The rest of the class went by so slowly as I had to watch a suspenseful movie when I already knew the ending. I leaned my chin onto my palm and watched the movie in complete and utter boredom. Every couple of minutes I looked around the walls of the classroom trying to distract myself to make time go by faster. It felt as if someone was watching me and I scanned the classroom until my eyes met with Mr. Messner. I gave him an annoyed face and he gave me an equally disgusted face as if offended that I wasn't watching the movie. As soon as the bell rang, I stood up and began walking over to Mr. Messner's desk when a sea of under classmen rushed to his desk to ask him questions about our year end project. He had to force an excited look on his face to prolong his explanation and keep me waiting. After a couple of minutes I caught on to his game and walked out of the classroom and into the quad where my friends and I normally sit.
"Hey did your phone die?" Mary asked as I sat down with my lunch.
"No! Mr. Messner took my phone and he won't give it back until after school!" I replied angrily trying to conceal any laughter or grinning.
"Are you serious?? He's never taken anyone's phone" Fiona chimed in.
"I know, I've never seen him take anyone's phone. Maybe it's just an excuse to get me alone after class!" I said with the most taunting tone in my voice.
"In your dreams!" They all seemed to yell in unison and we all laughed together.
"Okay, no more, Curtis is coming" I said as quietly as possible.
Curtis and his three friends came and sat down next to all of us. "Hey babe"
"Hi" I said and I leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips. Curtis' friends, Andrew, Michael, and Greg always sat with us. Michael was trying to get hooked up with Fiona. They both had AP Bio and Calculus together and really were a match made in heaven but Michael was always too afraid to make a move on her. The most he had ever done was sit next to her every day and he put his arm around her one day when it was cold.
"Did you get my text I sent you?" Curtis asked looking up at me as I took a bite from my sandwhich.
I shook my head and swallowed my bite trying to conceal any embarrassment or nervousness. "No, my phone got taken away. I have to go get it from the office after class." I looked away over towards my Fiona and Beth that were sitting across from me.
"Mr. Messner took your phone away?" Curtis asked accusatory with jealousy in his voice.
My eyes widened as I was still looking towards my friends. Fiona almost jumped out of her skin and yelled, "Yeah, but guess why!" Everyone looked puzzled at her and she took that as them asking her why. "She forgot to turn her brightness down!" She said and all of my friends quickly joined in her laughter and excuse to diffuse any problems that might arise with Curtis' question. I put my hands on my forehead and faced down on the table as if to be embarrassed. Curtis put his arm around me and scooted me in closer to him, laughing at me. The mood was suddenly lifted and we had no jealous boyfriends.
But my mind couldn't get off Mr. Messner. Well, more than usual. His hand had been so forceful and quick as if he expected me to beg him for my phone back. Would he just give it to me right away when I got in his classroom? Would he lecture me or be mad that I disrupted his class? Had I set a bad example for the under classmen? All I knew was I hated not having my phone.
My last class of the day was my religion class. Which was the worst class of my entire life. Not that I don't appreciate the lessons that are taught or learning about the bible, or how the teachers managed to incorporate everyday life into religion. It was the close mindedness of my teachers and the fact that I really was not interested and didn't care at all. No offense, Jesus. The class drug on for what seemed like six hours. As soon as the bell rang, I power walked over to Mr. Messner's classroom. I had to get to softball practice right after class and I knew if I wasn't there soon Beth would wait up for me.
As I reached his classroom in the far corner on the second floor of our school building, I reached for the door handle and it was locked. Seriously? I know he just got finished teaching. I'm a little ashamed to know that he just got done, but I do know it. I waited outside of his classroom just standing there, fiddling my thumbs. Normally in this situation I would have my phone to look at to waste time. But now I don't have that and I was left just standing there. So I waited. I watched as all of the students emptied the hallways as you would expect teenagers to do so on a Friday afternoon. I soon watched as teachers wondered away as well.
