Classroom Affair - Chapter 19：Can't Run Away

Iris tugged at Shannon’s hand. “This will be great! I’ll have a whole new selection of outfits to shock the people back home. Oh, sweet Myrtle Shores, how I enjoy tormenting you!”

“But you know, after a while, they’ll get used to your antics, Iris. You can’t be shocking forever if you have the same style.”

Iris stopped for a moment; a serious, thoughtful expression on her face. “You’re right. I’m going to have to do something big. Something unseen before. I’m going international, bitches!”

Shannon’s eyes widened. “Iris, language please!”

But as her best friend prattled on about her shopping endeavors, she found herself smiling, truly grateful for her presence.

In no time at all, they were all together and walking down the street to the train station. The gray clouds of Seattle were quickly turning black and Shannon worried it would storm on them.

This wasn’t the smartest idea her teacher ever had. Was he doing this to make it seem like everything was normal? While she considered this, they loaded on the train only to find it packed with the rush hour crowd.

Maya and Iris shared a seat since they were both so tiny, they didn’t take up much room. Alexia grabbed a hanging handle, while Shannon was forced to the back of the train.

She remembered riding the train when she came to visit her brother a few years back. Then it was such an adventure, but now, her thoughts were troubled, as she watched the buildings pass.

She looked up the neon sign, which told them their departure would be in four more stops. This would take about twenty minutes if her calculations were correct, so she sighed and pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt, hiding her from the eyes of the tired people around her.

Up ahead, she could hear Iris’s non-stop chattering to the people around her about the differences between small town life and the city. Just as she was getting into an off-colored joke, Mr. Thompson cleared his throat and shook his head, causing her change the ending into something lame.

Though the air quotes she gave, let people catch the punch line, eliciting amused chuckles from her audience.

That was one thing she admired about Iris, the tiny girl could slip into any crowd and be the center of attention with no regard to her reputation, nor what others thought of her. How freeing that must feel.

When the train finally stopped, they were just outside the huge mall while Iris grabbed Maya’s frail hand, the both of them looking like excited pixies, when the doors opened to the vast world of shopping.

He seemed surprised, but patted her back, as she sprinted off towards the various shops while he yelled. “Keep your phones on! We have two hours at the most before the last train leaves!”

They gave a waving motion before disappearing while Mr. Thompson sighed and brushed a hand through his hair. “What did I get myself into? What about you two? Not a fan of shopping?”

Alexia shrugged and walked past him. “I’ll look around. You want us here at eight, yes?”

He nodded before grabbing her shoulder and fixing those icy eyes into hers. “Yes, and I do mean exactly at eight. No surprises, all right?”

Alexia watched him with a look Shannon had seen her give a rival bully before. One that says. “I’m not afraid of you, but I don’t want trouble.”

A silent understanding went through them before he released her and she stalked off towards a Forever 21.

When Mr. Thompson turned, Shannon was gone and his eyes searched the crowd for her red hair. There were too many people with the end of day crowd and he worried he wouldn’t get a chance to get her alone again for a while, as he picked his way through the crowd.

Shannon walked through the swarms of people, a few of them bumping her shoulders as they passed. Her thoughts were twisted and chaotic, but she found herself feeling lost yet oddly comforted in the confusion of the people around her.

No one knew her here, she was just a pretty teenage girl, wearing a black hoody and a torn expression amongst the crowd. Shannon glanced at the shops with no real interest, until familiar yipping caught her ear.

She turned her eyes to the faces of adorable puppies that licked the window at her approach. A small smile came across her face, as she stepped into the pet store.

An old man greeted her with a friendly smile, as she walked over to a pen which held a litter of black lab puppies. She reached down and picked up a particularly cute one, with big, loving eyes and Shannon found herself thinking of Brandon. What was he doing now? Did he miss her?

As the puppy licked her face, Shannon smiled, of course he did.

She nuzzled the excited lab to herself and loved him sweetly, until the old man came up beside her. “Looks like we have quite a match. He seems to have fallen in puppy love.”

He laughed at his own joke and Shannon knew he’d probably been waiting for the perfect opportunity to say it.

She gave the puppy one last pat, before setting him back down. “Sorry, but I’m from out of town. I was just looking, if that’s all right?”

He chuckled. “Sure, it is. It’s good to get them comfortable with people. I just got a new delivery of kittens if you would like see?”

Shannon nodded and followed him to the back of shop, where a large cage of mewing kittens waited for her.

He patted the mother cat lovingly. “This old girl is staying with me, but feel free to look at her babies for a while.”

Shannon thanked him before she bent down and picked up a Siamese kitten with sapphire eyes, which looked at her with an expression she knew all too well.

She found herself sighing. “Really? I’m making connections with animals now? How pathetic am I?”

She nuzzled the kitten close to her chin, knowing it wasn’t its fault that its expression looked so much like his. The kitten’s soft fur tickled her skin.

No matter how cute these animals were, there was only one thing that could calm her spirit in the way she needed, so when she walked out the shop and around the corner, she laid eyes on the words, “Music Store.”

The sound of faint classical music poured out of the speakers. She passed by a collection of stringed instruments, none of them holding much interest for her. Shannon dabbled in guitar and violin, but her true love waited just past the large cellos.

She breathed deep, before sitting herself down on the leather seat and opening the cover.

The ivory keys begged to be touched and Shannon happily obliged. Though her voice was raw from the hours of grueling practice, her fingers moved with the same smooth flow they always had, as she found herself playing. “My Immortal” by Evanesence.

The haunting melody escaped the piano and lifted around her, holding and comforting her in the way a lover would. Oh, if only her piano could come to life as a prince and take her from the disaster, she’d placed herself in.

But then it was fantasy which had gotten her into this mess in the first place. How things had become so complicated was beyond her, but here, surrounded by her truest love in the world, life made sense again.

She closed her eyes, came up to the swell of music and knew that the bridge which always given her so much trouble, was about to happen. To her surprise, the notes came out fluidly, as though it wasn’t really her playing them.

When she opened her eyes, she saw an extra pair of hands and turned them up to see his stylish glasses catching the light as he played alongside her. Deciding to let the moment linger, Shannon turned her attention back to the already beautiful song and continued to play.

Mr. Thompson added an extra harmony with the deeper side of the piano and Shannon found herself performing more flourish than was originally in the piece.

Together they made a heart-wrenching sound, as both played with skill until it came to the end of the song and he held the final chord, while Shannon trickled out a few parting notes.

The performance had drawn a small crowd, who gave subtle applause when they finished. There were a few quiet interjections of:

“Wonderful.”

“Amazing.”

“What a beautiful duet.”

The attention was not what Shannon wanted. She felt her heart pinch and tears come to her eyes. The happiness she felt when playing, evaporated into too much emotion.

She rose from the seat and ran out of the store to the Barnes & Noble, which resided at the end of the hall.