8. 8

8

Ember

I t took too long for me to calm down, but I sat down like he’d asked, because suddenly my biggest fear was that he’d walk through that door and I’d lose him forever. In the last twenty four hours, I’d realised so many things. So much had become clear, because there had always been a reason that he could get through to me, when others couldn’t. There had always been a reason why he could get me to focus and learn, and advance academically, when others had failed. It was because of who he was as a person, and maybe because he was actually meant for me.

That would sound so insane to anyone I said it to, not only because of the reasons he’d just spouted, but also because it sounded intense and permanent, and that wasn’t something expected of someone my age. I just knew it though. He was mine. Meant for me, and only me. That was why I’d lost it last night, when I saw that woman kissing him.

I didn’t know why I’d walked out to his house, having sneaked a peek at his address on the paperwork from the education place who’d sent him, but I just found my way there with no idea what to do when I arrived. A peek through his front window had shown me my worst nightmare; him with a woman, and them kissing. He couldn’t have someone already, he just couldn’t, because how could he be mine if he had her? I had to find out who she was, so I could scare her off in some way, right?

“Em, why don’t we work on your geography assignments for a while, and then we can take an art break?” When I lifted my eyes to look at him, he offered me a small smile.

He was trying to direct things back to the way he felt they should be, and maybe that was for the best. I could play along for now, make him think that I understood, or agreed with him, but deep down, I’d never stop planning for our future together. One day I’d be Mrs Erickson, and he’d be mine forever.

“Okay,” I said, switching on my laptop, and signing in, navigating to the assignment we’d started two days before.

“Have a read through, just to get back in the zone. I’m just going to grab us a cuppa, because I think we need something refreshing,” Mr E got up and left the room, and I moved instantly, digging his phone out of his bag, and attempting to log in on it. He had some kind of passcode, and I had no idea how to break that. Dammit.

I checked the ports on the phone to see if there was a way to plug it in, and it looked like it’d fit one of my micro USB cables, but I had no idea what to do after that. Blaze had taught me some tricks, but I wasn’t exactly a hacker like him.

I tucked the phone back in his bag, and rummaged a little more, keeping one eye on the door so I wouldn’t get caught. I found some papers and flicked through them, finding them to be nothing but pages of assignments for various subjects. Dammit. Wait, what was that?

There was an envelope tucked down the side of the bag, and it had been opened. I checked the door again, sliding the single page out of it. A letter. A sound outside the room made me nervous that he was returning, so I snapped a pic with my own phone, and shoved it all back in place, and was seated by the time he returned.

I pretended to be reading when he walked back in, but really I was puzzling over the letter, which had clearly been hand delivered, as there was no postmark. The signature said ‘Suzy’, but I hadn’t had a chance to read more of it, so that letter plagued my thoughts for the rest of the morning, even as I tried to work on my project for Mr E.

“You seem distracted today, Em. I hope you’re not dwelling over how our day started, because our priority needs to be your studies. You’re a few weeks away from retaking your exams, and right now this is your only weak subject.”

Fuck the exams, because I had a new project, and it was firmly based around making this man mine, no matter the consequences.

“Okay, let’s take a break. You’ve got fifteen minutes, so make it good.” He sat back with his phone, tapping away at it, probably messaging that bitch he was kissing, and I tried to draw something nice, but my anger was getting in the way. When Mr E called time, and leaned over to look at what I was still working on, the room fell deathly silent. What the hell was I doing?

Ethan

IT WAS DUMB OF me to think that things were going to settle back down that easily, but I guess I’d hoped we could both be adults about the situation, and get through it. Her drawing concerned me though, even as she angrily started scouring lines of black ink through it.

The picture was of a woman who looked a little too much like Suzy, but she was the one shattering into pieces, instead of my broken window. I was struck dumb by it, by the anger and malevolence in each line of the drawing. Was it just hatred driving her pen, or was she literally wishing that violence against my neighbour? Was she trying to warn me, was it a threat that I was supposed to take note of?

“Em, I don’t think-”

“It’s just a picture, okay? Art is how I deal with my emotions, remember? That’s all it is.” She screwed the paper up into an angry ball and tossed it in the general direction of the bin, missing it by inches. We both ignored that fact, because the content of her sketch was the real concern right now.

