Notes.
Chapter Two
Ryan reluctantly dragged his feet towards the school gates. Monday mornings were always hard but he knew today would be ten times worse, with gossip in steady flow fuelled by his antics at the Christmas party. He entered the staff room where a few teachers were dotted around, calmly chatting or finishing lesson plans at the last minute. Ryan could already feel his ears burning when the low hum of chatter was silenced and replaced by people not knowing how to act around him. There were no greetings, no acknowledgements. Just stares.
In the corner of the room sat Lewis. Engaged in a lively conversation, occasionally flicking his mouse brown fringe out of his eyes, it seemed as if everything at the party just hadn’t happened. Of course, he would get over it. He always did. Somehow he always managed to escape from the most difficult of situations and no one would ever blame him. If only Ryan could act the same way. Instead it seemed the entire team of staff were on a witch hunt.
Ryan had just realised that he had been staring at Lewis, which all the other staff members had already noticed. It was obvious that something was going to happen between the two of them, but of course, it would have to be kept a secret, otherwise both teachers could lose their jobs for being involved with each other. Ryan quickly averted his gaze, and went over to the kitchen area in the staff room and made himself a coffee, having been too late to make himself one this morning at home.
As the bell went Lewis stood up, brushing the biscuit crumbs off of his grey trousers and walked out of the room quickly, as though he was avoiding Ryan completely. Ryan wandered out of the room and made his way to his first class of the day. Oh how he hated Mondays.
The first half of the day carried on the same way, annoying students would come up and ask him for help, even though, if they were completely shit at art, he really couldn’t do much about it and occasionally girls as young as 13 would come over and flirt with him. It was really not what he wanted right now. Even though he was only young at 23 there was still a ten year age gap. That was so wrong.
At last, the clock lazily moved its hands to show the time 1:15. Ryan’s heart flipped in his chest in a teenage-crush way and he packed his things into his bag as quickly as his hands would allow. Dismissing his class, he raced to the history toilets and pushed the door open. Empty. He felt pangs of rejection but then realised, he had been a little quick off the mark. With nothing better to do while waiting for Lewis, he critically analysed his reflection in the mirror. Peering back at him was a man with dyed black hair, slightly ruffled because of its length. He had dull, lifeless green eyes. Or maybe that was just the way he saw them – he wasn’t sure. He lowered his gaze to his nose. How he hated his nose. It had been broken several times when he was younger and it never seemed to return to its original shape. He was wearing a plain white long sleeved shirt, with a skinny black tie and formal black trousers. Although, the image of professionalism was slightly ruined by the black leather Converse he wore on his feet.
Ryan was awoken from his own critical world by a crash as the toilet door swung open. Lewis’ small frame stood in the doorway for what seemed like forever before he casually entered the room and nodded at Ryan. Ryan stood awkwardly, wondering if he was supposed to be saying something, doing something... The silence was almost unbearable.
“Hey.” Ryan said quietly, waiting for some sort of response.
All he got was Lewis pushing him back roughly against the wall and slamming his lips against his. Almost too quickly Lewis pulled back and whispered “See you around.” Before leaving the room he adjusted his hair, which had been seriously messed up during their heated make out session. Ryan stared after him with a confused look adorning his face. What was with this guy?
The week passed slowly and finally Ryan could no longer take what was going on between the two of them, he passed Lewis in the corridor on Friday morning he quickly grabbed his arm and jerked Lewis towards him.
“What do you want?” Lewis hissed at him, trying not to be overheard by the many students and teachers hurrying busily past them.
“I want to know, what exactly is going on with us?” Ryan replied, darting his eyes around and lowering his voice as he spoke the word “us”.
“Nothing, darling, just nothing.” Lewis casually spoke and sauntered off before Ryan had the chance to say anything about it.
