Classroom Affair - Chapter 24：Liar

Though she tried to sleep, Shannon soon discovered that nothing could take her mind off of what was to come.

Questions, dangerous questions, pulsed through her with every breath she took.

What could Chris want? Why did he want to meet her? Was something wrong? Were they found out?

Digging her head deeper into her pillow, Shannon suppressed the frustrated sigh, which begged to escape and wake her sleeping friend.

She already had enough on her mind without Iris adding more.

When dinnertime rolled around, Iris rose from her sleep, already spikey hair springing each and every way.

Her normally expressive eyes were heavy with sleep, until an impressive growl sounded from the recesses of her stomach. “Man alive, I’m hungry! Come on, we need sustenance!”

Shannon rolled over, pretending as though she just woke up. “I think I still need more sleep. You go ahead without me. I will see you later tonight.”

Iris looked her up and down before shrugging. “All right, but tell Brandon he needs to respect your sleep for a change and not text you for hours.”

Shannon smiled softly, while Iris leapt from the bed and out the door without bothering to look in the mirror or comb her mess of hair.

She opened her phone for the hundredth time waiting for a message that simply didn’t come. The phone flashed six in the evening, which meant she would have to wait another four grueling hours.

Tapping her fingernails against the bed, Shannon tried to close her eyes and do what she said she would. Sleep would make the hours go by faster, but each time she drifted off, the fear of being late shot her awake.

She laid still with her eyes closed listening, when Iris came back to the room with a “to-go” box full of food for them both. Shannon waited patiently, eyes remaining shut until her friend yawned and turned out the light.

When there was silence in the dark room, she cracked open one eye to see the clock read “nine-forty-five.”

Thank God, the time had finally come!

She rose quietly from the bed, ran a brush through her hair and proceeded to sneak out the door, before a voice called out. “Where are you going?”

It made her freeze mid-step, heart pounding. She attempted a casual turn to look at Iris who was sitting up in bed.

“I’m a little hungry, going to step out for a few minutes.”

Her neck started to flare up, as it always did when she lied, but to her relief, she soon realized her friend was far from awake while speaking to her.

Iris’s head was nodding even as she said. “I brought…food…”

Shannon smiled, turning her voice soft and soothing. “I’m going to get something else. Just lay back and sleep, ok? I’ll be back soon.”

Iris wavered slightly, before dropping straight back with such momentum, Shannon worried she may have hit her head.

When the tiny girl made no more objections towards her, she swallowed and quietly snuck out of the room, down the hall and out the door.

The night sky was cloudy, promising foul weather soon and Shannon wished she’d brought a jacket. Her mother’s nagging voice rang in her head. “Always bring a jacket. You’ll catch your death.”

She silently made her way down the steep grassy hill to the ever-flowing river.

Every step she took felt dangerous, like she was on a secret mission and couldn’t be spotted, lest she were captured.

Quite fitting when she took a moment to consider it.

Nearly tripping over a discarded bag, Shannon steadied herself and sat on the metal bench, waiting for the man she always longed to see.

The moments ticked by, a cold wind stirring and Shannon checked her watch again. It was after ten, he should have been there by now….

“Waiting long?” The whisper tickled against her ear, causing her to jump.

“Chris!”

He shushed her, as she covered her mouth, embarrassed at breaking her stealthy silence.

He sat on the bench beside her. “Did anybody see you leave?”

Shannon thought back to Iris’s sleepy accusation, but quickly disregarded it. “No, I snuck out like a ninja.”

He smiled that dazzling grin, which made her heart ache with the beauty of it.

Mr. Thompson stared at the sleepy river and for a moment he could relate. On top was so serene and in control, but underneath, a tempest of swirling currents raged.

He told himself he would be strong, he would end this no matter what, but just from her very presence, he found himself bantering and flirting like a frat boy.

“Chris…why don’t you just say what you are trying so hard not to?” She asked.

He closed his eyes and inhaled, damn she was good.

His eyes stayed on the river, for he knew that if he looked at her, all bets would be off. He’d fall into those forest green pools of warmth and be lost again.

She wouldn’t understand, so he would have to make her not want to be with him anymore. It was time to be cruel to be kind.

Clearing his throat, he began. “This is wrong. It’s so wrong.”

“I know, you’ve said this before.”

“Even if I wasn’t married, I’m still your teacher. This is taboo and that’s why you’re attracted to it. When you’re a teenager, everything is so dramatic and emotional. You’re in love with the romance of this idea and nothing more. I’m going to stay away from you and I suggest you do the same, before other actions have to be executed. Are we clear?”

The words felt like bile on his tongue, but it had to be said. He even managed to sound as cold and professional as he could. That was it. Finished.

“You’re a bad liar, Mr. Thompson.” She said quietly.

The words were so painfully true, that it made him hurt inside. Why did he think this could work on her? She was special, not like anyone else he had ever met. He believed the term was “old-soul” when people are far wiser than their age allowed.

In that moment, Shannon felt ancient.

He turned his face and looked into her eyes, which had ages within them and only then did he realize his mistake. For as cold as it was outside, her pretty green eyes seemed to smolder, warming him from the inside out.

Shannon’s voice sounded much calmer than she felt. “Are we going to forever play this game of accept and reject? You tell me to stay away, I try and then we are drawn together again?”

His crystal blue eyes stared at her face as tears she didn’t even know were hidden began to seep out.

Whether it was a mix of sleep deprivation or the fact that she was so emotionally worn from all of this, Shannon began to cry, tears pouring down her face, when she rose to walk away from him. “If you want me gone, fine, but don’t insult me by grouping me with everyone else. You told me I was special….so were you lying then or are you lying now?”