"Mr. Pratt? You wanted to see me?"
"Buffy, 'lo luv, have a seat."
Buffy swept her short skirt under her as she slid into the standard school desk. Propping her chin in her hands with her elbows on the desk, she smiled.
"Right then. Ah, I've noticed that your grades have been slipping lately. Are you understanding the material?"
"Mmhm. Just fine." Buffy said cheerfully.
"Well, is anything going on at home?" William prodded, curious to know what had brought one of his favorite students down.
"Not much." she said with a pop of her bright red Cinna-Mint gum "But I guess I have been… distracted."
William cleared his throat. "Hm? Distracted, you say?"
"Yup. I mean, it can be kind of hard to concentrate when… well, never mind." Buffy shook her, feigning embarrassment. Will, however, did not catch on to her act
"What is it, Buffy? Is there anything I can help with?"
"I don't know, can you?" Buffy asked playfully.
"I… I don't… Buffy?"
The room was silent, but energy crackled between the pair as their roles as student and teacher were momentarily lost.
"You see… I've has this problem lately." Buffy said as she stood up and smoothed her skirt. With her hands behind her back, she sauntered over to her teacher's desk.
William pressed hard into the back of his leather swivel chair, subconsciously trying to distance himself from the temptation in front of him.
"A… a problem? You don't say?"
'Fuck, fuck, fuck. She's a student, William. Fuck. Calm down.'
"Yep. And it's kind of been keeping me from paying much attention to the lessons." She was behind his desk now, on the same side as him. Pushing herself up onto the wooden surface, she sat and swung her legs off the side of the desk.
As hard as he tried, William couldn't keep his eyes from straying to the spot where Buffy's skin met the surface of his desk. Her skirt was fanned out around her, soft bare skin pressing against the dark wood.
"I really don't know what I should do about it." Buffy continued. William's eyes were drawn to her glossy lips. Was that candy flavored gloss, or cherry?
Damn it! Tell her to get out, get out, get-
"So, do you think you can help me?"
"I… maybe later. I think you should go now Buffy. I have papers to grade, perhaps you could ask me whatever it is tomorrow in class?"
"I've seen the way you look at me." Buffy smiled.
"I- I assure you I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." William found himself blushing, mentally berating himself for sounding so much like his father. He began to busy himself by sorting and shuffling around the loose papers on his desk.
She was close. Too close. Will could smell her. Vanilla and cinnamon. It was too much. She was his student.
Before he could form another thought about how wrong this is, he felt a soft, luscious pair of lips pressed against his own. Will immediately responded, melding his mouth with hers.
Oh, god. She's so perfect, so soft, so sweet.
Will reached up to tangle his hand in her silky golden hair. His brows were furrowed with the absolute wrongness of this, but his mouth couldn't seem to connect with his brain and receive the message.
Buffy traced William's jaw line, his cheekbones, his forehead. She ran her fingers through his short, bleach blonde locks, setting them loose from his usual slicked back look. She smiled against his mouth, savoring the feeling of his soft curls under her hands. She was lost in the sensations. He kissed like he looked, hot and passionate.
Will traced Buffy's bottom lip with his tongue, and she parted her mouth. She moved her hand to slide down the back of his neck, lightly teasing him with her gossamer touches, never quite giving in all the way.
Will was more frantic, knowing this was an impossible road to go down, knowing this was wrong, knowing that he had to stop. But now that he'd had a taste of her, he couldn't seem to make himself stop. So his solution was to move fast, and then have this be the end of it. A bad strategy perhaps, but it made sense in the heat of the moment.
Will had his hands all over her. He felt like he had to touch every inch, caress every bit of her. His hands were on her smooth and tanned thighs now, moving further and further up. When he reached the hem of her skirt, he paused for a moment. Just as he did, Buffy let out a moan that was purely woman, fueling Will's actions. He pushed his hands further up, taking her skirt with them. He barely caressed the edge of Buffy's cotton panties with his thumbs, when suddenly she pulled away.
Smiling down at her teacher, Buffy hopped off his desk.
"Thanks, Mr. Pratt. I think I will be able to focus much better in class, now that I've figured out what was missing. I'll probably have to stop by again sometime, to get… re-motivated."
Will was breathing heavy, panting and dazed.
As she walked past him, Buffy leaned down and he could feel her hot breath on his neck "See you in class, Will."
As he watched Buffy walk out of his room, Will brought a stunned hand to his mouth. It was sweet candy gloss, with the faintest trace of cinnamon.
