A/N: You have no idea what an absolute bitch this chapter was to write. A few weeks ago I had this chapter nigh perfect - all that was needed was a last check through for any errors before posting.

And then the document corrupted itself, leaving me with nothing to show for the effort I'd put in. Needless to say I lost all inspiration right then and there.

But now I've re-wrote this second chapter, and although it's nowhere near as good as it was the first time around, it's as good as it's going to get this time.

Sazzy - Glad you liked it! Thanks for the review!

Sophie - I'm happy that you think I captured Cesca's feelings well, especially since it's the first time I've ever tried Jesca fanfiction before. Thank you for the review!

Dani - Yeah, Jesca definitely need to be kept alive since they're no longer in the show! I'll try my best to do just that. :) Thanks for reviewing!

Sophie - Heehee, here's the continuation chapter. Thanks for both the review and the compliment! (Are you the same Sophie who reviewed before?)

2. Metaphor

Tom Clarkson enters the staff room with a stack of papers balanced precariously in his arms. Noticing Cesca sitting on her own he makes his way over to her, sitting down beside her with a huff. She looks up and flashes him a smile, which he returns.

"I'll be glad when it's the weekend," he says as a means of opening conversation and she nods in agreement, her smile turning sympathetic.

"That bad, huh?" she says, in reference to his morning – bottom set year nine, uninterested year twelves and a bunch of year elevens too cocky for their own good.

"Yeah," he says in agreement, "although I did find out something amusing about Jonah Kirby."

At the mention of the boy's name, Cesca can feel her ears beginning to burn. Glad that her dark hair flows well past her ears, she tries to keep her voice as level as possible. "Oh? And what's that?"

Tom is grinning. "It seems that Mr. Kirby is a total romantic."

This catches Cesca off-guard. "What?"

"That's what I thought," Tom says. "Normally lads his age are more interested in the upcoming footie game or partying the night away. But the assignment I just set the class has changed my opinion of him on that matter."

Cesca is sure that the blush is spilling over her cheeks now. Fighting desperately to keep her voice neutral, she says, "what was the assignment, then?"

"I had the class pondering the subject of what is love?" Tom snickers. "It's for their main topic next year, so I thought that I'd give them a head start. I asked them to write down what they thought love was, and I think Jonah got a little carried away. Want to see?"

Cesca doesn't think that Tom should be flaunting another person's work around in the staff room if he doesn't have permission to do so, especially since he seems to be treating the whole thing as a joke, but she can't deny that she is curious. Ever since Kyle Stack's dog had tried to attack her and Jonah had been there to save her, she's been having some very decidedly not professional thoughts about the young teenage boy. By having a look at his writing, she reasons, she is a little closer to knowing what he is truly like.

"Pass it here, then," she says to Tom, and he does so at once with another cheeky grin.

Without another word, she begins to read.

Love is the way your stomach lurches when your skin meets. Love is caring for someone more than you've ever cared about someone before. Love is the way that the unknown becomes a lot less scary when you have someone to share it with. Love is a beacon in a storm. Love is a goddess with a smile that dims everything else in the room.

Love is a goddess with dark hair and eyes.

The world around Cesca stops turning. Her heart freezes in her chest.

The woman with dark hair and eyes could be any number of people. Hell, there are enough of those in the school, never mind people that Jonah might know out of school. And yet…and yet Cesca somehow knows who the person in the text is supposed to be.

Jonah has used her as the metaphor for love.

More heat floods her face as she comes to this conclusion. There have been little hints that Jonah might fancy her over the last weeks, and even though it is unprofessional, Cesca has done nothing to dissuade him…has even encouraged it a little. Now it seems like Jonah's harmless crush means a lot more than it appeared at first glance.

"You feeling okay?" Tom asks, concerned.

"I'm fine." She hears herself reply as though from a great distance, still clutching the paper in her fist. Her palms are beginning to sweat.

"You look ill," Tom continues to pester. "Why don't you go outside for a bit of fresh air?"

"Maybe that's a good idea," she says, eager to get away from Tom so that she can try and calm down the furious beating of her heart in her chest; it is pounding so fast that she thinks it will crack her ribcage open and fall right out into the young Mr. Kirby's hands.

"You want some company?" Tom asks, but Cesca shakes her head.

"No, thanks. I'll be fine by myself."

"Okay." The English teacher looks a bit downhearted, but Cesca chooses to ignore this in favour of escaping the staff room with her façade still neatly in place. She makes it out into the corridor and leans her forehead against the cool glass of the window, breathing in deeply, oblivious to the children laughing and making a huge ruckus in the corridor.

Jonah has written about her in his English paper. If anyone ever realises just what his words mean…Tom is laughing about them now, but if he chooses to read between the lines, dig a little deeper…

A chill runs down her spine. She's done nothing, wrong per se, but she'd still feel the hammer of justice shatter her in two as it crashed down on her head. She'd be ruined.

And yet there is still a part of her that finds the prospect of the two of them exciting; an illicit heat sears through her loins at the mere thought of kissing him.

She's done nothing wrong

(yet)

but, oh God, there is something so erotic about the whole situation. She knows that she needs to back off and keep her distance from the young boy, but deep down she knows she won't.

She is playing a very dangerous game.

A/N: A review would be appreciated muchly. ;)