“She’s just a friend, okay? There’s no need to wish anything bad on her, Suzy just stops by now and then and we talk. It’s just…” I trailed off, wondering two things; firstly why the fuck was I justifying it to her, when it wasn’t really her business, and secondly why the fuck was Suzy’s name making her scowl at me like that?

To be fair, Suzy was kind of on my mind anyway, and not in a good way. I’d found a note from her through my door this morning, and clearly she thought that kiss meant more than it had, which was a moment of distraction on my part, because she was making her advances even more overt now. I had to discourage her, and fast, especially if it seemed like Ember might see her as a threat or an obstacle to her.

“Okay, we’re moving on, but my personal life is my business, Em. I’m your teacher, and my private life is not up for discussion, nor is it something for you to worry about. Now, back to your geography project, I want to focus more on this part.”

I picked up the printout she’d given me, and tried to direct our class back onto the track it should be on, but by the end of the day, honestly, I think we’d spent less time on her studies than we had on my personal business, and that wasn’t how we were going to get her through her exams. That was the one thing we were supposed to be achieving, and somehow I needed to get us back on track, so I left her with some homework to do over the weekend, and made a break for it, before I got into anything else I couldn’t get out of.

I almost made it too.

“Hey Teach, a word?” Fuck. It was Dory and he was on his own, which at least seemed like it should be a good thing, although they were so similar in behaviour and mannerisms, that it could just as easily be a bad thing too.

“Hey Dory, I was just heading home. Em’s got some homework to do over the weekend, focusing on elements of her geogra-”

“Yeah yeah, that’s good. I know we’re getting close to the deadline, so I’m sure you guys are all over that. Look, about that shouting earlier…” They fucking heard me, just like I’d worried they would.

“Uh yeah, she had a bit of anger to let out, but she’s okay now.”

Dory leaned against the front door, effectively blocking my escape route, and then I realised someone was behind me too.

“Listen, Teach, we get that you’re helping our little girl out, and we’re trusting you to mind all your Ps and Qs with her, but look… if you’re upsetting her, then we’ve got a problem,” Gray murmured, standing way too close behind me. What the fuck was going on? The two of them were unnerving when they were like this. I was used to the jovial dad behaviour, but not this.

I frowned at Dory, before I tried to move away from Gray, putting myself squarely between them, and yeah, if they turned nasty, I wasn’t getting away, was I?

“Uh it’s kind of the opposite of what I’m aiming for. She was upset after yesterday, that’s all, but we’ve talked it out.” Bullshitting wasn’t my strong suit, and I was in way over my head here.

Gray slammed a hand against the wall right by my face.

“Thing is, I appreciate that you’re supporting Ember, but that hug… that doesn’t happen again, got it? She’s vulnerable, and practically a fucking kid. I see you touching her again and-”

“Gray, please,” thank god for that, I thought, just before Dory continued, “it’s ‘we’, not just you. See, Teach, we want our baby girl to succeed in life, but she’s been fucked over by way too many assholes already. We weren’t in a position to stop that, because we didn’t know, but you can be damn sure we’re laser focused on you, and everything you fucking do. Bear that in mind if you get any ideas outside of being her teacher, yeah?” Fuck me, I’m a dead man.

“Dads? What’s going on?” Thank fuck for Em, who was suddenly standing at the other end of the hallway, hands on her hips, looking thankfully more put together than she had earlier in the day. She’d fixed her makeup after her crying fit, thank fuck, because it would have been a dead giveaway.

“Hey Chica, we’re just checking in with good old Mr E, seeing how you’re doing,” Gray said, smiling gently in her direction.

“I call bullshit. Are you seriously threatening the man who comes here daily to help your daughter work towards passing essential exams for her future? That doesn’t seem like the best way to help me ‘succeed’, now does it?”

Her dads chuckled, stepping away from me, with a hearty slap on my back from Gray, that nearly sent me headfirst out the front door as I left.

I made my escape to my car as quickly as possible, taking a moment before I started the engine, because it seemed almost unbelievable now that any of that had just happened, but yeah, her dads really were threatening me against the one thing I knew I’d almost done, and was still worried I’d be unable to resist doing.

Should I really be too afraid of two older guys who were just fathers to a whole load of kids? Something about the way they just behaved told me I should be more than worried or afraid. I should be absolutely terrified.