A schoolgirl and her teacher lover panicked as the net closed in on their secret relationship, a court heard.
Rumours were circulating around school that Jeremy Forrest, 30, was in a relationship with the girl, then 15, who cannot be named for legal reasons, Lewes Crown Court was told.
After the girl was visited by child protection officers, she packed a bag and her passport, while Forrest withdrew cash from his bank account and they then fled the country to France, it is claimed.
Forrest is charged with abduction after leaving the country with the girl. He denies the charge.
On day three of a two-week trial, the court heard a police interview with the girl.
She described how they first kissed in a classroom when she was 14 at Bishop Bell C of E School in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
In the days leading up to the kiss, the teenager said she turned up at school early specifically to see him.
She said she could not remember the first time they had sex but that it happened in "a few hotels" when she would tell her mother she was staying with a friend.
She said Forrest felt "guilty" about it, and wanted to check that was what she wanted.
"He knew he would go to prison, lose his job and not work with children again," she told officers.
She also described how Twitter correspondence with Forrest grew into a text relationship, which steadily became more flirty and serious.
It culminated in the sexual relationship, with Forrest telling her that his marriage was over.
He told the girl he wanted her to meet his parents, she said, and suspected that he even showed them a picture of her.
The court head that Forrest had looked up how long he could face behind bars for having sex with a child.
Before boarding the ferry to France, the girl said Forrest jotted down the phone numbers of relatives, including his mother and father, before throwing his phone into the sea to avoid being traced.
No passport checks were done on the girl at the port, and after they boarded the Dover to Calais service the atmosphere between the pair became more relaxed, she said.
After disembarking, they drove to Paris where Forrest drove round showing her some of the sights before parking near Gard du Nord railway station, she continued.
They headed to Bordeaux and over the coming days they prepared CVs to apply for jobs, while wondering whether they had made the news back home.
On a visit to an internet cafe, Forrest logged on to a local newspaper website and saw that their disappearance was the most-read story on it.
"That scared us," the girl said. "We did speak about whether it was national but I said no it wouldn't be because people go missing all the time, so it was hard to tell how and why it would make the news.
"He said, 'I'm going to prison, I'm going to get caught, I'm not going to see you'. He was worried that his family would disown him and that friends wouldn't support him."
The pair's time in France came to an end when they were suddenly held by French police in the street. As they were held apart by officers, the pair mouthed "I love you" at one another, she said.
On their capture, the girl said: "I didn't expect it. I was in shock, I'm still in shock. It didn't feel like it was happening. When the French police officers came over, they weren't dressed in what we expected."
The trial continues.
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