The Purple Iris

chapter two: focus, please

My mouth gaped open at the comment, my brown skin flushing with obvious embarrassment.

Before me stood the newest member of the school's faculty, Mr. Morris. His kind eyes tried to meet mine, and I finally succumbed to the gesture. My muddy brown eyes met his, nearly entranced by his gleaming jade ones. My breath hitched in my throat, breaking away the eye contact.

Theo. His name fit him well.

"I don't know what you've been told, but I promise I won't be any trouble." I anxiously voiced.

"No worries, the principal explained everything in detail. You aren't of fault, although I would not have personally chosen to punch Ms. Green." Mr. Morris said.

My brows furrowed together, as I was clearly bothered by this discussion. I knew it would be tough to break away from that stupid course of events, and here I was, having to talk about it.

Again.

"It was self defense." I spoke between gritted teeth.

Mr. Morris' expression changed into a more serious one, which made me a bit uncomfortable. "Yes, it was. And I'm truly sorry you had to go through such a thing." 

I glanced up, only to see him staring me down, as if he was glaring straight into my soul. I searched his gaze for any hints of disapproval, but couldn't find any. He seemed to be genuinely concerned, for what Ms. Green put me through.

"Me too." I mumbled under my breath.

*****

A full hour later, and first period finally came to a halt. Although the class itself wasn't a bother, it certainly did drag by. The bell rang for students to continue to their next class, allowing us five minutes to make haste. I gathered my possessions, being sure to place my classwork in its subject assigned folder. Kaylen and Billie did the same, both waiting for me by the door so we could continue to our next class. Sadly, the next class all three of us had together was seventh period. It wasn't so bad, considering I had a free period to do whatever I wished. Just as I stood up, Mr. Morris voiced his presence. 

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, Rainie."

He rose from his desk, which was conveniently located in the back of the classroom to ensure that everyone actually tended to their studies. 

"Mrs. Smith asked me earlier this morning to tell you to visit her office, once first period was over." He explained.

A sigh heaved from my chest, something I was sure to be doing all throughout the day. All I need now is another pointless lecture in regards to the Ms. Green fiasco, to make this day even more interesting.

"Don't worry, though. She seemed to be in high spirits, and happy to see how you're doing on your first day back." He added, as if he read my thoughts.

Am I really that obvious?

I gave a weak smile, and readied my backpack over my shoulders. Billie and Kaylen walked me to Mrs. Smith's office, which was located in the main hall, by the principal's office. Out of all of the guidance counselors I've had, she certainly was my favorite of the bunch. Of course, she hosted the required anger management counseling sessions, and she made it a lot less of chore to attend. 

My knuckles tapped thrice against the blurred glass of her office door, anxiously waiting for her to allow me to enter. 

"Come in!" 

I complied, stepping across the threshold into the quaint little room. Mrs. Smith was a rather proper and polite lady, but she too displayed her moments of crudeness. She tried to not display that sort of behavior in front of students, but she would mostly remove that prim façade while in my sole presence.

"Ah, Rainie! How are you?" The woman beamed from behind her wooden desk.

I shrugged my bag off of my shoulders, propping it against one of the office chairs. I sat down in the adjacent chair, fluidly crossing my legs. "Not too bad, I guess." I finally answered.

Mrs. Smith scooted closer to her desk, folding together her manicured hands over the table. Her mauve stained lips pressed harder into a grin, but not into a seemingly fake one. "Well, that's certainly better than the latter! How was first period? What do you think of Mr. Morris?" She questioned with a final wink.

Blush creeped into my cheeks, forcing me to briefly reminisce the last hour. "He's... Nice."

"Oh? He's more than nice, if you get what I'm saying." Mrs. Smith spoke with a purr in her voice. 

This is exactly what I meant along the lines of crudeness.

"Do you really think you should be making such suggestive comments?" I jabbed in return, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. But you do have to agree he is a looker, Rainie. If I wasn't married, and a decade younger, I'd be interested." She gave me another wink, before standing before me. 

Mrs. Smith smoothed out her skirt, and strode over to a metal file cabinet. She skimmed her fingers through countless folders, probably searching for mine. Over the course of these past three months, I knew it was probably looking quite extensive. 

