Pencil, Paper and Passion.

Mr. Kalebrow dropped me off at the entrance to the high school, saying he’d be in his car in the parking lot. I almost asked him to come inside with me, out of fear, but held back. Instead, I pulled out my phone and asked, “Can I have your number? Just in case?”

He nodded and rattled it off, then said, “Put it on speed dial. And be careful. I want you to stay around as many people as possible, at all times. You’ll be safer if you’re not alone.”

“Yeah. Alright, see you later, Mr. Kalebrow.” I scrambled from the car, trying to keep my face blank. It wouldn’t do to let everyone know just how scared I was.

I hurried inside, not wanting to linger in the nearly empty parking lot. When I reached the doors, I wasn’t surprised to see Mr. Avery waiting just inside; I’d suspected that he’d be there to escort me to at least my first class, since Mr. Kalebrow didn't come inside with me. I WAS surprised, however, to see Ben standing next to him. Didn’t he have a class?

Mr. Avery nodded to me. “Good morning, Elizabeth. How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” I shrugged, trying to keep my eyes from lingering on Ben.

“Good.” He shared a look with Ben, and then laid a hand on my shoulder. “I’d like to speak with you in my office.”

I shrugged again and smiled at both men. “I can’t really refuse to talk to the principal, can I?”

With a quiet a laugh, Mr. Avery began to walk off, gesturing for Ben and me to follow him to his office. Inside, I dropped down into a chair and watched Mr. Avery shut the door behind Ben. Ben sat in the chair next to me, but Mr. Avery only rested a hip on the edge of his desk.

He spoke almost immediately. “We’ve made the decision to change your daily schedule, to ensure your safety until your assailants are caught."

"I don't understand." How was changing my schedule going to help? I'd still be wandering the halls during passing, wouldn't I?

"We- I've managed to make sure all of your classes will be in the same hallway. We've had to do some maneuvering and room switching, but now all of your classes are located in the same hallway as Mr. Gallagher's classroom. I'm aware that you're much... closer with Ben, than you are with your other teachers. It follows that you'd feel safer with him being near."

"Oh." There was that inane word again. But I couldn't get my lips to form anything else. I could literally feel the color drain from my face as the impact of his words hit me. Mr. Avery knew about me and Ben. In my terrified state, my mind conveniently looked over the fact that Mr. Avery didn't seem to care and I frantically tried to think of something I could say or do, that would repair the damage. Then it hit me. I could...

I looked from one man to the other and made a decision. "I suppose I should have mentioned it before, but with all of this... stuff, I guess I never got around to it." I took a deep breath and dropped the bomb. "I'm not going to be attending this school anymore, so you really don't have to worry about moving things around."

The silence that descended in the room was deafening. Mr. Avery and Ben stared at me with an identical blank look. It took a few minutes, but Mr. Avery spoke first, "Now, Elizabeth, I don't think-"

"It's not because of this. It was actually planned out several weeks ago. My mother is moving away and I'm going to a private boarding school to finish this year." If I was moving away and if it seemed like I didn't really care one way or another, maybe Mr. Avery would assume that he'd been wrong.
That Ben and I had a perfectly normal student/teacher relationship, not a romantic one.

"Elizabeth, you're well into your senior year. Switching schools now-"

Mr. Avery and I both jumped as my Chemistry teacher suddenly flew off the handle, his voice rising well above what was normal for him.

"This has been in the works for several weeks?! And you didn’t think it was something you should mention?!" Ben had leaped up from his chair to stand over me. I shrank back against the leather seat and stared at him in complete shock. I thought I'd seen him mad before, but this took it so much further. He was furious; an angry red flush crept up his neck and his nostrils flared to accommodate his heavy breathing. My own breath hitched as I latched onto his eyes. They were a very dark, plum color and I could almost swear I saw storm clouds swirling in their depths.

"Uh..." I swallowed, finally tearing my eyes from Ben's to shoot a confused glance at Mr. Avery. How was I going to explain why my teacher was so angry that I was leaving, if we weren't personally involved? But when I looked at him, it was to see one inky brow lifted and a small smirk gracing his lips as he sat on the corner of his desk, apparently getting comfortable to watch the show.

I gaped at Ben as he began shouting at me again. "Did you really think I wouldn't care? What kind of relationship is this that you don't tell me that you're fucking moving away? You’re not, by the way. If you think for one second that I'm going to let you-"

"Ben, that's enough." Mr. Avery interjected calmly, straightening away from his desk. "This isn't the time or place."

