Five Years and Four Days Ch. 00

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careythomas
careythomas
1,661 Followers

I smiled to myself, happy that I would have Alex in the Dark Room with me for the afternoon. It was comforting, hearing the little bumps and rattles in the next room as she tidied up.

"Oh shit!" I heard Alex exclaim a little while later.

I ran into the next room. Alex had spilled a vat of what smelled like old developer, and quite a bit of it got on her kilt.

"I'm sorry Miss Wainwright," she said hastily, "I rushed it. I thought I could transfer that all at once."

"It's ok Alex. It didn't get in your eyes, that's the important thing. We'll need to get that off you as soon as possible..." I pointed to her kilt.

Alex was checking her shirt and tie for splash marks, "these are fine. I have a pair of jeans in my backpack, hold on."

She slipped out of the room and returned with the jeans on. The transformation took me by surprise. I was used to seeing Alex in uniform, with the school kilt hanging loosely around her waist, her shirt and tie rumpled and carelessly worn; now this in-between look was quite something else. The jeans wrapped around her slim hips and showed off her long legs. She had tucked in her shirt, which tapered in from her broad shoulders.

Alex looked the same, but different. It was as if the uniform had camouflaged a part of her, and now she looked like herself, fully. I couldn't quite grasp what that part was, and I realised I was staring. "How convenient that you had a change of clothes," was all I managed to say.

"Georgie Bradburn borrowed these from me last weekend. She returned them this morning. Lucky thing too. You'd have got an eyeful." She grinned.

I'm already getting an eyeful, I almost said.

We cleaned up the spill, "Sorry to say that you'll probably smell this on yourself for the next couple of days."

"Just in time for me to get on a seven hour flight home. The other passengers are going to love me!"

"Seven hour flight -- so it's New York for Christmas, is it?" Alex's family was scattered all over the globe, it was often hard to keep track of where the Maks would gather at any particular time of year.

"This is mum's year, so we'll be in the States with her family. We were in Hong Kong last year with dad's side for Christmas... speaking of which, I got something for you."

Alex ducked out of the room again, and returned with a rectangular, wrapped, package.

"May I open it now?" I asked.

Alex shrugged, "Sure, I hope you like it." She knelt down and finished cleaning up.

I slowly unwrapped the gift. An ipod nano. "Oh, Alex. I can't accept this, it's too much."

"I heard you tell Miss Goode that yours died a painful death, so I wanted you to have a new one."

"It's too much," I said again. I was so touched that she'd given me something I had wanted, but I was also a little uncomfortable that I was receiving such a gift from a student.

Alex stood up, crossed her arms and leaned against the counter, "How about we lump this into the 'need-to-know' category of things? No one needs to know where it came from, and you get to go running with music again."

Impulsively, I leaned over and gave her a quick hug, "Thank you Alex. I don't know what I've done to deserve this. It's a very thoughtful gift. Thank you."

Alex turned a deep shade of red.

I laughed, "See? What did I tell you? Alex Mak is a big softie."

"Helloooooo?" A voice came from the workroom.

Alex and I trotted out. It was Cathy -- I had quite forgotten that we had agreed to meet up for tea.

"Hi Miss Goode!"

"Hi Alex, I didn't know you had a lesson with Miss Wainwright?"

Alex picked up her backpack, "I didn't -- just came up to help with the cleaning up. Wasn't too successful, as you can tell." She indicated to her still wet kilt, "I better head back to the dorm to change out of this."

"See you later Alex," I said, "thanks for everything."

Alex gave me a subtle wink, and was gone.

"Now there's a baby butch if I've ever seen one." Cathy watched Alex walk down the path towards the dormitories.

I snapped my fingers, "That's it! When she changed into those jeans... and with the shirt and tie... I couldn't quite figure out what was so different about Alex. Cathy, do you think she's gay?"

Cathy shook her head, "My gaydar says definitely maybe."

"What does your gaydar say about me?"

"Not much. I've known you for far too long -- doesn't work on family and friends. So, she just stopped by to help? Just happened to stop by?"

"Yes. She does have an uncanny knack for showing up just when I need her to."

ALEX

I was 3 strokes away from the last 100 of my 10x100 free set. I cruised into the wall, checked the clock. 1:01. Not bad for the last 100.

