Teachers Pet

eight

"what took you so long?" Aaron asked, pushing off of the wall he was leaning on.

I shrugged, "I was busy."

I could see his hesitation in my response but he chose to ignore it, gesturing to his car as we both hopped in. "What's wrong?" I questioned, sensing the tension in the air. 

Aaron took a deep breath, gripping onto the steering wheel. "Nothing." He shook his head, faking a smile at me. "It's nothing. Let's just uh..." He turned the key over, starting the car. "Let's go to lunch."

_

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" I looked up to my brother, picking at my salad. "What?"

"Well your knuckles are bandaged and Professor Stan gave me a call." I groaned, letting my head fall backward. 

"Look, Viv." I slowly met his eyes. "The only reason you got into this college is that I gave in a good word." My jaw dropped, listening to him. "Same as Florence." Looking back down, I shuffled my fork through my salad.

 "I'm not trying to be a dick..." 

"Yet you are." I snapped raising my head, "Saying the only reason I got it was not for my academic scores but your influence." Aaron took a deep breath, "I know how it sounds-"

"No, you don't!" I shouted, gaining the attention of other customers in the cafe. Lowering my voice, I spoke again. "I know I'm not the smartest. But you don't have to make me feel shitty for-"

"I can't have you getting into fights!" Aaron boomed, meeting my eyes. I shut my mouth, dropping my fork softly into the bowl. 

"I can't have you punching kids in classrooms then expect me to clean up your mess." I inhaled deeply, wringing my fingers together. "Viviana, look at me while I'm talking to you!" I raised my head, listening with tears in my eyes. "You are under my supervision while being here. Which means you can't just punch someone when..."

Aaron stopped, seeing a tear slip down my cheek. "Viv. You can't cry just to get out of-"

"He touched my ass!" I let out a sob, not caring about the many eyes looking at our confrontation. Letting out a shaky breath, "The kid touched my ass so I clocked him in the face." 

Aaron stared at me in shock, dropping his head. "I'm sorry, Viv. I didn't know. I know you don't want to think about the past. I'm-"

"Don't bring him up!" I cried, thinking of my ex-boyfriend back home. Standing up, I grabbed my jacket, swinging it over my shoulders. "Viv! Just sit. We can-" Aaron tried to reason, making me shake my head. "No! Leave me alone right now."

I started to bolt from the restaurant, ignoring my brother's shouts from behind me. "Viv! It's raining!"

I kept going, running out of the doors and into the sopping wet streets of New York. Looking both ways, I ran to the right; getting as far away from Aaron as possible. 

I could hear people talking as they walked under umbrellas. Most of them going home from work or meeting up with friends. Taxis honked and bikers sped through the streets. I sobbed, slightly thankful it was raining as the water mixed with my tears. 

Flashbacks shot through my mind. My ex. The things he did and the way everyone back home knew about it. Aaron had no right to bring him up. I was tired of being the victim. The one always being stood up for instead of doing it myself. 

How dare he-

"Viviana!!" I turned, looking at the familiar face shouting from the car that had pulled up next to me. 

Tom. 

"Oh," I attempted a smile, "Hi."

A line of cars had piled up behind his but he didn't seem to care. Nor hear the parade of honks behind him. 

"Are you alright?!" I nodded, pushing my hair over my shoulder. Yet I lied, I wasn't okay. Mentally my mind was a storm. And physically I was shivering. Which didn't go unnoticed by Tom as he looked me up and down worryingly. 

"Get in." His voice softened, no longer in a shout. 

I shook my head, "I'm okay. I wouldn't want to get your seats wet."

Tom reached over, pushing open the car door. "Get in." I looked to the angry drivers behind him, opting for cover from the downpour. 

Climbing in, I buckled, pulling my legs up to my chest as he started to drive again. Tom turned up the heat, blowing all the fans on me. I could feel my body start to heat up, internally sighing. 

"Your shivering." Tom looked over to me, "What happened?" I gulped, "Had a fight with my brother." Shrugging, I paused, "I don't wanna talk about it."

He nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. We sat like that, in silence, for a couple of minutes before I asked. "Where are we going." Tom glanced at me before turning onto a residential road, "My house. That way I can warm you up properly."

A/N: I am so very sorry for the late update!! Between focusing on school and starting a new job, I have had basically no time to myself. I hope you guys are liking the story and continue to read as I post more! I obviously will be able to post more after graduation which is only a month or so. But until then...

Thank you for reading!! Don't forget to vote and leave comments!!