I walked to the other side of the hallway to a clock on the wall to check the time. 3:35. I had been waiting here for over a half an hour and surely was too late to join my softball practice this late. I debated leaving and going the entire weekend without my cell phone, but I knew that wouldn't work. I've been on thin ice with Curtis since he had called me out on being overly infatuated with my teacher. Over the winter break we were at a large party all hanging out and after a few drinks we started playing Marry, Fuck, Kill with our teachers. We all took turns but for on my second turn, my friends included Mr. Messner again after I had already chose to marry him. After giving him the same position, Curtis snapped. "What the fuck is up with you and him, Amanda? Seriously. Are you fucking him?"
The room tensed up and my friends were holding their breath and I looked at him shocked. "What the fuck Curtis? He's the best teacher at school. And the youngest so it only makes practical sense to marry him." I was talking out of my ass and everyone knew it.
"That's bullshit and you know it. Are you fucking him, Amanda!?" He raised his voice and stood up glaring down at me.
I stood up to meet his eye contact and guided him towards a private room. "You need to calm down, Curtis. What has gotten into you?" I said as I tried to calm him down. There was a rage in his eyes that I had never seen before. A primal like instinct had taken over him and I was afraid. I was afraid, but I was also getting butterflies in my stomach. Seeing him so upset about the idea of me with another man was exciting to me. But I assured him even still, "I'm not interested in anyone else but you, babe." I placed my hands on his shoulders pulling him in for a hug. As soon as I did that, he shoved my arms aside and pushed me backwards.
"You fucking bitch, you are fucking him aren't you!" He said as he pushed me backwards with his chest and towering size. I pleaded with him to stop and kept denying his accusations. I may have wished that I was involved with him, but I really wasn't. He pushed me again, harder this time and I fell to the floor against the wall. I was on the floor and he was walking back towards me when Mary had walked in, concerned when she heard the thump of my fall. Curtis was towering over me as if he was about to charge me. As soon as he heard the door open he quickly sat beside me and placed his hand on my knee to make it look as if we were talking out our problems. That was the first time I had experienced anything like that with Curtis, but it wasn't...
Before I could even finish my flashbacks or thoughts I heard shoes coming around the corner of the hallway. I was now sitting on the floor outside of Mr. Messner's classroom. I lost track of time and had no idea how long I had been waiting out here. My mind was rattled by all of the emotions that were coming back up and I had to remember why I was waiting. I saw Mr. Messner come around the corner jingling his keys in his pocket with a cup of coffee, with some pep in his step.
I stood up to greet him and wiped off anything from the ground that could have been left from the ground. He had a smirk on his face that I had never seen before. At this point, I didn't really notice. I was just focused on getting my phone back to at least see what time it was.
"Ah, Miss Amanda. It's nice to see you waited for me." He said as he approached closer.
"Well, you didn't give me much choice." He looked me straight in the eyes with fire as he pulled out his keys and opened the door. He signaled me in and he followed behind.
He began to close the door behind him, "Now what was so important on your phone earlier today? We were watching a great movie."
"Oh, it wasn't important. I had just seen the movie before. Memento is one of those movies that's the best the first time you watch it." He gave a look of approval.
I spun around to face him as he walked away from the door over to his desk. There was an awkward silence as he stopped right in the middle of the classroom and turned around as if with a sudden great idea. "It wasn't because you were talking about me, was it?" He turned and faced me with a comical look on his face.
"Oh no, my friends and I were just talking about trading homework over the weekend." I said shrugging and turning red as soon as I had. As if that was a better answer. I couldn't even lie to him. I had to tell him the truth as embarrassing as it was.
