PRELUDE...
It had been 20 years since he'd been back to Midland. He spent those long years becoming a novelist of some renown. In fact, one of his books was turned into a movie that did quite well at the box office. As he entered the busy venue, he could feel the eyes on him. He just didn't know if they were staring because of the fame he achieved outside of Midland High or the infamy of his actions inside its halls.
Suddenly, he saw her emerge from the crowd and it all came rushing back.
FLASHBACK -- SPRING 2004
Most teachers don't intend to fuck their students. That's just not how it works. But on occasion, life's circumstances create a pathway for lonely and vulnerable people to collide, filled with the insatiable urge to indulge their most forbidden desires.
Mrs. Elizabeth "Lisa" Everett's Southern sorority girl looks -- a perfectly symmetrical face with dimpled cheeks, wavy blonde hair and an evenly-tanned body full of outrageous curves -- were constantly on the minds of every faculty member, student and parent at Midland High. It was commonplace for wives to catch their husbands staring at her during PTA meetings. A few male teachers tried their hand, but she was happily married to Edward Everett Jr., an average man except for his devotion to his beautiful wife. Seeing her out and about with her husband in their small town so frequently gave comfort to the wives and envious female faculty. She was just fun to look at, nothing more.
Lisa was the type of woman that forced the idea of sex into the minds of every person in her immediate area. Lisa knew this about herself and she loved it. Edward loved it, too. The biggest accomplishment of his life was convincing the sexiest woman he'd ever met to be his wife.
Lisa and Edward met in English 101 during their freshman year at Oklahoma University. But they didn't hook up until senior year. Truth be told, she knew he was a good guy and didn't want to hurt him, so she kept him at a distance while she "partied." Edward waited patiently in the friendzone while Lisa (and her friends) fucked all the frat guys, TAs, athletes and professors they saw fit. Make no mistake, she probably could have done a lot better than Edward, but she knew no man would ever look at her like he did. So, the girl voted "most likely to be a trophy wife" in high school settled for a relatively modest life with a good and honorable man. Besides, her family had money, which helped them buy their house, because she refused "to live in some shitty apartment or a tiny starter house." She was genuinely happy and had managed to be faithful during their marriage, despite the temptations presented by her slutty friends, who regularly suggested she have fling here and there to keep the juices flowing.
In the Fall of 2003, two things changed Lisa's life forever. The first was Edward's "deployment." The war in Iraq was raging on and Edward had an opportunity to make a great deal of money in a short amount of time. It was a defense contractor gig that would pay him more than four times his yearly salary for one year of service in Iraq. He wouldn't be in any real danger, as he'd be strictly on base. It was a huge opportunity for him to secure the money he needed to start his car transport business without asking Lisa's father. Obviously, Edward's need to be his own man caused a lot of strain on their marriage, but Lisa understood. She even admired him for wanting to work hard to provide for them and build something of his own before they started their family. They were only 27; they had time.
Lisa hung in there while he was gone. She read more books, even started writing one of her own. And she remained faithful by watching tons of porn and masturbating like never before. When Edward came home for Christmas, she fucked him so stupid that he didn't want to go back, but he had to keep his eye on the prize.
The second thing that happened that fall was the arrival of Elijah Collins. Elijah transferred to Midland for his senior year. His mother, Gladys, wanted to leave St. Louis for somewhere with a slower pace after the sudden death of her husband, Elijah's father. Elijah was quiet and lanky, with satiny dark skin, close-cropped hair and warm, dark eyes. He was also extremely intelligent and would have been valedictorian if not for some incredibly convenient "technicality" about his transfer credits. Gladys cared about that more than he did. He just wanted to graduate and get the fuck out of that extremely white and boring town.
Lisa noticed Elijah (how could she not, he was the only black student in the senior class, one of seven black students in the entire school), but they didn't actually speak to each other until he took her creative writing class during the second semester of the school year. He did very well in her class, on paper at least. He never participated in any discussion, unless she called on him, but he was an excellent writer and she enjoyed reading his stories, particularly the one about the college friends who get lost in an alternate reality during a road trip, and a weirdly hilarious take on Friends set in the Sopranos' universe. In fact, the way she constantly gushed over his talent during class made him a bigger target than he could manage by just being black in an Oklahoma City suburb. Elijah hated the attention and Lisa made note to never put him on the spot again.
