"Miss Hamilton. Please wait behind after class. I want to talk to you about your composition."
A crocodile of chattering, pinafored girls make their way out of the classroom, their braids and bunches bumping gently against shoulders and bags. Slowly, you finish packing your satchel, leaving the incriminating Latin book out on the desk.
"Come here, please." I take a seat at my desk. You approach, eyes downcast, the book clutched in front of your chest like a shield.
"Miss Hamilton, I don't believe you did any study for this recent composition. You made trivial, careless mistakes and your handwriting was practically illegible. What have you to say for yourself?"
"I'm sorry, Miss Birch. I'll try harder next time."
"Miss Hamilton, I think you need some extra tuition, in the light of your upcoming final exams. I will not have my young ladies making mistakes like this at the age of eighteen, it is most unbecoming. You are to come to my rooms at 8pm sharp tonight. I also feel you were sloppy and slapdash, for which you will receive punishment. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Miss Birch." Your voice trembles.
"Dismissed."
As you turn to leave, I take up the board duster and begin to beat the chalk dust out with a ruler.
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8pm prompt. A furtive, frightened tapping on my door.
"Come."
You enter. Your uniform is spotless, I note with approval, sharply creased and smelling faintly of outdoors. Your hair is tightly pulled back, revealing all of your features, those feline, uptilted eyes I've been watching for weeks.
Despite your nervousness, you cannot keep yourself from drinking in the sights of my room - such a change from my external, severe persona; and the summons to a teacher's room happens so rarely, it is worth the possible rudeness of gawking. The armchairs are overstuffed, worn chocolate leather. Red and gold drapes hang from a window overlooking the lake. A low fire crackles and pops gently on the grate, the scent of cedar rising from it to mix with the heavy perfume of deep red roses from the vase above. The furniture is pushed back against the cool, stone walls; and in the centre of the room, all alone, stands a matching leather stool.