Classroom Affair

Shannon finally managed to stop sobbing and settled down to the occasional sniff.

Iris patted her back.

They sat in silence until she finally broke it. "You must think I'm so sick, don't you?"

Iris froze and looked down at her messy friend. "Why would you think that? You've seen me blacked out in an alley before."

Shannon lifted her exhausted eyes and gulped. "You said so earlier. That anyone who would mess around with a married man is sick and disturbed. I'm sorry I lied to you, but I was so defensive because I thought you knew."

"I did know." Iris replied.

"What?"

"I figured it out a while ago, but when you got so upset the other night, I confirmed my suspicions. You can tell by the way he looks at you, like you are the only thing real in the world to him. Kind of hard to miss."

Shannon's dirtied face paled. "Does everyone know?"

Iris shook her spikey head. "No, I'm more perceptive of people than most. Besides, I know you better than anyone. You've changed this year and it only happened when he came into the picture. But I don't think you are a whore, Shannon, nor do I think you are disgusting or disturbed."

Shannon searched her face. "How can you not, when I feel that way about myself?"

Iris smiled and tried to rub away some mud from her friend's face. "Because I know you. I know you love so many people with all your heart. You've slipped Shannon, you made a mistake, but that doesn't make you a bad person. How you choose to deal with it now, is what will define you. What will you do?"

Shannon was about to answer, before another voice interjected. "Yes, Shannon, what exactly will you do now?"

The voice sent a mixture of heat and ice through the already disturbed girl.

Shannon's eyes rose slowly, as if her body refused to believe this was anything, but a horrific nightmare. The one person she feared knowing any threatening information about her life, stared her down with predatory eyes.

Alexia leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, black hair freshly combed and hanging lightly past her shoulders.

"No." Shannon whispered, a fresh wave of upset, threatening to erupt from her stomach, onto the face of the dorm floor.

It was over, everything was over now.

Alexia would tell everyone she knew; Shannon's parents, her pastor, her school, Brandon....everyone would know her secret.

Everyone would look at her, everyone would see.

It was all too much.

Shannon reached her breaking point and her body gave out, so that she slumped limply against Iris, who was staring wide-eyed at the intruder.

"Alexia...what did you hear?" Iris's voice was deathly serious.

Alexia ran a manicured hand through her silky hair. "Only what I've suspected from the beginning. Our little church mouse has been playing with fire, it was only a matter of time before she got burned."

Quick to defend her friend, Iris shot up to her feet, though even at full height, she was still about five inches shorter. "Alexia, I know that you and Shannon have had your troubles in the past, but this is a whole different game. If you say anything, you won't just be ruining her life, you will destroy his as well. Mr. Thompson saved you from those boys, do you really want to see anything terrible happen to him? And what about Shannon?! Even after every horrible thing you've done to her over the years, she still had the decency to clean you up when you were puking your guts out. So, if you have any kind of heart left, don't do what you usually do. Don't take this too far."

Alexia scanned her defensive stance with a practiced aloofness.

Her golden eyes ran over her once, before switching to the broken girl on the floor. "Shannon, how long are you going to lay there while your guard dog attacks me? What's wrong? Not enough of a woman to stand up to me anymore? What are you going to do now?"

Shannon laid on the floor, her face pressed against the tile floor, mud caked to her pale skin.

Alexia scoffed and pushed past Iris, to stand over her. "I asked you a question, church mouse, what are you going to do now? Well?"

Shannon curled her knees closer to her chest, trying to block out Alexia's voice. "I don't know."

"You don't know? How can you not know?! After all these years, perfect little Shannon, with her hand in the air. You always have the answers. So, what now? Are you so much of a coward that you can't even make a decision? That's not the annoying, goody-two-shoes I know. Listen, I've dabbled in being a bitch and this doesn't mean that things are all right between us, but like your little dog said, this is a whole different game. You got yourself into this mess, now how are you going to get out of it?!"

Iris glared before stepping over and grabbing her shoulder. "Stop it Alexia! Leave her alone."

Suddenly, much quicker than any of them expected, Alexia turned around and pushed Iris against the wall, before placing her foot on Shannon's back, pressing down hard. "If you love him, go after him! It's obvious he wants you and you want him as well so go! Don't pass up on someone who actually loves you, that's not something the rest of us get to experience! So, go Shannon, prove that you're worth loving! Get up and go!"

Shannon's eyes widened; she did love him.

She loved him more than she loved anything in this world.

How could it have taken her enemy to make her see that?

Turning on her stomach, Shannon grabbed Alexia's foot and shoved it away, causing her to stumble.

She fell against the bed side while Shannon stood, her hair matted and wet, mud and mascara dirtying her face, but in that moment, she felt more determined about her choice than she had about anything in her life.

Her eyes turned down to Alexia, who glared back when she held out a hand to help her up.

Alexia looked from Shannon's eyes, to her outstretched hand, before rolling her eyes and taking it.

Shannon lifted her to her feet and they stared into each other eyes for a moment. Green met gold and though the years of hate between them hadn't vanished, there was an unmistakable flicker of mutual respect.

Shannon smirked, before grabbing her jacket from the bed post. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

Iris reached out a tentative hand. "What are you going to do, Shannon?"

She turned with a faint smile on her face. "I'm going to tell him that I love him. That I want to be with him no matter what the cost. It's what my heart is telling me to do."

Iris nodded, worry clear in her chocolate eyes. "Then that is what you need to do...but know that I'll be here, if you need me."

Shannon reached out and hugged her tightly. "I'll always need you. Thank you, Iris."

With that she sprinted out of the room, her feet heavy on the carpet floor, as she tore through the dorm's hallways.

If she hurried, he might still be in the shed.

She would go to him, she would explain what she felt with no holding back. He would divorce his wife, she'd graduate and they'd be free to be together.

That was the hope which pumped through her with every heartbeat.

She came up to the stairs, only to see that they were blocked off because of cleaning. She'd have to take the back way and that would lead her past the teacher's rooms.

It was just as well, that she should check there anyway.

Shannon felt her heart pounding with excitement and more so, a sense of desperate purpose.

Maybe their relationship wasn't as crazy, as it seemed? They were two people, a man and a woman, who had found each other. That kind of thing happens all the time.

A frantic smile spread across her face; never had she felt more alive than when her feet brought her down the tapioca colored hallway.

His room was the second on the left and she almost didn't stop in time, to pound on the wooden door.

"Chris! Chris answer the door!" She knocked again and listened, trying to get past the pounding of her heart.

Then to her extreme pleasure, a noise shuffled inside and he opened the door, his chest just as bare, as she had left him.

And then for all the determination she had, for every thought and feeling that begged to be released from her, all she could do was stare.

He breathed. "Shannon...you came back..."

His crystal eyes searched her face and it made her want to melt, as she panted. "I'm from a small town."

He raised an eyebrow, confused. "What?"

Her heart pounded in her chest from bounding up three flights of stairs and down the hall, though she wasn't sure it was because of that at all.

She shook her head, eyes never leaving his. "I'm from a small town. I haven't been around the world. I haven't learned everything life has to teach me."

He cocked his head trying to grasp her meaning. "Shannon...what are you...?"

She held up a finger in the air to silence him. "I don't know a lot, but what I do know is, I love you and that is worth everything!"