Mr. Pierce's 4th period Senior English was the last before lunch and the students were anxious for it to end.
Jamie Stern sat in the back row, lost in thought. She had turned 18 over the winter break and was counting down the hours till school ended. She would go to college and never come back to this town.
The bell rang and as the students made to leave Mr. Pierce called out.
"Miss Stern could you please come see me at my desk."
She left her things and walked over.
"Yes?" she said
"Give it a minute," Mr Pierce said, motioning that he was waiting for the other students to leave.
While pretending to read a paper, he eyed her up down. Jamie was of medium height and slim. But her shyness and the way she squeezed her shoulders in made her seem smaller. The uniform of white button up shirt and tartan skit accentuated her long limbs. She had brown curly hair that reached her shoulders and was more like a thick aura around her head. She had large eyes and small, slightly upturned nose. Her lips were full but lacked much color and were often pursed in a little pout of a bow.
She did not yet wear makeup.
After everyone was gone, Mr. Pierce cleared his throat and laid down the paper.
"Did you have any trouble with the recent midterm paper?" he asked
"English isn't my best subject but I thought I did alright"
"Please. Miss Stern. If you are going to cheat at least be smart about it. The writing sounded nothing like you and five minutes on the internet turned up whole passages from your paper."
She couldn't believe she had been caught. She didn't think he cared enough—he taught class like it was the last thing he wanted to do. Like he was just waiting for something better to come along. He was probably in his 30's but had the kind of boyish good looks and thick hair that made him appear 10 years younger.
"Well? You have nothing to say for yourself?" He had leaned forward on the desk and she could feel his gaze on her face as she stared at the floor.
"It-It-Its just I've been struggling and been so busy with science club and I totally forgot and I just panicked and I didn't know who to turn to and-and-and"
"I'm sorry that's no excuse. You'll fail the class. I'll have to report it to the principal. There will be a school board meeting to determine if you are suspended"
It was too much to process. "But if I fail, how-how do I graduate?" she asked.
"You won't. You'll have to take summer school. And we will report it to your college as well. I'm not sure if you'll still be able to go there next fall."
"That can't happened," she moaned. "I have to get out of here. There has to be something I can do. I'll write it this weekend. I'll turn it in on Monday."
"That won't work," Mr. Pierce said.
"I'll do extra assignments. I'll work with you after school. Anything. There has got to be something."
"Miss Stern, I'm not interested in making extra work for myself. Particularly not to help a cheating student. But if you have another proposal, I'll consider it." He leaned back and watched her squirm, enjoying despite himself.
"I'll-I'll-I'll...," she was grasping. Her whole world was crumbling around her. She had to put it back together.
Her heart leaped in her chest and she looked at the floor again as she said quietly:
"I'll go down on you."
There was a long pause and she didn't dare look up.
"Hand me your cell phone please," he said finally.
"What? Why?"
"No more questions. Just do it."
She fished it from her pocket and handed it over. Mr. Pierce turned off and set it on the table. Then he got up and went over to lock the door. There were no windows in his classroom.
He sat back down and said, "Say it again."
She met his eye, "I'll go down on you."