"I..." I stared at my principal, terrified. The damage was done and there was nothing I could do to stop the consequences. I tried to blink away the tears gathering in my eyes, a few escaping to trail down my cheeks. "Mr. Avery, I'm sorry. Please, this is all my fault. Ben didn't-"

He lifted his hand, silencing me, as his eyes slid to Ben. I followed his gaze and took in the sight of Ben trying to reign in his fury. His eyes were closed and he was taking deep breaths, through his nose. When he opened his eyes, the storm clouds were gone, replaced by an apologetic glance for Mr. Avery. "I'm sorry, Nick."

"There's no reason to be. If I were in your position, I'd probably react the same way." Mr. Avery said easily.

"You were right, though; this isn't the time or place." A self-deprecating smile twisted across his face and he muttered, seemingly to himself, "It's just my luck that I fell for a student."

No! What is he doing?! I had to take the blame, or he'd be fired! I leaped up from my seat and stood between the two men. "Mr. Avery, please. I- I pursued Ben." My mind was working in overdrive, trying to come up with reasons, excuses. "My grade was slipping in his class and I thought if I... If I seduced him, he'd raise it. I'm so sorry. Please, don't punish Ben for what I did."

Mr. Avery scoffed. "Really, Elizabeth, that's all you can come up with? A cliché?"

As I gaped at him in shock, Ben crossed his arms and smirked at me. "She is having to think quickly, under a lot of pressure."

"True. Taking that into consideration... Well done, Miss Sinclair." The principal smiled at me. Realization dawned as I saw the gentle understanding in Mr. Avery's gaze. He didn't just know about me and Ben, he approved.

Suddenly, it was too much. Too much information. Too many emotions. Too many things for me to process at once. The room swirled around me as my overtaxed brain decided to take a much needed break, shutting down. I felt my eyes roll back and caught a glimpse of the floor rushing up to meet me but before I could fall into unconsciousness, a pair of hands caught me.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ben said, firmly setting me back on my feet. However, the room was still unsteady and when he let go of my arms, I wobbled. With a curse, Ben used one hand to keep me from falling again and the other to reach up and tap me sharply on the cheek. "Come on, all the way out of it, babe."

I wasn't sure if it was the slap itself or the sheer indignity of it that brought me out of the faint, but when his hand came back for a return trip I blinked and threw up my own hand to block his. "Stop that! What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? I'm not the one who nearly took a header into the floor!" He frowned at me.

I shot a glance at Mr. Avery and noticed that he was also frowning at me, but both his brows were raised expectantly. I sighed and, ducking my head, mumbled at Ben, "Thanks for keeping me upright and conscious. Although," I continued, raising my head as a thought occurred to me. "It's yours and Mr. Avery's fault that I nearly fainted anyway!"

"Really? Just because you overreacted, it doesn't mean that Nick and I are to blame."

"No, it does. You know why?" I could feel every emotion I’d felt that day, all at once, battering at me. "I came up with two, not one but two, elaborate stories to cover up our relationship. Within seconds!” I was basically shouting now, as I paced the length of the office, my hands flailing with every word. “Added to that, I just want to let you know that it is weird that my principle approves of a student's relationship with her teacher. I think I had every right to overreact!" I could feel my chest heaving as I finally stopped, standing there glaring at the two men. I knew my anger was probably irrational, but I couldn't seem to get a handle on anything as a million questions ran through my mind.

How did one react in this situation? Had a situation like this ever happened? Why did Mr. Avery approve? When had he found out? Did Ben just tell him? Where did we go from here? And why were they laughing?!

"What?" I asked irritably, crossing my arms over my chest.

Almost as one, they shook their heads and controlled their mirth, but it was Mr. Avery who spoke first, "I'm sorry, Elizabeth. That was rude."

"I'm not sorry." Ben said, grinning. "You're magnificent when you're angry."

"That line is tired and old, Ben." I tried to look down my nose at him, realizing it was nearly impossible to do so to a person a foot taller than you are. Huffing out a breath, I gave up and grumbled at him, "I'm not moving or switching schools, you know. I only said that because I panicked when I realized Mr. Avery knew about us."

"You weren't moving away, in any case. I wouldn't have allowed it." His tone was easy enough, but I could detect a hint of anger beneath the surface of his calm.

Wouldn't have allowed it? I narrowed my eyes at him and, in my anger, forgot that Mr. Avery was in the room. He wouldn't allow it? "You're not my keeper, Ben. If I wanted to move away, I would do so. I do not need your permission."

