Behind Classroom Doors

V

V

"Where are you going? School is over." Jenny asks, coming up to me on her way out. I was going in the opposite direction. Today her dress is matching the still-summer weather going on outside.

"Yeah, Dean and I kinda got detention," I tell her earning a raised eyebrow in return. "We were sort of making out in the hallway, and Mr. Morgan caught us." I elaborate.

"Ugh that sucks, also kind of weird though, couples make out in that hallway all the time." She says. I watch her flower earrings move as she talks and sighs.

"Really? Great, so he's just after Dean and me then." I have no idea what we did. It's the second week of school, and I seem to have an enemy as a teacher. At least it’s not just me. If he had only given me detention instead of Dean, I would be a lot angrier.

"Maybe…”Jenny trails off, glancing at her apple watch. “You'd better get going, wouldn't want to give him another reason to pick on you."

"Yeah, see ya." I wave her goodbye, turning to face my doom. It’s only one hour; I remind myself.

"This is dumb,” Dean grunts as I pass him in the hallway. We stop to talk for a moment.

I put my hand on his forearm. "It won’t be that bad, and I'll meet you in an hour."

"Okay, I love you." He says before kissing my cheek.

"Love you back," I reply, lingering my hand on his forearm until he's no longer in reach.

Taking a deep breath I turn to the classroom and walk in, I'm surprised by how quiet it is and look for Mr. Morgan. There aren’t any papers shuffling or Mr. Morgan typing away at his computer.

"Mr. Morgan?" I question looking around. After a few seconds, I hear something.

"In here!" He yells, and I turn my direction to the supply closet attached to his classroom. I had never seen the door one. I just assumed it was another door they have locked at all times. Walking towards it I watch as he reaches for something on the top shelf. His shirt rides up, and my breath hitches when I notice how defined he is. You don't expect that from a teacher. My gaze lingers before lowering to the V-shape that leads to his-

"Um...do you need help?" I question, removing my eyes and looking up. He turns his head to look at me.

"I got it, why don't you go have a seat, I'll be in there in a minute." He instructs. I do a 180 and walk out of the closet. I take a seat in the very front of the classroom, and soon Mr. Morgan comes strolling in holding a stack of papers.

He reaches his desk and plops the papers down with a grunt. "These are all of the quizzes for the next few weeks." Mr. Morgan tells me. "So don't look at them." He quickly adds, and I nod.

"Why do you have them?" I ask.

"Because the printer jammed and all of these are unstapled. So you're going to staple them without reading the questions can you handle that?" His tone is almost demeaning like I’m in kindergarten and it’s time to focus.

"Yeah, sure," I assure him, thinking against commenting on his tone.

"Stapler is next to the stack. You can pull up a chair." I do as he says and he sits on the other side at his computer while I staple. Fifteen minutes go by when I stop and take a look at my progress. It looks like I haven't even made a dent in the stack of papers. I decided to try to make conversation while doing this oh so mindless task.

"So can I ask you something?" Without looking up from his computer, Mr. Morgan gestures for me to ask. "What did Dean and I do to get on your bad side?" I question with a raised eyebrow. I keep stacking to avoid making things awkward.

He still doesn't look up from his computer, and his typing speed doesn't even falter. "I told you I have a no PDA tolerance." He answers.

"Bullshit." At this, he stops typing and glares at me hard. I feel uncomfortable under his gaze and shift around in my seat. I’m desperate to get to the bottom of this but not at the risk of making things worse instead.

"Bullshit?" He questions and I slowly nod trying not to let him intimidate me.

"Couples show PDA in that hallway, and you say nothing to them, only us. So..." He narrows his eyes, but I muster the courage to continue. "What did we do to get on your bad side?" I repeat.

"Ms. Gardner, let me explain something to you," His voice is cold, and I can already tell this was a bad idea."This is a new school for me, and I am a young teacher. No student would respect me if I let everyone break the rules. Especially two horny seniors who can't keep it in their pants."

My blood boils at his words. How dare he use us as a way to get respect? How dare he mistreat us, and how dare he call me a typical horny teenager when the only thing I have done with my boyfriend of almost four years is kiss!

I keep my eyes level with him as I speak. "Trust me I'm anything but a horny teenager. So you targeting us is completely unfair on so many levels." Somehow my tone has kept calm as I talk despite my anger rising. "Pick someone else to judge because I'm sure you're just a hypocrite that did the same thing in high school!" Okay, it remained calm up until that point.

Breathing in and out a few times I drink in his shocked expression. His mouth is opening and closing as if he doesn't know what to say. It’s hard for me to not smile at his reaction.

