Hi guys, this is Chapter 15 :) I hope it's good, enjoy :) 

I posted a photo of Nathan on the side.

Chapter 15- Mr James’s POV

The knock on my classroom door brought me back to reality, and before I knew it, Ella was on her feet and walking towards an easel, pretending to be drawing something. I smiled gratefully at her and cleared my throat.

“Uh, come in,” I said, grabbing a pencil in hand. This was so weird, who could be behind that door right at that moment when I was going to tell Ella how I felt? He’d ruined my chance.

The door opened and to my utter surprise, the principal walked in. I stood up in shock, well aware of the possibility that I could be fired soon. “Afternoon, sir,” I greeted him, feeling my heart almost bursting out of my chest. I glanced at Ella, who was looking at me with fearful eyes, while the principal closed the door behind him.

“Afternoon to you too, Edward,” he said, glancing at me from over his small framed glasses. He noticed Ella standing near the easel, and gave me a questionable glance. “What’s this?” he asked in his monotone voice. His expression hardly ever changes, but in this case, it did, which is why this didn’t look good.

I took a deep breath. “Uh, I’m waiting for a couple of more students to arrive. I’m going to give them an extra lesson, because they missed their lesson last Friday, and it was quite important,” I fibbed.

Mr Barnes nodded and smiled at me. “You’ve always been a good teacher, Edward. Keep up the good work.”

Mr Barnes was a sixty-something year old man, who had been the principal of our school for around twelve years. He was a short person, and had ruffled white hair and small rimmed black glasses. He was very kind, but he had a look about him which could scare the crap out of people. I remember John being scared like hell last year when he first met him. I smirked at the memory of that. Kids...

Needless to say,  Mr Barnes was quite strict, and he expected us to observe all school rules, some of which I’d been breaking quite a lot lately...

I smiled at him. “So what brings you here, sir?” I asked politely.

“Oh, yes, right. This,” he said, motioning to a paper which he had been holding in his hand. I felt my pulse quicken as I assumed what it was that he held in his hand. He solemnly gave it to me, and I unfolded it slowly. My eyes widened as I saw what it was. It wasn’t me on the photo, but it was John. And it was the same photo that had been posted in my letterbox, with the girl blurred out and all. I glanced at it, folded it back to how it was originally, and lifted my eyes up to meet the principal’s. His face was now a bit red.

“I-uh,” I mumbled. “Where did you get this, if I may ask?”

“I found it on my desk this morning, folded in that way. I don’t know what it is supposed to mean but,” he paused, glancing at Ella, who was sketching a jug that was on one of the tables. He lowered his voice and continued, “this is a serious matter. I don’t know why this was left on my desk, but it looks like someone wanted me to see it.” He paused and seemed to think of a moment, then continued. “It is most definitely all right for teachers to date whoever they want to date, as long as it’s not a student, and it is okay for them to take photos during their relationships. But it is not adequate for these photos to be going around the school, with the risk of students seeing them. If this repeats itself, I would have to fire Mr Abbott. John is not that kind of person, but I cannot have teachers with this reputation in our school.”

I flinched at his words. Most of the words he was saying counted for me too, especially the part when he mentioned photos and dating students. And heck, I didn’t want him to fire John. He didn’t deserve that.

“I’m sure John didn’t mean for this to happen,” I defended him.

“I’m sure of that as well, but it is still a serious matter.”

“I think it was a set-up or something.”

Mr Barnes shook his head. “If there is some kind of problem, Mr Abbott can speak to me about it. I came to talk to you with the hopes that you could warn him about this so that it will not be awkward for him if I call him into my office.”

I nodded. “Sure thing... I’ll inform him about this.”

Mr Barnes smiled in approval, but then his facial expression changed as he seemed to be detecting a kind of smell. Shit, the cigarettes, I remembered.

“It smells like cigarette smoke in here,” he commented. “You know the rules.”

I forced a smile. “You know I smoke, sir,” I said.

“Not in the school, I hope. You know that’s against the rules and I would suspend anyone I caught.”

“Not at all, sir. I just came in from break and the cigarette you’re smelling is probably just on my clothes.” I put on my best smile. I was turning into quite a good liar.

Mr Barnes nodded. “Take care of your health, Edward. I’ll leave you to your lesson now, even though the other students have not shown up.” He turned around to leave, nodding at Ella, and then turned back abruptly. “Oh and Edward,” he said, seeming to remember something. “Please leave the door open when you are on your own with a student in class. We don’t want to trigger any rumours.”

He opened the door, leaving without saying goodbye, and left the door open. I heaved a sigh of relief, looking at Ella.

“What was that about?” she asked, keeping her eyes on her paper.

I sighed and dropped John’s photo into the trashcan, throwing my plastic coffee cup on top of it to hide it, and came up from behind Ella. “It’s about John,” I said, lifting my hands up to put them around her, but then reconsidering it. I put my hands back down. The door was still open and that was how it would stay for the rest of the day. Principal’s rules.

“Is he in trouble?” she asked, sounding worried.

“Probably not,” I replied. “But all this shit with these photos is starting to worry me. Hell, I could get in trouble too if my photos were sent to the principal.”

Ella turned to look at me, and was probably surprised to find me standing so close to her. I took a step back awkwardly. “You know I could help you if you want,” she said.

“No, no. I don’t want you to get in trouble. I care about you,” I replied. I had to say that I was truly telling the truth, but behind all of it was the fear that she would find out about my life, and not speak to me anymore. My past was too much to handle.

Yes, because when I was young, I did drugs, and heck, I was even a drug dealer for a while, until I was caught by the police and sentenced to prison. But I found my way around that, and was out after a couple of months. I am on the police records, of course, but it was thanks to Mr Barnes that all of this was forgotten, when he hired me as a student teacher around ten years ago. He was so helpful... I trained as a teacher while I studied, and graduated in teaching a couple of years later.

