Title: Teacher's Pet
Chapter 2: Truth Spill
Author:
Disclaimer: None of the characters in this story are mine. I am left my little fantasies of what would happen to these characters.
Summary: Another predictable story. She's busting her ass but Roxie's still in danger of losing her scholarship. She can't afford it and is offered an opportunity to raise her grade in the class that's threatening her education. The title says it all really. R&R
Author's Note: I don't intend on this being a drawn out story, unless something strikes me, but it'll probably be about 3 or 4 chapters, possibly less. Also, I know nothing about the crap they give you in college. I've got about 5 years till I end up with parties, pulling all-nighters and keggers, so if you have any complaints about me doing or saying something incorrectly, just e-mail me.
Category: Sabrina the Teenage Witch- PG-13
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His class filed into their seats and they began with their noise like immature high school students. He cleared his throat several times until he had their full attention and began his lecture. He undid the latches on his briefcase and held in hands a paperback book. "Well, I trust at some point between your keg parties and counting how many brain cells you possibly have left, you did last night's homework." He leaned back on the desk as he had before and ran his thumb along the ends of book, causing the pages to flip. "Can anyone tell me what the symbolism of this book is?" He waited a while, raising his eyebrows at the dark hair girl in the middle row. She poked her tongue to the side of her mouth and reluctantly raised her hand. "Ms. King."
"I think the symbolism of 'Madam Bovary' is of the prejudice of woman in the 1800s. How people were disgustingly closed minded to the fact they had problems and were denied in admittance."
"Well, Ms. King, you've managed to turn Flaubert's tale of injustice into a tale of melodramatic episode of an AA meeting." There was the usual laughter at the undermining and Roxie interjected. "You don't have to belittle me just because I don't share your misinterpreted version of a novel."
"I'm not undermining you, Ms. King, I'm just clearly stating that you, yourself have misinterpreted the meaning of the novel and I suggest that you reread it." She was beginning to feel indignant and backed down from the situation. He noted her silence and went on with his class.
During the end of his daily denigration, she approached him as he did his daily routine of gathering papers that Roxie had begun to think were completely blank all together. "What are you doing?" He looked up at her in that calm "after class" disposition. "What are you talking about?"
"I don't know, I just thought that if you were going to make me look like an idiot in front of the whole class you would've used a more complex vocabulary." He looked on at her, slightly amused. He'd always figured that when she normally put up a fight she wouldn't end up whining about it, but she usually won with some witty comment. "Maybe this arrangement has more benefits than I was aware of." She was silent and bit her tongue, never letting her glare falter. "Nine o'clock."
"What?"
"Here." He took a card from his briefcase and handed it to her. She looked down at the plastic in her hands, "Ooh, laminated."
"Just be a good girl and don't set it on fire."
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"Well Rox, it's the end of the week. Time to pig out and watch 'Gilligan's Island'." She plopped down on the couch and when she failed to get an answer looked back over her shoulder. "Where're you going?" She looked up as she looped the scarf around her neck. "Out. I'll be back later. We'll just have to watch Gilligan later." The disappointed blond approached her. "But Roxie, Gilligan's tradition."
"Well, all traditions are meant must be broken at one point or another. Goodbye Sabrina."
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She held the card in her hands and looked the card over as she advanced towards the grand oak door. She knocked a tightened fist on the door and waited for an answer. A knock came echoed again a few moments later and Carlin appeared in the frame. "You know, you're supposed to use a knocker."
"Yeah well, anything that requires more muscle strain than necessary, I'm really not all that into." She walked passed him, allowing herself into the house. "People with manners usually wait to be invited." She eyed the living room before turning to face him. The lights were lit at the perfect amount, not too bright, but a notch above dim. From her standing point there was a partition that separated the classy living room and the equally elegant dining room with the mahogany table and hanging chandelier. "Yeah well, people with manners aren't usually ones to cheat either." She responded absently as she eyed the brightened cream color of his home. He brushed off the comment and noticed the amused eyebrow she rose. "You find something amusing?"
"God, you wear those damn suits everywhere, don't you?"
