Have We Gone Too Far? [Slash]

Chapter 7

  Watching him as he combed his hair reminded me of how incredible it looked last night. It was all flouncy and wispy; beautiful. 

  “You look great,” I told him.

  “Thanks, I’ve got to look my best for the first day at work.”

  “First day!” I said. “Good luck,” I laughed. “You should have told me sooner, if I’d known I wouldn’t have kept you up so late,” I said, taking responsibility.

  “It’s not your fault. And I’ll need all the luck I can get. Kids aren’t always the easiest people to work with.”

  “What do you do?” I asked him, curiously.

  “I'm a substitute teacher at this school and a kind of therapist. The school seems alright but I'm so scared that I’ll have to deal with someone I can’t handle.”

  I wanted to try and help him feel better but we all know that when you get a new substitute teacher, you’re going to make his life hell.

  “You’ll have to make sure they know you’re in charge right from the start, or they’ll just muck about none stop and no one will listen to a word you say.”

  He smiled at me to let me know that he appreciated the advice.

  “I don’t think I’m going to be doing much teaching today and when I am, I'm going to have someone watching my lessons to assess me and to help keep them under control.”

  “You have nothing to worry about then,” I said to try and calm him down a little.

  “Thanks,” he sighed. “It’s going to be a long day though.”

  “Just think about how great you’ll feel when it’s over.”

  I love giving simple advice like that, sometimes they don’t understand what I'm on about and just laugh in my face but some people take me seriously and until they stop doing that, I’ll keep trying to help.

  At half eight, Cole started rushing around to get all of the things he needed for work. I couldn't help but smile when he thought he’d lost his car keys because it turned out they were only in his pocket.

  “Do you need a lift anywhere?” he asked me.

  “Could you drop me off near town? That’s probably the closest place to my house.”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier if I just take you home?”

  “It’s complicated,” I sighed.

  “Fine,” he laughed at me. “I’ll take you into town.”

  I smiled brightly at him, mainly because I was glad he didn’t ask why I didn't want him to take me home, but partly because I was happy to be with him.

***

  Thank God, nobody’s home! I walked up the empty driveway, and then went round the back to climb through the kitchen window. It was still wedged open a little. It’s a pretty good job we’re not in a high crime area seeing as my parents are so bad at locking doors and windows when they’re out. Just imagine how they’d react if they came home to find our house wrecked and missing practically everything we own; I have a feeling that it would somehow become my fault.

  I jumped down from the kitchen counter and ran up to my bedroom to change into my uniform and to get all of the things I need for school. I knew I was going to be late: it’s nine already, but I’d much rather miss a bit of form and have some teacher yell at me than stay at home waiting for mum or dad to come back.