Brie pleaded, “I didn’t get one. I might be able to get one tonight.”
Her teacher responded brusquely, “I’m sorry, young lady, I need to see one now. I won’t know if you’ve faked it otherwise.”
Brie didn’t know what to do. Her cheeks burned hot and she sniffled. “I don’t have a note.”
Mr. Ivarson appeared to mull another idea around. While he did, Brie could faintly hear the bell marking the end of passing time. The next class period had begun and nobody was in the halls anymore. Finally her teacher spoke again. “I suppose there are other ways you could make it up. Extra credit.”
“Really?” Brie looked up at her teacher, an expression of relief washed over her face.
“Oh yes,” the teacher said, “bad students do extra credit for me all the time.”
“I can do that,” Brie nodded vigorously. “What can I do?”
“Well,” Mr. Ivarson replied, “I think what you can do is really quite simple.”
Brie nodded again, optimistic.
“I don’t think you need to do extra homework. I know you’re a smart girl and you’re ill, after all. And anyway, I don’t have anything prepared. But, I suppose I could give you some extra credit for,” he paused for emphasis, “another kiss?”
Brie was shocked. She suddenly felt cornered and very alone. The hallways were empty, and even if they weren’t, nobody could hear her teacher’s indecent proposition from within the sound-proof cubicle. She swallowed a large lump in her throat. She didn’t want to kiss her teacher again. She hadn’t really even wanted to kiss him in the first place. Then, her body had compelled her to do it against her own volition. Now, she was compelled to do it for a grade.
Brie shook her head. “I can’t kiss you. It’s not right. We’ll get in trouble,” she said, appealing to Mr. Ivarson’s sensibility.
“Look,” he gestured to the glass door of the study room, “there’s nobody around to get us in trouble. It’s just a quick kiss, dear child, and it’s over. I had such fun last time.”
The idea repulsed her, but she saw no other options. Timidly she said, “If I kiss you, you’ll give me an A for the quiz?”
Mr. Ivarson leered and said, “No, child, a kiss would be lovely, but it’s such a small thing, after all. The value of that, assuming it was a good kiss, would bring you up to a D-. If you want an A, you would need to do a little bit more.”
Brie wilted further, crossing her arms in front of her. She avoided looking at Mr. Ivarson. He stood up from his chair and moved toward her, hovering over her. “Well, Miss Nova? This is the one chance I’m going to give you.”
Brie swallowed and then, almost imperceptibly, nodded her head.
It was enough for Mr. Ivarson and he quickly pulled the young girl up off the chair and up onto her feet. He bent over her and brought his face close to hers. Brie trembled with fear underneath the stature of her teacher. She closed her eyes and waited for him to come to her. Then she felt his lips against her. They were warm and firm, but at the same time rough and undesirable. She winced, but kissed back with the hope that it would satisfy him, if not permanently, at least enough that he would let her go.
At last, he pulled away from her and smiled at her condescendingly. “Oh, that was very nice, my child. That was definitely worth a D-.”
Brie said nothing. She merely grabbed her arm and fidgeted on her feet.
“Well, Miss Nova, we can talk about getting more extra credit later, but you best be getting off to your next class.” Before she could move, he halted her with a finger. “However, since you’re already late, you’re probably going to get in trouble with your next teacher. I wonder…” he reached into his pocket and pulled out another signed hall pass, “how much this would be worth to you?”
Brie’s stomach dropped at the thought. She was still trapped with this man and was now forced to negotiate her way out. She stammered, “You could kiss me again.”
“That sounds very nice, Miss Nova,” Mr. Ivarson said, and then added, “and what else can you give me?”
Red-faced, Brie held back a tear. She searched for an idea, then finally said, “You can touch one of my breasts.”
Mr. Ivarson grinned and said, “That’s the spirit. Just remember, if I get in trouble because of you, you’ll get into more trouble, too. The school doesn’t like it when girls fool around with boys, and imagine how they will respond when they find out you’re super-orgasmic. But don’t worry, I will keep your secret.” Then he leaned over and kissed her again. With one hand, he held the back of her head, pressing her mouth against his. With his other, he reached down and pawed at the barely perceptible mound on her chest, circling his fingers around her tiny nipple. It hardened against her will.
Brie was trapped, but Mr. Ivarson kept to the terms of their agreement. He fondled only one breast, though his kiss was drawn out. She felt him snake his tongue out against her lips and she reluctantly parted them, for fear of making him angry. Her legs wobbled under her as she stood, mouth agape, letting her teacher’s tongue wander inside. Finally, she could take no more and she pushed herself away.
Mr. Ivarson chuckled and said, “Had enough for today? Okay. You’re a very good kisser, Brie. You should know that.”
Brie didn’t care. “Can I go now?”
“Very well,” the man conceded, “here is your pass.”
As Brie quickly exited the cubicle, he called after her, “Let’s discuss future extra credit possibilities after class on Wednesday.”
Brie ran, humiliated, down the hallway. She couldn’t believe her teacher would take advantage of her. She didn’t understand why a man his age—older than her father, even—would be interested in someone so young, especially one of his students. She knew it was wrong, but she had felt ambushed and powerless under his authority.
All thoughts of Mr. Ivarson, however, slipped away when she got to her next class late. When she entered the room, every head turned to watch her and she was once again filled with a renewed sense of dread. She took a deep breath and sighed, crossing the front of the class to hand her next teacher, Mrs. Trisk, her late pass.
She sat down in one of the remaining seats in the middle of the room and Mrs. Trisk cleared her throat before continuing her lesson for the day. Brie counted down the minutes until her lunch period.
———
At 11:30, Brie’s lunchtime rolled around. She made her way to the lunchroom as inconspicuously as possible. She wasn’t feeling hungry at all, so she skipped the food line and took her usual seat at the lunch table.
Head down, she tried to concentrate on completing her homework while she waited for Elsie to show. Just when she was hitting her stride completing math equations, a plastic tray clattered onto the table, giving her a scare. “Elsie, jesus christ!”
Elsie sat down next to Brie and ringed her arm around the girl in a side hug. “How’s it going today?”
“Horrible,” Brie answered.
“What? Why?” Elsie asked, surprised.
“Elsie, sometimes you can be really thick, you know,” Brie glowered “Why do you think?”
“Oh, right,” Elsie simmered down, smiling dumbly.
Brie sighed, “Mr. Ivarson made me kiss him again.”