Secret Torture (Student/Teacher) - COMPLETED

Chapter Forty: The Impasse

When I woke up, my mother was standing over me. 

"Allison - it's nearly 3pm. What are you still doing in bed?" she asked, frowning down at me.

I opened my mouth to speak - but before I could get a word out, she was onto her next interrogation.

"It's two weeks into summer, and all you've done is sleep. Are you really going to waste all your free time lying in bed?"

I shook my head. "No.. I was just tired, that's all."

"You're always tired," she muttered. 

Then her eyes fell on my bare arms. "Where'd you get those?" she asked, gesturing towards my bruises. 

Instinctively, I pulled the sheet up over myself. 

"Nowhere. I just… Um, what are you and Walter doing today?"

My mom rolled her eyes at my sudden and very obvious change of subject. "Walter's going to be busy in meetings for most of the day. Now come on - get up and get out of bed - now!"

I reluctantly climbed out of bed - quickly grabbing a sweatshirt from my wardrobe to cover my arms. I was exhausted. Even after a full night's sleep, I was absolutely exhausted. 

I picked up my phone. Two missed calls. Both from Ryan. 

I chose to ignore them, as I had done for the past two weeks. As my mom had pointed out, I had spent most of the beginning of Summer doing nothing - apart from seeing James. I saw him everyday, whether it was for one hour or a whole night.

It was always the same with him. He would be one of two things - overly affectionate and extremely happy, or constantly agitated and hot tempered. It varied from day to day. Each day I prayed for the former, but as time went on, it was becoming clear that there was a much higher chance of the latter.

Even when he was having a good day, it still didn't feel right. It didn't feel real. He was never really happy, and neither was I. It was like we were both playing some kind of sick game, and neither of us really knew about it.

He called later that day and invited me over. As always, I said yes. As always, I told my parents I was with Georgia. 

"Allison, come in," he said as he opened the front door, grinning wide and stepping aside for me. "You look absolutely gorgeous," he told me as I walked by him.

He was having a good day. Yet, for some reason, I could still feel a growing knot tighten around my stomach.

"I want to show you something," he said, still grinning.

I followed him into the kitchen. His laptop was perched on the counter. As he led me over, I saw that there were photos of an apartment on the screen.