"It's professional." She nodded. "Right." She walked into the living room and ran her thumb along the set of CDs behind the glass of the stereo system. She was suddenly aware of the soft sonata that hummed through the speakers. "Amazed?" She looked over her shoulder towards him. "Well, if I were normal impressed by Bach I'm sure I would be." He approached her and she stopped the fingering of the CDs, more or less freezing at the cool touch of his fingers against her neck. She breathed shakily at the feel of his whisper against the lobe of her ear. "I thought you came here to earn your grade." She slowly rose with the side of his thumb brushing along the back of her neck, the dark strands resting on his hands. She swallowed inaudibly to remove the lump in her throat and she heard him snicker, loosening the moment. She turned to him looking almost offended. "What?"
"I thought you were apprehensive because I was your teacher, I never pegged you for the virgin kind."
"Yeah, well herpes has a tendency to turn some people off." He chuckled a little as she regained her nerved Roxie persona. He bent his head down and whispered in her ear in his almost inaudible tone. "Don't lose that sense of humor, Roxie." His lips fell in contact with her neck and his hands, her arm. He ran them down along her material of her sleeve and over to the rim of her coat where the zipper had held the two parts together. He undid the zipper with one hand and brought it back up again to roam down along her breasts. He felt her swallow hard and looked down at her forgotten hands, watching her press her palms back against the glass cabinet, knowing that what she'd agreed to for a B plus was only now, just hitting her.
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"I can't believe Roxie ditched me." She complained as she sat back on the couch. "Well, at least you've got me! You can help me figure out with county they'll show up in. I think there's a pattern."
"Oh joy." She crossed her arms and looked back at the boy lugging the satellite. "Miles, you're not helping."
"Is an outdated show more exciting than the discovery of a new species." She stared at him blankly. He got the message. She turned her attention back around to Mary Anne and started pouting, glancing back and forth from the clock to television, waiting for Roxie's return.
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She brought the glass of water to her lips, being cautious as not to bump into anything in the unlit house. She left on the dim light of the kitchen but forgot her cautiousness when she heard the turning of the lock and cursed at the throbbing of her toe when it collided with the sofa. She whipped around and was relieved when the door was unlocked from the other side and Roxie appeared with her back turned, in front of the door. "Well, well…." She smiled as the girl jumped to the sound of her voice. "Just getting home? Shouldn't you be in bed?" She heard the clearing of Roxie's throat before she spat out, "Shouldn't you be under a freshman?"
"Touchy." She watched the girl quickly turn and walk by her, her tresses concealing the sides of her face. "So where were you?"
"Out." She began her journey to the upstairs bathroom and Morgan followed behind.
"It's one o' clock in the morning."
"I'm amazed at your ability to tell time."
"Hey!" The offended red head grabbed her arm, spinning her around, her hair sweeping across her face. Before the roommate could react, the other raised a surprised brow. "And I thought demons didn't have feelings." The other felt free to release the sniffle that she had held in and spun back around, slamming the bathroom door behind her. The redhead was left looking concerned only for a moment. A moment that ended when the brunette emerged from the bathroom looking tear free, but glaring all the same and walked by her, telling her, "Fuck off, Princess."
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"Morgan, if there was something wrong she'd tell us." The nonchalant blond placed the tray on the counter and turned to face the red head, rubbing her hands on the burgundy apron. "You think Elvira tells you everything?" She took another bite of the strudel in her hand and continued. "She's probably the member of a Goth cult. I bet she has a record and now someone's after her," she said surely and ignored the strange look Sabrina gave her. "I know Roxie tells me everything, and she'll tell me what's wrong 'cause here she comes now." Morgan turned to the door to see Roxie stepping inside with her usual morning expression of unconcern and lethargy. She walked over to the counter next to Sabrina and propped her elbows on the surface ordering her flavor of coffee. "Hey Roxie." She turned to the girl. "Hey Sabrina."
"Morgan has this crazy idea that there's something wrong with you and I told her that if there was something wrong you'd tell me 'cause we're friends and friends tell friends the truth. So Roxie-" The mortal she was addressing was obviously bored and cut her off.
