I look down and tie my shoelaces, feeling better after just a few breaths.
I look up towards the entrance of the gym.
Fuck.
Fuck.
What is she doing here?
I can't deal with it now. Her presence.
Right. She's handing her assignment in right at the last possible second. If she knew what I thought about when she came into my class, she would be handing her assignments with at least one other person present.
Poppy Jones. The only student I’ve ever taught whose name I memorized right in her first class.
She's wearing wool tights with her very cheerful Christmas-themed sweater dress. I don't like Christmas but Christmas suits her too well. It does hide some of her curves, which I don't like. Luckily, I've months of memories to fill in the gaps: her full breasts in a skimpy top in September, her wide hips in a tight dress in October. Her face is flushed, a reaction to the cold outside, but the messed up part of me wants to be responsible for that flush on that beautiful face of hers. Her eyes are almost as dark as her short hair.
I snap out of it. She's too young. Forbidden territory I mustn't walk on.
There are so many reasons why this is completely wrong, and yet I always fail to remind myself of one each time I see her. Luckily, a few seconds later, logic kicks in and tells me she's my student and not anything else.
"Hi, Professor Blake," she's right next to me. Too close. I put all my energy into willing my cock not to react to her presence. That would be inappropriate and would make me lose my job, a job that I like.
"Handing in your assignment at the last possible second." She flinches at my tone, which makes me want to take it back. It comes out harsher than I meant to, but it's best this way. It'll surely make her go away.
"Yes." She hands me the papers, and I take them fast so there's not a single chance I touch her. "And Carly said you also needed help with the float. I'm here!"
Carly is really testing me this year. First the float, now bringing Poppy here. My sister won't get a Christmas present.
Not that she ever gets one from me.
It's fine, I can just tell Poppy no.
“Oh, Poppy, you’re here? You need to help us out!” Someone comes running over, grabs her wrist, and pulls her away from me. I hate that he’s touching her, dragging her further with every second but, most of all, I’m thankful.
I've endured all semester resisting this pull, the weird messed up thoughts about having her all to myself.
What are a few more hours?
Chapter 3 - Poppy
"Let's get that float on the truck," Professor Blake says as he opens the doors of the gym.
I can't believe we did it. Everyone's feeling that buzz of accomplishment, laughing, talking loudly about Christmas plans, who's skiing, who's staying home, except for Professor Blake who's still sporting the same scowl he did when I first arrived, giving directions so our hard work doesn't dismantle before it reaches the truck.
It's almost 11pm, and the float looks nothing like it did when I arrived a few hours ago. Except for a small break for dinner where Professor Blake ordered-in burgers and fries for everyone from Tee's Drive-In, we haven't stopped.
Since selling my illustrated cards isn’t enough to sustain me, I've been working a lot in the event industry, which allows me a lot of flexibility in terms of schedule. And it's also something I'm good at, so much so that this past year I've been invited to actually organize the events, not just work on them. That and my small business pushed me to get my college degree in business. It has been good to help cement some of the knowledge I’ve acquired with my small business mishaps. When Professor Blake saw how people kept asking me questions after just one hour, he put me in charge, saying, "You seem to knowwhat you're doing; let's finish this by midnight. What do you need?"
I could've answered something like: "Your attention," but instead, I just asked him to arrange the lights for each section of the float. It's the first time he's ever treated me like an equal, it brings a fuzzy feeling to my belly.
When the float is loaded up, Professor Blake thanks everyone for their hard work and tells us to go home.
While the rest of the students head out, I follow him back to the gym.
"I told everyone to go home." He doesn't turn, simply picks up his pace. Like that is going to deter me.
"You're going to clean everything up by yourself?"
