Broken English (Broken Lives Book 1) (13 page)

12

CLARA

Dante received a five-day suspension, the
disciplinary action done without my involvement. And when he returned the
following week, he didn’t come to my class. After the third day of him not
showing, I started wondering whether he’d been moved to a different class due
to the incident. I eventually asked the other Year Eleven English teacher, who
shook his head, saying no. As a result, I passed on the information to the
principal. Principal Sao appeared surprised, stating that Dante had been showing
up religiously to all his other classes. It upset me, making me wonder why he
wouldn’t come to mine, which in turn made me think he was blaming me for his
suspension. So, when he walked past me while I was monitoring lunchtime, as
though I didn’t exist, I decided to deal with his truancy right there and then.

“Dante!”

He stopped halfway across the grass patch and
looked back at me, those intense eyes of his locking onto mine. He looked
nothing like the upset, drunk boy who’d run from me the prior week. Instead, he
looked completely in control now, his arrogant expression almost disconcerting,
making me wonder whether he remembered kissing me.

His top lip curled up with amusement,
drawing my attention to his mouth. The memory of his lips against mine
returned, of the almost hungry way he’d kissed me. He hadn’t cared about the
consequences as he’d pushed his tongue inside my mouth, his drunken state of
mind more concerned with taking what he wanted. Since that day, I had to keep
reminding myself that I hadn’t done anything wrong, that
he’d
kissed me,
not the other way round. But for some reason I felt guilty, which I didn’t
understand, especially since I’d pushed him away. Maybe it was because every
time I looked at him I felt something I shouldn’t.
Something
illegal.

“What?” he asked, probably wondering why I
wasn’t saying anything.

I cleared my throat, pulling myself
together, disturbed by the direction of my thoughts. I let a blank expression
fall over my face, not wanting him to see how much he was affecting me—especially
after that kiss. And the strange thing was, I hadn’t even registered much about
the kiss at the time, the shock numbing my initial reaction. But a little more
about it resurfaced each day, details I hadn’t noticed before, a delayed
reaction I wished I could pour cold water over.

“Why aren’t you coming to my class?” I
asked, making sure my voice sounded unaffected, almost disinterested, the
opposite of what I was really feeling. “I’ve been told that you’re attending
all your other classes.”

His smile grew. “You missed me?”

“Don’t make this personal; I’m just doing
my job.”

“Is that so?” He turned around fully and headed
for me, his walk almost a saunter. It made me think of a male stripper
strutting his stuff on stage. It didn’t help that he looked so good. A few of
his shirt buttons were left undone, actually, most of them were, only the
middle ones holding the grey material together, allowing me to catch glimpses
of his tanned, muscular torso. He also had his sleeves rolled up, highlighting
his defined biceps. Again, I had to remind myself he was fifteen and not the
newest member of
Thunder From Down Under
, which I quickly admonished
myself for thinking, the thought grossly inappropriate.

He stopped in front of me. “How’d you know
I’ve been goin’ to my other classes? You been stalking me?”

“
No
, the principal told me—”

“Did you rat me out again?” he snapped,
his smile disappearing.

“Teachers don’t
rat
students out.
We’re
the authority here. And since you didn’t come to my class, I thought you
might’ve been moved to Mr. Steiner’s class, which was why I checked.”

“Why bother? Most of my teachers are happy
when I don’t show.”

“I’m not
most
teachers.”

His gaze lowered down me. “You sure got
that right.”

My face heated at his stare. “Just stop
skipping my class.”

“No can do, it’s my free period.”

“I told you, Dante, it’s
not
a free
period,” I said, now cross with him.

“Just cos you say it isn’t doesn’t mean
it’s true.”

I blew out a frustrated sigh. “I think you’re
making things up because you have some sort of issue with me.”

He grinned. “And why do you think that, miss?”                            

“Because it’s only my class you don’t show
for. You’re even going to Mr. Aston’s class and he hurt you, whereas all I did
was try to help you.”

