Jan. Week 4: Tuesday afternoon...Nathan appears...

Nate, of course, appeared from a flurry of students who were rushing past Leah. He waited for the hall to mostly clear and stepped up to Leah.

“Hey, Miss Williams,” Nate said, timidly, “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you earlier. Too many people around.”

She tried to give him her best teacher-scowl, but it didn’t connect.

“It’s the end of the day, Nate. I need to get home. And so do you.”

“But I was kinda hoping I could… stay after? You know, help clean up or something.” He gripped his backpack straps tightly as he leaned in a bit more, close enough that the smell of his deodorant (Axe, she’d bet her life) wafted over. She knew exactly what he meant. He wanted to trade. His silence for her body—again.

Leah walked into her classroom and Nate followed behind her like a lost puppy. He closed the door behind her and made sure the door was locked as he moved inside.

Leah drew a shaky breath and moved behind her desk, as if it was some sort of defense from his proposition that would soon follow. She started stacking some of the graded quizzes in a pile, her hands only trembling a little.

“Nate,” she said, “I just saw you like last week.”

“Yeah, well it was a long weekend. I’ve been thinking about your tit…well it’s been a little bit. I—ummm I can be quick.” He shrugged. Of that she had little doubt. She almost laughed at the brazenness.

She could reject him, get home quickly to Jonathan and have a regular, normal afternoon like most people. But she knew that Nate did have considerable power to ruin her life...she weighed the pros and cons of each decision in her head before she answered.