"Sabrina, you're babbling."
"Right. Well, is something wrong?" She girl quickly raised and released her eyebrows and shrugged. "Nope." She turned to look at over the counter at the worker making her cappuccino and then back to Sabrina who was facing Morgan. "See."
"Is that all, cause in case your forgetting, Spellman, we've got a class in fifteen minutes." Sabrina nodded quickly and she clicked the button on the CD player latched to her that went unnoticed and indifferent by the two previously and set the earphones over her ears. Before Morgan could question her, she walked over to the couch. The redhead fumed and turned back to Sabrina look sure of herself. "She was crying." Sabrina's expression was one of doubt. "What?"
"She was crying. Actual tears were flowing out of the Psycho Bitch's eyes." Sabrina looked hard at Morgan and asked her in disbelief. "Roxie was…crying?" Morgan nodded.
"Then how does that fit in with your cult theory?"
"Well… it doesn't, but it's obvious she's been to jail. No one gets like that all on their own." Sabrina bit back her comment and she next words to Morgan were confirmed by Hilda's announcement that her break was over. She called back and went behind the counter, turned her back to the customers and said aloud. "To discover the source of Roxie's tears help her be open to me about her fears." She looked over her shoulder and pointed her finger at Roxie who sat with a textbook in her lap, nodding slightly every so often. She took the drink that had been set on the counter and walked over to her dark hair roommate. "Here you go Rox." She handed the girl that cappuccino and she gratefully took a sip, bringing the headphones from her ears. The witch plopped down beside her just as she was about to rise from the sofa and was forced to sit again. "So, Roxie, anything you've been meaning to tell me?" Sabrina watched as she opened her mouth to deny and then closed it before trying again. "Actually, I've never told anyone this, but ever since I was little I've had a fear of heights. It all started when I was five and I went to my Aunt Vikki's farm in Saratoga-"
"I meant anything…recently."
"I've had this fear of getting kicked out of college." Sabrina looked at the girl as she spoke in the mechanical tone that meant her spell had begun working.
"Kicked out of college?"
"So I tried to make sure that doesn't happen."
"What do you mean?"
"I was close to failing Carlin's class-"
"Sabrina!" Her eyes that had been staring intently at Roxie, waiting for her to continue, jerked back to Josh who was calling for her help. She sighed and stood up telling Roxie that she'd be right back before going to the counter. A few minutes later she looked over her shoulder from the orders and exhaled, frustrated when she found that Roxie was no longer at the table.
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They stood in the line waiting for the previous person in front to receive their grades. "Okay, remember, your grade does not rest entirely on Sylvia Plath," Sabrina said in an attempt to reassure.
"Of course not, just our future jobs-"
"And our success later on for the rest of our life." She looked on at her sarcastic friends and smiled. "That's the spirit." She took her paper and smiled to herself, leaving the room in the fashion they were all told to. Miles received his own and grinned. "I see that hat from the convention paid off." Carlin returned his smile as Miles waved his paper. Conveniently last in line, Roxie received her paper and looked down at the grade in red ink. "A minus?" He grinned at her. "You earned it."
"When you say I earned it-"
"I mean you earned it." He jumped for his seat on the stool. "Look, Roxie, you did a great job on this paper. You identified characteristics, personality traits, and metaphors, that none of my other students even glanced at."
"So this A minus across the page has nothing to do with the fact that I humped you to get a good grade?"
"Ooh, Roxie, why so bitter today? If you must know, 'no', this was…more of an academic earning than a physical one." He smiled at her and she felt her chills returning at the expression he saved for her. He exhaled at her indifference and tried shrugging it off. He did his usual routine of closing the latches of his briefcase. "So, I take it you're not coming over tonight."
"That's one assumption."
"We can make this work."
"What's there to work out? I'm a sleazy little whore who was looking for a good grade. I got the grade, Professor Carlin. There's not much more to work out."
"Don't test the waters, Roxie. You did earn that grade on your own, that much I can tell you, but a teacher is sometimes easily influenced by the hostility a student shows towards him when his only grading tool are his feelings and intellect."