Chapter 2 The Rebel In The Last Row

The next morning, Amara dressed more carefully.

She told herself it was because the weather had changed, cooler and windier but deep down she knew the truth remained the same. It was his eyes, that gaze from yesterday... unsettling and impossible to ignore.

She chose a darker blouse today and buttoned it higher than usual. She packed her hair into a tight bun 'No distractions, no mistakes', she said to herself.

By the time she reached Room 4C, the room was already half full. The usual teenage chatter bounced off the walls like echoes of chaos, but her eyes instinctively scanned for him but he wasn't there.

She felt a strange combination of relief and disappointment.

Ten minutes into the lesson;

Today's focus: "poetic devices in Keats...." then he entered.

Late again, no explanation, no apology, just the sound of heavy boots and the same quiet command of space as he made his way to the last row. He dropped into the seat like the world owed him rest, leaned back and watched her, not the board, not the poem, but her.

"Mr. Carter," she said sharply, keeping her eyes on the board. "We start at 8:00 not 8:14."

He didn't answer which made her she turn slowly.

"You're going to need to learn punctuality. This isn't a café you can stroll into whenever you like."

He tilted his head and said, "But it's not like you started without me."

A few students laughed. Amara's grip tightened around the marker.

"See me after class," she said, returning to the board, "We'll talk about responsibility."

He didn't respond, but she felt the shift in the room. The students grew quieter, more attentive, not to the poem, but to the tension unfolding.

Throughout the lesson, Amara pushed forward. She posed questions, marked participation, and deliberately avoided looking at the back of the room.

Still she felt him watching, listening and studying.

When the bell rang, students poured out like water bursting through a dam, all except one.

Liam remained.

He stretched lazily, like a cat unbothered by consequence, and stood up only when the room was empty. Amara crossed her arms and leaned against the desk.

"You're testing me," she said quietly.

"Testing?" he echoed, moving toward her, "No I'm just observing"

"Don't get clever, this isn't a game Liam."

He stopped in front of her, closer than necessary. Close enough that she could smell the faintest trace of something woodsy on his skin,soap? cologne? trouble?

"Why do you say my name like that?" he asked with a low voice "Like it tastes strange on your tongue."

"I say it the way I say every student's name."

"No," he said, eyes flicking to her mouth, then back to her eyes. "You don't"

Her heart raced and she hated that it did "I don't care what you think you see, Mr. Carter," she said, taking a step backwards "This is your second warning for lateness. The third won't be private."

Liam's jaw tensed, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face "Is that how you handle all your problems? Warnings and distance?"

"I'm your teacher, that's all I need to be"

His lips parted, but whatever he was about to say vanished as the classroom door creaked open.

Mr. Daniels, the school's vice principal, peeked in. "Miss Blake, a quick word in the staff room when you're free."

She nodded stiffly and replied "of course Sir."

As the door closed again, she turned back, but Liam was already walking out. He didn't even say goodbye neither did he glance at her.Just a quiet smirk thrown over his shoulder that said: "You can run, but I'll still be here"

In the staff room, Amara's nerves still buzzed.

Daniels poured two cups of coffee and handed her one "How's Class 12B treating you?"

"Challenging," she admitted "but nothing I can't handle sir"

He took a slow sip, then fixed his eyes on her. "How's Liam Carter?"

Her fingers tightened around the cup. "He's... different, sharp and unpredictable"

Daniels nodded grimly "He's dangerous."

That word lingered in the air like a storm cloud.

"He's older than the others," Daniels went on. "He went off the rails last year and got into a nasty fight where he broke a teacher's nose."

Amara's eyes widened

"He was expelled but got reinstated under strict conditions. You'd do well to keep your distance."

She managed a nod "of course"

But even as she walked back to her classroom, Daniels' warning echoed behind her, and Liam's voice whispered just beneath it.

"You don't say my name like you say the others..."

The last class of the day dragged on.

She stayed after school to grade some essays, trying to chase away the mental fog Liam Carter left behind. The sky outside dimmed into a smoky twilight, clouds stretching like bruises across the horizon.

When she finally packed up and opened the classroom door, her breath hitched.

Liam was there leaning against the lockers opposite her room,waiting for her.

The hallway was empty, and eerie in its silence. Most of the staff had gone home.

"Do you sleep here?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light.

He shrugged and said "I had a feeling you'd still be here"

She stepped forward, trying to brush past him.

He blocked her gently with one arm not forceful, just a motion that made her stop.

"Why do you keep looking at me like you're afraid of what I'll say next?" he asked.

"I'm not afraid of you"

His eyes darkened "You should be"

She stared at him, pulse thunderous "What do you want from me, Liam?"

His voice dropped, full of quiet, dangerous intent "The truth"

"I'm your teacher",she said

"And I'm not a boy",he replied immediately

She took a step back and he let her.

Without another word, he turned and walked away, the sound of his boots echoing down the corridor.

Amara stared after him, frozen and shocked but as she reached her car ten minutes later, a folded piece of paper fluttered from beneath her windshield wiper.

She picked it up with trembling fingers and unfolded it.

One line written in messy bold handwriting:

"I DON'T FOLLOW RULES, I BREAK THEM AND YOU SHOULD STOP PRETENDING YOU DON'T WANT TO"

Her knees almost gave way and for the first time since she met Liam Carter, she was terrified of what might happen next.