in. I'll um... grab a chair."
That contagious smile of his appeared and he replied with, "Nonsense, Iero! You can sit on the stage if you so wish. After all, I do all the time."
I took that incentive and climbed back up. It was a bit of a jump for me due to my short legs but I pretended not to notice.
"In fact," He started coming towards me, "I shall join you."
I was silent as he sat down next to me. He sighed contently before grinning at me. "How are you?"
"I'm alright." I shrugged, "How are you?"
He was nodding before I'd even finished the question. "Good, yes." He answered.
It was silent until he randomly asked, "Have you seen Batman vs Superman yet?"
It took me a moment to take in what he was asking. "Um... Yeah, I have." My dad had taken me that weekend actually and for some reason, I was pretty glad I had seen it just so I could talk to Mr Way about it. To be honest, even if I hadn't seen it, I probably would have told him I had just to get in his good books. My head was stupid in that sense.
"I saw it last night." His smile had turned into a contemplative look, "What did you think?"
"Honestly?" I didn't want to sound like I was dissing it but... "I found it hard to follow at first and I thought Jesse Eisenberg played Lex Luther as too psychotic."
Mr Way was watching me intently as I spoke and when I had finished, he was nodding. "I complete agree." He said and I felt better about voicing my views. "It wasn't clear why Bruce hated Clark and don't get me started on Lois Lane."
I couldn't help but giggle and we had a full-blown conversation on the characters, plot and film overall. We then discussed the other superhero films that were scheduled to come out this year. It turned out that Mr Way was a massive comic book nerd, something I hadn't expected. For some reason, I thought he would have looked down his nose at all of that but I guess that just because he speaks poshly, doesn't mean he's a snob.
This whole insight as to who he was as a person instead of just a teacher didn't do much to help my crush. If anything, it just fuelled it even more. Mr Way was a comic book nerd who had a great taste in films and spoke to me like I was a human being instead of just another student.
I could tell that this would just be the beginning of the sort of conversations we would have in the future. I was seeing him as more of a friend than a teacher which was probably a bad thing but I honestly didn't care. I enjoyed talking to him.
I knew I would probably regret this in the future but for the time being, I was enjoying myself.
---
And so the sexual attraction begins. Same though, Frank.
-Beth :3