He sighed and held up both hands, as if in surrender. "We'll fight about it later."

I pulled in a breath to fight about it then and there, but Ben's eyes met mine in perfect understanding. He was just as angry as I was and there would be one hell of a fight, but now wasn't the time for it. So, I turned to Mr. Avery, "How did you find out about Ben and me?"

"He told me."

"When?" I asked, unsurprised.

"The day I found your notebook, and the list you wrote." Ben said, coming to stand behind me and resting his hands on my shoulders. "I realized then and there that I wasn't going to be able to resist you. So, I told Nick my intentions and handed in my resignation, the next day."

My eyes widened as I twisted my head around to stare at Ben. "Your resignation? But-"

"I wouldn't accept it." Mr. Avery's voice had my head whipping around to face him. "I wasn't going to lose an exceptional teacher because he'd developed feelings for you. As I see it, there's nothing wrong with the two of you pursuing a relationship together. You're both legal, consenting adults."

"Mr. Avery-"

He cut me off again, shrugging. "I am advising you both to be extremely cautious, however. Most people won't see things the way I do. In fact, I'm positive that the school board would be quite adamant to this situation."

I nodded slowly, trying to come to terms with everything that had been said in Mr. Avery's office. Finally, I took a deep breath, "Well, I guess that's that then."

Ben squeezed my shoulders. "No, it's not. You never really let Nick finish explaining what we've done to make sure you're safe."

"Yes, I did. The two of you have switched around a bunch of classrooms, to make sure that all of my classes are in the same hall. Whoever attacked me will have a harder time snatching me again if I'm not wandering the halls and yes, I will feel safer being close to Ben. I'm also assuming that I'm going to continue to spend my lunch period and after school in Ben's classroom. Correct?"

Both men nodded, but only Mr. Avery spoke, "Well, I suppose we won't need to go over any of it. Just as well," He continued, just as the bell signaling the end of homeroom rang. "It looks like we're out of time anyway. You're first class is with Ben, right?"

I nodded, "Chemistry II."

"My class of nerds." Ben said reverently, leaning down to rest his chin on my head.

I jabbed my elbow into his gut, then turned to smile sweetly at him when he doubled over and grunted in pain. "Class of what?"

"Geeks!" He gasped out, trying to catch the breath I'd knocked out of him. "Who else would take a college level Chemistry class?"

I rolled my eyes at him, "Just because I want to get ahead, it doesn't make me a nerd."

"It kind of does." He said, straightening from his bent position to eye me warily.

I glared at him for a moment before turning on my heel and marching to the door. I opened it and turned to glare at him some more. "Aren't you coming? Or am I walking to class alone?"

"I'm coming!" Ben raised his eyebrows at me and I could tell he was suppressing a grin. He walked forward and snagged my arm. "Let's go. Bye, Nick!"

"See you later, Mr. Avery." I managed to get out, before Ben dragged me from the room and out into the hallway. Students were rushing to and from classrooms, some lingering in the halls to chat with friends. I pulled my arm from Ben's possessive grip and started in the direction of his classroom, two halls over. In almost no time at all, we were both seated at our desks in his classroom.

Class dragged on, with Ben outlining an experiment we were to do over the next few days. I let my eyes wander over the other students; most were paying attention, taking notes. Charlotte was one, scribbling furiously in a notebook, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Another student was dozing off, jerking upright and blinking every time her chin slipped off of her hand. One gazed off into space, idly running their pencil in circles on the desktop. Everyday, normal students doing what everyday, normal students do. As my gaze traveled over all of their faces, I tried to picture one of them hitting me over the head with a bat and stuffing me in a closet. It was impossible. I barely knew anybody here; they didn't have any reason to hurt me.

Except... My eyes went to the empty desk in the middle of the room. Ryan Laski had been suspended for a week after he'd tried to punch Ben, and when he'd returned he'd been switched not only from Ben's class, but from any other classes he'd had with me. Ryan had a definite reason to hurt me; he thought it was my fault that he'd been kicked off the football team and that he'd been suspended. Add in his sadistic tendencies and he was the prime suspect in my attack, with some, if not all, of his former team members being his accomplices. However, with Ryan's alibi and no shred of physical evidence to connect them to the attack, that entire scenario had been ruled out.

So, it had to have been somebody else, right? The only questions being who had attacked me and why they had. But I couldn't think of anybody that I knew who would hurt me, who would have any reason to hurt me. I usually always kept to myself, but I didn't go out of my way to avoid people or to be unfriendly. The exceptions were Ryan and Danielle, and in both cases I'd lost my temper. Also, in any case, Ryan had his alibi and Danielle was too stupid to pull a stunt like my attack and not brag about it to somebody. There just wasn't anybody else. So, who had done it?

