Black Velvet

Mr Way trudged miserably towards me, stopping under a street lamp which dimly lit his hopeless expression. I smiled at him, half because I felt weirdly giddy and half because I felt sorry for him. Seeing him so vulnerable pushed me out of my comfort zone.

"Hey Amelia," Mr. Way muttered, trying to avoid eye contact. He seemed drunk and although I could smell his cologne strongly there was a also a faint hint of cigarette smoke and whiskey that surrounded him.

"Hey Mr. Way," I mumbled. We stood awkwardly for a few seconds, the wind whipping around his hair.

"Want to walk with me?" he then asked, shrugging his shoulders.

"Do you want me to walk with you?" I replied hesitantly, having to raise my voice a little over the wind. He nodded so I followed him down the road silently. We walked for around five minutes and I had little to no idea where we were going until we reached a park that was hidden behind a row of neat houses. He opened the gate for me and I slid in awkwardly, heading towards a bench.

The park was small, with only a slide and a set of swings which were tucked away in a corner. Mr. Way sat down next to me on the bench with a thud, his body was a little too close to mine. I wanted to shuffle up but something kept me close to him, my thigh pressed lightly up against his.

"What's the matter?" I asked Mr. Way quietly as the wind settled down and the park fell silent again.

"Having a bad day," he sighed, sitting back in his seat. I knew he was lying and not wanting to actually tell me what the matter was but I didn't want to cross the line

"I'm sorry to hear that," I swallowed, "been drinking your sorrows away?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood, scared to ask anything serious in case he started to treat me like a student again. He chuckled lightly, his arm landing along the back of the bench behind me.

"How are you anyway?" he sighed, "Still playing grown up girls with Alex?" he then added. I swallowed, taking offence to what he said and not knowing how to respond. It felt like he was making fun of me.

"I don't have any other friends," I muttered awkwardly, casting my eyes away from him.

"I saw you talking to Kyle today," he replied quickly.

"I don't know, Alex and him were dating," I mumbled, feeling uncomfortable.

"Ah yes," he laughed gently, "they broke up in the courtyard, incredibly eventful," he finished.

"It's probably not an idea to get too close to him then," I replied, glancing at Mr. Way quickly. He was staring off into the park, his lips pursed, eyes squinted. Once again the conversation fell silent. We sat in silence for a while, I watched the darkness move around us, my stomach fluttered and wriggled.

"Fancy going on the swings?" Mr. Way suddenly asked, breaking the silence whilst shrugging his shoulders a little. I agreed silently and smiled again whilst attempting to stand up.

We both stood at the same time, his foot landing behind mine making me trip forward. We both yelled out as we fell, my hands hit the grass and the damp mud dug into my fingernails. His body landed on mine, throwing me further forward. Groaning, I rolled over, his body tucked neatly between my legs. My breath hitched in my throat, my thighs clenching out of instinct, his hair tickling my forehead. He searched my eyes with his for a second. His face was so close to mine and I could sense him edging closer to my face. Although I knew I shouldn't I pushed my head up, our lips so incredibly close to each others.

"What are we doing?" he suddenly sighed, breaking the silence and letting his head drop down on the grassy space between my neck and my shoulder. I lay there, still underneath his body weight, feeling intoxicated by his body heat and scent.

"I don't know," I muttered as he raised his head and began pushing himself off me. Mr. Way tumbled off me and I also sat up, pulling my skirt down and nibbling my lip awkwardly. His fingers plucked at blades off grass from the floor, his head shaking.

"You're a great girl, Mia, lets not get this confused, ok?" he whispered, lifting my chin with his fingers. I leant into his eyes before nodding quickly. Tears prickling in the corners of my eyes.

"I didn't get it confused," I muttered, my voice cracking.

"Oh man, no. It wasn't you, it was me," he rambled quickly, taking his hand away from my face and pulling me into hug which I didn't reciprocate, "I'm sorry, we've just been a little too close recently and I just wanted to be with you as a friend," he babbled aimlessly.

"I'm not a little girl," I swallowed, "I'm not stupid either," I then added quickly.

"I know you aren't," he sighed, squeezing me tightly. I said nothing, still bitter, still trying to stop tears from pouring down my cheeks.

"I should take you home, I need to get home as well," he said lowly, pulling away from me and heaving himself up from the floor. Humiliated, I also pushed myself up, trying to contain myself in front of Mr. Way.

Chapter Ten
Mr. Way walked me to the end of my street awkwardly. He made a couple light hearted jokes and gave me an awkward pat on the shoulder before leaving me to make my own way into my house. My fists were still clenched and although I didn't feel the need to burst into tears anymore, a horrible undercurrent of jealousy and anger took its place.

I ate dinner with dad and Deb and managed to ignore their questions by shovelling food into my mouth. I stared at my plate, chewing my way through a mouthful of pasta and salad. I swallowed heavily, reaching for my phone when I felt it vibrate. It was from Alex and I had also had a missed call from her.

