Verboten

Jack rummaged through Alex’s school bag, marvelling at the amount of books he had managed to squash into the small thing. Predictably, his bag was Doctor Who themed, and true to its design, it was bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. He flipped through folders and textbooks until he saw Alex’s wallet inside. Triumphantly, he dug it out and opened the leather folds.

Alex had his address written inside on a scrap of paper – although Jack had already driven to his house once today, he had forgotten which road he lived on already. He hoped now that he had the experience, he would be able to navigate the twisting turns through Alex’s estate back to his home. He didn’t want to wake his student necessarily.

He memorized the number and road and slipped the paper back into Alex’s wallet, and then replaced the wallet in Alex’s bag. Very quietly, he gathered together Alex’s bag, blazer and his own car keys. Biscuit was curled up with Alex on the sofa, both of them deeply asleep, but as Jack opened the door, his dog raised his head and yawned with a whine.

Jack motioned for him to stay and deposited Alex’s bag and jacket in the back of his car. He returned to the sofa and pushed Biscuit away gently, then slid his arms under Alex, cradling the boy against his chest. He rose to his feet gracefully, wincing when his knees clicked into place, and ambled back to the car, not wanting to jolt Alex too much and wake him from his slumber.

Once he was in the passenger seat, Jack went back to his door and locked it securely, whispering a farewell to Biscuit, who stared at him from the sofa lazily.

He made sure to drive slowly, not just because of the rain (it was still falling, but not as heavily as before) but because of his student. Jack sighed. When had teaching become so difficult? He wasn’t meant to be attracted to his own student – for one matter, Alex was only just fifteen, and he was twenty-two now. That was a seven year age difference and when it was between these ages, it could as well have been twenty or thirty years.

He wasn’t going to act on his feelings, however – it would be wrong, he would be using the power he had over Alex for his own pleasure. He cared too deeply about Alex to hurt him in that way, but even as he told himself he would not do it, he found himself wondering what Alex would look like when Jack was pressing him against a wall, when he was having his neck kissed and bitten, how he would react to Jack lying on top of him and pushing his tongue into his mouth.

Jack scolded himself for such thoughts. He had to stop thinking like that or the affection for Alex would never go away. Even though he felt terrible about it afterwards, he had pleasured himself to the thought of Alex’s lean body thrashing beneath his as he was in his tight heat. It was illegal for teachers to romance their students, that he knew for certain, but maybe it could be kept a secret? He cursed himself. He was meant to be pushing such thoughts away, and now he needed to truly focus. He turned onto Alex’s estate, checking that the boy was still asleep. He was frowning and looked worried even when he was supposed to be at peace.

Jack sighed as he attempted to remember the way around Alex’s estate. It was complex and intricate, so many twists and turns to remember, each road leading to another until you ended in a cul-de-sac and had to reverse your way out. Through the pattering rain, he caught sight of a road sign that appeared to say Partridge Lane, and vaguely he recalled that this was the way onto Alex’s road, Goldfinch Avenue.

After several more turns, confusions and reverses, Jack finally found himself driving along a street that looked familiar. He recognised the houses as looking similar to Alex’s and smiled triumphantly. He had finally managed to get to Alex’s home, without the boy’s help this time.

He pulled to a gentle halt outside number 14, the near-mansion that was Alex’s house, and turned to arouse the boy from his sleeping, but was surprised to see him already awake. “Hello,” he greeted quietly.

Alex smiled in reply. “Hello. Thanks for driving me back.” He seemed shy once more, probably because he had just let Alex witness him when he was vulnerable, and seemed only too eager to scramble from his car and collect his items.

Jack watched him as his did: underneath the eagerness to escape his embarrassment, there was a great sadness about leaving, Jack could tell. As Alex was about to shut the back doors of his car, Jack called out to him on impulse. “Give me your phone.”

Alex paused, looking puzzled, but slammed the back door of his car and then climbed back into the passenger seat, pulling his phone from his blazer pocket. Jack typed quickly and then handed the square mobile back to Alex. “I’ve put my number in there. Text me or call me whenever you need me, yeah?”

Alex nodded in reply, and said nothing, but he reached over and squeezed Jack’s hand before he tumbled from the car once more and hurried to his porch. The driveway was still empty, so his parents were not home, and once more Jack waited before Alex was safely inside before he drove off, to try and escape the labyrinth that was Alex’s housing estate.