Cat and Mouse [SilverScar & sharpiie love]

Matthew looked out the window of his third storey classroom, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand, breakfast sandwich in the other. Bacon, lettuce and tomato between a freshly baked bagel. The perfect morning meal for a first day of classes. Taking a sip of his coffee, Matthew watched as the sun peaked out over the city, the clock behind him on the wall indicating he still had a good thirty minutes before his students were expected to show up. Taking a large bite of his bagel sandwich, the teacher chewed thoughtfully, taking his time to to enjoy the pleasant taste in his mouth, the bitter scent of his coffee wafting through the air. For someone who didn't actually have any experience teaching, he was surprisingly relaxed and calm. Perhaps it was his confidence, stone cold and ready to face the challenge of the day. More likely was that it was because he didn't expect he'd have any need to challenge himself.

They were all just rich kids, after all.

Saint Mary's Academy of Exceptional Learning was one of the most exclusive private schools in the country, serving the children of the rich and influential from around the world. It was a tall, black metal building, looking all sleek and modern on the outside with while emulating a more Greek architectural style on the interior with white marble pillars and archways in the halls. It was an odd mixture, as if the administration had just thrown a pile of money at the first designer that walked in the door. With climbing attendance records, according to the Headmaster, the clashing styles must not have mattered to the parents. Whatever it took to ensure their child got served the world on a silver platter.

Matthew's own style was much more traditional. A tall man himself, standing just over 6'3, his broad shoulders were draped in a dark blue suit, buttoned up at the front with a matching black tie perfectly tied around a white dress shirt that hugged tight against his muscular chest. Black dress pants and recently shined dress shoes completed the professional look. Clean shaven and black hair freshly cut, lips curved in a slight smirk, dark eyes sharp and attentive, Matthew was looking more like a company executive than an english teacher. In fact he had been, for a few years...but he'd left the corporate world behind now and found his way into teaching.

Marketing and teaching were close enough anyways.

Taking the last bite of his bagel, Matthew downed the rest of his sinful black coffee, tossing out the wrapper and cup before making his way over to his desk. The classroom was large, the walls lined with bookshelves filled with old, leather tomes. The students desks in the center were spaced out, unlike the cramped public schools, with network and power outlets at the base of each. Matthew's desk was a large, bulky wooden structure, the smoothed out dark oak feeling strong and firm. He didn't have much for decorations, his laptop in the center, a pair of trays for the students to hand in their homework and a plaque with his name 'Mister Matthew Goodman'. Pulling up the class list onto his laptop monitor, he leaned back in his soft leather chair and patiently waited for his students to arrive.

It was about fifteen minutes before the start of class when the first wave of students walked in, the keen ones looking to get the exact seat they wanted. A few took seats in the middle, but a majority looked to take up the coveted back row, far from a teacher's prying eyes. In truth, Matthew wasn't looking to police his class with the strict guidelines that some of the other teachers used. After all, this was an institution that these students parents were paying to enroll them in. If they didn't respect that in these later years, no amount taking phones or detention was going to change them now. Some might call Matthew pessimistic for thinking like that, but he prefered to think of it as saving the students and himself allot of needless headaches.

As the clock ticked closer to eight, more and more students began to file in. Apparently he was expected to do roll call every morning, but today, he was going to skip it. The start of a new semester meant new beginnings, so he was going to given everyone a break. Once. Proper second chances were few and far between in the world, and as this would be many of these students final year before going off to whatever prestigious universities their parents had already planned for them, starting things off smoothly was a big deal. Especially when you were the new teacher in a school that seemed to have it's own way of doing things.

"Good morning class" Standing up from his seat, Matthew walked around the side of his desk and moved towards the door at the back, shutting it before making his way back to the front, speaking as he moved "My name is Mister Matthew Goodman. Normally at this point we would have roll call and those walked in late would be marked down as such...but today I'm giving everyone who came in late a break, because it's just the first day and I want us all to get along"

Giving the students a pleasant smile, Matthew picked up a pile of papers and began to walk around the class, handing them out "For today, I'm looking to start things off easy. I want you all to write me something. Anything. Could be a story, could be an essay, a letter, a description of your favorite food..."

One of the students caught his eye at that moment, a young woman with platinum blonde hair. Something about her...shaking it off, Matthew continued on as he explained the assignment "It doesn't have to be a certain length or written in a certain style. I just want to see how you all write, what I can offer you all through the year. And no, if you write a single line on the paper, you don't get to leave early"

A few groans at that, but for the most part it seemed like most of the students were at least willing to give it a try. They had a whole day of teacher speeches and lists of reports and assignments to go through. For his class, at least, Matthew wanted to give them something to do that didn't require mindless nodding and following along, something that would show him who were the ones that were their to learn, and who were the ones were looking to cruise on through his class.

