Mickey’s POV:

“I’m actually quite pleased with the results this time.” Mr. Archer, my Geography teacher, forced a smile as he handed back our graded tests. “Of course, there are some disappointing results, but overall this one went quite well.”

I was leaning back in my chair, my arms crossed as I waited for him to walk past and hand over my grade. There was nothing to worry about, I knew I had aced the test, I already knew when I was taking it. Everybody around me was already freaking out, trying to find those extra points that could boost their grade a little. But why would I have the need to do so too? I just wanted to receive the paper and leave the class, but I still had ten minutes to go.

Those minutes just seemed to drag on and on. I literally had nothing to distract me in that class, and it wasn’t a good thing. Instead I was bored, doodling in a notebook or just staring out in front of me. Rian happened to be in the same class, but he wasn’t sat anywhere close to me. Not like he actually would have let me get distracted by anything. We had assigned seating. Yes. A fucking senior class had assigned seating. I was put all the way in the front, right in the center of the row, while Rian was somewhere more in the back. Apparently, Mr. Archer could keep an eye on me that way. It was complete and utter bullshit.

I just wanted to get that test and leave.

Finally, his stupid-ass shoes walked towards my seat, coming from behind me. Unlike with everybody else, he briefly slowed down as he slid my test on my table.

“Meet me after class,” he mumbled so only I could hear and continued to the next row of students.

I frowned as he left with no further clarification. With the torture I was already going through, there was no need to keep me at school longer than necessary. Trying to find an answer to the madness, I looked down at the bundle of paper only to see it was upside down. I decided to check if the first page would give anything away, maybe he had left a comment. But when I flipped the test over, I wasn’t expecting the large F in the top right corner. It wasn’t like my GPA could be ruined any further, but I had only gotten a grade this low by simply not showing up.

“The fuck?” I muttered to myself. I knew I had aced it, yet still I had managed to fail. Even flicking through the test, I still couldn’t find where I had gone wrong. Yes, there were crosses everywhere, only minimal check-marks, but I couldn’t find what was wrong with my answers.

Honestly, ignoring my self-confidence, I couldn’t even find one thing that was actually wrong. It made me doubt myself in a way I’d never done before. Sure, I didn’t exactly study, but I actually happened to be in the classes necessary for this subject.

“Let me see that, will you?” I told my neighbor, who I could see had an A on his test. Without waiting for permission, I grabbed it away from him and started comparing my answers to his.

“The fuck?” I repeated, pointing at a question that was asking for a simple definition. “That’s literally what I wrote!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t cheat then,” the guy ripped his test from my grasp, “you can fail because of that too, you know.”

“Dude, no teacher trusts me. He was literally watching everything I did, I couldn’t have cheated. This is just a textbook answer.”

“Not my problem,” he shrugged and went back to discussing his grade with his friends.

There was no way I was not on edge for the rest of the class. Despite there only being a few minutes left, I had to count back from ten multiple times to remind myself to keep my cool. The many inappropriate sentences were waiting to burst out, but I knew better. This wasn’t simply a teacher making a mistake. Something was going on and I had to keep my anger and energy for when I was confronted with it. Shooting my shots now would only give him a head start.

So I sat there impatiently, tugging on my own hair and tapping my foot as I stared at one spot on the floor. All the noise surrounding me was blocked out until interrupted by the school bell notifying everybody that the school day had ended.

You can bet your ass that I still tried to sneak out along with all the other students. I made sure not to be the first one to charge towards the door, but also not to be too careful. The sweet spot was just before everybody started clogging up the exit. So, that’s when I left. But, of course, Mr. Archer spotted me before I could take my last step towards freedom.

“Mickey,” he called out sternly, “I asked you to stay back.”

With a roll of my eyes, I sighed and trudged over to his desk, which he was leaning against as he watched everybody leave. His arms were crossed and he barely acknowledged me as I stood opposite of him. It seemed like I could sneak away again, but his straight look just told me he’d notice if I even flinched.

Rian happened to be the last one leaving the classroom. He hung his backpack from his shoulder as he walked past. “I’ll text Alex to come wait with me outside the classroom for you instead of your locker.”

I hummed in response. Nothing could distract me from this battle.

Mr. Archer didn’t say a word until Rian left the classroom and he shut the door so we were isolated. As he walked back towards his desk, he finally spoke, “so… what was the reason why I asked you to stay again?”

I glared at him as he was acting oblivious, and pulled out my test to wave in front of his face. Instead of answering him verbally, I pointed towards the large aggressive red F taking up the entire upper right corner.

“Oh, right.” He nodded and resumed his position that consisted of his legs being lightly crossed. “That grade isn’t all too good, is it?”

“No, especially since you didn’t grade it properly.” I pinned the test to his chest. He could have it back until he gave me the grade I deserved.

“Now, don’t you think that’s a bit out of place to say? How dare you accuse me of marking it wrong.” Yet he still took the test from my hands.

