Thread: Don't Stand So Close To Me  (Johnny and Mim)

For the next two full days, those photos remained face-down in his desk drawer, untouched. It was too risky to look at them with students milling about. On top of that, the thought of looking at them felt wrong, in a way. Mara was one of his pupils, and the teacher-student bond was a strong one, an important one. They put a certain level of trust in him, and it was his duty to shape their minds for the better. Having those photos betrayed that trust in a big way. In simply keeping access to this, he felt as though he were running the risk of breaking his core principles, not only as an instructor, but as a human being. Johnny had gone into that drawer several times throughout the day for assorted supplies. Pens, paper, an extra piece of chalk. Each time he did, he gave brief pause, staring at that deep black square on the back of the first Polaroid on the stack. The worst was during seventh period, when Mara sat in his classroom. Inevitably, his eyes darted towards her soon after he stumbled across that little pile of pictures again, lingering there for a half-second, as if he were worried that she knew precisely what was in that drawer. The things hed stolen from her. After the final bell, the classroom emptied, and Johnny found himself embarking on his usual afternoon activities. There was a fresh stack of assignments on his desk to be graded. His red pen glided along the margins of each page, filling them with comments in looping cursive. At some point, those looping lines became thinner, sputtering on the page, until the red finally stopped flowing from the pens tip. Out of ink. Tossing the empty pen onto his desktop, he absent-mindedly opened his drawer for a new one, andthere was that black square again. Looking at it felt like staring into an abyss. Eyes drifted towards the classroom door it was closed. The lights in his hallway were already off, the janitor having swept by not too long ago. Fingers touched at the plastic-y paper, remaining pressed there. Staring at that black square again, he imagined what was on the other side. Thoughts drifted to that surprised look Mara gave him in the gymnasium not too long ago, her lips and chin wet. The unfinished assignments were gathered into a stack and pushed to one side of the desk, clearing a space. As if he were dealing cards to play solitaire, Johnny laid out the Polaroids, one by one in a line. The photography was amateurish, taken from odd angles and somewhat blurry. He wondered who, exactly, had taken the pictures. And why did Mara have them in her notebook in the first place? Who were they meant for? A boyfriend, perhaps? As he studied the photos, he stopped questioning them as much, disregarding their meaning while wrapping himself up in their contents. God, she looked so young. Smooth, perfect skin. Long legsJohnny sighed through his nose as he studied the pictures, one after another. For the next few afternoons, this became a ritual of his taking the pictures out of their hiding spot when everyone else had left for the day. Giving into his morbid curiosity, his shameful lust. Look was all he ever did, however he never once touched the firm bulge that would inevitably grow in khakis or jeans. That seemed like a step too farto do ithati to the thought of one of his own students. And that was how things continued for the remainder of the week. Avoiding the girls gaze during class, and then staring intently at her in various stages of undress in those photographs. Friday afternoon was no exception it made his usual afternoon correcting take even longer than normal. When he finally left the school building, evening had already fallennot that it made much of a difference in the lighting outside, given the dark grey clouds looming above, and the rain beating against the pavement. Clutching his briefcase, Johnny dashed out to his carone of the last ones in the parking lotfumbling to unlock his doors before slipping inside. Turning on his old sedan and pulling out of his parking space, he drove down the narrow road that connected to the main street, on the corner of which was the bus stop. Pausing at the stop sign, he glanced over when he realized that there as someone still sitting in the enclosure. Odd, considering that the last bus should have left almost twenty minutes ago. Through the rain-spattered glass, it took him a moment before he realized just who was sitting there. His fingers loosened their grip on his steering wheel, slipping down a few inches. Fuck. What was he supposed to do in this situation? Running into his students outside of school hours was always awkward--doubly so right now, considering which of his students it was. But it looked like she had been waiting there for a while he had to do something. Hey! he called to Mara after leaning over the center console, manually rolling down his passenger side window. I think you might have already missed the last bus. Are you waiting for someone to come pick you up? he asked, staring at her through the falling rain.