Teacher Attachment

Substitute

Jules POV:
My alarm buzzes from the far end of my bed as I yawn for the second time. I drag myself up and crawl towards my phone to stop the buzzing. I check the time only for it to read back at 5:00 a.m. "Ugh." I goan, plopping my face into my hands. I had slept for a solid 4 hours because I spent the night overthinking things. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the kiss out of my head. Sure it seemed like a meaningless peck at most but to me it felt more than the soft kiss I felt her plant on my forehead the night I stayed at her house.

"I think I'm just stupid," I conclude, finally putting an end to my thoughts. Dragging myself out of bed I make my way towards my shower. I thought it best to rid the smell of Lizzie not to get more people suspicious as Charlotte did. I, however, didn't feel like parting with her smell last night and consequently, I have to shower this morning instead. "I should probably return her clothes," I say quietly, eyeing the folded items from the now foggy mirror as I brush my teeth after my shower. I can't help but continuously think about what she meant when she said I "looked better" in her clothes.

I make my way to my closet still reflecting on the words. "Oh, Jules. She didn't mean it as if I looked good... I think." Looking through my clothes I try thinking of a suitable outfit. "What if she does think I look good? But why would she think that? I mean she can't possibly like me back, right?" My gaze lands on a short dress I've never worn but that would be just passable for school. A terrible idea hatches in my mind. "Only one way to find out I guess."

Gathering whatever senses I have left I grab my backpack and look at myself in the mirror. My reflection shows a small dainty blue dress, my white cardigan, my black Converse, and a white bow and small necklace I paired with my outfit. "What am I doing?" I think to myself while the other part of me knows exactly what I'm doing and what I want to come from it.

Not trying to think about what might happen I make my way downstairs. "Good morning," I said to my mother who was sipping her coffee. "Jules? Why are you wearing that?" Her tone is questionable but her face shows some fear. "Ok then." I sigh as she just ignores my greeting. I grab an orange and make my way towards the door.

"Have a good day, Jules." I pause in my tracks processing who has just said that. I slowly turn around, confusion written all over my face. "Thank- thank you, Tom." I struggle to say, or simply even believe. My mouth opens to say something else and I look back and forth between my mother's dumb-struck face and Tom's smile before deciding to just smile back and exit the house.

"What is going on?" I peel my orange and make my way to school. The mornings are always chilly and I can feel it in my face. I walk slowly not wanting to get sweaty or arrive too early. I also turn to see every single car that passes me because for some reason I feel like someone is watching me. Multiple cars pass by me at every stop light. Mainly black ones, white ones, gray ones, and the occasional red ones.

Before I know it I arrive at school which seems to be pretty dead with no one around. I check my phone for the time: 8:35 a.m. "Shoot," I say, quickening my pace, "I'm late."
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Entering my silent class I awkwardly make my way to my seat where my friends are sitting at our table. "What are we doing?" I whisper to my friends who are eyeing me.

"You look so pretty, Jules!" Abby whispers-shouts at me, causing me to smile. "And we're writing an essay about the lab we did last week."
"Great..." I sigh, tossing my head down before getting my computer to begin. "It's not all bad. Ms. Lopez isn't here so we're safe from any government cases."

"Oh my god!" I suddenly hear Rebekah say. "Our sub used to teach at Lincoln, but my sister said that he used to hit on the girls. He tried hitting on her but she switched out so he didn't get a chance. But this one girl ended up liking him and she said that she saw them leave in a car together one time and that they moved him. His name's Euguene Holloway."

I begin to focus on my assignment seeing as I only have 45 minutes left but keep note of the conversation as my friends continue to talk.
Throughout the day I keep finding a time where I can go see Lizzie but every time I try something comes up. During break, I saw a teacher go into her classroom and knew I shouldn't go in.

Between classes, my friends always decided to go around the corridors that didn't lead to her door. Finally, lunch came around and just as I was going towards her class I saw the substitute that Rebekah spoke of. He was a tall, tan, short-haired man. I could see why someone would fall for him, but he was also a man in my way with a bad reputation. As I was deciding what to do we ended up making eye contact. I felt my face go red and he gave me a smirk before looking me up and down. Disgust, no doubt, showed in the form of a frown on my face, and I quickly turned around and headed toward the dining hall.

I refrained from eating as I couldn't get over what had just happened and how anxious I was starting to get to see Lizzie. Soon lunch came to an end and I had to make my way to my second to last class where the infamous substitute would be waiting.

Not wanting to cause a fuss I simply made my way in with a crowd of people and sat in my respective seat without looking up.

"Good afternoon class. My name is Mr. Holloway. As you can see, Ms. Lopez is out on family matters and I will be your substitute today. On the board is your assignment and if you have any questions feel free to ask me." I stared at him out of respect along with my peers but, as noticed by my peers and myself, he continued to make eye contact with me. I swallowed in discomfort each time I felt his brown eyes land upon me.

Sitting in the back corner was finally working to my advantage. At first, it was a punishment given by my teacher for talking with Charlotte during the lesson but I was now thankful for it. Keeping me away from the front desk where my substitute was better than anything I could've been given. As I was finishing up my assignment

I felt Mr. Holloway was staring at me. He was making his rounds around the classroom making sure everyone was on task. He made his way over to me and I felt his hand land on my back.
I instinctively moved away from him, towards the wall, and looked at him expectantly. "Sorry sweetie," he winked, "I just wanted to check up on you."

"I'm fine, thank you," I say quickly, wanting him to leave.

"You're Jules, correct?" He asked as if he hadn't smiled brightly at me when I raised my hand for attendance.

"Yes," I reply as uninterested as I can to which he laughs. "Ok," he says before making his way to the front of the class, "pack up guys and feel free to head out once you're done, class is over in a minute anyways. Jules, stay behind."

I wince at him saying my name, a pit in my stomach forms and tells me to ignore him and get out of there but reason takes over and tells me not to disrespect him. As much as I don't like him, he is still my substitute.

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A/N: hi guys i'm writing this from my moms. loser bc she caught me watching mlp on my laptop at 4 in the morning the other night 😭😭 anyways she took it and grounded me 😔 but i have school tomorrow so she should give me back. i'll let you know tomorrow (if i post i got it back, if not she either caught me or just didn't get it back 😭) hope you liked this 🙏