The day dragged on, and as the bell signalling time for lunch rang he slowly made his way towards the staff room, only to find the one person in there was the only one person he really didn’t want to see right now. Completely avoiding eye contact with Lewis , he sat down at his desk and tried to make himself look busy with work. But on glancing up, he noticed a fresh, hot coffee had been placed in front of him. And what’s more is that Lewis stood right by Ryan’s desk, smirking.
“I made you coffee.” He said bluntly.
“I can see that,” replied Ryan, with every second of this conversation becoming more and more uncomfortable.
“Aren’t you going to drink it? It’s not poisoned, I promise.” And with that he left the room. Suspiciously, Ryan lifted the coffee, and as he raised the mug to his lips, he found a note underneath where the coffee had been sitting. It was the same handwriting as on the note he had received before. Lewis’ handwriting. He tried to be as calm and collected as possible when reading it but in fact he couldn’t have been more apprehensive. In blue biro, the words ‘My house at 5. You know where it is.’ sat on the page. Ryan wished he could have been as excited as before, but he had the underlying fear of the rejection and confusion that their last encounter had left him with. But he didn’t have to stop and think about his answer. If he was going to be led into a trap, at least he was being led by Lewis.
The rest of the day seemed to pass incredibly slowly, but yet at the same time seemed to be a bit of a blur. Ryan wasn’t really aware of what was happening, and he kept daydreaming and fantasising about what may happen at five o’clock. For his final two lessons he had to teach Year 11 classes – 15 and 16 year olds. All of these students were good at art, but one stood out to him more than any of the others. Her name was Meghan, a bright, popular girl who was especially into the subject and her work was constantly nothing short of outstanding. They had a good student-teacher relationship; she was polite and worked hard, he offered her constructive criticism when it was needed but was never too harsh. They got on well, but that was the end of it. As the bell rang, he said goodbye to her and dismissed the class.
The day was finally over, and he returned to his house as fast as he could. He had to be on time for his meeting at five. Ryan jumped in the shower, then tried to fix his hair as best he could. Before he knew it, it was time for him to leave. After then ten minute walk that separated his house from Lewis’, he approached the house and butterflies danced in his stomach. Parked outside, there wasn’t one car as usual, but two. Ryan found this strange but the only way he could find out what this was about was to knock on the door.
In the corner of the room sat Lewis. Engaged in a lively conversation, occasionally flicking his mouse brown fringe out of his eyes, it seemed as if everything at the party just hadn’t happened. Of course, he would get over it. He always did. Somehow he always managed to escape from the most difficult of situations and no one would ever blame him. If only Ryan could act the same way. Instead it seemed the entire team of staff were on a witch hunt.
Ryan had just realised that he had been staring at Lewis, which all the other staff members had already noticed. It was obvious that something was going to happen between the two of them, but of course, it would have to be kept a secret, otherwise both teachers could lose their jobs for being involved with each other. Ryan quickly averted his gaze, and went over to the kitchen area in the staff room and made himself a coffee, having been too late to make himself one this morning at home.
As the bell went Lewis stood up, brushing the biscuit crumbs off of his grey trousers and walked out of the room quickly, as though he was avoiding Ryan completely. Ryan wandered out of the room and made his way to his first class of the day. Oh how he hated Mondays.
The first half of the day carried on the same way, annoying students would come up and ask him for help, even though, if they were completely shit at art, he really couldn’t do much about it and occasionally girls as young as 13 would come over and flirt with him. It was really not what he wanted right now. Even though he was only young at 23 there was still a ten year age gap. That was so wrong.
At last, the clock lazily moved its hands to show the time 1:15. Ryan’s heart flipped in his chest in a teenage-crush way and he packed his things into his bag as quickly as his hands would allow. Dismissing his class, he raced to the history toilets and pushed the door open. Empty. He felt pangs of rejection but then realised, he had been a little quick off the mark. With nothing better to do while waiting for Lewis, he critically analysed his reflection in the mirror. Peering back at him was a man with dyed black hair, slightly ruffled because of its length. He had dull, lifeless green eyes. Or maybe that was just the way he saw them – he wasn’t sure. He lowered his gaze to his nose. How he hated his nose. It had been broken several times when he was younger and it never seemed to return to its original shape. He was wearing a plain white long sleeved shirt, with a skinny black tie and formal black trousers. Although, the image of professionalism was slightly ruined by the black leather Converse he wore on his feet.