"Good set," a familiar voice said behind me.

I turned and saw Miss Wainwright sitting on the starting block.

"Thanks," I reply, "are you getting in?" Miss Wainwright was wearing a swimsuit with a towel wrapped around her waist. Taking advantage of my tinted goggles, I stared at my teacher. The swim suit showed off her beautiful body, and I could just about see a slight outline of her nipples, and the contour of her belly button.

"I thought the pool would be empty," Miss Wainwright said, "you've caught me."

"Want to do this last set with me? 10 50s descending on the '45. Nice and easy. It's my last set before the warm down."

I saw her thinking for a moment, and then she nodded. My heart started racing. She was going to get in with me. This is going to be amazing.

Miss Wainwright pulled on her swim cap and goggles, and slipped into my lane. She was so close. I wanted to pull her towards me.

"Top? Or bottom?"

"Wha-?" My mind jumped to wildly inappropriate thoughts.

"Are we leaving on the top?" She arched her eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah," I looked at the lap clock, its single hand rotating upwards towards the top of its cycle. As the hand swept past the 12, we pushed off. I tilt to my left from push off and I was delighted to see that she tilted to the right. I smiled at her under water as we began our dolphin kicks, our undulating bodies mirror images of each other. She smiled back and took her first stroke.

At the other end, we flipped together, and pushed off again, this time facing out from one another. We matched each other, stroke for stroke, and breath for breath. We touched the wall together, and silently waited for the arm of the clock to hit the 9. When it did, we started our second 50. I revelled in swimming this set with her. I loved the idea that we were perfectly in sync. We didn't speak, our bodies moved together, waited together, left and returned together. As we descended through the set, we picked up the tempos of our strokes, decreasing the time it took for the journey out and back.

"Last one," Miss Wainwright panted, "let's go Mak, try and keep up."

The clock was our silent and dispassionate witness. I cracked my neck and crouched against the wall. As the hand hit the 9, I pushed off, kicking furiously as I started an all-out sprint. The water was churning with our kicks. I was about half a body length ahead at the turn, but I planted my feet awkwardly when I did my flip turn. She made up that distance by the time she popped up on the second 25. I willed my legs to propel me forward as my arms stung from the effort. I managed to come up level with 2 meters to spare.

I ripped my goggles off, my chest heaving from oxygen deprivation. Miss Wainwright did the same, her face flush from the effort.

"'Nice and easy,' my foot," she panted.

"Not bad for an old person," I teased.

She peeled off her swim cap, ducking under the water as her hair spilled out. As she surfaced, a mouthful of water came spouting at my face.

"OY!" I shouted, "NO FAIR. You play dirty, Miss Wainwright."

She wiggled her eyebrows and pushed more water my way.

"No horseplay in the pool area," I admonished. I pulled my swim cap off, enjoying the feel of the cool water on my scalp.

"What are you going to do about it Alexandra?" Miss Wainwright crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Seriously? You are challenging me?" I was grinning like a kid who just tasted ice cream for the first time.

I grabbed a kickboard from the deck and sent a tidal wave of water towards her.

Miss Wainwright dodged the splash by ducking under the lane line.

"No, no running away," I submerged, grabbed her ankle, and pulled her back towards me. She twisted under water, grabbed the back of my suit, and yanked upwards.

"OW! You've just given me a massive wedgie," I complained as we resurfaced.

She laughed as she wiped the water from her eyes, "It was self-defence! All's fair in love and war," she declared, ruffling my hair.

"Love? Who's talking about love?" I asked brazenly.

Miss Wainwright looked into my eyes, her green irises burning a hole in my heart.

"Me. I'm talking about love." She moved closer, "why do you ask?"

I backed into a lane line, my bravado suddenly gone, "um, well, I was just wondering, that's all."

Miss Wainwright kept coming closer. I started to focus on the tiny beads of water lingering on her lips. I found it hard to breathe.

"You certainly got my heartrate up, Alex, do you know that?"

I mumbled some unintelligible reply.

"Do you think we can find a way to maintain that heart rate for a sustained amount of time?"

I froze, but managed to say, "uh, another set of 50s?"