“That prick isn’t teaching me anymore. My
father got me changed to Old Mother Hubbard’s class after Principal Sao let
slip ’bout Arse Face slamming me into the locker. He probably thought I
remembered, but I had no clue.”

“Do you remember anything?” I asked,
hoping he’d forgotten about kissing me.

“Nope. Not a thing.”

I breathed out, beyond relieved. “Just be
nice to Ms. Torino,” I said, hoping he wasn’t the one causing Beverly to look so
depressed. The poor woman wasn’t her normal lively self. I’d assumed it was to
do with what she’d done at the pub, but now knowing Dante was in her class, it
was hard not to wonder whether he was being mean to her. “And don’t call her
names.”

“Whatever you say, teach.” He went to
leave.

I grabbed his arm to stop him from going,
wanting him to answer my original question. Not saying a word, he looked down
at my hand.

I whipped it away. “Just tell me why you’re
not coming to my class?”

He looked up at me, his eyes locking onto
mine without blinking. “You’re too distracting.”

I held his gaze. “In what way?”

“Look in the mirror, that’ll answer your
question.” Again, he went to leave.

I grabbed his wrist. “I’m not finished
with you yet,” I said, feeling a mixture of pleasure and guilt that he found me
attractive.

His gaze dropped to my hand again.

I didn’t let go straight away this time. “Just
turn up to my class, okay?” I said, loosening my grip, my fingers falling away
from his wrist. “I don’t want to be the reason you fail English.”

He raised his gaze, his expression perplexed.
“I wuz gonna fail it with or without your help, so what’s the point?”

“The point is you have to attend my class.
If you don’t, you could get your father into trouble. You do realise truancy is
an illegal offence that could have repercussions for him?”

He rolled his eyes. “My dad’s been in
prison for assault, so I don’t think he’ll quake in his boots if you whine ’bout
me skipping your class.”

“He could get fined a lot of money.”

His face hardened. “You rich arseholes
love taking poor people’s money, don’t cha?”

I shook my head, his angry reaction
catching me off guard. “It’s not like that, it’s the law. I didn’t make it.”

He pointed a finger at my face. “Then keep
your mouth shut and mark me off the roll whether I’m there or not.”

“I can’t do that.”

“You can if you value your safety.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Are you threatening
me?”

“Nope, I’m just warning you that my father
isn’t as nice to pretty ladies as I am, especially when it involves him losing money.”

“He won’t need to be involved if you turn
up to class.
Please
, just come for me.”

His lips twitched, a slight grin replacing
his scowl. “I’d love
to
come
for you.” He ran a hand over his
crotch. “Just say when and where and my dick’ll be there.”

“Stop that!” I glanced around, worried
that people would get the wrong idea about our interaction. Although he was the
one flirting, I didn’t want anyone thinking I was reciprocating. But I needn’t have
worried. With the exception of two girls, who were more interested in staring
at Dante’s face like love sick puppies, no one was paying us any heed.

“Stop what, Clara?” he smirked, knowing damn
well what he was doing.

“Flirting and touching yourself, and please
address me as Mrs. Hatton or miss.”

He leaned his head down to my level. “Only
if you stop eye-fucking me.”

I went rigid. “I’m
not
eye-fu—” I
stopped myself just in time, my mouth catching up with my brain. “I’m doing no
such thing,” I snapped.

“
Liar
,” he said, overemphasising
the word. “You looked at me on the first day of school like you’d just come in
your knickers. You did the same today when I walked towards you. You were
staring at my body just as much as I wuz staring at yours.”

“I was not!” I spluttered, horrified he’d
noticed. “And you should do up your shirt.” I waved a hand at it. “It’s
inappropriate to walk around school like that. I can’t imagine other teachers letting
you get away with it.”