Ryan was awoken from his own critical world by a crash as the toilet door swung open. Lewis’ small frame stood in the doorway for what seemed like forever before he casually entered the room and nodded at Ryan. Ryan stood awkwardly, wondering if he was supposed to be saying something, doing something... The silence was almost unbearable.
“Hey.” Ryan said quietly, waiting for some sort of response.
All he got was Lewis pushing him back roughly against the wall and slamming his lips against his. Almost too quickly Lewis pulled back and whispered “See you around.” Before leaving the room he adjusted his hair, which had been seriously messed up during their heated make out session. Ryan stared after him with a confused look adorning his face. What was with this guy?
The week passed slowly and finally Ryan could no longer take what was going on between the two of them, he passed Lewis in the corridor on Friday morning he quickly grabbed his arm and jerked Lewis towards him.
“What do you want?” Lewis hissed at him, trying not to be overheard by the many students and teachers hurrying busily past them.
“I want to know, what exactly is going on with us?” Ryan replied, darting his eyes around and lowering his voice as he spoke the word “us”.
“Nothing, darling, just nothing.” Lewis casually spoke and sauntered off before Ryan had the chance to say anything about it.
The day dragged on, and as the bell signalling time for lunch rang he slowly made his way towards the staff room, only to find the one person in there was the only one person he really didn’t want to see right now. Completely avoiding eye contact with Lewis , he sat down at his desk and tried to make himself look busy with work. But on glancing up, he noticed a fresh, hot coffee had been placed in front of him. And what’s more is that Lewis stood right by Ryan’s desk, smirking.
“I made you coffee.” He said bluntly.
“I can see that,” replied Ryan, with every second of this conversation becoming more and more uncomfortable.
“Aren’t you going to drink it? It’s not poisoned, I promise.” And with that he left the room. Suspiciously, Ryan lifted the coffee, and as he raised the mug to his lips, he found a note underneath where the coffee had been sitting. It was the same handwriting as on the note he had received before. Lewis’ handwriting. He tried to be as calm and collected as possible when reading it but in fact he couldn’t have been more apprehensive. In blue biro, the words ‘My house at 5. You know where it is.’ sat on the page. Ryan wished he could have been as excited as before, but he had the underlying fear of the rejection and confusion that their last encounter had left him with. But he didn’t have to stop and think about his answer. If he was going to be led into a trap, at least he was being led by Lewis.
The rest of the day seemed to pass incredibly slowly, but yet at the same time seemed to be a bit of a blur. Ryan wasn’t really aware of what was happening, and he kept daydreaming and fantasising about what may happen at five o’clock. For his final two lessons he had to teach Year 11 classes – 15 and 16 year olds. All of these students were good at art, but one stood out to him more than any of the others. Her name was Meghan, a bright, popular girl who was especially into the subject and her work was constantly nothing short of outstanding. They had a good student-teacher relationship; she was polite and worked hard, he offered her constructive criticism when it was needed but was never too harsh. They got on well, but that was the end of it. As the bell rang, he said goodbye to her and dismissed the class.
The day was finally over, and he returned to his house as fast as he could. He had to be on time for his meeting at five. Ryan jumped in the shower, then tried to fix his hair as best he could. Before he knew it, it was time for him to leave. After then ten minute walk that separated his house from Lewis’, he approached the house and butterflies danced in his stomach. Parked outside, there wasn’t one car as usual, but two. Ryan found this strange but the only way he could find out what this was about was to knock on the door.