Prom was just a few weeks away and the excitement among the students filled the school. One Friday afternoon, Elijah could barely hide his disdain for all the chatter, as he and the other students filed into Lisa's classroom. He sat at his desk, opened a comic book, and blatantly ignored the conversation of the students surrounding him.
"Elijah, are you coming to prom?"
He turned to his left and saw Britney, the hottest girl in school, staring back at him, her blue-green eyes and perfect teeth shining with excitement, dying for answer. Britney had been curious about Elijah from the moment she saw him striding down the hallway on his first day at Midland. His combination of intelligence, aloofness and exotic good looks fascinated her. She confessed to her closest friends that she thought he was "kinda hot" and, to her surprise, they all agreed.
Before Elijah could answer her, Josh, a meathead football player, who thought he was Britney's boyfriend because he took her on dates and she gave him a few handjobs, jumped in:
"Hell no! Who's he going to take? His mom?"
As the other students laughed, Elijah stood up and warned Josh to never speak about his mother again.
"What are you gonna do, virg?" Josh chided him, as he stood up to meet Elijah eye to eye.
Josh was much bigger and likely would have easily handled Elijah, but Elijah grew up around much tougher guys than Josh. They made fun of him all day, every day, toughening him up with every insult, shove and punch. He was going to make Josh remember they fought, at least.
But Lisa quickly stepped between them. She placed both hands on Elijah's chest and gently pushed him back. Instinctively, he grabbed her hands to remove them from his body. Their eyes locked as their skin touched and Elijah's anger quickly faded. He saw her close up and she was so stunning his mind went blank. Lisa took in the details of Elijah's face, most notably his abnormally clear teenage skin wrapped around a perfect jawline, bold dark eyes and suggestively full lips. He was going to be a really handsome man, she thought at that moment.
That fleeting interaction made such a powerful impression on Lisa that Elijah invaded her thoughts every single time she masturbated that weekend. Normally, she went to bed alone in her large family home, more often than not with the help of her vibrators, some well-written erotica and/or internet porn. But for three straight nights, after being so close to Elijah that she could map the skin of his lips, Lisa took the leap into interracial porn and surrendered to every nasty little thought her mind could conjure. The things she saw and heard on those websites...the passion. It was more than sex. Those women worshipped those men. It became impossible for her not to wonder what it must feel like to be that turned on by a man...to be fucked like that.
She kept imagining how big Elijah might be, and how his lips would feel on her lips and other parts of her body. Of course she felt some shame about fantasizing about a teenager, but that was alleviated by the fact that Elijah was 18. He was legal, so she wasn't a monster, she rationalized.
When Elijah strolled into class that following Monday, Lisa's eyes crawled from his crotch to his eyes and she smiled at him like a girl wanting to be noticed. His body was long and lean, his clothes relaxed around his frame, like one of those male models. She couldn't take her eyes off of him during class. She tried to remember to make eye contact with other students, but she kept coming back to him. A few times, he caught her staring and quickly averted his eyes, as if she was forbidden to look at. They were both aware that something was happening between them.
As class ended and students began to leave, she stood behind her desk and, with a stern but polite tone, asked Elijah to stay for a moment. The other students teased as if he were in trouble.
"Plagerism!" Josh mockingly blurted under his breath, but loud enough to get a laugh.
Lisa closed the door behind the students.
"Am I in trouble?" Elijah asked.
"Trouble?" she scoffed. "No, I just wanted to apologize to you."
"For what?"
"I don't want you to think I singled you out when I stopped you and Josh from fighting last week. I pushed you away like you were the problem, when I knew it was his fault. It was on my mind all weekend. I'm sorry for that."
Elijah was surprised. He wasn't expecting an apology and really didn't need one, but he liked it anyway. No one had been particularly nice to him at the school. It felt nice to have someone on his side.
"It's okay. He's an asshole."
Lisa laughed. Elijah smiled because he made her laugh.
"You're right about that."
They giggled for a moment. Then, from nowhere Lisa spat out...
"And don't let him make you feel bad about prom or being a virgin."
"Who says I'm a virgin?" Elijah said, wrinkling his brow, slightly offended and embarrassed.
She stammered and stumbled: "Oh, I mean, I don't know if you are or aren't. I mean, I assumed if you were it was by choice. I figured you were saving yourself for someone you care about. You're so handsome, I'm sure you could have your pick of these girls."