'We need to talk sweetie. Not mad, just confused. Call me back when you get a chance.'

"Can I be excused?" I asked, my head darting up to look at dad.

"Can you finish your salad at least?" dad asked, chewing loudly. I stabbed my fork quickly into the rest of my salad and pushed it all into my mouth hurriedly, lettuce leaves spilling from my lips.

"Finished!" I pronounced loudly through my mouthful, making Deb and dad roll their eyes at me. I dashed upstairs quickly, down the hallway and into my room, dialling Alex back as I went.

"Hello?" I asked when the dialling tone stopped and I was just finishing up my mouthful of salad.

"Mia, sweetie," Alex beamed from the other line. I could hear the low buzz of her television.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked, sitting on the edge of bed and hoping it wasn't anything too bad. I couldn't deal with Alex and Mr. Way.

"Marnie told me about you talking to Kyle, I just, I don't know if I'm okay with you talking to him-"

"-No! I didn't talk to Kyle, he spoke to me, I was just being friendly," I interrupted to explain. I was hurt Marnie had told Alex but I quickly realised she probably didn't want to get herself into trouble as well.

"I don't mind if you spoke to him Mia, I just want you to be truthful with me," Alex said coldly. I was taken aback and I started feeling sick.

"I didn't talk to him, I promise Alex, I just -I'm still new to this," I said quickly, my heart beating quickly.

"I love you but I don't know if you're telling me the truth, I don't think Marnie would lie to me," she replied. I didn't know how to tell her that Marnie was lying and Kyle had spoken to me first. I also didn't want to start a whole argument with Marnie either. Alex grew impatient with my lingered answer, "So?" she spat angrily.

"I promise you, I like someone else," I suddenly blurted out. The phone went silent for a second and I regretted my accidental confession.

"Oh, who?" Alex said, her voice lighter and more forgiving.

"You know who," I mumbled awkwardly, not wanting to say it allowed in case she gave me lecture but also not wanting her to lecture me about Kyle.

"Oh Mia! Mr. Way ...Really?" she spluttered out, giggling a little, "I did wonder about that when Marnie told me that you were hitting on Kyle. You're so weird. You can't like a gross teacher," she continued. I ground my teeth and sighed.

"Yeah I know I can't," I replied, lying back on my bed defeated. Alex paused momentarily.

"You really like him don't you?" she asked, her tone genuine and high pitched.

"I think he likes me," I replied, licking my lips nervously.

"Why do you think he would like you? You're way too young for him," she said. I battled with myself, wondering whether to tell her about tonight. I wanted to tell her so desperately but a big part of mw new that it could backfire horribly.

"I kind of bumped into him tonight and he seemed like he did," I told her, trying to be vague to gage her reaction.

"He seemed like he did? Mia, sweetie, I think you're just naive-"

"I think he went to kiss me," I interrupted her, taking a deep breath in.

"He went to kiss you?" she said, sounding confused.

"Please stop repeating everything I say!" I whined, not wanting to hear the tale of events twice.

"Well explain it to me then," Alex huffed.

I explained everything to her, every little detail of the relationship Mr Way and I had. Even though the nagging part of me told to stop telling her things I wanted to be helped and I wanted to truly believe that we could be real friends. I needed to tell someone. By the end of our conversation she promised to not tell any of the other girls and weirdly she even seemed to understand how angry and jealous I was. Alex told me to meet her after school at hers the next day and I agreed, feeling like we were closer than before.

Later that night Marnie also rung me. dramatically apologising and crying for an hour about betraying my trust and telling Alex about Kyle. I was too drained to care and accepted all of her apologies willingly.

Going to Haleworth made me feel like I'd never been to school before. In my old school I had a group of girls but they were no where near as bad as Alex and Marnie. I hadn't had any desire to stay in contact with anyone from my old school, I didn't have any close best friends, not like Alex anyway. Even though she was relatively controlling and moody I could sense she still wanted to help.

I went round Alex's the next day after school, she drove us back in her mom's car, her stereo blearing. I weirdly enjoyed Alex's expensive lifestyle, although alien to me it was exciting. Her house was also massive and most likely expensive. Alex's bedroom was light blue with cream carpet and gold accents with high ceilings and white beams. I sat on her couch and fiddled mindlessly with my hair, staring around the vast room whilst waiting for her to return. She came back with a tray filled with snacks and a coffee pot, she also came back with a grin on her face.

"I thought we weren't allowed to eat crisps anymore," I asked, eyebrow slightly raised.

"This is a special occasion," she smirked, placing the tray in the middle of the cough and sitting at the other end.

"How is this a special occasion?" I questioned worriedly.

"We're going to make a plan of attack," she then said, carefully pouring mugs full of coffee.

"Who are we attacking?" I then asked, taking a mug from her.

"Mr. Way." she smirked, her eyes glimmering.

Notes

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