The Teaching Assistant

Chapter 31
The Teaching Assistant, Part 31

Part 31

Amelia hadn’t seen herself in a mirror since first changing into the academy uniform. 

Now that she knew how much Ashley had screwed her over with this elaborate prank, however, the reflection in the bathroom mirror told a much different story. Instead of an adult dressing like a schoolgirl for the sake of fitting in and not distracting the other students, it was admittedly easy to see how literally everyone had made the mistake. Amelia was shorter than usual, and the uniform was not flattering in the slightest on her smaller frame. While the french braid wasn’t the worst style, her blonde locks still looked better and more mature when worn down. 

Despite all that, she still saw her true self in the mirror. A recent college grad, a soon to be teacher, merely playing dress up. But that was just because Amelia knew herself. She was well aware of her not so mature features, as she saw herself naked every morning. Normally carrying herself properly and wearing the right clothes was all she needed to keep herself from being mistaken as someone younger. The problem was, no one at Westridge actually knew her. And the uniform alone was pretty damning when paired with her size. 

Sighing to herself, Amelia made short work of stripping off the uniform. She belatedly realized there were no hangers in the bathroom, but there was no way she was going to poke her head out of the bathroom when only wearing underwear. Instead, she folded the skirt and dress shirt and stacked them on the counter along with the plaid tie, and hung the blazer on a hook on the back of the door. Good enough. Then, after starting the water so it had time to heat up, Amelia removed the last of her garments before collecting all the things Claire had provided for her. Stepping behind the curtain and slightly adjusting the water before fully committing, she set all the toiletries down where there was space for them and let the warm water cascade down her body. 

It was a surprisingly good shower for a school. Great water pressure, and actually hot water. Amelia had braced herself for neither. While it still felt wasteful to be showering for a second time on the same day, it honestly was the nice reprieve she expected. No teachers, or classmates, or dark haired deviants to bother her and treat her like a student. But the comfort of the hot water and solitude was a bit soured by the knowledge of what was waiting for her afterwards. The two senior girls were right on the other side of the door, and Amelia didn’t feel prepared in the slightest for the conversation that was supposed to follow her shower. 

This was supposed to earn her a chat about both the student thing and getting her phone back, neither of which were things she should have to barter about in the first place. And how was she supposed to deal with the teenage girl logic that Ashley kept throwing at her? To be a teacher, Amelia had to prove that she could handle the very same classes she would be assisting with? It made sense at some vague level, but only just. Not only was Amelia supposed to be a teaching assistant, but she was new to this field in general. Before specializing, it would be absolutely fair for her to brush up on lesson plans before the classes she was supposed to be teaching. Since she hadn’t landed the job yet, however, she was not prepared for an entire schedule of difficult classes. That much had been proven by the aptitude test, and how challenging the afternoon had been when jumping in mid-course. 

Amelia stood under the hot water for what felt like forever after she had finished cleaning herself. She told herself it was to think of something good to say to the girls waiting outside, but deep down knew that it was because she was putting off dealing with the whole thing. Eventually, she had to turn the water off. After drying off, Amelia fully pulled the curtain back. A knot formed in her stomach when she saw that her clothes weren’t where she left them. No neat pile of underwear and uniform pieces; no blazer hanging on the bathroom door. “Shit,” she muttered to herself. For a moment, the assumption was that Ashley was trying to mess with her again. But Amelia had just showered, so it’s not like putting on the same clothes was ideal. She would have done it, as obviously that was better than just having a towel, though maybe Ashley was finding something else for her to wear and taking her sweet time. Either way, Amelia guessed that the concept of making her nervous with the empty bathroom was the girl’s plan. 

She took a breath. Stepping out of the tub and wincing at the cold tile on her feet, she checked the door first. No lock; at least she didn’t have to kick herself for not thinking about doing that before getting in the shower. Before calling out to Ashley, Amelia took a few minutes with what hadn’t been removed from the bathroom. She brushed her teeth with the pink toothbrush Claire had found for her, and applied the deodorant that had a similar color of plastic. That was it. No hair dryer, curling iron, or even a brush. Amelia dried her hair off as best as she was able, but ultimately ended up looking less put together than she had in the uniform. Only a towel wrapped around her petite frame, no make-up to sharpen her more youthful facial features, and damp hair that would be clinging to her here and there until it fully air dried. 