“Don’t try to play me,” I snarled, resisting the urge the punch his fake oblivious face that was hiding a smirk. “I compared it to somebody else’s. I had the same answers they had and they got an A. I know for a fact that this isn’t because you believe I cheated.”

He looked down at the pages, his eyes not even moving as he acted like he was reading. “Oh, I see what you mean now. My mind must have probably been busy with… other things.”

“I don’t give a fuck what was on your mind, you’re going to correct this.”

“Hmm… that’s not as easy as you make it seem.”

“The hell it isn’t as easy!” I was more than close to blowing up. “You fucking take a pen and fucking correct the mistakes you fucking made.”

“How about this,” he put the test beside him on the desk, making it seem like it wasn’t an important item in our conversation, “we make a deal.”

“How about this? You just fucking correct it right now so I can go on with my day.”

“Mickey, Mickey, Mickey… this is not going to work out. You have to earn that.”

“I answered the questions correctly, that’s all I needed to do,” I told him.

But then he gave me a look, a look I recognized all too well. His eyes flickered down and back up, his lip bitten just slightly. It was only then that I noticed what he actually wanted from me. He wasn’t just distracted by anything while grading, he was distracted by me; distracted by imagining my body. This was the just only way for him to get me to stay back.

“Oh hell, no!” I rejected what he was implying with a large swiping gesture of my hand and a shake of my head. “I am not sleeping with you.”

If this had been offered to me at the beginning of the school year, I would have taken the opportunity without hesitation. I might have even been the one to initiate it. Because, don’t get me wrong. Mr. Archer wasn’t a bad looking guy. He was a fairly young teacher, so he was still a good kind of fashionable. His stubble framed his face nicely, accentuating his other features. He simply was a hot guy. A hot guy I’d fuck now? No.

“What?” He sounded as if he was appalled by what I was suggesting, but it was nothing of the like. “Why not?”

“Because that’s wrong on so many levels,” I laughed deeply more out of discomfort and astonishment than anything else. “You’re my teacher, which is wrong. You can’t use your authority against me. I have a boyfriend, so that would be considered cheating. And you’re asking me by giving me an F, which is the lamest pick-up line I’ve ever heard of.”

“We can easily ignore all those things.”

“It’s literally illegal,” I repeated as an excuse.

“Never seemed to stop you before,” he retorted, still set on his goal.

I wanted nothing more than to scream at him, to tell him he was being fucking disgusting. I’d bet my life on the fact that he put me in the front row in the middle, right in front of his desk, just so he could watch me during class; so he had something to get off to later on in the day. It was horrifying and I was not cool with it.

“Still going to be a no from me.” I shrugged, knowing that Rian and Alex were just a door away. “If you even try something, I can scream and my friends are just outside.”

“You see, I don’t think you want to do that.” His smirk finally found its way onto his face as he used his last move. He picked up my test and slowly moved it back into my hands as he pointed at the grade. “I think you want nothing more than to fix this.”

I stared at the meaningless letter. It was only one grade. It wasn’t like it was a gamechanger for me.

“Wouldn’t it be a shame if all your future tests just don’t happen to go all that well?” He added as more blackmail.

“Oh…” I breathed out and let my composure change. I licked my lips and flashed him the eyes I used to give all the guys I wanted in my bed that night. I even trailed my hands up his chest, enticing him. “So you want me to deserve those grades?”

“Exactly.” His smirked intestified.

“Well… then…” I whispered seductively before grabbing hold of his shoulders and jumping off the table I had sat on. He was stupid to fall for my trick. In one swift motion, I kneed him in the balls and pushed him back.

He buckled over in pain and groaned loudly. But I couldn’t enjoy his suffering. I rushed out of the classroom as soon as I had the chance, my test still in my hands. Alex and Rian were waiting outside, just like promised, looking up as I suddenly threw the door open.

“What was that about--?” Rian started asking, but I plainly ignored him.

I was bolting straight down the hall despite one of the boys calling out my name. It was only a matter of seconds until Alex ran to catch up with me.

“Mickey,” he put a hand on my shoulder to try and calm me down, “what's going on?”

I literally pushed him off, causing him to yelp out an ‘ouch’ and a ‘the fuck’ as he held the arm I had tugged to get rid of him. But before the realization hit me that I had just hurt Alex, I was already at my destination. I immediately turned to the reception desk, I ignored the woman who had helped me on my first day of school, and went straight into the Principal’s office. There was no time to be bothered about him possibly being busy or in a meeting.

Slamming the door shut, I stomped up to his large wooden desk. I was fuming; my eyes were cold, my breathing was heavy, and my hand was clutching the worthless piece of paper too strongly.

“Mickey,” Mr. Adkins smiled sweetly, putting down the fountain pen he had been writing with, “what can I help you with today.”

“You can fucking fire Mr. Archer,” I scowled. I had already gone way past losing my temper, there was no going back.

“And why is that?”

“He’s trying to manipulate me into having sex with him.”

He frowned, but did not have the reaction I wanted him to have. He was too calm and not interested enough. “Okay… how did he do this?”

“He gave me an F,” I hurled the paper at his desk and crossed my arms.

