Hot For Teacher (gxg)

chapter eighteen: amelia's backstory

WARNING: EMOTIONAL ABUSE AND MENTIONS OF A DRUG.

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"Have you got no shame for yourself?!"

Slap! Slap! Slap!

Blood blistered my palms. The five strikes from the stick caused me excruciating agony and brought tears to my eyes. The other nuns seemed as repulsed as Mother Therese did when she stared at me angrily. This can't possibly be happening to me. What on earth have I done to be so treacherous? I broke down in tears because the anguish was too much to bear.

"I-I–"

"Disgrace!" My left hand was bleeding from a cut when mother shouted and beat me with her stick again. "Why would you do such a thing? Who taught you this?!"

One of the nuns caught me kissing Rachel, who was also prepared to do it. I happened to kiss her while we were alone in the restroom. The sensation of my heart exploding with joy coursed through my body as I had my first kiss. There was a place I belonged, but it seemed inaccessible and out of reach. We continued touching till I think I touched her face. At some point, I thought we weren't going to get caught.

The bad news is that we did.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I cried out, squirming and wincing like a baby. "I-I won't do it again, I-I promise! Please stop–"

Thwat!

Returning her stick to the table, she gripped my jaw, putting an end to my protests. "Starting now, you're going to avoid that girl," she says in a hushed voice. Do you understand me, Evie?"

With a painful groan, I nodded and wriggled free of her grip on my jaw. What have I done wrong? In my naiveté, I fooled myself into thinking I was doing the right thing. Still, my actions resulted in consequences. Was it bad to kiss girls? It has to have been. Men and women were the only genders mentioned in the Bible. Furthermore, they are inseparable, regardless of gender. Even though I knew it, I had no idea things would grow that awful.

"I'm sorry, Mother Therese. It won't happen again."

"Good," she says, taking a step back and turning to speak with the nuns. I didn't understand a word she said, but I had a feeling mother was going to send me to a class where I would learn the Bible's fundamentals and be reminded that I shouldn't do anything like that. "You're free to go."

Rachel and I lost touch a week later. I did try to find her, if honestly, I must confess. I went through every single classroom, the cafeteria, the park, and, finally, our beloved spot—right by the campus's majestic tree. Unfortunately, she had vanished without a trace, leaving me devastated. I begged her to return while I sobbed myself to sleep. For the first time in my life, she reassured me that I was doing the right thing and shielded me from the harsh realities of the world. I was careful not to let her down or make her feel rushed.

And now that she's gone, I don't know what to do with myself.

/

I was eating alone at the dinner table when I saw my mom approaching me, an envelope in her hand. I gave her a quizzical look and asked, "What's wrong, mum?"

She slammed the envelope down on the table with a harsh sigh, shaking her head as if she had seen something so evil from me. Did she find out about Rachel? Had Mother Therese told her what happened? I started shivering from fear, shrinking my shoulders as I expected her to slap me across the face.

"Amelia, you are failing all your major subjects–except English."

If I had to be honest, I was severely distracted from my schoolwork. And I knew that I was a slow learner, but I always had to try harder. Be smart, it's for your family. All you want to do is to make your family proud, right? Amelia, you are such a disgrace to this family. You're stupid, you're nothing. You're worthless.