Teacher in Progress

Teacher in Progress- Chapter fourteen

I groggily walk down the steps of my house and enter the kitchen. After coming home- very late I might add- I realized that I didn't do any homework. So I ate the candy I had and stayed up all night doing hours of work. I probably only had two hours of sleep. How I was going to make it through the day? I had no idea. The only good thing about this morning so far was waking up next to the big bear and Stewie on my bed. I stretched when I walked through the kitchen doors but stopped when I saw my dad in the kitchen. Something had to be wrong for him to be wearing my moms apron and holding a spatula over a pan. 

"Uh dad?" I said and he turned around. It didn't help that the apron had red lips on it. It looked worse since he was in his usual suit and tie. "Why?" I asked and pointed my finger for emphasis. 

"I'm... uh.. cooking you breakfast. Your mom is sick and is taking a day or two off," he explained. 

"But you didn't have to wear the apron..."

"Just sit down and eat," he sighed and I did. As I sat he placed a plate in front of me. "Enjoy sweetheart," he said as I frowned.

"Uh dad? How did you manage to mess up eggs?" I asked and pushed the plate away from me. The eggs weren't even fully cooked. My dad was a horrible cook.

"How about I give you twenty for breakfast and we forget about this whole thing?"

"Deal," I said as my phone rang. I picked it up without looking to see who was calling. "Hello?"

"Casey! How are you?" Henry asks into the phone. I smile as my dad hangs me the twenty and make my way outside. 

"Hi Henry, I'm fine, just a little tired but I'll live. How are you?" 

"Great, do you want a ride to school?"

I nod even though he can't see me. "That'll be great!" I say and sit down on a chair on my porch. It was an unusually warm day but it felt really nice. 

"I'll be there in five minutes," he said and hung up. I wait and swing my legs until I see his familiar car approach my house then I jog towards it. He exits his car to open the door for me before he drives off. If only Joel did that last night. 

We drive in silence until Henry decides to break it. "You're still wearing the bracelet I gave you," he observes and I smile as I run my finger over it. 

"Of course! I love it and I'm never taking it off," I said and he chuckled. 

"I'm happy to hear that," he said and I smiled at him. I lean my head on the window and yawn. "Someone's tired. I'm guessing you had a great birthday?" 

"I did," I yawned and tried to shake it out of me. "I ate cake and watched a movie with my family and Marissa. She gave me this necklace," I said and showed him the gift. "Then Joel came and took me to the carnival-"

"Joel? As in the guy that goes to our school Joel?" he asked and I nodded.  "Casey, you should stay away from that guy, he's bad news."

"I thought so too but he was actually fun to be around last night. He has a few things he needs to work on but other than that he's not that bad." 

I never thought in a million years I would actually say that. Defending Joel felt weird but it was true. He wasn't a bad person, he just pretended to be. Or he pretended to be nice when he was around me but that didn't really make sense. 

Henry didn't say anything but his hands tightened on the steering wheel. I watched him confused. Did I do something wrong. I placed a hand on his shouder and he glanced at me. 

"Did I made you angry? If I did, I'm sorry," I said and he calmed down and smiled softly at me. 

"You could never make me mad."

"So what's wrong?" 

"Nothing," he said and parked his car in the parking lot. 

I completely forgot about breakfast and now my stomach was reminding me. So now I had to go through the day tired and hungry since I usually tutor Henry for lunch and wait till I get home to eat. We get out of his car and I spot Connor, Dwayne and Joel leaning against an unfamiliar car. I feel Henry drape his arm around my shoulder as he led me toward the school. 

"So I took another test and I got a 85," he said. 

"That's great Henry!" I said smiling up at him. "Soon you won't even need me." 

"Without you I wouldn't have gotten so far. I'll always need you," he laughs but I could see his cheeks heat up. I glance in Joel's direction and see him frowning at us. I remember him saying Henry's name with distate and I wondered if something happened between them. 

"There's this party the team is holding for winning the game on Saturday and I was wondering if you wanted to join me," he said and I smiled.

"Like a date?" I ask and gave him a confused expression. I couldn't possibly imagine going on a date with Henry. It would be so weird.

"If you don't want it to be. We can go as friends." 

I stare at him for a long time before nodding. "Sure, I'll go with you," I said and he smiled widely. 

We enter the school and go our separate ways as I walked toward a lonely Marissa at our lockers. She was looking in her lockers and fixing her hair that didn't need to be fixed. She's wearing a pink skirt with white stockings and a white blouse tucked in. She looked very professional and very pretty at the same time. 

"Hey Case," Marissa smiles and hugs me. "I can't believe you just left last night. I looked up from the movie and you were gone." 

"I'm sorry Marissa but Joel invited me to the carnival so I went with him," I held up a hand when she tried to speak. "I'll tell you everything later."

"You better," she said and closed her locker. 

"Oh, but I'll tell you this. Henry invited me to go to a party with him Saturday."

"Oh my gosh Casey, you're growing up so fast," Marissa said and started to wipe at imaginary tears. 

"Shut up Marissa," I laughed but stopped when I realized something. "Marissa, I don't know a thing about parties!" I said and started to panick. I've never been to a party before and I know I was going to make a fool of myself. 

"Don't worry, I'm going to that same party with Becky and the rest of the girls. Just hang with us." 

"But Henry invited me to go with him."

"It's fine Casey. I don't think he'll die if you leave him every now and then. But before the party you have to come to my house so we could pick out something to wear. This is gonna be fun! My best friend is actually going to get her party on!" she said and started laughing. 

"Yeah, fun," I mutter before we went our separate ways.