He raised his eyebrows and nodded softly. “And this has to do with that because…?”

My face fell. My anger boiled even more, if that was even possible. “He gave me an undeserved F. I compared it to another student’s test. Same answers, but he got an A.”

“That’s not good, is it?”

“And now he says he’s going to continue giving me an F no matter what if I don’t have sex with him. That’s fucking disgusting.”

He just nodded and took a look at the test, not saying another word.

“You don’t fucking care, do you?” I seethed, slamming my hands onto the desk, causing him to slowly look up.

“I can’t do anything without proof,” he shrugged and resumed with ‘investigating’ the test.

“That’s your motherfucking proof!” I yelled, picking up the test and throwing it down once again.

Yet, he shook his head. “This only shows favoritism, nothing else.”

“Are you fucking with me!?” I couldn’t keep my cool even remotely anymore. You could probably hear my shouting down the hall. “Oh wait, no. I get it. You don’t fucking want this on your hands. You don’t fucking want a scandal. Sure, I don’t blame you. You like to think your school is fucking perfect. Well, let me tell you, it isn’t. There are sexual predators working at your school, you have severe bullying happening just feet away. But what do you care? You’re behind a closed door and don’t give a fuck. Oh, but you tried to help the out-of-line girl who realized how messed up society was. But you didn’t fucking do that to help me, you do that so you look like the good guy. Fuck you and fuck this entire school. I should have left when I had the chance.”

With my last word, I left the room. The last door I had to slam was the one that led from the reception to the hall. My anger was fully out, there was nothing stopping me. When the door shut, I could hear the glass windows in it shattering behind me. But I didn’t care, it would only give the fucking school an excuse to start an ‘open door’ policy to seem even more transparent.

My name was shouted by my two friends again, but I ignored it just like before. I stormed off to my car and hopped into the driver side, throwing my bag in the passenger seat. I hoped to drive off and go to wherever until I calmed down a little. However, some pesky little brown haired boy managed to jump into the passenger seat and throw my bag in the backseat like he had been trained to do it.

“Ok, what’s got you mad enough to fucking shatter a window like that?” Alex asked, sounding out of breath yet still managing to use a light tone to try and cheer up the mood.

“You really do not want to be asking me questions right now, Alex,” I growled and struggled to put my keys in the ignition with the adrenaline shaking through me. Principal Adkins had asked me more than enough ambiguous questions for a whole lifetime.

“No, but seriously. You haven’t gotten mad enough to physically hurt me in ages, if ever.”

“It doesn’t matter.” I finally got the keys in the ignition and turned on the engine. But before I could switch the gear into reverse, Alex put his hand over mine and prevented me from doing it.

“It obviously does. I’m not going to let you keep this to yourself. I’m here to listen.”

“No, it really isn’t important.” I smiled sarcastically, summarizing what the principal had just told me.

He shook his head. “I don’t believe that.”

“This school fucking sucks. It might even suck more than the one I went to where all the teachers were drug dealers!” At least they showed how shitty they were and didn’t try to conceal it.

“I know it does,” Alex agreed, his hand still firmly on mine. It was like he knew exactly what I was thinking of right now. “But we only have a few more months to go and we’re free. If you had left yet again, you’d get stuck in another shit school, and you’d have to repeat another year. It would be a never-ending cycle.”

“I’d just drop out,” I retorted and let my grip on the shifter go, causing Alex’s own grip to loosen as well, “and become a stripper.”

“I’m not going to let you do that, even if it means following you around everywhere.” His touch instead became comforting instead of controlling. “Now, will you let me drive so we don’t end up in Ohio this time?”

I wanted to refuse, but he was right. If I was allowed to drive, I’d get stuck in my thoughts and only rile myself up again, causing me to make rash decisions. So, I nodded and took off my seatbelt. As I left the car to switch to the passenger side, I saw Rian watching us from his car. When he noticed my gaze, he quickly looked away and drove off as if he had been keeping an eye on us.

I decided to let it be and got into the passenger side while Alex tried to get the hang of my car again. Although he managed to do it faster this time, it was hilarious at the beginning of the drive. But at least I didn’t fear for my life.

When we finally got to my house, he parked my car in the driveway before we both jumped out again, locking it when the doors were closed.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come to band practice with me?” He asked one last time.

I nodded with certainty. “I don’t think it’s a good idea right now. Maybe next time.”

“Okay, well then you have to promise you won’t run off and become a stripper instead.”

“I promise.” I rolled my eyes before we kissed each other goodbye and left in opposite directions.

I was fully prepared to have another screaming match with my parents that day, but it didn’t happen. They didn’t know a thing about what happened at school. It must have been easier for Principal Adkins to stay silent than to have to explain to my mom that he wasn’t going to fire the man who was trying to manipulate me into having sex with him. I was actually looking forward to proving my parents that I had gotten mad for an actual reason, one they could agree with. But nothing of the like happened.

Notes

Finally another chapter!
Somehow Mickey got out of telling Alex what happened.... huh... how's that going to turn out?