I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on the seconds after I'd been hit, when my attacker had spoken. I tried to zero in on the voice, asking myself the same questions that the police had; male or female? High or low? Smooth or rough?

I lifted my fingers my temples, to rub the sudden ache there, and squeezed my eyes shut, concentrating further. I repeated the questions over and over again in my mind, hoping to trigger something. Male or female? High or low? Smooth or rough? Male or female? High or low? Smooth or-

"Eliza! Oh my god, Eliza, your nose!" Charlotte's voice burst into head and my eyes popped open.

I sucked in a breath, staring at her, "What? What?"

"Your nose is bleeding!" She jumped up, turning away from me. "Mr. Galla-!"

"Wha-"

"Here." Ben was crouched next to me, a piece of folded white cloth in his hand. When I stared at him blankly, trying to comprehend the sudden chaos around me, he swore under his breath and took my chin in his hand. He pressed the cloth to my nose and tilted my head forward.

My brain clicked on, with an OH! and I quickly pushed Ben's hand away. "What are you doing?! That's silk! I'll ruin it!"

He rolled his eyes and pressed the silk handkercheif back to my nose. "Who cares? It's made to be used, Elizabeth."

I muttered under my breath, but the sudden dizziness I was feeling stopped me from protesting. I did manage to reach up and take the handkerchief myself, pushing Ben's hand away. "I've got it. I'm fine."

He studied me for a few seconds before standing and waving everybody back to their seats. "Alright, everybody calm down. It's just a nosebleed and it's under control. We're moving on."

Charlotte gave me a quick hug before returning to her seat. I sighed and closed my eyes, keeping the handkerchief pressed to my nose. I felt the beginnings of a migraine coming on and berated myself. I shouldn't have concentrated so hard on trying to figure out who that voice belonged to. My doctor had warned me that something like this could happen if I pushed too hard, because the strain on my mind could cause physical complications. I had to wait until the memory surfaced naturally, if it surfaced at all. The possibility of never remembering whose voice I'd heard, terrified me. With no other evidence, my attacker would probably never be found, unless they tried to hurt me again.

"Eliza?" I opened my eyes to see Charlotte peering at me in concern. She whispered urgently, "Maybe you should go to the nurse's office."

"No. No, I'm fine." I assured her, pulling the handkerchief away from my face. I glanced towards the front of the classroom, to see Ben passing out our lab packets before asking Charlotte, "Has the bleeding stopped?"

She nodded, but didn't drop her concern. "You're really pale, Eliza."

"I'm a redhead. I'm always pale." I pointed out, unfolding Ben's handkerchief, to see how badly I'd damaged it. Upon opening it, I realized it was monogrammed with the letters B.R.G. Amused, I wondered idly what the R stood for. In the next instant, the amusement faded as I realized that the monogrammed square of silk was well and truly ruined. There was no saving it from the large splotches of blood that now stained it. I sighed, and then leaned down to tuck it into my bag, silently promising Ben that I'd replace it.

I looked up as he dropped my packet on my desk and saw that he was frowning down at me. He handed Charlotte, the last student, her packet before addressing me. "I think you should go to the nurse."

I shook my head, "I'm fine."

He lowered his voice, so only I could hear, "You're paler than normal, Elizabeth, and I know you've got a headache. I can see it in your eyes."

"Really, I'm fine." I insisted, picking up my packet and leafing through it. “Go away.”

I heard him mutter a quiet oath, and then his footsteps as he walked away. I looked up long enough to roll my eyes at his back, but noticed Charlotte staring at me intently. I lifted my eyebrow questioningly, What?

In answer, a slow, wicked grin spread across her face. She gave me a thumbs up and a lewd wink. I nearly groaned aloud. What? Was today the day everybody found out about Ben and me?

Sighing, I went to work filling out the preliminary question on the lab packet. Almost immediately, however, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to work at all; I was too distracted by all the thoughts running through my head. Frustrated, I lifted my head to glare at Ben, because as far as I was concerned, this was all his fault. My eyes narrowed further as I caught him grinning at me. His eyes shifted to Charlotte, as the grin turned into a smirk, before shifting back to me. He mouthed, Good luck, before turning his attention to something on his desk.

I groaned and folded my arms across my desk so I could bury my face in them. It was going to be a very, very long day.