That wasn’t the only negative thing I’d done in my life... there was the affair with Nathan’s mum, and the shoplifting which I had never been caught for, amongst others. But let’s not go there. I don’t want Ella to find out- ever. It’s too embarrassing, and it’s all in the past. Even I try to foget all about it sometimes.

“You look thoughtful,” Ella commented.

I smiled faintly. “I am thoughtful,” I said.

She smiled back. “So, what exactly were you going to tell me before the principal walked in?”

I blushed as I remembered, and shook my head. “No, forget about that,” I said. I couldn’t possibly tell her. Not after the lecture I’d just been given by the school principal, whom I owed so much.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah...” I said, wondering what I could say to change the subject. I glanced at the paper that was on the easel, and smiled. “You’re progressing already,” I said.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“You are. Don’t deny a compliment from an art teacher, ‘cause it’s not often that you’d get one from them.”

Ella smirked. “Really? But you already gave me a lot of compliments.”

“They weren’t school related though.” I raised an eyebrow at her. Then it dawned to me. What the hell was I thinking, flirting with her at school? I straightened and bit my lip. “How old are you exactly, Ella?” I asked.

“Why are you asking?” she replied with a smirk. But she wasn’t expecting an answer from me. “Seventeen,” she added softly.

I nodded. “When’s your birthday?”

I knew she could see the look I had in my eyes. She looked away from me. “December,” she said.

“That’s not... too far away I guess,” I replied.

“No, it isn’t,” she murmured. I nodded and walked away, taking a seat at my desk. She didn’t say anything else either, until the bell rang, signalling fifth period over. Ella hurried to get her bag from the side of the room, and stopped near my desk to address me. “I have to go, I have Physics now. See you on Wednesday for the lesson.”

I bit my lip- an annoying habit, I have to admit. “I wish I was your Physics teacher so I’d see more of you,” I said.

“I wish you were, too,” she replied, with a twinkle in her eye. She smiled, and walked away, leaving me on my own once again, with homeworks to correct but drained out of energy and enthusiasm for the job. I sighed, picking up a pen. Another free lesson to go, and then my last lesson for the day. Hopefully I would be left in peace now. I had a lot to think about.

Just as I picked an A3 sheet of paper and started studying it, a knock came on my door. I looked up, and to my dismay, Nathan was standing by the door, school bag slung on his shoulder. I frowned as he walked in and stopped next to my desk. And he’d knocked as well. That wasn’t like him at all.

“That mine?” he asked, looking at the still life that was drawn on the A3 sheet that I was holding. By instinct, I turned the paper and there was his name, Nathan Reeds, written on the back in large font.

“Yep,” I replied, popping the ‘p’.

“It’s quite good, isn’t it? You better give me a good mark for that.”

Ah, of course. The rude Nathan again.

I snorted. “The drawing is fairly good, but there’s no contrast at all. I expect better from you.”

He raised an eyebrow, dropping his bag on the floor. “Really? Well I didn’t have time for contrasts, the important thing is that I gave in the homework you wanted and therefore I expect a decent mark. You owe me that much.”

“I don’t owe anyone anything, Nathan. I can’t just give you a good mark because you handed in your homework. That’s hardly an excuse,” I said.

“It would be if I had been a female student,” he replied.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t start with that crap again. It doesn’t work like that. Now, what is it that you wanted?”

“What I want is what you took away from me. And you can’t give me that, can you? I mean, I could make your life hell, but what would I really get from that?”

“Would you just get to the point?”I said impatiently.

Nathan smirked. “ I came to see if Ella was here, but she’s not. And I came to ask why you’re treating her like crap.”

I shook my head. “I am so not treating her like crap. She was fine.”

“Fine, if you insist. How’s your stomach?” Nathan’s eyes showed pure hatred. I didn’t really blame him.

“What’s wrong with my stomach?” I asked, confused.

“It’s where I hit you last time.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Careful or it’ll be your eye next time,” Nathan said calmly.

I flinched, imagining how attractive and painful a swollen or black eye would look. Right. Watch your tongue, Ed. Don’t say the wrong things.

I couldn't stop him. I couldn't report him either. He would just find a way to screw things up for me again. I had done so much to his family, and this was the way I was going to be punished. Being bullied and getting hit by a student is better than everyone finding out what I did. This is what I had to live with now. I sighed, and didn't answer him. 

“You don’t reply to that, do you? Of course not. But I have ways, Edward. Ways that could destroy you. D’you think I don’t know all about your past? I know everything about you, Ed, even what you try to bury away, without thinking about it yourself. But I could expose you, and you know where you’ll end up.” Nathan’s words were cruel, and they scared me. But I couldn’t help but stand up. This was all too familiar.

“Nathan... are you the one sending photos to me? Are you threatening me?” My tone came out harsher than I intended it to.

Nathan just laughed and shook his head. “No, man”, he said, picking up his bag. He turned to walk away, but came face to face with John, who was standing in the doorway. “Oh hey Mr Abbott,” he said cheerfully, addressing him by his surname. “Nice photo, by the way. I would put it as a Facebook profile pic if I were you. I even blurred out the girl for you so that no one can see  who she is, so you wouldn’t get in trouble. But don’t worry, the original photo is saved on my laptop if you want it.” He patted his shoulder and left the room, leaving me and John open mouthed.

It was Nathan. It had been him the whole time. Just as I’d guessed.

Thank you for reading! Please leave votes and comment, I really would appreciate it! :) 

This is dedicated to my best buddy because she's honest and tells me the truth (hint :P)