The Claws Within

Chapter Four

There was something eerily different about Mr. Wilson, so much that it put Maggie on edge the entire time she waited for every student to leave the class. Every student but her that is.

He went to shut the door, slamming it just hard enough to make goosebumps arise on her skin. Maggie watched as Mr. Wilson grabbed his teacher's chair and brought it next to her to which he straddled it backwards, leaning on the back of the chair with his arms. He watched Maggie for a long time like that until finally he said lowly, "I know you hate me."

But he did not say it lowly to be stern and instead he sounded hurt by the remark, "I know you hate me but one day you will learn not to."

"Mr. Wilson," Maggie stated bluntly with confidence that she did not know she could muster so quickly on the fly, but he was making anger and something else race through her very core, "You do not know my thoughts of you and even if you did, I can assure you that they will not change. Besides, you are not my favorite teacher and instead Ms. Martin whom I had an admiration for, was my favorite teacher. You will never replace her."

"I am not asking you to replace me with her," he quickly argued, "and that is strictly because I am not her. I am someone else, someone whom you may not know yet but oh, you will."

Maggie rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say, Mr. Wilson."

"Please," he urged out of the blue with a sense of kindness, "When he are not in class, please call me Alden."

She glared at him, intentionally gritting through her teeth with mock sincerity, "Whatever you say, Mr. Alden Wilson."

"That was not what I was expecting, but we will work on that together."

"What?" she mocked again, "I said your first name."

"You know what I mean."

Then he lifted his hand like he was going to stroke her long brown hair but he refrained and instantly withdrew his hand and rubbed the back of his neck as if he were stressed. Alden looked into Maggie's eyes, his green eyes showing such depth and such raw emotion that it only proved her point all the more that this man before her had a secret he was keeping, a strange and eerie secret that only he knew.

"You are excused," he sighed heavily in defeat, you may leave my classroom now."

She was shocked to find that he had given up so easily on their conversation but secretly she was smirking at how she had one this small battle between them mentally. Maggie grabbed her back, squeezing between Alden and her desk. Their arms brushed one another and she could have sworn the same feeling that shot up her arms just earlier that morning had happened again. They both looked breathlessly at one another from the shock but nevertheless, she turned her back to him and hurried out of the classroom.

Maggie did not know what to think of it. And she most certainly did not know what to think of Alden Wilson.

#

Later that night, Maggie was doing her homework. She was positive she had gotten every answer right. It was only a matter of time before she graduated too, being almost seventeen and a senior at her school she was positive nothing could hold her back.

However, when the next day came around and she had to tolerate the drama once more with her ears threatening to bleed from the high squeals of girls as Mr. Wilson walked past them, Maggie was sure she would lose her mind. The tipping point was when she got her homework back at the end of class from Mr. Wilson with a big red F on the front. It was the first F she had ever received, she was always a good student and she could have sworn he was doing this intentionally. She picked up her bag and bolted with the rest of the class after class, so fast that by the time he looked up she was gone.

It did not stop the tears from falling though, as she became frustrated and upset by the stressful circumstances that Mr. Wilson was putting her under. She stormed through the hallways and began her walk home which mind you, was pouring down rain with lightning in the background. Now Maggie was soaking wet and miserable, with her homework still in her hand as the red ink began to smear into the wet paper.

The feeling of being followed was haunting her though, and she turned around to find Mr. Wilson driving a black BMW, he was slowly pulling up next to her. Her stomach dropped when he pulled down the window and said aloud, "Get in, I will give you a ride home."

"No, I'm okay." She said, thankful it was raining for once so he could not see her frustrated tears on her cheeks.

"No, really, get in." He ushered.

Maggie ignored him and only when she realized he would not give up, she gave a groan and opened the door, getting into the car where the leather seats were cold to the touch.

Alden looked down at the paper in her hand and frowned, "I see you are upset with your grade. I wanted to catch you after class but you were gone so fast. I think it is only right that you stay after class for the next week so that I can tutor you."

Maggie's hands clenched into firsts as she bit her bottom lip and looked out the window, "I do not like what you are up to."

"What do you mean by that? I am not up to anything. As your teacher I only want to help you."

"Well, I do not see how you are helping me by failing me on purpose."

He hesitated briefly but it was so short that she had barely noticed his odd behavior for that split second, "Let's change the subject, how about you tell me about yourself?"

Maggie ignored the change of topic and wanted to ask about himself instead but by the time she was going to ask, he had pulled up to her house.

She opened the door immediately, but before leaving he grabbed her arm, the shocks going up and down both of their arms again, "I will be driving you home every day too. It is not safe in these neck of the woods."

She glared darkly at him, jerking her hand out of his grip and saying a curt, "fine."

She slammed the door as he backed out of her drive. And then it dawned on her.

How did he know where she lived?