Forbidden Lessons by Noël Cades Page A

to do. Probably the best way to lose it really, instead of some schoolboy fumbling around."
    "Darius wasn’t like that was he?" Laura asked.
    "I wouldn’t know, we haven’t gone there yet. I expect he’s pretty au fait with what to do since he’s dated older girls."
    Laura was surprised how nonchalant Susie was about Darius’s history. She herself felt uncomfortable thinking about how inexperienced she herself was compared to Mr Rydell.
    "Does he want to see you again?" Susie asked.
    "Yes, but I don’t know when. We haven’t arranged anything."
    "Let me know when you do, I’m happy to cover for you if you like."
    Laura looked through the darkness to the edge of the building, where it blocked the view of the groundsman’s cottages. Strange to think he was only a few hundred yards from her. Was he asleep? Or awake, reading or working late?"
    "He told me he loved me," she said.
    "Wow." Susie was impressed. "It makes sense though given the risk he’s taking. You don’t just do that on a whim. Unless you’re Mr Peters."
    Laura laughed. "He’s so creepy. I can’t believe so many Sixth Form girls have fallen for him in the past."
    Susie shuddered. "More fool them. Any St Duncan’s boy would be better than that."  
    "Don’t you worry at all about getting found out?" Laura asked Susie. "If you got caught with Darius I mean, and expelled."
    "No, not really."
    "Wouldn’t your parents be mad?"
    "No madder than before. They’d send me somewhere else again, and I’d see how I liked it," Susie said.
    "My parents would be devastated." With the euphoria wearing off, Laura was starting to worry.
    "You can stop you know, if it’s more stress than it’s worth."
    Could she? Laura felt she was a different person now. She couldn’t undo what was done. The funny thing was that she also felt more like her old self than she had done in weeks. Since she first saw him. He had changed her into something new, and yet part of her had been changed back.

    * * *

    Margery lay in her bed, desperately unhappy. She had been woken by the sounds of Laura and Susie creeping out. She had no idea where they were going. Charlotte was fast asleep.
    She felt lonelier than ever. All the others seemed to think what Laura was doing was fascinating and wonderful, but it worried her sick. It didn’t help that her own father was a teacher, and a languages teacher as well. Somehow she felt it to be a personal wrong.
    Then there was this awful dance in a couple of weeks’ time. Her dread at the thought of it was growing. If there was any way she could have escaped it she would have done so. If only it was on the Friday night she could have got her father to pick her up early for half-term.  
    But the Lower School dance was on the Thursday night, so she had no choice but to endure it. And endure the next day of gossiping and post mortems which in many ways would be even worse.
    Could she pretend to be ill? She had foresight enough to know that Grace Grant would smell a rat at the timing, and practically force her to go.
    She hadn’t managed to buy anything more suitable to wear at the weekend. And she couldn’t explain it to her father because he would just say that she had lots of clothes. The thought of the rah-rah skirt, hanging in the wardrobe, hung even more heavily on her heart. She would be a laughing stock.

    * * *

    Laura had deliberately not showered that evening so the memory of Mr Rydell would still be all over her skin for one more night. Still chilled from the cold night air she hugged herself under the blankets, wishing she was with him. They hadn’t made any concrete plans of when and where to meet next.
    Her diary had been sadly neglected but it had fulfilled its purpose. Its pages were no good to her anymore now her fantasies had risen off them.  
    It was also far too dangerous to write anything down.
    She lay there, her body yearning for him. He had flicked a switch on that she couldn’t turn off. She burned for him, his company