Read The Not Gate (Tom and Alice #1) for Free Online Page B

already.
    He couldn’t stop his mind from whirring away with stupid questions. Not even questions really, just problems.
    Did he really believe that she wouldn’t have recognised that look he’d “accidently” given her? Jesus, it was the look he would give a woman he was trying to pick up in a bar, but even then he thought that would’ve held less passion or intent. Thinking her age would be his defence for letting his emotions slip was a mistake. Girls could be very experienced these days and Alice, as attractive as she was, would surely draw lots of male interest.
    Her eyes had shown understanding and it scared him. Then the way she responded when his leg had brushed her knee, he knew she felt the attraction, as he’d felt hers. It was so dangerous.
    Run Tom, run!
    He had to keep saying to himself, ‘Teacher student, teacherstudent,’like it was some kind of mantra every time his tired brain fell into a fantasy that both sickened him and that he so desperately craved.
    He had visions of her slender frame and full breasts under his own hard body, pressing her plump lips to his chest in a kiss, looking up at his face as he moved over her .
    Fuck no …
    He had to stop this. Leave the school or something. Was he really that weak? Could he not get this into check?
    He thought then about talking to one of his mates, but feared none of them being from the teaching profession would understand the ethical dilemma. They may even pat him on the back and egg him on, relishing in the wrongness of it all. A younger woman, innocent, corruptible and all that.
    He could talk to his sister but thought she would disown him. Thinking him a paedophile, which he wholeheartedly believed he wasn’t. A sick pervert maybe? But Alice wasn’t a child, she was a woman, in his eyes at least. The age wasn’t the draw at all, it was the person.
    He had too many bloody questions.
    He got out of bed and stumbled in the dark down the stairs and into the kitchen. He clattered about and found the single malt in the drinks cupboard. He sat only in his boxers at the dining table, his head in his hands, staring at the bottle for long moments wondering if it held any of the answers? Eventually he poured a glass and decided it may not bring answers but it would probably bring sleep and for tonight that would have to do.

HALLOWEEN
    Tuesday 31 st October
    H alloween was considered quite a big deal at Claude Bennett school. Without fail, every year the school would hold a Halloween fancy dress party for sixth formers. It didn’t matter if it was a school night or not they still had the party. That may sound strange but the tradition originated about twenty years ago. The story went – how much was true Alice wasn’t sure – that a teacher’s daughter, a girl with a bit of a wild streak had accidently killed herself while sniffing glue or something like that at a Halloween party hosted by some local youths in their garage.
    Her mother, the teacher, grief stricken yet focused, had demanded that the headmaster hold supervised parties at the school from that year on. To keep kids safe or just because she needed to focus on something other than the pain. Tickets were sold and local businesses acted as sponsors. All the proceeds went to a solvent abuse charity set up in the dead girl’s name. Alice admired the woman’s drive and the school’s commitment to the cause, even though the headmaster and teachers had probably changed at least threefold since the incident had happened.
    This year Halloween fell on a Tuesday. Alice was happy, even though it was a school night, because she loved dressing up. It called to her kooky side. It didn’t matter the occasion, if someone said “fancy dress” her ears would prick up with sudden interest.
    In August, she had started working on a chicken wire and papier-mâché creation. It was a giant orange pumpkin suit that she was sure would win her the best costume title. The arrival of Mr Chambers last month had