Amelia couldn’t stall for any longer. The shower had been lengthy enough, and it’s not like she could keep hoping that Ashley would return with something for her to wear. At the same time, leaving the bathroom in just a towel wasn’t ideal. So she did what she had opted not to do earlier when thinking about how a hanger would be better than folding. Cracking the door just an inch, she quietly called out, “Ashley?”

“All done, Millie?” Ashley answered right away.

The time alone had temporarily made Amelia forget about the nickname. Now wasn’t the time to push back on that. And, while she wanted to mention the invasion of privacy–especially taking the underwear–Amelia didn’t want to sound like she was complaining when she was already in such a vulnerable state. “I need something to wear,” she said. Starting with that was better. She could deal with the rest after she was clothed again.

Of course, Ashley wasn’t going to make things that easy. Otherwise, she would have simply left something on the counter in place of the uniform. “Come out here, okay? We’ll deal with all that in a minute.”

“But, Ashley-”

“Now, Millie. Or do you not want to talk?”

As usual, Amelia was stuck. She did want to talk, and was once again stuck in a black/white kind of situation where there really was no answer without trying to out-logic the dark haired girl on the other side of the door. Especially when it was framed in a way that sounded like not leaving the bathroom would take away the conversation she had ‘earned’ by showering. 

Taking a quiet breath to steel herself, Amelia opened the door and stepped back into the dorm room. Somehow, she needed to act like the mature woman that she was. Except she couldn’t remember the last time she was toweled in front of anyone. Even at college, she had an adjoining bathroom between her room and a suite-mate. That girl respected the privacy of a closed door, so Amelia could fully get her collection of subtle enhancements in place before anyone saw her. And, after workouts, she would opt for walking back to her own place before showering and changing instead of using the communal showers. This was the first time in years someone was going to see her like this, and it was Ashley of all people. 

Standing just a step or two back into the room, Amelia said, “Okay. Let’s talk.”

Ashley just rolled her eyes. “Not from over there, Millie. Come, sit.” She patted the spot on the bed next to her, then said, “Claire’s washing your clothes. She’ll be back with something for you to wear to bed soon.”

Bed. Surely that wasn’t going to happen, right? Amelia couldn’t actually sleep on campus like a student. It was past curfew, like the girls had told her, but Claire was a prefect. There had to be a way for Amelia to get back to her car. Except now she had even less of her things than before. “Ashley-”

“Come on, Millie. I don’t bite.” Ashley patted the same spot as before. 

“Umm . . . ” She didn’t know what to say. No biting, sure, but the girl had slapped her pretty hard before sending her off to shower. And now Amelia was practically naked. It had been difficult enough to keep up with the small debates when she had been fully dressed, which made this all the more daunting. There was also a noticeably constant use of ‘Millie’ in almost all of Ashley’s responses, but it was the same problem as before–too much to deal with. Amelia needed clothes, preferably the ones she had worn onto campus that morning. Her phone as well, and her car keys. And, finally, a promise that this would all stay between the three of them. Despite everything, Amelia was still clinging to the hope that she could land a job at the prestigious school. Ashley and Claire would graduate in less than a year, so it’s not like they would be a problem forever. “Okay,” Amelia relented. Still trying to play it as cool as she was able, she padded across the room and delicately sat down on the edge of the bed. 

Ashley gave her a pretty blatant once over. “Not a lot of boob there, Millie. I mean, less than earlier. Do you pad your bras?”

All Amelia’s hopes of keeping a bit of dignity and authority as the older girl evaporated when the simple observation caused her to blush dark red. The opening comment was so blunt and casually insulting, she ended up awkwardly blurting out the truth. “No, it, umm- it was a push-up.” If Ashley had called her flat that morning in such a way, Amelia would have berated her. Now that the roles had been reversed, however, she had very little wind after such a long, demeaning day. 

“You realize that’s false advertising, right?” Ashley pointed out. 

In a way, she was right. But what else was the small blonde supposed to do when she was constantly mistaken for a teenager when not around her peers? “It’s not like that,” Amelia muttered. Of course Ashley wouldn’t understand, being a hot girl with the height and curves most girls only dreamed of having. 

“So you say.” Ashley brushed her hair back, then met Amelia’s eyes. “So, Millie. What did you want to talk about?”