"Get back to work, hours not up." He finally answers in such a cold voice it sends shivers down my spine. I sigh heavily and watch as he goes back to typing on his computer completely ignoring my existence. I begin to staple again and continue that way. We are in silence aside from his typing and my stapling. My anger eventually subsides, and I just want to get this over with. I wonder how Dean is doing in his detention.

With about five more minutes to go, he stops typing and looks at my progress. I am stapling the very last quiz packet, and then I put it on the stack in triumph.

"Good, go get that box and put those papers in it. The box is in the supply closet." I nodded getting up and walking to the closet. As promised an empty box labeled quizzes is on the top shelf. I groan, there is no way that I can reach that. I look around and see Mr. Morgan back to his computer. I would pay money to see what he does on that thing all day. I turn back to the task at hand, Fine, I'll figure it out.

Jumping, I try to grab ahold of it but fail. I look around again and notice a very dangerous looking ladder up against the wall. I grab it and lean it against the shelf. Taking the first step, the ladder wobbles and I try to keep my balance and take it slow. Doing that very, very carefully, I finally make it to where I can reach the box. The box is bigger than it looks but I manage to grab it. Success! Grabbing on both sides, I lift and immediately regret it as the ladder wobbles even more. I can tell it's about to fall and take me with it.

I scream and brace myself for the impact, there’s no way I could've grabbed onto the shelf with the box still in my hands, and everything happens so fast. The ladder is about to fall, and I close my eyes waiting for the pain but don't feel any. Instead, I feel something hard on my waist.

Opening one eye slowly Mr. Morgan comes into view. Realizing that he must've caught me, I open my eyes and into his gaze on me. "Well if this isn't the most cliche-" I begin.

"What?" Mr. Morgan interrupts.

"Nothing." I decide, sitting up from his grip around my waist. "Perfect timing," I add and put my weight on my feet, standing up straight. I look down at my waist. "You can let go of me now, Mr. Morgan," I tell him with a raised eyebrow.

Shaking his head, he removes himself and grabs the box from the floor from where I dropped it.

"Next time be more careful." He warns, and I open my mouth in shock.

"Next time don't send me for something on the top shelf!" I respond angrily. It’s obvious I’m not the tallest girl in this school.

"Your hour is done get out of my classroom, I'll see you tomorrow." He Demands before leaving the closet and going back to his desk to place the quizzes inside.

I roll my eyes and make my way out of the closet. As I make my way to the door, Mr. Morgan’s voice stops me, “Wait.” He says. I don’t turn around, only wait for him to say something, anything. “You were right, about using you two as an example. I apologize, Ms. Gardner.” Something about his voice throws me off. Sincerity...he sounds sincere.

I’m speechless. So I decide not to say anything and leave. I don’t even notice Dean waiting for me outside the classroom. He grabs onto my arm to keep me from walking past him. "How was detention?" He questions with a smirk forming on his lips. I know he can tell I didn't have a ball.

"Long," I replied taking his hand in mine and walking down the hall. "s**t!" I curse stopping dead in my tracks.

"What?"

"Left my bag, I will be right back," I tell him running back to the classroom.

I open the door and run to the desk I was in. "I thought you left.” Mr. Morgan says in an icy voice just like before. Is he mad that I didn’t accept his apology or something?

"Oh shush, I forgot my bag," I say attitude is lacing my words. I know I shouldn’t be mad anymore, but I am.

I grab my bag and walk to the door, his large hand wraps around my wrist and turns me quickly. My breath hitches in surprise, and his face is an awkwardly close distance away from mine. "What makes you think you can talk to me like that?"

"The same reason that makes you talk to me the way you do. You’re so full of it." I say with just as much coldness to it. I pull my wrist from his grip and hold onto it with my other hand.

“Excuse me?”

“You apologized yet here you are, acting as disrespectful as always. Honestly, what is your problem?” He doesn’t respond just like I hadn’t moments before. I’ve never talked to a teacher like that before, but damn he’s so nerve-racking. "Goodbye, Mr. Morgan," I say much calmer. I leave the classroom and catching back up to Dean who gives me a confused expression. "What?" I asked stopping in front of him.

He thinks about it for a moment then shakes his head giving me a lopsided grin." Nothing, ready to go?" I nod and follow him for a moment before stopping him.

"I want a piggyback ride to the car," I tell him, and he chuckles.

"God, you're such a child." Dean jokes but lowers himself enough for me to jump onto his back.

I giggle innocently and place my chin on his head. He holds onto me tight as he takes me to his car. Making me forget all about my detention with Mr. Morgan.