Jan heard a faint knocking once again. At first she thought it was the squirrels running on the roof again, but now it seemed to be coming from the front door. They had a bell. It couldn't be anyone. She looked out the peephole just in case.
There was a girl there. She had a slim frame, with freshly teased mousy brown hair. Her eyebrows needed to be thinned. An extra 10 pounds would do the girl good. She was chewing nervously on her lower lip. Her hand continually smoothed her clothes as if they could somehow make her drab clothes a bit prettier.
Jan opened the door. "Can I help you?" she asked.
The girl blushed a bright red. "I was just - I was - ah - raising money for..." she stammered.
"For what?" Jan asked, arching a thin eyebrow.
"A - school - trip..." the poor girl looked as if she were ready to bolt.
"Where to?" Jan smiled, the girl was obviously lying.
There was a pause. "France." the girl volunteered.
"I'll ask my husband Mark to see if there is really a class trip to France when he gets home."
"I don't got to Mr. Mitchell's school," the girl blurted.
"How do you know where my husband teaches?" Jan asked as the young eighteen year old fell into her trap.
"I - I " The girl blushed even redder. She looked down at her shoes. "I really need to go."
Jan's mind was a whirl. She'd frightened the girl off. That was her goal at the start, but now, something in her wanted the girl to stick around. It was all the excitement she'd had all day.
If she wanted the girl back, she needed do it quickly. This girl had to be one of her husband's students, but which one? There were so many. She helped grade his papers, certainly she'd graded this girl's. Who did the best on the tests? Who. Shanon? No, it would be the honors class. This girl was definitely honors material.
The girl was leaving. She had to hurry. She took a wild guess.
"Where are you going Leslie?" Jan asked the retreating girl, stopping her in her tracks.
"Turn around Leslie," Jan said, her suspicions confirmed. "And come back here."
"Please don't tell," Leslie begged the woman. How had the woman known her name? Had Mr. Mitchell been talking about her. God, what if this woman...not just a woman. His wife. What if she knew? "This was a big mistake."
Jan opened the door wider. "Why don't you come in Leslie." she said. "So we can have a little chat."
"Yes ma'am." the girl gulped visibly as she stumbled into the house.
"Are you having difficulty seeing?" Jan smiled.
"I-I I need my glasses."
The tall thin girl put on her glasses. The were thick and ugly. Things began to fall into place. They were enough set her apart. To make it difficult to find friends. The girl's height would make it difficult for boys to approach her. Her brains would make it harder still. Her attempt to find someone outside of her ordinary social circle would be difficult at best.
She would go outside her circle to find someone. Anyone. The girl had a crush. A teacher's crush.
'Have a seat," Jan said, pulling out a chair from the dining table. "Can I make you a soda or something?"
"Please," Leslie whispered, anything to delay the inevitable.
Jan made two diet cokes and put a shot of Jack Daniel's in her own and joined the eighteen year old in the dining room.
"So what was your plan?" Jan asked. "Were you going to come over here and seduce my husband?"
"No," Leslie shook her head for emphasis, but her blushing cheeks gave her away. She'd never thought of Jan. Oh, she knew Mr. Mitchell was married, but she'd never thought of his wife. She never thought of anything like that, just the way his ice blue eyes made her knees quake. The way his deep voice had worked its way into her fantasies.
Jan was feeling very conflicted. On one hand, this was the sort of girl who kept her up at night. She knew her husband was attractive, plus he was an authority figure. She knew there were all those young girls there at high school and some would be eager to steal her husband away.
On the other hand. She had been unemployed for a month now, and her self esteem was making new lows daily. And she was bored. This girl, this blushing trembling young girl, was making her feel powerful. Dominant. Making her - hot.
"How old are you?" Jan asked.
"Eighteen." Leslie volunteered.
"Parents divorced?"
Leslie shook her head.
"Does your mom work?"
Another shake of the head.
"How would you feel if I went over to your house and seduced your dad?" Jan asked. "If he left you and your mom. And she didn't have a way to pay the bills? How would that feel? And then after, what if I didn't even have respect enough to answer her questions."
"I would feel bad," Leslie croaked, blinking back fresh tears. "I-I'm really sorry Mrs. Mitchell. I don't know...I don't know what got into me."
"Shhhh.." Jan said, circling the poor teen like a cougar. "We both know what got into you. I remember what is was like being a budding young woman. The hormones. How I would lay awake at night...feeling so hot down there."
"I wasn't.." Leslie blushed. How did this woman know how she felt. Was she really that transparent. Or was - or was the feelings she was feeling completely normal.
"But why go after a married man. A teacher?" Jan asked. "There's plenty of available boys for you. A whole school full of them. Hmmm..but they don't notice you - not in that way do they?"