The guidance counselor returned to her seat, flipping through the contents of the manila folder. She finally stopped towards the end of file, her eyes reading over a random sheet of paper. She removed it from the folder, and gently placed it front of me. It was a release form, stating that my anger management sessions were over, and that I attended each of them. 

Damned right I did. Probably one of the more boring moments of my life.

"Alrighty, dear; this discloses that you were present during the mandated sessions, per the principal. Just sign the bottom, and I can send this off for faxing."

I followed her instruction, after carefully reading over the print. I swiftly wrote out my signature on the appropriate line, and returned the paper.

"Thank you much!" Exclaimed Mrs. Smith.

She waltzed over to the local printer, scanning the document. Once it was faxed over, she placed it back within the file. Relief visibly washed over my features, being glad that my punishments were finally over.

"Before I send you off to class, I must tell you— all past due assignments must be completed and turned in by the end of the week."

I guess my punishment wasn't actually over.

"Are you fu- I mean... Why? We both know that's going to be a tough deadline to follow!" I exclaimed with grief.

Mrs. Smith shook her head, and displayed an apparent profoundness of the situation. "I understand where you're coming from, Gray. But you must also understand, these are simply the words that are coming from the mouth of both of our bosses— Principal Patterson."

"Yeah, but... C'mon, this is so unfair! It's like she wants me to fail, giving me an unrealistic deadline for this crap!"

"It can't be helped. All I can do is ensure that I've passed along this information to you. You're a smart girl, Rainie. I know you can do it." Mrs. Smith encouraged.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. She was trying to help me, and yet... Here I was, giving her attitude. It's a miracle that the poor woman hasn't resigned after putting up with my mess.

"Alright. Thanks, Mrs. Smith." 

"Anytime, dear. Do you need a late pass to your next class?"  

I nodded my head in silence, in which she began to produce white slip. She scribbled her name on the bottom, along with the date and time of this brief meeting. She handed me the slip, and I took this moment to gather my things. Before fumbling with the doorknob, I shyly faced Mrs. Smith.

"Um, about how old is he?" I pondered innocently.

This earned a Cheshire-like grin from Mrs. Smith, reminding me why I liked her so much. "Twenty-two, give or take."

"How do you know this?" I asked further.

Raising a brow, Mrs. Smith began to click her tongue in amusement. "Gray, do you forget that he is my coworker? Teachers and all other employees of the school alike, have to attend meetings throughout the summer." 

I frowned in annoyance at her calling me by my last name. I suppose the rumors were true, and Mr. Morris really was as young as he seemed.

Thankfully, the next few hours of the school day flew by. My free period was during the fourth/fifth period block, leaving me with a full one hundred minutes to decidedly do as I pleased. Alas, I couldn't actually do as I pleased. 

Stupid classwork.

I chose to spend the time in the library, in attempts to complete at least a small portion of my past due assignments. Kaylen was also in the library, working as one of the few select senior library assistants. I suppose applications were accepted during the summer, an option that was forcibly taken from me. 

Oh well, I guess.

In order to study the most efficiently, I decided to work on the classes that were my strong suit— English and US. Economics. History was actually more my forte, but Economics was somewhat relative to it. I wish history was replaced as one of the required curriculars for 12th graders, but I made due with what I had. I completed economics first, seeing as how there was very little to actually do.

Thankfully.

Kaylen finished her duties as an assistant, and scurried over to the table I was seated at. The table was located in the very back of the library, cornered into one of the private conference rooms. It was perfect for what I was hoping to achieve, allowing me the solitude I desperately needed to concentrate on the task at hand.

"So? How's it all coming along?"

"It's...Coming. Just finished Econ, now it's English." I replied with a heavy sigh.

Kaylen returned the sigh, but with a more taunting exaggeration. "I know, I know. But hey, at least you're able to do whatever you want once all of this is finished?" 

I couldn't help but snort with annoyance, but it wasn't aimed towards her. The targeted day of completion was Friday, which was only four days away. There's no way for me to finish all of this crap before then; if anything, completely throwing effort out of the way would be the only solution. But at the same time, that would totally screw me over even more. 

"Yeah, but there's no way." I said, then quickly explaining how little time I had.

This earned a confused glare from Kaylen, who shared the same look of disbelief I had. "It's like they want you to fail the semester."

"That's what I said!" I exclaimed.

She shook her head, and stood up from solid wood chair that sat beside mine. "We all know that the assignments in the first few weeks of school are the most important. They'll make the most of our grades for the semester." 

