All My Sins

An ember

Hope no one minds an especially long chapter ;)

Marshall was eager to get home that night. As soon as his keys had hit the soft wood of his kitchen counter, he laid across his couch, and began reading one of the essays. He could still smell Maureen's shampoo in his shirt. Where the raindrops, still pungent with her feminine aroma, had dripped from the ends of her hair and seeped into the fabric. He liked it.

"... If not for the bitterness of a long, hard journey one would not be able to comprehend just how sweet and fulfilling a destination truly is."

The last sentence of the essay really resonated with him. Marshall laid the papers down on his chest and rubbed his strained eyes. It was quarter till midnight. Aggravation troubled him in the instances that he recalled that Maureen would not have been credited for those essays, for her profound words.
He closed his eyes but allowed her words to glide over and through his mind. Perhaps if he started reading from a dictionary or thesaurus he might be able to expand his own vocabulary. He knew, though, that it would take considerable time before he could amount to the incredible extent of Maureen's. And even if he had read the dictionary over and over, studied all the meanings of all the words, he would never be able to assume such a compelling and vivid voice in his own writing. It was not something he could study and learn, but something that he would have to conjure within himself.
There was just a strength behind her words, that touched him deeply each time he beheld the awkward curves of her handwriting.
He thought back to what he had said to her parents and hoped that his comments had not given way to the truly inappropriate feelings he held towards Maureen. All of his reading and thoughts had tired him. He fell asleep before he had even been able to take Of Mice and Men out of his pocket.

~

Maureen could not fall asleep that night. She stayed up watching television; Just trying to distract her mind from the stirring memories of the evening that had just passed. Dealing with the wrath of Kendall would be a stressful feat in itself, but she would also have to worry about Mr. Mathers turning her into administration and possible expulsion.
Eventually, only two hours before her alarm was to go off, Maureen fell asleep. The morning came with absolute dread and anxiety. It seemed as though getting no sleep at all would have been better than the two hours that she had. 
She felt that her restless night was too short of a break from Mr. Mathers. Seeing as it was only a few hours before that she had been with him, and she would have to spend the first hour of the new day with him. For the sake of her uneasiness, Maureen convinced herself that this new day would be different than the previous one. All she needed to do was push herself through it and later she would allow herself time to forget about school and Mr. Mathers...

Five minutes before Mr. Mathers was supposed to have arrived, Maureen trudged downstairs. She was surprised to see that her Mother was awake, cooking breakfast.

"Why are you up this early?" Maureen yawned.

"Just wanted to get a headstart on the day."

Before Maureen could grab a bottle of water Jillian pushed a foam cup of boiling coffee into her hand.

"This is for Mr. Mathers. Be sure to thank him again for all of this."

"Mom, this-"
There was a knock on the front door.

"He's here now. Don't keep him waiting."

Jillian followed behind her daughter to the door, where through the clouded glass door frame, they could see Marshall was already waiting.
"Good morning, Mr. Mathers." Jillian spoke in a far more chipper tone than that which she spoken to Maureen with.