Mr. Mendes

chapter 4 - romeo and juliet

"He wants to take me somewhere?" I thought to myself, rubbing my temples as I did so.

I wanted to know where I was going and why, but in some odd way, I really enjoyed being whisked off my feet by "the one I'm not supposed to have". I climbed into bed and thought about my feelings, feelings towards him more precisely. I began to remember the hug we had shared a few hours ago, my top still smelling of his wonderful cologne. I could feel my eyelids becoming heavier as I became more relaxed when thinking about him, before I knew it I had drifted into a deep sleep.

The next morning my mood was not so terrible. Usually, when I wake up, you wouldn't want to touch me with a ten foot pole. This morning was different however, I had a spring in my step and a heap ton of positivity that seemed to radiate from my face. Surely this wasn't because of last night?

After getting ready for school, getting the bus and putting things in my locker, I was finally on my way to English with Mr. Mendes. I was feeling odd. Normally I was introverted but comfortable in my own skin. Now with the addition of Mr. Mendes, I never felt like I looked good. Like my hair was out of place or my uniform looked scruffy; of course it didn't but Mr. Mendes' sultry stare made me think otherwise.

When I walk into class I see mostly everyone is already sat down. I see Mr. Mendes at his desk. Spying a seat next to Hannah, I dive for it.

"Hey Hannah, how've you been?" I said cheerfully, chucking my bag on the floor after getting my things out.

"Not so good."

"What, why?" I replied, wondering why she hadn't texted me.

"I just can't stop swooning over Mr. Mendes!" She giggled

I let out a relieved sigh. "Don't do that to me!" I gave her a light dig on the arm.

Class began and there was no hope for me. I was gone. Caught up in the maelstrom of emotions that came with sitting in a classroom in front of a man like him. We were studying Macbeth. Again.

Don't get me wrong, I love Shakespeare. His plays and poems are beautiful and not something that should be turned a blind eye to. With that being said, having to do a six page analysis on one character isn't exactly what I would call fun.

Mr. Mendes began writing on the board, soon realising that the cuffs of his freshly ironed shirt were getting smudged with whiteboard marker, he rolled them up, revealing his muscular forearm and effortlessly making himself look one million times more handsome.

"Look El, he did that thing, rolled up his sleeves, I cannot cope!" Hannah said, almost fainting in the process.

"Can anyone tell me a quote from Lady Macbeth that conveys her manipulative side?" He said addressing the class as a whole.

I started laughing at Hannah and just as I was about to reply,

"Eleanor, perhaps you would like to give an answer, considering you look so eager to share it." His stare burned into me, making my face heat up.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't hear the question." I stuttered

"I need a quote from Lady Macbeth that presents her as manipulative." He repeated, a small grin creeping up on his face from the torture he was exposing me to.

"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it." I said confidently, after hearing the question properly

"Good, thank you." He replied, smirking slightly.

"Does he get a kick out of torturing me?" I whispered to Hannah while giggling slightly.

After another 20 minutes of that gruelling lesson the bell finally rang and Hannah and I were on our way home. We always talk about anything and everything, completely stupid stuff that only best friends would say.

"What! No! There's no way that Tennant was the best doctor!" Screeched Hannah, going into full on defensive fan girl mode.

"Um yes! He brought the show back, and my god the hair!" I shouted back playfully even though we were only about 50cm apart.

The time had quickly passed while we were 'arguing', she was so stubborn that she had now sworn an oath of silence on herself until I had agreed with her.

"Right well, I'm going home, I'll see you tomorrow." I told her as she gave me a goodbye hug just to show that we hadn't actually fallen out, thinking about it now, I don't think we ever had.

It was now half seven and I was pensively sitting on the arm of the sofa waiting for Mr. Mendes to "take me somewhere". The only reason I even thought about doing this was because my parents were out having a dinner for their anniversary. I had been ready for a while now and I looked over my outfit in the hallway mirror once more just to make sure that nothing was out of place. I was wearing black skinny jeans that hugged my waist, and a t-shirt made out of mesh which had pretty red roses embroidered onto it.

The doorbell rang.

I waited a few seconds while I composed myself.

When I opened the door I was met with the gaze of those sweet brown eyes once again. His jaw dropped when he saw me, eyes trailing down my figure, taking in the outfit I had curated.

"Something to look at Mendes?" I queried blissfully, a mischievous grin begging to manifest itself on my face.

With that he gestured me towards the door of his jeep, running ahead to hold to door open for me as I got in.

Soon, we were at the what appeared to be an old style theatre. It had a huge board hanging on the exposed side which read:

Romeo and Juliet now showing

The theatre was quiet but there were still a few other people there. As we entered I felt amazing, walking inside with such a handsome man, even if our hands weren't touching.

"Two tickets for Romeo and Juliet please."

I reached for my purse but was soon met with the delicate touch of Mr. Mendes' hand, blocking me from opening the zip.

"Don't worry," he hummed, "I'll get it".

As we took our seats in the theatre the lights began to dim. Our gazes met.

He moved closer to me, bringing his face millimetres from mine.

"I've been dying to show you this." He whispered in my ear. I could feel his hot breath run down my neck.

We settled down to watch the production, I kept my gaze focused on the stage while his eyes never left me, studying every detail of my face in fine detail as if he were to never see it again. I loved the way he looked at me, and he knew it. I gave him a small grin just to let him know how happy I was, being sat next to him, watching a wonderful play in such a beautiful theatre.

Before long the play was over, we had moved out of the theatre and into his car.

"God I love that play." Shawn said, with a breathy sigh

"Me too." I replied, contentedly smiling, not really knowing what to say and letting him take the lead of the conversation.

"I think it's so magical, how their love was forbidden by everyone, yet it didn't matter to them, what mattered was that they had each other." He explained while looking straight at me.

"He wanted her so badly," he came closer to me.

"And she wanted him too." I reciprocated meeting his intense gaze

Shawn's eyes began to scan my face trying to read the situation, after a few seconds of deliberating, he leant in and smashed his soft lips upon mine.