Hello, Melissa,
I just finished grading your semester theme paper. I am sorry to say that it just isn't good enough to pass my English class.
Melissa, I also know that you have problematic thoughts. I have known pupils like you. I know the kinds of terrible things that go through their minds. Through your mind. Thoughts that you try to dispel, but which return again and again, each time stronger. You don't know where they come from, and you can't control them. But you know they are wrong, and so do I. I can see into your mind, and I am very concerned about you.
I know you think about me. They were abstract, inchoate thoughts at first. Then the thoughts became a bit clearer. Now they come to you with such detail and clarity that you can see, hear, smell, and taste them, so real that you sometimes forget they are only in your mind.
You think about finding me in my office after school. In your mind, you picture me distractedly letting you in. I then sit behind my big mahogany desk, and gesture for you to sit in the chair facing me across the dark, glossy surface. You make sure, out of habit, that the skirt of your uniform covers your thighs, and you pull your knees together tightly. You hold your books against your chest, and cast your eyes downward.
"Yes?"
You force yourself to look me in the eye. You hope I can't tell that you are trembling. You struggle to find words, as the maelstrom in your mind makes words impossible. I grow impatient, and you feel yourself blushing hard. Your cheeks feel hot. Tears well up in your eyes. You try to fight against crying, but your mouth, dry, tastes metallic as the tears begin to stream down your face.
I frown. I know I won't be able to get back to work until you leave. I sigh, rise from my chair, and approach you from around the desk. As I stand beside you, I put a hand on your shoulder. This small gesture of kindness, which you know you don't deserve, causes you to sob. You cannot look up at me. With blurred vision, you look at your black, patent leather shoes, and at my dark brown wingtips partly hidden by my the cuff of my wool trousers. Your feet look so small beside mine.
Eventually, your sobs subside. I offer you a handkerchief from my breast pocket, and you hesitate--it is so clean, so soft, and is embroidered with my initials. But you need to use it; by now you have no choice. You don't know what to do with the handkerchief afterward, holding it out, and are grateful when I simply take it from your hand and stuff it into my trouser pocket.
Finally, you bring yourself to look up at me. Your mouth opens to speak, but the power of speech has deserted you, and you feel so foolish. You look into my eyes, hoping for some signal, some hint about what to do. You can't quite read my eyes, though. You simply haven't had enough experience to understand what a man's eyes are telling you. But something feels strange. You are acutely aware of my large, heavy hand on your shoulder. Everything feels hyper-real. You feel something below that confuses you, embarrasses you. You have had this feeling before, and you have prayed for it to go away, but it hasn't, and you feel it more strongly than ever. Why now? You are so ashamed.
You wonder if the other girls--the juniors and seniors--would know what to do. You admire them and fear them. They know things. They have secrets. You feel so lost and confused, wishing you knew what they knew.
Your shame deepens as you feel your nipples contract into hard nubs. You hope I can't tell through your blouse.