Miss Wainwright shook her head. She placed her hands on the lane line, trapping me between her arms. She leant forward, "I've swum enough for tonight."

I stared at her lips coming closer to mine. I couldn't get my brain and body to agree on what to do next.

"I don't bite, you know," she whispered. Then she grinned, "Actually, sometimes I do..."

Her lips touched mine --

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

"Goddammit!" I cursed. It was the bloody school bell, reminding all of us that morning had arrived.

I buried my head under my pillow, squeezing my eyes shut and willing myself to fall back into that dream. That beautiful dream. I stared at my ceiling and sighed. Off to Heathrow in a few hours. I reached into my backpack for my wallet. I pulled out a 3x5 black and white photo. Some of the girls taking Photography had been fooling around in the Dark Room, randomly snapping photographs to finish off a roll of film. A couple of them caught Miss Wainwright in the frame, laughing at their antics. I'd taken the negatives and printed myself a photo of her, in the midst of teenagers.

I thought about my dream again, the details already fading around the edges. I wondered if my subconscious would ever lure me back into that wonderland.

JESS

"6 more hours and the gremlins will be gone!" Cathy mused as we ducked and weaved between the girls and their suitcases.

"They are not so bad, Cathy!"

"They aren't bad. It's just around this time of year when it just gets to a point where I think: their parents have had a good break from them so it's time they had a turn managing adolescent angst."

"Well, I'm quite happy with them. They've made my first term here very pleasant," I said, as we stepped over a pile of lacrosse sticks.

Cathy snorted, "I'm going on 7 years now, so my honeymoon with Halsey has long been over. And don't forget, you have student reports to write. How many different ways can you say, 'So-and-so has made progress with her front crawl'?"

My mood dimmed a bit with the reminder of the reports I had yet to complete. "I'd rather write reports than think about the blind date I have to deal with next week."

Cathy wiggled her eyebrows, "OOOOH! Is this that James bloke that your dad knows?"

I nodded, "Son of a friend of his from university. I don't want to talk about it."

"You brought it up!"

I looked at my watch: 9:45. "Shit."

"Where's the fire, Jess?" Cathy asked when I took a deep breath.

"Uh, I'm late to a meeting. Catch up with you later, okay?"

Cathy nodded and peeled off towards the staff room. I strode through the Sports Centre doors and headed up to my office. I flung the door open and found my office empty.

"Bugger!" I muttered. I collapsed into my chair. I had asked Alex to meet me in my office at 9:30 and I was late; staff meetings always ran over. I wanted to give her her Christmas present, and to say goodbye before she left for the airport. Now I've missed her.

"Damn it!"

I stared at her present, sitting on my desk, and wondered if I should risk taking it down to the main school. Liz Patterson would not be pleased if she caught a whiff of the exchange.

I looked up as someone knocked on the door and the handle turned. Alex poked her head around.

"I was just thinking about you," I said, grinning.

Alex smiled, folding her long frame into a chair, "well, you said you wanted me to come see you, so I did!"

I nodded, "I thought I missed you actually -- I only just got here myself."

Alex shrugged, "Staff meetings always run late, I figured you wouldn't make it at 9:30."

"How did you know I had a staff meeting?"

"I walked past the staff room earlier and you were in there with every other teacher in the school and you all looked bored out of your skulls."

I laughed, "Actually it was quite a productive meeting, if you must know. But I am glad it's over."

I slid the present across my desk. "A present for you," I indicated to it, "for Christmas, and also as a 'thank you' for making my first term such fun."

Alex looked surprised, a slow blush spreading across her face. I immediately felt bad, feeling like I'd put her on the spot. "You don't have to open it -- it's nothing big. Uh, it's just a photo I thought you'd like."

Alex arched an eyebrow, "Huh. Are you going to tell me what it's a photo of as well?"

"Oh..." I felt even worse.

Alex grinned, "KIDDING. I love that you got me a present. And I love that you told me what it was before I opened it." She carefully unwrapped the box.

I had framed a photo I had taken on my last trip to Norfolk, a panorama of Holkham Beach. I heard Alex slowly exhale.

"This is, wow. This is stunning. Where was this taken?"

"Norfolk. You should go some time. You'd love it."

"Thank you," Alex looked at me. My stomach clenched with her gaze.