“They don’t, but it’s the first time you
mentioned it and only cos you’re tryna one-up me.” He licked a finger and ran it
between his shirt. “You
love
staring at my body, don’t cha?” His smiled
turned wicked. “I bet your panties are sopping wet right now.”

I took a step back. “You can’t speak to me
like that, I’m a teacher.”

He shook his head slowly. “You’re not a
teacher to me; you’re just a hot chick I want to fuck.” His gaze dropped to my
breasts. “And by the look of your nipples, you want me to fuck you
hard
.”

I quickly crossed my arms over my chest,
totally in shock, not knowing whether to yell at him or run in horror.

He reached out to touch me, making me jump
back, snapping me out of my stunned state. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He held up his hands. “Obviously sumpthin’
you can’t admit to wanting, so I’ll go take these fingers,” he wriggled them, “and
make some other chick happy.” He spun around and walked off, making a beeline
for the two girls who’d been openly staring at him, the boy not missing a
thing. It was as though he could smell their desires—like he could smell mine,
our female pheromones filling the air, the pollen calling the bee to our
flowers. Corny, yeah, but unfortunately true.

He came to a stop in front of the girls.
They practically leapt off the ground to greet him, acting as though he was a
Hollywood star, their reaction probably adding to his overly inflated ego. He
glanced over his shoulder at me, giving me a taunting ‘told you so’ grin.

Regretting confronting him, I scurried off,
chastising myself for taking his bait. I knew what he was like, yet I kept
letting him pull me into uncomfortable conversations I couldn’t handle. I should’ve
shut him down straight away, treating him like any other student. But that was
the problem ... he wasn’t like any other student, because if he were, I
wouldn’t be reacting in such an unethical manner.

I entered the school’s main building, quickly
heading for the restroom closest to my class. I pushed through the doorway and went
to the sink, splashing water on my face to cool down my burning cheeks. Once
done, I patted myself dry with a tissue, then applied a fresh layer of lipstick,
taking a bit longer than usual, my hands shaking from the interaction with
Dante. I started running through some Shakespearean lines, bombarding my mind
so I didn’t think about him. The bell went off, cutting those lines short.

Needing to relieve myself before class, I
quickly popped my lipstick back into my bag and headed for a toilet, doing my
business. After cleaning my hands, I left the restroom, stopping in my tracks
at what I saw down the corridor. It was empty, except for two people: Dante and
the prettier of the girls who’d been staring at him. He glanced up and down the
corridor, his gaze landing on me. Even from a distance, I could tell he was
smiling. Then he was directing the girl through a doorway, the two disappearing
from sight.

Aware it was a boys’ restroom, I hurried towards
it, intent on putting a stop to whatever the two had planned, knowing it was probably
sexual in nature. Once I reached the door, I hesitated, the thought of what I
was about to see not something I wanted to be anywhere near. But, I was a
teacher and they were students, who shouldn’t be doing anything inappropriate
on school grounds—or in Dante’s case, not at all, because the girl was
definitely a senior.

I pushed open the door slowly, careful not
to make a sound, conscious that Dante could be playing a practical joke on me. I
wouldn’t put it past him, especially with the way he’d smiled at me before
entering the restroom.

I peeked in, not spotting a thing, other
than a row of urinals. A door banged, pulling my attention to the stalls, which
were all facing away from me. I slipped inside and peered around the corner of
the first stall. Still not seeing anyone, I moved forward cautiously, realising
they must be in one of them, doing God only knew what.

Masculine moans started up, coming from a
stall on my right. The door was closed, the moans emanating from behind it. I dropped
my gaze to the bottom of the stall, where there was a gap between the floor and
the door, the girl’s sandals visible. She was kneeling in front of... I looked
up as Dante straightened to his full height, the door stopping just below his
eyes. They were filled with pleasure, his moans resonating throughout the room.
I didn’t even have to imagine what was happening behind the door, because I was
already picturing the girl blowing him. It made me want to run, but I couldn’t
move, Dante’s gaze paralysing me.