When the bell rang to signify the end of the lesson Alexa got up from her seat, but remained where she was while the other students left. When they had gone, she moved over to her history teacher, Mr McGrath, who was at his desk marking some essays. She stood up straight; her knees held together, clasping her books to her chest. The teacher apparently hadn't noticed her yet. She cleared her throat.
"Sir?"
"What is it?" he asked without stopping what he was doing.
"I like your tie today sir."
He looked up at her, then back down at his tie, then back up at her. He stared at the student for what seemed a long time. His eyes seemed to pierce right through her. She suffered an incredible urge to run out of the classroom.
"Thank you," he said before returning to his essays.
Alexa stood there silently. 'Was that it?' she thought. She knew that over these past few weeks her teacher had been looking at her with lustful eyes, they passed all over her body. She herself had been having a crush on him . When she had caught him glancing at her, she hoped they might be able to hit it off. But he was just sitting there at his desk, quietly working. Nerves got the better of her and she turned towards the door to leave.
"Yours looks nice too," he muttered.
The girl turned around, at first bewildered. "But this is part of the uniform sir. All the students wear it."
"Indeed, Alexa," he sighed. "And you look good in it."
"Oh."
She began to ask him questions about an assignment, not caring for the answers, but merely to get a conversation going. As she spoke he didn't bother to hide the fact that he was checking out her legs, bare beneath the above-knee hemline of her skirt. When he looked up to her face it felt to her like he was focusing on her lips more than anything else.
Mr McGrath was beginning to fascinate Alexa. He dominated her thoughts. She would stay behind after class to flirt with him, under the pretence of asking about homework. This went on a number of times over the next two weeks, and Alexa knew it was only a matter of time before something would happen between them. Yet despite the chats, he was still a mystery to her. Mr McGrath, who was in his early fifties, maintained a striking figure. He was handsome, tall and broad shouldered. His eyes were deep and dark. Many ladies found themselves taking a fancy to him. Alexa had overheard two of the schools teachers in conversation; one was wondering if he was available, the other, her English teacher Ms Parker, saying it would be a bad idea. By the way Ms Parker talked of him, it seemed like they had a history together, and that maybe she was a little afraid of him. But Alexa ignored this.
Strict and consistent, Mr McGrath was in complete control of his pupils during teaching. There was hardly any messing around from the naughtier ones in his lessons. But he seemed disinterested in his own subject, and did not care to teach it any deeper than beyond the curriculum. The only time she had seen a spark in his eyes was over the past two weeks when he looked at her.
Alexa was a pretty eighteen year old, but nevertheless shy. Quite a few of the more popular boys had tried to chat with her, hoping for a date. But her naturally quiet demeanour and inability to think of something appropriate to say made it look like she wasn't interested and they usually gave up. This was more nervousness than her not wanting to go out with them. She had only ever gone out with one boy and that lasted just a week. He broke up with her the day after he had taken her virginity. When her teacher had began talking to her in that way she suffered the same feeling of not knowing what to say. But he was not put off by this one bit. She could not tell whether he was simply able to look past her timidity, or if he just didn't care what she was thinking. When they were alone and flirting together, she was taken aback by the way he talked to her. They were both pretending to be innocent while suggesting implicitly the possibility of something more. But while she had tried to keep a friendly tone he sounded cold, and maybe even a little patronizing. He always maintained a little distance between them, and she could not find an opportunity to even touch him. When he felt they had talked long enough, he dismissed her, expecting her to leave without another word, which Alexa duly did. Cursing herself afterwards for not standing up to him a bit, she nevertheless could not even bring up the urge to be assertive in his presence.
Things then took a turn. Alexa had woken up from the previous night in which she dreamt that Mr McGrath had made her stand up at the front of the class and strip to her underwear. She just stood there, as all the students paid attention, their faces emotionless, while Mr McGrath talked dispassionately about Ancient Greece!