"How was Buffy?"
"E-excuse me?" Will stuttered, his eyes wide.
"I thought she was going to talk to you today after school yesterday. Something about her grades? Anya told me that's why she had to miss cheer practice." Jenny Calendar said, looking down as she poured herself coffee from the pot in the staff room.
"Oh. Right. Yes, well, she came in…"
"Ah! I always forget how hot the coffee in here is. And terrible, too. The office really needs to invest in a new machine. Oh, Anya!" Jenny took another sip of her coffee, and then set it on the counter, "Anya, I need to talk to you about the rally happening on Friday. So, I was thinking we could have the student council plan the-"
Will let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. From across the staffroom, Anya narrowed her eyes at Will.
'If I didn't know better, I'd say William has been giving Buffy after-school orgasms.' Anya thought.
William leaned against the cheap counter that smelled of bleach, and tried to regain his composure. Picking up the cup that Jenny had discarded, he downed the rest of the hot liquid to try and perk himself up. Shaking his head, William grabbed his papers and headed out to his first class of the day.
It was going to be a long day.
"Did you hear what Stacey said about-"
"Oh my gosh!"
"Duuude, that was sick!"
"-so tired during that exam, pretty sure I failed-"
"-I mean, how could she even-"
Will pushed through the halls, trying to ignore the overwhelming amount of teen in the hallway. As soon as he reached his room, he hurried to shut the door behind him. Squeezing his eyes shut and grateful for the moment of silence, he let his muscles un-tense.
He partially expected to find her in his room, sitting and waiting for him. He wasn't sure whether he was grateful or disappointed that she wasn't there.
Flipping on the lights, Will walked up to the whiteboard and began writing out the homework and reading assignment for the day. He concentrated on the smooth feeling of the marker on the familiar white surface. He was so lost in his thoughts that he missed the first bell and the students that had come trickling into the room.
"Hi, Mr. Pratt."
William stopped writing. He froze, staring straight at the board.
He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before swallowing and turning around to face her.
"Hello, Buffy." He put the cap back on the marker.
She just smiled at him, and then walked to her seat.
I'm good and truly buggered.
William noticed that his entire class was now in his room, expecting a lesson that he felt entirely unprepared for.
Will was flustered. Will was never flustered. That's why he was such a good high school teacher.
Buffy Summers had swept that rug right out from under him. Ever since the kiss that was hotter than the California heat waves, Will was out of sorts. He felt like he was in high school again, and not as the teacher.
"Essays." William finally managed to spit out. "Does everyone have their essays on Lolita?"
There was a few nods, groans, and a whispered "Oh, shit! That was due today?"
"Pass them up to the front of your rows, please."
William walked along the rows, collecting the papers from the students. When he reached Buffy's row, he was immediately drawn to the paper on the top of the stack. It appeared to be… song lyrics. With a bright pink kiss-shaped lipstick stain in the top right hand corner. In the left corner, hand written in a girly, flowery print was:
Buffy A. Summers
Mr. Pratt
English III
Grade 11
Will quickly shuffled her essay to the bottom of the stack. He looked up and made the mistake of making eye contact with Buffy.
Certain she was going to do something bold, that could possibly end his career, he waited...
And then she looked away. No smile, not one coy wink, not even a knowing raise of her brow. She just… looked away. Like any other student would. She popped her gum, and then continued her conversation with Cordelia Chase in the seat next to her.
Will shook his head, and tried to focus on teaching.
"I just want there to come a day, when I meet and someone, and I just know, ya' know?"
"Mm… yeah." Buffy mumbled, doodling in her journal as she nodded.
"Also, I think I'm gay. Like, really gay. Rainbow flag waving, yell-it-from-the-rooftops gay."
"Uh-huh."
"And while I'm on this new lifestyle bandwagon, I think I'll start practicing the black arts. Witchcraft. That's right, I'll be scary Willow before you know it."
"That's great Will." Buffy said, monotone, now staring up and across the courtyard in a dreamy sort of way.
"Buffy? You're not listening."
"Huh? Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to space like that." Buffy shook her head, trying to get That Kiss out of her mind.
"No big. So what're you thinking about?" Willow took a bite of her sandwich. Peanut butter, with sliced banana.
"No one." Buffy quickly said, eyes wide, with a shake of her head for emphasis. "I mean… nothing."
"Ooooh! It's a boy, right? It's a boy! Who is it? Is he cute?" Willow was practically bouncing as she sat cross-legged on the stone bench.
