Breaking Rules (On Hold)

Chapter 4

Three weeks had gone by and it didn't faze me that the term was passing so quickly. I tiredly trudged up to the school gate. Mondays were the worst because it's when you know you have a full five-day week of school ahead of you. I met up with Katie at our lockers to grab our books. Class hadn't started yet so we decided to walk around the campus. I was feeling thirsty so we walked to the bubbler. After taking a sip of water, I turned around and someone bumped into me. I accidentally knocked Katie and her coffee spilt all over my shirt. "I'm sorry!" Katie said. "Don't worry it wasn't your fault. Shit I can't go to class looking like this."

"Language, Alison." I saw Mr. Collins looking at me. "I have some paper towels in my room if you want to clean that up. The test is in 20 minutes so you better hurry." I nodded my head and followed him to his classroom.

He gave me some towels and I dabbed furiously. "Rub any harder and you'll leave a hole in your shirt." He chuckled and I glared at him. "Not funny, how am I supposed to go to class? I reek of coffee and it is cold." He went to his bag then threw me a shirt. "Wear this." I caught his t-shirt and laughed as I read the writing on it. "Armin Van Buuren" I read to him. "I didn't know you bought one of these from that night."

He laughed and walked to his desk. I turned my back to him and without thinking I took off my blouse, keen to get rid of that horrible smell and dampness. I bit my lip. Why was I undressing in front of him? I thought I could feels his eyes starring at my almost naked back. I put his shirt on and was immediately engulfed by his cologne. It smelt so good it was driving me crazy. Why is men's cologne such a turn on for women. I turned around and saw him starring at the ground. "What do you think?" I asked. He cleared his throat looking slightly embarrassed and looked at me. "Looks good on you. You should keep it." I smiled. "It's alright, I'll give it back to you tomorrow. Thanks so much for the shirt Mr Collins." I walked to the door but he stopped me. "You can stay here if you want. There is not much point heading to home room for ten minutes then coming back here." I nodded in agreement. I chose a seat and chucked my books on the desk. I felt a breeze of cold air and shivered. "Here wear this." Mr Collins handed me his hoodie and I took it gratefully. "Thanks, it's kind of chilly in here," He chuckled. "I will turn the heater on for you then." He walked up to the front of the classroom and I couldn't help but smile. I didn't think teachers were allowed to be this kind to the students. His wife must be so lucky to have him. It's hard to find someone like that. I frowned. Why was I thinking about things like this? I didn't even like him like that. "Nervous about the essay?" He asked breaking me out of my thoughts. "Uh yeah kind of." He gave me a reassuring smile. "I am sure you will do great. Did you study for it?" At that moment the door opened and my classmates started to walk in. Someone came up to him to ask him a question before I could reply. He turned away from me and I secretly thanked god for not making me answer that question. I did not study and to make matters worse, essays were my weakest point. I could not write one even if it was to save my life.

Mr Collins walked to the front of the classroom. "Guys I hope you are prepared for your test today," I bit my lip. No I wasn't ready. We separated the desks and Mr Collins waited for us to settle down before he started handing out the tests. When he came around to me, he put the test on my desk and gave me a little smile. When he finished handing out the tests, he went back to his desk. "You have exactly 45 minutes to complete this, your time starts now," I flipped the paper over and read the question.

'Answer the following question and give full detailed paragraphs.'

'Analyse and compare the relationship Jonas has with The Giver to the relationship he has with his family.'

I sat there and mentally swore. I didn't know how to answer this. I don't think I was even paying attention when I read the book. I flipped through my book and jotted down some points. I started writing the introduction but then scribbled it out. I attempted it again and wrote whatever came to mind. After what I thought was about twenty minutes, I looked at the clock and started panicking. I had five minutes left and I hadn't written a conclusion. I only managed to get a few words down before time was up.

"Ok guys, put your pens down and place your papers on the right side on your desk," I sighed heavily. I'm going to fail this. I watched as Mr Collins collected all the papers before giving us the signal to go. Katie smiled at me. "It wasn't too bad aye?" I shrugged. "It was alright I guess," 

"I'm sure you did well, don't worry about it," I nodded even though I knew I didn't. "New shirt?" Katie asked smugly. "Uh no... I mean yes." I stuttered. She laughed. "I can smell the cologne wafting off you! You better give me the details later!" I felt my cheeks heat up and I quickly walked off, not wanting to continue the conversation. I headed to biology and sat down eager to get my test back. Mrs Rae walked over to her desk and sat down. "Please start reading chapter 7 in your textbook and do the questions. I will call you up one by one to talk to you about your test results. First up is Kayla." I looked down at my desk and opened up the book. 

By the time I got to the third question, my name was called. I stood up and walked over to her desk. "Well done Alison, you got 49 out of 50. You got the top mark," She smiled at me and I grinned. I grabbed the test from her and walked back to my desk. I was so happy about my mark that it made me forgot about how bad I did on my English essay. 

Katie came over after school. We sat in the spa for about an hour talking about our day at school. "Jason talked to me in drama today. He wanted to know if you were seeing anyone." I nearly choked on my lemonade. "I wonder... what if you tell a little white lie and say I am? Maybe then he will lose interest." She laughed. "Yeah i'll do that, it's worth a try. Now tell me whose shirt were you wearing this morning?" I was hoping she would have forgotten. "Mr Collins was nice enough to lend it to me this morning after the coffee incident." She rose an eyebrow at me. "Should I be worried Ali? I don't think teachers just give out their shirts to students." 

"Come on Katie, he was just being nice! Let's go inside, I'm getting cold." We hopped out of the spa, got dressed and sat on the couch. Noah walked into the room shirtless and I rolled my eyes at him. "Hey guys, I'm going to be out for dinner, you can order pizza or something."

"Please put a shirt on Noah, you look ridiculous." He grinned and flexed his muscles. "Chicks dig this." I rolled my eyes at him again. "Get lost loser." He laughed at me then walked back upstairs. "Damn your brother has a nice body." I scoffed. "Seriously? He's so egotistical. I swear all guys are like that." She shrugged, "Maybe that's why girls tend to go for older guys." I thought about what she said for a while. It was true. I was a hopeless romantic, constantly drooling over these non-existent perfect guys that I read about in stories or watched in movies. I never once had a crush on a guy my age. Was it a bad thing?