Chapter 3

Sprawled on my back I stared at the white ceiling, at least my bed was comfy. I had finished unpacking all my things and played with Andy for a while. Taking him out of the nannies hands, she didn’t seem to mind and he definitely didn’t.

He really didn’t like her.

It was after dinner and for me it had been served up in my room. I was still banned from my step mothers sight apparently… I didn’t really find that a punishment, I didn’t like seeing her either.

At nine exactly my phone rang.

Surprised I fumbled as I picked up. I wasn’t used to being called, I usually didn’t have any friends thanks to Jennifer.
Of course it was Sarah.

‘Hey Brittany!’ she chirped happily when I finally managed to pick up. ‘How’s it going? Finished unpacking?’ the girl hurried to ask. Then suddenly she added: ‘Oh Bob says Hi and Alexander is glaring… You are glaring!’

I couldn’t help but laugh. Sarah was just so happy and impulsive, a lot like Dannis actually. Only then did I realize that Alexander was probably Mr. Clitton’s name. I liked it… It was a little old fashioned but it suited him.

‘Say Hi back to them for me Sarah,’ I told my friend still smiling. ‘And yeah I’m done packing, I’m grounded though…’
‘Brittany says Hi back guys,’ Sarah repeated for me. I could imagine her lying on her back on the couch, her legs dangling of the top. It seemed a very typical position for her.

‘Wait what? Grounded? Why!’

I groaned as I threw myself backwards on my bed again, ‘You are not going to believe this Sarah…’

‘Why? What happened? Alex go away!’ Sarah’s voice became a little annoyed as she was fending off her older brother obviously. I could hear him talking in the background, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

I was blushing now, even though no one could see me. The object of the reason for my grounding was right there! He might even be able to hear me talk… This was embarrassing.

‘Eh… I got grounded because apparently I was flirting with your brother,’ I told Sarah as softly as possible in the hope that Alexander couldn’t hear.

‘What? You didn’t flirt with Bob… What are you talking about?’ Sarah said loudly though and I really wanted to hit her on the head. Groaning again I buried my face in my pillow.

‘Sarah! The other brother!’

‘Oh… Well you weren’t flirting with him either… In fact you were the only one NOT flirting with him today. Much to his disappointment I might add. Ouch Alex! That’s not nice! Can you believe that Brittany? My own brother and legal guardian just totally hit me!’

‘I would have hit you too for that Sarah, I don’t need your brother to hear all that… It’s embarrassing,’ I told my new friend softly but I couldn’t help but smile a little. Mr. Clitton wanted me to flirt with him? Or was that just a joke?
‘Oh I’m sorry Brittany… Let me get outside, but really I don’t understand why you’re grounded!’ there was some muffled noise, then some angry comments towards her brothers and then finally the sound of a door slamming shut.
‘There, now they can’t hear a thing! Now spill?’ Sarah sounded a little out of breath.

‘Jennifer told my step mom that I was flirting with him… That’s all really, she just totally told her mom that I did pretty much everything she was doing. Oh and I’m not just grounded, my step mom is going to get my schedule rearranged so I won’t have English from Mr. Clitton…’ I couldn’t help but sound sad as I said that.

Obviously Sarah caught on to it, or maybe she just thought I was sad I wouldn’t have that class with her anymore. ‘That bitch! She’s not going to get away with that hun, I promise! I’ll take care of it,’ then the girl laughed evilly. ‘I’ll make Alex take care off it.’

‘Sarah! He doesn’t need to know… It’s no big deal,’ I hissed at her, mortified at the thought that she’d talk to Mr. Clitton about it. It was already embarrassing enough.

We talked a while longer about all kinds of things but then I had to hang up hurriedly. My step mom was coming up the stairs, or maybe it was Jennifer. One or the other because I could hear the clicking of heels.

Shortly after I’d hung up and stuffed my phone underneath my pillow my door swung open. It was my step mother, she was smiling smugly. ‘You can pick up your new schedule tomorrow morning, don’t let me hear anymore about this got it?’

She slammed the door shut on her way out, swaying her hips as if a man was watching her. Maybe there was… You never knew when she took a ‘date’ home with her. After all, my dad was already away on business again.
****
The next morning I shrugged into a long sleeved shirt, despite the fact that it was still nice weather. Stephanie’s long nails and bruising grip from the night before had left a dark bruise on my left arm, including a few gauges where her nails had cut the skin.

At least you couldn’t really see where she hit me in the face. At the most my right cheek was a little more red then the left. Nothing a little make up couldn’t fix though.

When I came downstairs my little brother was already in the kitchen, happily eating the pancakes the nanny had made for him. It seemed she’d finally done something right in his book.

