Me, My Teacher and Lies

Chapter 23

It was the last day of school before the Christmas holidays and I was beaming, not only because it meant that I could get know Luc soon without hating myself for it but because, I’ve also managed to secure a job in a little bookstore in walking distance from school. It was perfect, it meant I could be surrounded by books all day, get paid money to save for leaving with Freddie and I’d be out of the house a lot too.

The air was getting steadily colder outside as the days drew nearer to Christmas and it was almost unbearable to be outside for more than five minutes. The day had gone predictably slowly, after all it was the last day of school.

Mark was buzzed because despite the fact that public school agreed with him a lot more than the private one he’d clawed his way out of, he still hated it and couldn’t wait to get out of it, he was not however so buzzed that he forgot it meant having to actually spend time with his big brother.

Speaking of Lucas, it was his class – the last of the day in fact that I was on my way to. I was dressed in skinny blue jeans and white knit jumper to keep the cold at bay, even inside the school it was freezing. I skipped merrily into Mr Greyson’s classroom and went to my usual seat at the back spying the clock and smiling, perfect view for a countdown. I looked up from my desk at a gentle laugh and saw Mr Greyson staring at me with a knowing smile.

“Eager for the holidays Miss James”? He questioned, walking towards my desk. It wasn’t until I looked up that I realised we were the only two here and even though we agreed to halt everything until after my birthday, my stomach still fluttered at being alone with him.

“Who isn’t”?

“One day, you’ll answer my questions without asking another question” he grinned while I blushed.

“Maybe”.

“Well, we’ll see soon. Stay behind after class alright? I need to talk to you about something”.

I nodded. “Ok”. He gave me one more smile before he sat himself on top of his desk again, going over his notes for today’s class. When everyone was in their seats and Mr Greyson had done role call he started.

“Well guys, I’m sure you’re all looking forward to the Christmas holidays, I know I am – however and yes, there is a however, I’m afraid you’re not going to get away without an assignment from me” there was a loud collective groan from the class, including from me at the news that he was going to add onto the too high pile of work from the rest of the teachers.

“Dude it’s called the Christmas ‘holiday’ for a reason” Tim spoke up from his desk, causing an ascent of agreement and laughing.

Mr Greyson rolled his eyes and mocked Tim’s stereotypical surf talk. “Well, uh Dude I’m your teacher and like, it's my job, to like make sure you ace your finals and dude I swear if you like, call me dude again I’m gonna mess you up”, even Mark laughed at that.

“Alright, back to the class now seriously people, you can complain all you want but the fact is that you’re in your last year of high school now, so the exams that I’m trying to prepare you for are the only thing that stand between you and the college of your choice and if you think that you’re teachers are over working you this year you are in for the surprise of your life in September”.

“But you said we're doing pretty good” Vicky pouted, still trying to get around the homework.

“No I didn’t, I said you were improving – whoever had been teaching you English up until now left some serious holes in your learning curve, some of you still can’t even paragraph properly – which reminds me, after the holidays I’ll be starting an extra class after school once a week, so that if you’re not confident on anything we’ve done that week you can come along and hopefully get up to speed”.