"Any questions?"

So far so good. Matthew watched as his students began to write, some getting right to it with surprising intensity as their pencils flew across the page, while others took a more thoughtful approach, tapping their pencils on the desk or just gazing off as they considered what to write down. With his own notepad in front of him, Matthew began to take notes on his students the same way he'd take notes on clients during meetings. Since he didn't yet have any names to go with the faces, his findings were more of a general summary of the class mood, how many of them were listening to music, did many of them look bored...

It didn't take very long before papers began to be handed in, Matthew's notetaking set aside as he began to read and skim through the papers he was given. Most of them simply placed their paper onto his desk and walked off, flipping open cell phones or plugging in laptops but then she approached him. There was something to her walk, the click of her heels on the floor announcing her approach as Matthew glanced up. The girl with the platinum blonde hair, the one who'd drawn his attention before. She had a smile on her face, so innocent and pure that seemed to promise the opposite. Passing her paper to him, her whispered words teasing him with same sweetness of her smile, she walked back, his eyes following her for longer than they should have before Matthew's attention turned to the paper he'd been presented with.

So far, he'd read papers on fast cars, food recipes and plans for the future. A few childish writers seemed to think they would get a rise out of the new teacher with some poorly written erotica about past conquests that seemed to taken straight from pay-per-view porn. The paper from Daveigh Spencer, as it was signed neatly on top of the page, proved to be an exception, something she seemed to be making habit of doing. It wasn't a long paper, but the enticing nature of the three paragraphs had Matthew raising an eyebrow at the tone of it.

When Matthew applied for his position here, he'd told himself that there would be situations where his reactions would have to differ from his time marketing. Before, if a client passed you an erotic message, you'd meet them after work and sort things out. When a student sent you a message like this, you were supposed to report it. Right?

Nope.

Offering Daveigh a charming smile, he glanced at the clock and saw they still had a few minutes left. Flicking his pen open, he wrote a quick a quick note on Daveigh's paper, dark eyes locked on her as he slid the paper to the edge of his desk as the remainder of the students came up to hand in what they'd written as the bell for the next class rang. A simple phrase awaited Daveigh's gaze, if she wished to take a look at her paper, the letter's spelled out neatly in red ink for her eyes to see...

See Me After Class

The end of class couldn't seem to come fast enough. Watching like a hawk as Daveigh peeked at her paper, and the writing on it, before mulling about with the remaining group of students heading towards the door. Unlike the schoolboys that she might be used to having chase her tail, Matthew wasn't concerned with whether or not she decided to read his note. Technically, he hadn't handed her paper back to her so enforcing her to stay after class wasn't within his authoritative powers...but he had a feeling that little Miss Spencer would be intrigued enough to stay behind to figure out why he'd requested her wait.

Watching her linger at the back of the group, Matthew felt a satisfied smile spread across his face as Daveigh shut the door and walk back to the desk. This was all against school regulations, of course, as a meeting between a teacher and student was to be conducted with the door open, to prevent any student/teacher incidents. A quaint little rule, but one too easily broken. And besides, there was no incident here, Matthew just wished to speak to his talented young pupil about the work she'd submitted to him during class. It was important for a teacher to engage his students like this, to inform them about their work and how he personally felt about it.

Her little introduction was cute, using his full name in how he'd introduced himself at the beginning of class. She had a mouth on her, this one, a playfulness that was often quite dangerous when paired with the looks she had at such a young age. Seventeen or eighteen at most, Matthew was treading through dangerous water as he rose up from his desk chair, easily standing above Daveigh as he slowly made his way around his wide desk, keeping in a position where she'd be forced to look up at him and not the other way around.

"Miss Daveigh Spencer" Matthew greeted her, stopping just at the point of personal space for the two of them "I read your paper. A very enlightening read, and certainly one of the more engaging papers I've had the chance to read. I just felt the need to answer a question you posed in your paper..."

He leaned in then, breaking that barrier of personal space, his broad muscular form mere inches from her as Matthew spoke in a low, heated tone "You've clearly never had great sex"

Straightening himself back up, Matthew looked down upon Daveigh with his dark eyes gleaming, the silence of the empty classroom broken only by the sounds of students moving about in the hall outside "That was all, Miss Spencer" Her name caressing his lips as the words were spoken to her "You are now dismissed"