He nodded his head and walked over to his desk and pulled out my phone from his drawer. He raised it up and signaled me to come over to get it from him. I walked over, as confidently as I could, and I made it to the front of his desk without tripped over my feet at all; a feat that I was actually impressed with. He held it out and I looked up in his eyes for approval. He didn't move so I reached my hand up to grab it, when suddenly he pulled it back and looked up to the ceiling all nonchalantly as if he had a brilliant idea. "I'm not entirely sure that you've learned your lesson, Amanda." He said with a small smile on his face. My head tilted to the side in confusion and I was speechless.
"Well I won't use my phone again in class. It was just because of this movie and I have a softball tournament this weekend and two tests on Monday morning. It won't happen again." I said red in the face again, trying to convince him.
"And you've seen the movie before? You could tell me the sequins of pictures he uncovers in the movie?" He said as he looked deep into my eyes.
"Umm I think so." I really had no idea if I could. I honestly hadn't seen the movie in a year or two. But I remembered how it ended.
"Okay. Close your eyes and picture the movie from the beginning to the end and give me your list." I closed my eyes as he told me to and I focused on remembering. I didn't focus on anything else besides my memory. I didn't hear any movement from around me. Everything was still and all I heard was my concentration and determination to get it all right.
I suddenly felt my arms being taken from their folded position in front of me to behind my back. I was so entranced in my thoughts that I didn't even process it until they had stopped moving and were already behind me. As soon as I realized what was happening it was too late. I heard a clamp and pulled my arms apart but they were restricted together. I felt a cold metal on my wrists and heard the clanking of what had to be handcuffs. My back stiffened and I shot straight up, not being able to think about anything in that moment. "What are you doing, Mr. Messner?" I asked in almost a whisper. Why would he keep handcuffs in his drawer?
Mr. Messner closed any gap that separated us and he pressed into my behind. He placed his arms on my shoulders and slid them down to my elbows. He brought his head right up to mine and whispered in my ear, "I know you want me, Amanda." He just continued to touch my arms and press into my backside but didn't wander anywhere else.
I felt my heart beating out of my chest and my center was beginning to throb like it never had before. His touch sent a shiver down my body and I know he noticed. "Mr. Messner, I don't think this is a good idea." I said as I dropped my head forward in pure ecstasy at the sensation of his breath hitting the back of my neck.
"Amanda, I know you want me." He said again, "I can see it in your eyes every day. The way your eyes attract mine and the way you look up to me." My breathing began to get heavier and I tried to slow myself down to conceal any excitement. I was with Curtis and this couldn't happen. "Everyone in our classes can see it. But things have changed since we got back from break. You don't hold your gaze on my every move, you don't sit up and give me your undivided attention, you don't ignore your friends when they try to talk to you anymore. What's changed?"
I paused and I didn't know what to say. I wanted this to happen so badly. He was turning me on so badly but I knew I couldn't. Even if I wasn't with Curtis and I wasn't afraid of any consequences, I truly admired and respected my teacher and I wouldn't want to do anything that would jeopardize his life. "I have a boyfriend" I managed to whisper out in the most sheepish way.
Mr. Messner tightened his grip on my arms at that. I thought he was jealous that I was with someone else. "Your boyfriend, Curtis? The one that abuses you and manipulates you into staying with him?" There was anger in his voice and I could feel his body get hot at the thought of it.
"That's not true!" I exclaimed as frantic as I could. I felt a jerk of my entire body backwards.
"Don't lie to me, Amanda." He shook my body and held me tightly. "I've seen your bruises, I know it's from him. I know a lot about you." I looked down at the floor not knowing what to say or do. No one had questioned any discoloration on my body before. I think being an athlete was always excuse enough. Mr. Messner was able to read right through that. I had no idea how, but there was a sense of comfort in it. "I know you want me and you talk about me to all of your friends." My jaw dropped at this statement. He had looked through my phone! "I know you refuse to tell Curtis that you love him. And I know he doesn't satisfy your needs." My cheeks began growing hot and blushed. I had no words to say. It was like he was reaching into the deep depths of my soul and stealing all of my secrets. "And you left quite the internet browser open, my dear."
