02

Afterwards they walked back through the courtyard together.

« Well that was a dead loss, » Margot said.

Juliet asked what she meant.

« All that hot male talent and it’s practically wearing a dog collar. Not that it matters, he’s not my type. »

« Isn’t he ? » Juliet thought a man that attractive would be anyone’s type, particularly in the Great Man Desert that was St Gillian’s.

« Too much of a Gilbert. As in Gilbert Blythe, Anne of Green Gables. Wholesome boy next door. I guess he’s okay for a white guy. »

Juliet nearly choked. « For a white guy ? What does that mean ? Your last three boyfriends were white. »

« Yeah, and look where that got me. I think it’s time to switch back. Mr Spencer is all yours, if that bitch doesn’t get him first. » She meant Cynthia, who had been making obvious eyes at the new Latin teacher all class.

« Well thank you kindly, ma’am, for leaving at least one specimen for me, » Juliet said, her tone mock-sarcastic.

Margot shrugged. « He looks like the sort of guy who’d rather go for a bike ride and picnic than get down and dirty. The type of boy your parents would love you to date. If he wasn’t your teacher, obviously. The kind of man who… »

« Okay, I get the picture ! » Juliet said. « What makes you sure he wouldn’t get down and dirty ? He might have a whole secret life going on. »

« Yeah, you just think that if you want to. Honestly, look at the guy. He actually had a bible on his desk. He’s so much of a virgin that he makes the Pope look like a stud. »

For some reason this annoyed Juliet. « I bet I could change that. »

« I bet you could not. »

« He’s just a guy. He must have urges, » Juliet said. « He probably had girlfriends at university, all students screw around. »

Margot shot her a wicked glance. « Fifty bucks says he’s a virgin and will still have his V-card by the end of the year. »

« A hundred bucks says he won’t. »

Margot started laughing. « Girl, are we seriously betting on whether you can seduce our new Latin teacher ? »

Juliet wavered for a moment, then felt resolute. « Yes. Why not ? »

« I can think of a million reasons but they’re all as sensible as hell. This actually sounds amusing. I’ll even help you. »

« You’re not going to have a go yourself ? »

« Jesus no, » Margot said. « As I said he’s not my type. I mean I wouldn’t kick him out if I was feeling bored and horny, but the effort of seducing someone like that, no thanks. Not worth it. Imagine how useless he’d be in bed, the first time. All fumbling. »

Margot was a lot more sexually experienced than Juliet. Even so, Juliet wasn’t going to take her word for it.

« You never know. Some guys are naturally gifted. » She had personally thought that Mr Spencer looked very capable.

« I can assure you he won’t be. But if you want that hundred dollars so badly, I guess you’ll find out one way or another. »

* *

It was a sunny day so they ate their lunch on the grass with their other friend, Fhemie, who didn’t do Latin with them.

« So I heard Mr Bryan got fired and has a hot new replacement, » Fhemie said. « What’s he like ? »

Fhemie was even more boy crazy than both Juliet and Margot combined. This was despite the fact her grandmother wanted her to become a nun.

« Hot enough that you’ll wish you’ll did Latin once you see him, » Juliet said.

Fhemie laughed, biting into a brownie. « Never ! » she said, her mouth full of chocolate.

« I never know how you can eat all that and stay so skinny, » Juliet said. Fhemie’s first course had been two bags of chips. « You’re addicted to junk. »

« It’s all the dancing. I burn it off. I really can’t be doing with that quinoa shit you eat, it looks gross. »

Margot, who only ever ate fruit for lunch, lay back in the sun. « Once you stop dancing you’ll balloon up like a fat bag of dough. I saw it happen to Ashley Neiman when she did her knee in and couldn’t do athletics any more. »

« I will never stop dancing. » Fhemie’s only ambition, despite her family’s opposition, was to become a dancer. They regarded it as an immodest profession. Her grandmother had never forgiven her father for dropping out of seminary in Manila to marry Fhemie’s mother. She saw Fhemie entering a convent as compensation, not that Fhemie was having any of it.

Juliet envied Fhemie her single-mindedness. She still had no idea what she wanted to do when they finished school. She was looking at getting loans for college but it would be a struggle.

She stretched out her legs in the September sun, enjoying the contrast of the warm rays on top and the cool grass beneath her skin. Her skirt was riding up but she didn’t care.

« You’re practically showing your va-jay, » Margot said.

« So ? »

« Look who’s walking past. »

Juliet sat up with a jerk, causing her skirt to fall right back and momentarily flash her underwear. Only to see Mr Spencer walking past them at that exact moment. He clearly saw what she had on display, but turned his head away abruptly.

Margot laughed. « I swear he’s crossing himself mentally at the sight of such temptation. He’ll be off to bathe in holy water. »

« Is that him ? » Fhemie said. « Wow. That has to be the hottest teacher I’ve ever seen. Including in TV shows or movies. Maybe he’ll hold detention and I can get myself in trouble. »

« Hands off, because he’s Juliet’s. She’s going to seduce him by the end of term. Otherwise I win a hundred bucks. »

Fhemie rolled her eyes. « Like a hundred bucks matters to you, you’re such a little rich girl. » Fhemie’s family were also wealthy – you had to be to afford the fees at St Gillian’s – but her grandmother kept a tight hold on the purse strings.

Juliet had been given a subsidised place, something Cynthia constantly taunted her about. Margot and Fhemie couldn’t have cared less whether Juliet’s family were bankrupt or billionaires, which was why they were such great friends. All they cared about was having fun, and getting away with breaking as many rules as possible.

There was no bigger rule to break than having an affair with a teacher, Juliet thought. She would totally be expelled if she was ever found out.

* *

Juliet might have given up on the bet as a stupid joke or whim, except she found herself dreaming of Mr Spencer that night.

It started all weird and twisted about all over the place, as dreams do. All her friends were waving goodbye to her, going on a school trip to the moon in the school bus. « They’ve put wings on it ! » Fhemie was saying.

But Juliet was left behind because she had forgotten her shoes. She was desperately trying to find them but the others were getting further and further way. She had to have shoes because it was going to be very rocky. Where were they ?

She was going through every classroom searching for them, and then she was in the Latin classroom.

« You don’t have your shoes Juliet. You’ll have to stay and do more Latin, » Mr Spencer was saying. For some reason he was dressed as a priest with a black shirt and a white collar.

In her dream Juliet felt really torn between wanting to go to the moon with her friends and staying behind in Latin. Mr Spencer was looking at her with searing eyes.

Then suddenly she was lying over his desk and he was pinning her down.

« This is how you need to learn Latin. Here… » Mr Spencer’s hand had slipped beneath her underwear and he was teasing her, bringing her to the brink.

His lips hovered over hers… so close… she could feel the air move between his face and hers but he wouldn’t bring his lips down on her or press hard enough with his hands. His fingers were circling around her sensitive flesh, tormenting, driving her nerves wild.

She was writhing up against him, trying to get him to give her the pressure she needed.

« Please, please… » she was crying out, but Mr Spencer was telling her it was forbidden to go any further. Then suddenly everything was sucked away and she was naked and freezing cold and alone and he was gone.

Juliet woke up with a start. She had kicked her quilt off and was lying there in nothing but her thin nightgown : no wonder she was freezing in her dream. She rarely ever had dreams this vivid or about actual people. What could it mean ?