I smiled at the woman as she handed me a plate of pancakes as well. They were absolutely delicious, I could see why Andy liked her better now.

After that I made my way down to the garage to greet Dannis. He was leaning against the car with a smile on his face, he hugged me good morning enthusiastically. ‘Hey Beautiful.’

I shook my head, ‘Save that one for Jennifer, she’ll like it.’

Shortly after Jennifer arrived, she seemed in a really good mood and it wasn’t hard to guess why. My rearranged schedule, after all, she would have free reign during English now to get Mr. Clitton to fall for her.

She was in too good a mood for me to distract her, much to Dannis’s dismay. But it was both sickening and entertaining to watch Jennifer flirt with him.

When we arrived at school I waited for Jennifer to get out and gather the crowd around her. I didn’t need to get caught up in that, it would probably result in a fight between me and her. She really liked to make fun of me in public.
Dannis said goodbye to me when I got out, wishing me good luck facing the day. It felt like I would need it.

As soon as I got out of the car I was tackled into a hug by Sarah. ‘There you are! You took your own sweet time getting out of that car! You hiding some hot guy in there?’ She tried peering through the dark tinted windows but apparently didn’t see a thing as the car was already speeding away.

I laughed, ‘As a matter of fact… I am! Dannis, that’s the driver, he’s pretty cute. But don’t ever tell him I said that!’
Sarah’s eyes got the size of tea saucers, ‘Oh my, I didn’t expect that answer! You dirty girl!’

For some reason my skin was tingling and when I looked up from Sarah’s face I realized it was because Mr. Clitton was standing right next to her now. A scowl on his handsome face that told me he’d heard what I had said.

I was immediately blushing. Oh shit… Why did I say something like that? That was more Jennifer’s thing to say anyway. They’re all assuming I was doing something with Dannis now!

‘Eh… Dannis and I are just friends you know… He’s the driver, I only see him when he drives us here and when he picks us up,’ I tried to explain more for Mr. Clitton’s benefit then Sarah’s. I didn’t know why I wanted to make it clear to him that we weren’t dating.

Mr. Clitton was already brushing passed me so he could get inside. I couldn’t help but stare after his retreating form, he was so well build, with a perfect butt… Oh get a grip on yourself Brittany!

Sarah was smiling as she looked at me, that knowing look in her eyes again. ‘Come on hun, let’s get inside and find that new schedule of yours.’ She pulled me with her by my hand, her grip surprisingly hard and strong for her slight build.

Bob followed behind us, it seemed as though he followed his little sister everywhere if he could. I could understand that, Sarah was the type that needed watching over to keep her out of trouble.

‘I hate my step mom!’ I told them fervently as we reached the office. ‘It’s not fair, I didn’t DO anything, unlike Jennifer…’
Sarah was nodding, ‘Don’t worry, I told you I fixed it!’

‘You had Alex fix it,’ corrected Bob from behind us gruffly. But a look over my shoulder told me he was smiling in amusement at his sister. It was obvious they got along great.

The lady at the desk handed me my new schedule without looking at us twice and I scanned it over hurriedly. Gasping in surprise when I realized I had not only kept my English period with Mr. Clitton but swapped my last class of the day from Spanish to Biology with Mr. Clitton again…

‘I have two classes with your brother as teacher now?’ I asked, utterly surprised. Biology which before I had before Spanish with Mr. Clayton instead had been completely boring and horrible. But this was worse…

‘This cant be right! You have to change this! They’re going to kill me when they find out!’ I squeaked, already imagining the explosive reaction from my step mother and step sister. It was definitely going to hurt.

‘Why? It’s perfect! That last class is without Jennifer so she can’t tell on you if you do flirt with him! See? Perfect!’ Sarah exclaimed happily.

‘Why does he teach both Bio and English! It doesn’t make sense!’ I exclaimed.

‘Who’s going to kill you Brittany?’ interrupted Bob his sister. He at least had picked up on my panic now.

‘My step mom and sister of course… They’re not going to like this at all!’

‘Oh don’t be such a wuss! It’ll be fine eventually, come on! We’re going to be late!’ Sarah waved my complaints away.
I was really dreading third period… It would mean I got to see Mr. Clitton again and that I didn’t mind, I was almost dying to get another look at him. But it meant Jennifer would realize her scheming hadn’t worked as well.

As second period with Bob ended however I found myself hopelessly lost again. Because I wanted to postpone Jennifer noticing I still had the same English class I had ducked into another corridor… Stupid, very stupid idea!

Now I was running late, AGAIN!

When I finally found the right room the door was already closed and I had to knock. I stood in front of the door for a short moment, hesitating, maybe I should just skip. No silly Brittany! You’ve never skipped a class in your life!

