Sway

Spitting image

It was early Wednesday and I was getting ready for work.

Yesterday I had the spent the entire day in the loft. Eating, sleeping, listening to music. There was just so much that I had to think about, to try and unravel. Like, how had shit taken a complete 180. Charlotte and I started off so great, especially considering how we met. The relationship we'd managed to build in under a month was pretty impressive as well. Now everything was hitting the fan and I didn't know how to stop it. I also didn't really have time to think about it, or else I'd probably be late for my first real day of work.

It was a little past eight o'clock in the morning, and Phineous was already gone to do some sort of 'artistic prep work' in the city. I got a lid to cover my coffee and grabbed my backpack, before locking up and heading out of the loft.

The streets were crazy busy, with all of the working class citizens bustling around. I slipped some sunglasses onto my face and pressed on down the street towards the train station. I had to admit that this moment felt insane, it was like I was genuinely a part of New York society. Here I was, dodging and weaving the shoulders of others. Skipping down the steps towards the subway, making sure to look as occupied as possible in order to avoid being mugged. Believe it or not, this was the life that I had always wanted.

The train ride wasn't too bad, and eventually I was outside of JDRecords. I showed the security guard my badge and he opened the door for me. As I pressed through the building towards my classroom, I started to feel a teensy bit of terror bubbling in my chest. Even though I'd read everything about each one of my students, I still didn't feel prepared to teach them what I knew.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to freak myself out anymore. I hitched open the door to my classroom and immediately went towards the back where my desk was planted. I pulled my laptop from my bag and then pushed the bag aside. I had maybe fifteen minutes to pull myself together before the teens would start to arrive. Clicking tabs on my computer, I anxiously nibbled on the inside of my cheek. So many panic attacks were happening inside of me at once. I kept cursing myself for not sitting down last night and putting together some sort of lesson plan. Instead, I was up having a hissy fit because the woman I'm attracted to is too sexually confused for me to handle. On top of that, she probably hates my guts for thinking that she was using me as an experiment. I still couldn't believe that I had let myself get so angry. Usually I could control myself and my emotions, but the simple thought of being Charlotte's 'no strings' experiment was too much to handle. The surface of my skin covered with goose bumps from the recollection of her hanging up the phone on me and never calling me back. We obviously hadn't spoken and, I wasn't sure when we would.

My intrusive thoughts were clipped short, when a girl with hair the color of a fire hydrant walked through the door. She had on heavy black eye makeup and her nose was pierced, her body was covered in an old school jumpsuit.

Realizing that she was one of my students, I rose and walked towards her. Recalling from my student notes - she was seventeen years old and went to Eleanor Roosevelt High School. Her grades weren't the greatest, but it didn't matter because she was the adoptive child of two very wealthy Wall Street men. "Hi there," I extended my hand once we were close enough, "you must be Julia."

She shook my hand, but didn't smile, "Yeah... in the flesh."

I laughed at her dry response, "Well, I'm Talia. I'll be your instructor."

Her hair was a bit dry, probably from repetitive dying. She gripped the strap of her book bag and allowed her emerald eyes to take in the massive classroom. Whether she wanted me to see it or not, she had definitely just smiled.

"Feel free to take any seat, we'll get started when the other four arrive." I took this as an opportunity to go back to my desk, before I could sit though, two other teenagers came inside.