The New Teacher Next Door

ELLEN I fiddled with the brooch on my neck with an infinite number of questions on my mind. Moving into the same apartment with the same boy I had tried to evade for several weeks hadn't been part of the plan. I took off my blouse, and stood beside the window. My skin was aching to be touched, my whole body needed to feel the burning fire of a man's finger caressing it, and igniting feelings and desire that weren't meant to be quenched. I stripped myself to my bare skin, and strolled over to the bathroom with nothing on, but the cold gnawing at my skin. I sunk myself in the bathtub, in an attempt to wash off the dirt of the day. I heard the door open, but I was unperturbed. I knew who it was without being told, it was Zach. He was the only person that had the key to the apartment with an exception to me. I could perceive the stench of alcohol from where I was seated in the bathtub. He had managed to find his way to the room, and instead of going over to the be

DEVAN It was my mind playing tricks on me for the umpteenth time that day. I couldn't explain what I was feeling at that moment. Was it the lacy, black, revealing gown that she had put on that suddenly ignited the embers in my chest? Or her shiny black eyes that never seemed to quench? "Shut the door, Devan." Mum screamed jolting me back to reality. I had gone off already, my thoughts and fictitious images had flown beyond the thinkable. All eyes were on me now, as I shut the door in embarrassment, and searched for a place to my head in shame. I could feel Ms. Ellen's eyes follow me around the room until I found a secure spot to bury my head. "Forgive his insolence, he has a very imaginative mind. Did I tell you he was an avid artist? Well, he is, a gifted one at that." "You never told me this before, Julia." Ms. Ellen responded calling Mum by her first name. None of us dared call her that, but here was Ms. Ellen doing exactly what Mum detested s

DEVAN The next day was filled with tears, and so many emotions. The results of our previously written tests had been released, and as expected I had failed my test again. However, this time something wasn't just right, it seemed like I was the only one who had failed it, which wasn't normal. I was very much aware that I didn't take my studies as seriously as I should, but of course there were still a few people here and there that I was very much better than. I crumbled the paper in anguish, and dumped it in my bag. It was Ms. Ellen's subject, and there was only one reason why she would decide to fail me, and give the others a pass. I plugged my head set in, and hurried over to the bathroom. I wasn't sure why she had given me an F, for a test I very well knew I was supposed to pass, even without excessive study. I wasn't a very good student, but I could be described as an average one. I opened the door to the bathroom, and there they were. The very humans that

DEVAN School wasn't much fun without Ms. Ellen anymore. The trip had been put off, due to her unexplainable absence. She wasn't taking her calls, and the whole school seemed worried. There were rounds of news going around the town, about women who had gone missing, but when they were found, they all didn't have any memory of where they had been, or anything at all. I could only hope Ms. Ellen hadn't become a victim of such acts. As I strode past her house that evening, there was an irrepressible urge lodged in my throat, forcing me to go in. I withheld myself from giving in to emotions. The blood stains were still on her window, just as it had been the previous day. I was worried, but who could I share my burdens with? I walked past her house successfully, and walked into mine. It was filled with gloom and smoke. I coughed loudly as I walked into it. Robb was making out with his newest catch, I couldn't remember her name, but her broken nose wasn't one to f

DEVAN There was rarely any peace at home, since Mum was barely around. I hadn't seen her in a long while, but I had made it a duty to check up on her and Dad regularly through phonecalls. However, Robb had been quick to maximise their absence to the fullest. He had begun to throw parties almost every night, that the neighbours had began to complain. I couldn't sleep any longer, as they blasted music through speakers distorting any form of rest I had planned to have. I was exhausted with the kind of life Robb had chosen for himself; wild parties, girls, booze, drugs and the likes. Mum wouldn't have condoned this if she was around, but what could I say I was the younger. I had to keep on lying to Mum, that everything was great, and Robb was doing well. That was a big lie, because everything wasn't as great as it used to be, and Robb had finally taken leave of his senses. It had suddenly began to seem like I was the older, due to the fact that I was the only one s