I knocked softly, hoping that maybe he didn’t hear it, no such luck. His voice was low and sexy as he called: ‘Come in.’ Just like yesterday.

I opened the door and stepped into the room, carefully avoiding looking at anyone. Especially Jennifer. It didn’t stop me from hearing her gasp sharply and then hiss something angrily at the girl sitting next to her.

I kept my eyes on the toes of my converse though, afraid to look at Mr. Clitton for fear of being unable to look away again.

‘So you decided to join us at last Ms. Baker?’ he said in that sexy British accent, his voice husky. I dared glance up at him through my eye lashes, to see that he was staring at me like a hungry wolf. Those stormy gray eyes darker then they were yesterday.

‘I’m sorry Mr. Clitton… I got lost again,’ I stammered, expecting people to laugh at the reason of my lateness. The fact that it was true didn’t make it any better. To my surprise only a few people laughed, one of them obviously Jennifer, the rest her follower girls.

Mr. Clitton nodded as he gestured to the empty seat next to Sarah, who was smirking deviously again. ‘Detention this afternoon, I don’t tolerate tardiness, especially not twice in a row.’

He sounded so stern, I couldn’t keep myself from flinching at his tone of voice. As I passed him though, on my way to my seat I could feel goosebumps rise on my skin. I didn’t fail to notice how he shivered either, nor the sharp intake of breath he took.

I slid down as low as possible in my seat, hoping nobody would notice me for the rest of the lesson. Sarah just patted my hand softly once and then focused on Mr. Clitton too, he was talking about the book we’d be reading in class.
Unlike yesterday he was seated behind his desk now, he looked tense and uncomfortable and I wondered what the reason for that was. His eyes constantly strayed towards me, every time I looked up he would just be looking away from me, exactly opposite of yesterday.

Jennifer’s behavior was horrible, she was constantly raising her hand and asking questions. Most of them having something to do with how she couldn’t find something in her book. It meant he had to go over to her, she took that opportunity to rub against him in anyway possible that didn’t look like it was on purpose.

It made my blood boil. She was just such a dirty bitch, and she didn’t even care that Mr. Clitton could totally lose his job. It felt horrible that she was the one touching HIM when my hands were itching so badly to run my fingers through his dark hair and across his pale skin.

When at long last the class was over and nearly everyone had left Jennifer stayed behind to flirt some more with him. Casting angry glares in my direction for still being there. She didn’t know that Sarah was the one holding onto my arm tightly so I couldn’t leave.

Mr. Clitton was running his hands through his hair in obvious annoyance: ‘Jennifer, ask a classmate if you have so much trouble keeping your place in the book! I can’t help you with every single detail.’

After that she trailed off a little uncertainly, she obviously didn’t understand why her charm wasn’t working on him. I could only say that I was ridiculously relieved about that and for that I had to scold myself, he’s a teacher!

‘Alex! What the hell? Detention? That’s just totally unfair and uncalled for! She was lost! Where’s your sense of chivalry?’ Sarah exclaimed.

She was still holding on tightly to my arm and had dragged me all the way over to his desk, bringing me agonizingly close to him. Close enough that I could feel his body warmth and that I could practically feel how tense he was too.
‘She was late Sarah, now go alright? I need to prepare for my next class,’ was all he said, sitting down in his chair heavily.

‘Fine!’ my friend hissed and then she pulled me with her out of the class. I cast one quick look over my shoulder and met his stormy gray eyes, they were smoldering and it made me very warm all over. Especially low in my body.
During lunch, we chatted idly… That was until Jennifer waltzed passed us, glaring daggers at me. Oh yeah… I was so dead when I got home today. I was almost happy I landed a detention, at least at meant I’d be home later then usual.
The rest of the day passed by in a blur, until Biology of course. Neither Bob or Sarah had that class with me so I had to sit in the back, all by myself.

I didn’t mind that much, I had an unrestricted view on Mr. Clitton and no Jennifer shamelessly flirting with him either. He didn’t look all that much at me here, he seemed more at ease as he explained things.

Gesturing with his hands as he talked animatedly. He was definitely a good teacher because even those that struggled seemed to understand everything by the end of class. He just explained everything in such simple, easy words.

It was a pleasure to be with him in the room this way and I had almost forgiven Sarah for doing this to me. His voice just gave me shivers and it was so easy to get lost in a daydream where I could date him. In which he was absolutely in love with me and mostly in which he was running those strong hands over my skin in some way. Bringing me pleasure.
I was blushing furiously when I realized what I was thinking of. The class was already emptying out and I started stuffing my things back into my backpack hurriedly.

Don’t think like that Brittany! Bad thoughts! Bad girl!