Buffy blushed, looking down. Definitely not a boy, she thought wryly.
"It's… uh…"
"He's cute! I can tell, you're doing the 'I'm thinking of a cute boy' blush!"
Buffy looked up, and happened to catch the eye of Mr. Pratt as he walked through the outdoor hallway lining the courtyard. He stopped in his tracks, causing some students walking behind him to stumble as they moved out the way and looked at him in confusion.
Their gaze felt electric. Buffy felt like she couldn't breathe. William smoothed back his platinum hair, which was currently misbehaving in unruly curls as a result of the stress he was feeling today.
Tired of being the flustered one, William stared Buffy straight in the eyes, tilted his head, and shot her the signature smirk of his youth.
He realized it was a ballsy move. If anyone was paying attention, they would notice the tension between the pair. Tension that a normal student-teacher relationship should not possess.
Buffy suddenly felt very, very hot. She wanted to run through the meandering students and jump her teacher's bones right then and there. 'I'm guessing the school would frown upon that.'
"Hello? Earth to Buffy? Give me the scoop, what classes do we have with him?"
"He… uh… he's not a student here, Will." Buffy said, and then gulped in a breath of air so loudly that she was sure William heard it from across the courtyard.
William shoved his hands in his pockets as if to continue walking, took a step, and then looked right back at Buffy and winked.
'Oh god,' Buffy thought, 'What exactly have I gotten myself into?'
William sat down at his desk. It was his lunch break, but he was too wound up to eat anything. The way his stomach lurched, his turkey sandwich may as well have been Weetabix crushed up in a warm mug of blood.
He pulled out the stack of papers from his third period class. He flipped through them, briefly considering simply giving everyone a B+.
He sighed as he came to final paper in the bunch.
Buffy A. Summers
He traced her name, written in a girlish scrawl, at the top of the paper. His eyes were drawn to the lip-stick kiss in the corner. Bringing the paper up to his face, he inhaled.
It smelled like her.
Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want,
So tell me what you want, what you really really want,
I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want,
So tell me what you want, what you really really want,
I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really really really wanna zigazig ha.
William couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Buffy turned in a paper with the lyrics to a Spice Girls song.
He knew he couldn't take what she wrote seriously, but he couldn't help wondering… what does she want?
If you want my future forget my past,
If you wanna get with me better make it fast,
Now don't go wasting my precious time,
Get your act together we could be just fine
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give,
Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is.
Certain parts of the song were circled or underlined in pink gel pin, or written with hearts between the lines. Does she want to be lovers? Will knew he was reading way too much into this…
What do you think about that now you know how I feel?
Say you can handle my love are you for real,
I won't be hasty, I'll give you a try
If you really bug me then I'll say goodbye.
God, give me a try…
Slam your body down and wind it all around.
Slam your body down and wind it all around.
Arg! I mean no, get the hell away from me, you're my fucking student.
If you wanna be my lover…
There was one final heart at the bottom of the page. Will still had a smile on his face, despite the inner turmoil this essay was causing him. He couldn't help appraising her for it, the girl had guts.
That's why she was his favorite student. She never shied away from the tough topics he'd given out during the year. She wasn't necessarily the smartest student, but she gave everything her all. She wasn't afraid of pushing the limits.
'Yeah, mate, but that's a whole different can of worms. She's pushed the boundaries in a different way this time, and she's pushed 'em way too far.'
Will sighed. He should do something smart and responsible right now.
'Fuck it.'
He smiled and began to write his response on the back of her essay. Two can play at-
"You guys are having sex, aren't you?"
Will choked on the breath he was taking, and quickly shuffled Buffy's paper back to the bottom of the pile.
"Anya, 'lo there. I… I was just…"
"Buffy Summers. You guys are doing it, right?" Anya repeated her question.
"No! God, no. We're not… I mean… that's not…" Will sputtered.
"I saw the way you guys were looking at each other outside."
Will just stared at her, his mouth gaping open. They hadn't had sex…
'But if 'm gonna get accused for it, wish we had… No! God…'
"It's okay if you are. I won't say anything. I was just curious. She does have an orgasmic glow about her today…"
"Anya! The chit's barely 17!"
Anya just shrugged.
"Anya, 'm not shagging Buffy Summers. I… there might be… but we're not doin' it!"
"But there's something?" Anya said plainly, trying to clarify.
William clenched his jaw, the muscles in his neck tensing. "We kissed." he admitted, barely even loud enough to be heard.