"Uh, I'm glad you like it." I smiled. "Um, so when is your flight?"

"Taxi's coming at 1. I'm pretty much packed. Clash is slowly digging her way out of her room -- speaking of which, I promised her I would help her get sorted."

Alex put the photo back in the box. "Thanks again for this, Miss Wainwright. It means a lot."

She stood up and stepped towards the door.

The weird clenching in my stomach returned. I shifted in my seat. It subsided a little. "Well, don't get into too much trouble over the holidays. I'll see you next year!"

"Oh that's right! Happy New Year in advance!" Alex grinned and left.

I leaned back in my seat and shook my head. I tried to remember what I had for breakfast -- something wasn't sitting right.

I committed to distracting myself with report writing. As the arms of the clock slowly inched its way around, I felt a small victory as I closed out yet another review. '40% done,' my report dashboard showed on my monitor.

Just as I was about to open a new report, Cathy flung open my office door.

"Oy, come for lunch? The locusts, er, girls have pretty much decimated the food in the dining hall, so we should pop out to town."

I stretched my back and nodded, glad for the interruption. My stomach felt a little better, to my relief.

"Something light. My tummy is a little queasy. I don't think I can take anything heavy."

Cathy shrugged, "Let's go to Daisy's then. A salad or something."

We set off, and Cathy started chatting about her plans for the holidays. I listened happily, looking forward to the break myself.

"Jules rented us a lovely cottage," Cathy said.

I smiled, "Sounds fabulous, Cath."

As we neared the school gates, I spotted Alex and her sister Audrey loading their suitcases into a taxi. Alex was wearing her jeans, a hooded sweater, and a baseball hat. I could just about make out her slight grimace as she threw the last suitcase into the boot.

"Earth to Jess!" Cathy elbowed me in the ribs.

"Oh, sorry, Cathy. I zoned out for a moment." I looked at my friend, who was smiling at me.

"I lost you for more than a moment," Cathy chided, "Looks like Alex and Audrey are taking off."

"Hm, yes. Alex said they were leaving at 1, so they are right on time," I looked at my watch. My stomach protested again.

Cathy looped her arm through mine. "Come on, let's get our food. I'm about to chew my arm off." She shook her head and chuckled to herself.

"What?"

"I have a theory that I'm working through in my head."

"What theory?"

"That Halsey faculty's happiness quotient is negatively correlated with the number of students on campus." Cathy said lightly.

I stared at her. Any retort from me was interrupted by Audrey shouting, "BYE MISS GOODE! BYE MISS WAINWRIGHT!" as the taxi passed.

Cathy and I waved at the girls. Alex may have winked at me, but I may have imagined it.

I felt a little hot and noticed my stomach was feeling wonky again, and Cathy was staring at me with eyebrows raised.

"What?" I was clearly missing a joke or something.

Cathy grinned and wiggled her eyebrows.

"You are the most infuriating person I know."

Cathy squeezed my arm, "I'm mean when I'm hungry."

"Give me a hint. Look at you, all giddy with evil."

Cathy shook her head, "Ah, my friend, do not 'call the giddiness of it in question... It is my study to seem despiteful and ungentle to you.'"

"Why are you misquoting Shakespeare to me?"

"Because it's fun." Cathy barrelled through the door at Daisy's, and headed straight to the salad bar.

"So who is my Silvius?" I asked playfully as we sat down.

"5 points to Wainwright. Well done for correctly identifying As You Like It."

"And...?" I pressed.

"And... a couple years from now, you are going to remember this conversation, and you will know exactly what I'm talking about."

~ End ~

careythomas
careythomas
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AnonymousAnonymous2 months ago

Great writing

AnonymousAnonymousover 1 year ago

You write so well! I’m sure I’m going to live the feast of this story

AnonymousAnonymousover 2 years ago

Reading this AGAIN, for at least the third time. Love it. I admire all your work, particularly this series. The awkward, titillating journey of discovery really does it for me. And your writing is outstanding.

Sausage17Sausage17over 2 years ago

Alright I’m hooked, can’t wait to read the rest! 😊

Kaori86Kaori86over 2 years ago

I loved the prologue! Can't wait to read the rest of the story.

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