Suddenly he was right next to my desk, looming over me because he was so bloody tall. ‘Did you forget you had detention with me Brittany?’ He was smirking and it looked absolutely delicious, I just wanted to kiss his lips.
I shook my head as I blushed scarlet, bad girl!

‘No I didn’t forget Mr. Clitton,’ I muttered softly. The class room was deserted now and the door closed, I was sure no one was going to disturbed us. That made me swallow convulsively, why was he so close to me? Didn’t he know how badly I just wanted to touch him?

As if he heard me, he stepped back a little, sitting down on the desk next to mine. ‘How come you keep getting lost? It’s not that difficult to find your way around here…’ he trailed off sounding unsure of how to continue.

‘I’ll tell Bob to escort you tomorrow, he wont mind,’ he said then.

‘I’m sure I’ll be on time tomorrow Mr. Clitton. No need to bother Bob…’ I said as I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. Was I going to have to do anything? Or were we just going to sit here and talk? That seemed a little unusual.
Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, his other hand yanking my sleeve up. It didn’t hurt but he wasn’t particularly gentle either.

‘Mr Clitton?’ I exclaimed a little shocked.

‘You’re hurt,’ was all he said, his voice tight, controlled as if he was keeping anger at bay by a small thread.
I stared down at my arm, at the bruise and cuts my step mom had given me. ‘Oh… Yeah its nothing,’ I told him.

‘It’s not nothing to me! Who did this?’ he said, still in that tight voice but his stormy eyes showed concern. It woke that warm feeling inside me again, my stomach fluttering.

‘No one…’ I muttered. He didn’t need to know that this happened plenty of times, always small things of course but it did happen often enough.

‘Brit don’t lie!’ he exclaimed, sounding more frustrated then angry now. His left hand was still holding my wrist while his right hand was running over the bruise, checking the cuts. As if to make sure it wasn’t too bad.

I shivered at both his touch and the use of that unfamiliar nickname. Only Andy occasionally said that, but he shortened my name to so many things… It felt really nice, to have him call me that.

‘It’s none of your business Mr. Clitton,’ I forced out. My eyes were trying to close and my body was already leaning into him, yearning to get as close to him as possible.

Suddenly he let go of my arm and stepped back wards, ‘Please, don’t call me that! I hate it, makes me sound old… Just Alexander or Nathan or Alex…’ he complained and suddenly he sounded just like a teenager.

Albeit a very hot, very masculine teenager…

‘Eh… Okay Alexander,’ I said slowly, confused by the sudden change of topic. This time I was sure I didn’t imagine it when I saw him shiver, his eyes closed for a second.

‘Good,’ was all he said but the word sounded husky, he turned around and walked back to his desk. ‘Take the time to do your homework or something Brit…’

I shivered as he uttered that nickname again. Why did he do that? It wasn’t proper! Nor was telling me to call him by his first name…

**
Dannis had come back to pick me up when I was finally allowed to go home. I had finished all my homework by then and the tension in the class room was so thick you could have cut it with a knife…

It wasn’t necessarily bad tension… More like sexual tension and that was just plain wrong! He couldn’t be feeling that too could he? Oh god what if he thought I wanted to get into his pants like the rest of the female students?

As soon as I got home I remembered in what trouble I was. Stupid… How could I have forgotten? My step mother was waiting for me in the living, tapping her heel on the floor, hands on her hips. Jennifer stood just behind her, imitating her mothers stance.

But all I had eyes for was the phone Stephanie held in her manicured hand. She had called my father…

‘You’re in real trouble girl,’ was all Stephanie said and then she handed me the phone. I took it from her with shaking hands and raised it to my ear slowly.

‘Hello?’ my voice had a slight tremble in it that I hated with a passion. I didn’t want to sound weak, certainly not when talking to HIM but fear of what he’d say and do had me shivering in my clothes.

The lecture my father gave me through the phone was horrible and long. It wasn’t as terrifying as when he was actually in the room with you but it still left me shaking.

It compounded to this: You dirty whore, sleeping with your teacher! Sleeping with the principal too and getting detentions on purpose to fuck the teacher some more… Go to your room, you’re not getting dinner and your not seeing your car for two months! You’re grounded for a month too!

Oh and not to forget: Don’t ever disrespect Stephanie or Jennifer ever again! I was to do exactly as they told me at all times.

He also reminded me how much I was like my mother, who was a dirty whore too. He couldn’t believe how I spat on his generosity and hospitality with my disgusting behavior.

After I hung up I didn’t say anything but simply trudged up the stairs to my room. Closing it behind me and then locking the door. I felt like crying. Nothing was ever fair since my mother died…

I only opened the door a little later to let in my little brother. We fell asleep on the big empty bed together.