"You know that anyone besides me would be having you fired just about now." Anya said.
William sighed, "Yeah, I know."
"Just be careful. Don't do anything stupid, Will." Anya said, turning to walk out the door.
"Too late." William muttered once she was gone.
Buffy figured that she had two options here.
One: She could pretend nothing ever happened. She could float down the river of de-Nile, and go back to the way things were. Teacher, student. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.
'Pfft, yeah, like that's gonna happen.'
Two: She could confront him. Talk to him about it. She'd be 18 in less than a year anyway… She could see what's going on in his brain, and see if he's even interested in her that way.
'Judging by the expansion of his crotch, I'd say he's at least interested…'
This was getting her nowhere. It had been nearly a week since they kissed, and nothing had happened since. He'd been avoiding her all week, except for that one time he practically eye-fucked her from across the courtyard.
'Tomorrow is Monday. Which means I'll see him again. He'll be forced to pay attention to me…'
"I'll be handing back your papers at the end of class. You all did…" William looked up, scanning his eyes over the teens in his class that were either asleep, braindead, on drugs, or just zoned out.
"… fine. You all did fine."
He didn't have the heart to tell them that most of the papers sounded the same, consisting of a scripted intro and closing, with a bunch of incoherent plagiarism in between. A few papers stood out, Willow Rosenberg's, for one. Amy Madison's was decent, but sometimes William had a hunch that it was really the girl's mother masquerading as her daughter and doing the assignments for her.
Then there was Buffy's paper. He didn't even know how to grade that one. In the end, he gave her a 'B', justifying it with some long winded thought process about how "Wannabe" can actually relate to Lolita. In using song lyrics, her paper is really just an in depth analysis of the novel.
Buffy eyes were on him all period. He could feel them burning holes in back, causing him to sweat and stutter.
When Buffy got her essay at the end of class, she was disappointed. Did he even read it? There was a simple 'B' right next to her candy lip kiss.
As she was angrily shoving it in her bag, she realized there writing on the back. She looked up nervously, making sure no one was watching. Most of the kids had already filed out of class, despite the fact that there was a few minutes until the bell. A few of the stragglers were perched upon the wooden desks, chatting and laughing and flirting and being teenagers.
Buffy quickly flipped the paper upside down on her desk, so Will's writing was facing up.
Young teacher (well, 34), the subject
Of schoolgirl fantasy
She wants him so badly (I hope)
Knows what she wants to be
Inside her there's longing
This girl is (exactly!) half his age
Don't stand, don't stand so
Don't stand so close to me
Temptation, frustration
So bad it makes him cry (and wank)
Don't stand, don't stand so
Don't stand so close to me
Strong words in the staffroom
The accusations fly
It's no use, he sees her
He starts to shake and cough
Just like the old man in
That book by Nabokov (look, this is a relevant teachery response.)
Don't stand, don't stand so (please stand close to me)
Don't stand so close to me
Buffy was smiling. She couldn't help it.
"Buffy, you coming? Lunchy goodness awaits."
Quickly covering the paper with her textbook, Buffy looked up at Willow with wide, deer-in-the-headlights eyes.
"Lunch. Right. Uh, you go ahead, Will. I'll catch up in a minute."
"Okay." Willow nodded, textbooks to her chest and bag slung over her shoulder. She looked at her skeptically, but couldn't pinpoint what was off.
"I'm fine, I just need to ask Mr. Pratt a question about…" Buffy looked over and saw Mr. Pratt smirking at her, one eyebrow raised.
"… the paper. That's all."
"I'll just go find Xander. He'll probably share his Twinkies with me." Willow said.
"See ya." Buffy smiled, trying to seem normal.
Once she walked out and closed the door, Buffy and William were the only ones left in the room.
"Oooh, she's gonna share his Twinkies. Sounds fun. Want a bite of my Twinkie, luv?" Will teased, still smirking.
"Shut up." Buffy said, a laugh in her voice as she walked up to his desk.
"Make me."
Buffy slapped the paper down on the wood of his desk.
"Seriously? 'Makes me want to wank'? Are you begging for an orange jumpsuit?" Buffy asked, hands on her hips.
"You started it." he said, sounding a lot like a petulant five year old as he used his heel to spin his chair in circles while staring at the ceiling.
"Yeah, that'll go over well with the jury." Buffy muttered, suddenly feeling like the responsible one.
Will sighed and stopped his chair's rotation to look at her.
"What is this thing between us?" Buffy asked.
"Well… we kissed." Will stated.
