Meet Me in the Hallway (HS AU)

four.

"Ok, superstars. I'll start the timer and I want you to complete as much of the addition grid as you can in 5 minutes. Ready, set... GO!" I started the timer and the sound of pencils on paper filled the room.

I pulled open a new tab and looked up the closest hardware store's website. I opened the paint colour list and had a look through the swatches available, screenshotting a few to add to my wishlist when the funding is distributed.

The timer went off and the kids threw their pencils down in a huff.

"I only had 3 more to go."

"That wasn't 5 minutes!"

"Amarla cheated!"

Their voices overlapped into a blur.

I put my hands on my head, "Hands on top,"

"That means stop." The class responded, silence filling the room.

"Okay, we'll read through the answers before the lunch bell goes."

I read the answers aloud to the class, collect their scores and dismissed them out for their lunch break after the bell. The staff lounge once again sounded better to sit in than the classroom so I grabbed my laptop, lunch and phone and headed up the hallway to the lounge. Sandra was reading the paper as she ate her sandwich in the armchair by the window, Rob was laying back on the couch I usually sit in with a basketball between his feet and his phone in his hand and Mr Styles was sitting at the only table in the staff lounge with his laptop, an empty chair opposite him.

I pulled the chair out and sat down, pulled out my laptop and chicken wrap and began eating while looking at new artwork for the classroom revamp. I felt eyes on me and looked up to meet his piercing green ones. I raised my brow and titled my head to the side, silently asking him to stop looking at me.

"It's lunch, now isn't the time to be doing class work." He looked so confused at the idea of working on your lunch break.

"As a matter of fact, I'm not working. I am looking at new paint for the walls and furniture as well as posters and art to decorate it with once the funding is distributed." I took another bite of my wrap, watching his lip twist up into a smirk.

"Paint and art for the room you work in," he sat back into his seat, "sounds like work to me."

I rolled my eyes, "you don't get it." I moved my attention back to the screen in front of me, continuing on my wrap.

We sat in silence the rest of lunch before returning to class for the last two hours of the work week. I packed my bag and headed out to my car. Once I closed the door and turned my key in the ignition, I froze. It was Friday, Will wanted us to go out drinking with his work friends tonight. My thoughts ran wild, what will happen tonight? Will he take it easy tonight? Will I be able to get him home tonight?

I don't know how long I was sitting there staring at the steering wheel. It must have been a while though because a knock on my window pulled me from my anxious trance. I looked out the window and into those fucking green eyes. Why the fuck is he smirking? I wound down the window and huffed in annoyance.

"What?" I snapped at him, he seemed taken aback by my attitude but I was not in the mood to worry about his feelings right now.

"You know, to go somewhere, you actually have to drive the car? Not just look at the wheel and hope it takes you where you want to go."

I maintained eye contact while winding the window, backing up and pulling out of the park, I flashed my middle finger at him and saw him laughing at it - which aggravated me further.

I decided to shower before we went out, knowing I wouldn't have the energy to do so after we got home. I stripped myself down to my underwear and looked in the mirror. The bruising across my stomach, chest, thighs and upper arms had turned a brown colour, meaning hopefully they would be fully healed in a few days. My back was still tender so I turned to see the bruising up my spine had dulled to a green colour.

I had a quick shower, not bothering to wash my hair, just wash away the smell of crayons. I shut the shower off, wrapped my body in a towel and headed to the bedroom. The clock on the bedside table flashed 4:30. That meant an hour and a half until Will got home and an hour and a half to prepare myself for the night ahead.

I had to get dressed, eat and make myself look decent, all while trying to not overthink tonight and get myself worked up. My red fluffy robe was on top of the chest of drawers so I grabbed it and wrapped it around me, securing it with the belt. Will probably won't eat before he goes out tonight, he never does, so I decided to cook my food now before he got home. There were leftovers in the fridge so I decided those would be an easy option.

My makeup was laid out on the bathroom counter and I began applying it. Heavy makeup was never something I wanted to do when I went places with Will. I used to love makeup and experimenting with colours in university but not so much now. There were a lot of things I used to love doing in university that I don't do much anymore, if at all. I didn't go out with my friends on weekends anymore -mostly because Will didn't like any of my friends so I distanced myself from them for him, I loved just going for a drive at night with my music playing -I'm not really brave enough to leave in the night anymore with Will in the house.

I looked at the reflection looking back at me, looking almost the same but with darker lashes and brows, a darker shade on my lip than usual and a light brush of highlight on my cheekbones. Also on the bathroom counter was my outfit for the night, which was harder to pick than I had anticipated because I needed to hide the bruising while still looking casual. The outfit consisted of a black denim skirt which fell to mid thigh -which should just cover the thigh bruising, a white turtleneck bodysuit with long sleeves to cover the back, chest and arm bruising and black strappy heels.

I would have loved to wear black jeans and the red lace bodysuit I have in the back of my drawer but the marks restrict me to quite modest clothes. My hair just sat at my shoulders, there is no point styling it because it will just go back to a short mess once we get there.

Then the front door clicked shut.

"Babe, ready to go-", he looked into the bathroom, "hello, gorgeous! Look at you all dressed up." He put his hands on my hips and looked me up and down before whispering, "So beautiful, baby." His lips met mine and his hands came up to sit on the sides of my neck.

I kissed him back, enjoying the moment of peace before the night broke loose. I pulled away quicker than he had probably hoped and checked my lipstick in the mirror. "I'm ready to go if you are." I panted, walking past him to get my little clutch purse with my money and phone in it.

"Yeah, Uber is out the front." He grabbed my hand and led me to the car, opening the door for me and closing it behind me.

Breathe Josephine.

We drove for around 15 minutes before the car pulled up out the front of a bar with a mexican theme. It seemed to be quite busy considering it was 6:30 on a Friday night.

"It's $10 fishbowl night. They have these glass fish bowls that they fill with cocktails-" Will rambled, obviously very excited. My heart started racing.

I knew we weren't going to have a quiet night.