I scowled further, nodding my head in agreement. It was extremely detrimental for me to give this year my best, all to miraculously get a scholarship to get the hell out of this town. I couldn't give up, not now.

Waving a temporary goodbye to my best friend, I returned focus on the intimidating stack of papers in front of me.

One subject down, only six more to go.

I fetched the assigned English book, and gently placed it in front of me. A good portion of the English classwork was dedicated to the play we were reading aloud during class, and the rest was left to be used with the textbook. Every year, each class would study at least one Shakespearean work. Last year's was Macbeth, and all I've got to say is that the plot bored me to tears. Why did every single one of Shakespeare's stories have to include treachery? This year's play was, "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

My thoughts were interrupted as my hands turned up empty, while in search of the book. It wasn't in my bag?

Shit.

My brain began to scramble, in an attempt to mentally retrace my steps. Where the hell did I manage to lose it?

I released a breathy sigh, again, deciding to worry about the book later. Until I realized, it was crammed underneath my hoodie, at the very bottom of my bag.

Well, I feel stupid.

I impatiently clicked my mechanical pencil, feeding enough lead through to begin writing. The topics were simple, yet so tedious. It was tedious because I knew just how meticulous I could be with my work. Several minutes passed, tricking me into thinking time had seemed to flow faster. I took a short break, standing from the stiff piece of furniture, stretching my arms and legs. Kaylen was now standing behind the front desk, greeting students and teachers alike. Speaking of teachers...

There he was— Mr. Morris. 

It was truly unfair just how breathtakingly handsome he was, and even more attractive at just how unaware he was of that. 

My eyes trailed along his face, carefully trying not to stare too much. I watched as he scanned the library, as he walked throughout the building. Over his own shoulder, sat a solid black book-bag. 

He's probably about to grade papers, right now.

He finally settled into one of the other conference rooms, which sat directly across from the one I currently occupied. I watched as he removed his own gatherings from his bag, neatly setting them onto the table in front of him. But what I saw next surprised me— another teacher sat down next to him. 

A female teacher. 

I began to gnaw on my lower lip, admittedly irritated at the sight. It wasn't unheard of for teachers to date each other, even the ones that were already married. I shook my head at the thought of infidelity, immediately disgusted. I tore my gaze from the scene before me, deciding that break-time was over. There were more important matters at hand, in comparison to what I got myself annoyed over. To completely center myself over the homework, I came to the conclusion that music would probably help. Producing a tangled pair of headphones from my bag, I plugged them into my phone and began to work.

The block period was finally over, and so was my extra time for the day. I still had a few math worksheets to complete, but that was something to do for tomorrow. I assembled my books and folders, quickly organizing them into my backpack. I pushed in the chair I used for the past two hours, and wrote my signature on the library's student log sheet. 

"Rainie?" 

I froze in my tracks, somewhat recognizing the voice that called upon me. Regrettably, I answered and fought to fight back the frown that would be displayed on my face. 

"Mr. Morris." was all I managed to say.

His features smoothed over into a formal smile, his green eyes matching. I awkwardly stood there, waiting for him to reveal his reasons for calling me over.

I'm going to be late for class at this point. 

"I noticed you were studying in here too. How are things coming along?" He asked with sincerity.

"Uh, yeah. I suppose it's going okay." I replied curtly.

I began to wonder how he saw me, but then again— the rooms weren't that far from each other. It took everything in me to not make eye contact with him. I absentmindedly fumbled with the hem of my shirt, all in order to keep my brain busy from the person who stood before me. 

"Well? That's good?" Mr. Morris added.

I finally looked up, embarrassed that my gross cowardice was showing. I wasn't the sort of person to become so engrossed with this uneasy feeling I had; since when did I become shy?

"Er-yeah." Was all I managed to mumble. 

For a brief moment, I caught his gaze, and could feel colorful butterflies attacking my stomach. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it just as fast as he opened it. I felt relieved, yet slightly disappointed. 

"I... Gotta go. Bye, Mr. Morris." 

Before another syllable could be sounded, I scurried out of the library, barely making it to my next class on time. Settling into my seat, the class's teacher instructed all to retrieve our assigned class materials to begin the day's lesson. 

However, my mind was still shying away to the jumbled thoughts of my English teacher.