"Yeah, once. But… is there… more?"
"Don't know, luv. You tell me."
"I'm almost eighteen…"
"…but not quite. Still illegal."
"You're British, right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Isn't the age of consent sixteen there?"
"The laws didn't follow me here, pet."
"Oh."
"Unless you're suggesting we move to jolly ol' England."
"Somehow I don't think my mom would go for that."
"You wouldn't like the mother country anyway. Too grey for a sunny California peach like you."
"You don't know what I like." Buffy said, sticking her chin out.
"No, s'pose I don't." Will sighed.
"I should go."
"Buffy, wait."
She turned, her hand on the door knob.
"We kissed, Buffy." Will said, looking at her with a lost puppy expression on his face.
"Yeah, and I see now that it was a big fat mistake. This… thing… it can never work."
William just sat quietly, perched in his leather swivel chair. Buffy released the door knob, moving back into the classroom.
"I want to pursue this, luv, but I can't. I can't do it, it'll rot me up inside. Already feel dirty, sick…"
Another moment passed, Buffy now sitting atop one of the student desks, her tip toes pressed into the hard white linoleum to keep her from losing her balance.
"But, if you want, if you're interested…" William stopped, running his hand through his bleached curls.
"Cor, I don't even know. I don't care. Go and tell the bloody principal, turn me in, I'm a bad, rude man." He was leaned back in his chair now, head tilted up to stare at the ceiling once again as he spun himself in his chair.
"Stop it." Buffy said.
Will didn't know when, but suddenly she'd appeared in front of him, stopping the spin of his chair. With one hand on each of the armrests, her legs on either side of his, she stared him straight in the eyes.
"I kissed you, you know that? So don't go all 'bad, rude man' on me. I started this, remember?" Buffy said defiantly, hazel green eyes sparkling, her hot breath right in his face.
"Yeah, and I should've stopped it! I'm the teacher you know, I'm the adult!"
"Oh please, you're a teenager in a man's body."
"Hey! Am not. I'm bloody well mature, I'll have you know."
"Yeah, says the guy that writes 'relevant teachery response' on his students' essays."
"Your essay. Only yours."
"Well, I'd hope so. Cause I gotta say, if you're coming on to all of your students like this, then I take it back, I'm not interested."
Will stared into her eyes for a moment, her face still hovering above his.
"Just you, luv. Only you." he spoke slowly, his eyes tracing the contours of her face, flickering from her eyes to her lips.
Before he changed his mind, Will stretched up and tentatively pressed his lips to Buffy's.
She seemed surprised at first, and Will was sure she'd pull back. Instead, she deepened the kiss and traced his lips with her hot, pink tongue.
Somehow, she ended up in his lap. He had an armful of warm, sweet, Buffy. She was writhing and kissing and licking and it was pure heaven.
Will had his arms around her, pressed into the small of her back. Her arms were around his neck, clinging to him tightly.
What started out as a nearly chaste kiss had quickly escalated. Will could feel Buffy's heat through the layers of clothes, and it served as a drug to him as he got higher and higher on her.
Buffy wanted more of him. She felt like she was trying to fuse their bodies together as she squirmed on his lap. His lips were perfect, looking at them couldn't do them justice. They were like the marble pout of a Roman statue, soft and cool and beautifully curved.
Buffy traced his face with the back of two of her fingers. She lightly ran along the dips and angles of his face, his sharp cheekbones and strong jaw. She traced up and found that his brows were furrowed, as though he were stressed. She used her thumbs to apply a soft pressure to them, willing them to release his tension and worries.
"Relax, Will…" she murmured as they briefly separated to breathe.
He gave a slight nod, and then dived right back into the kiss.
Buffy moved her hands to his neck again, this time squeezing and rubbing the long smooth column and digging her slim fingers into his muscled shoulders. She could feel as the tension left his body, as he relaxed and released himself to her fully.
William broke the kiss, keeping his eyes closed as he pressed his forehead to hers. His hands rested on her waist, rubbing circles on her stomach with his thumbs. They stayed like that, connected at their hairlines, bleach blonde to honey, as they caught their breaths.
Buffy opened her eyes, now bright green with lust.
"Hi." she said, smiling.
Will opened his eyes, and Buffy was struck by the intense blue.
"Hi." he smiled back.
"So… does that mean…" Buffy questioned.
"We'll figure it out, luv."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
She placed a kiss on his forehead before the lines of worry could reappear.
The couple then separated, and with heavy sighs went on with their day.