The Kindergarten Teacher

Chapter 3

                “Nope,” I simply responded.

                “So she was not what you expected?” Liam summed up.

                “Pretty much,” I smiled.

                “He smiled!” Louis yelled out. “He is withholding so pertinent information!”

                “I am not,” I rebutted. I headed straight for the kitchen to grab myself a beer.

                “Was she hot?” Louis asked as they followed me into the kitchen like little ducklings. We all stopped dead in our tracks. Eli was sitting at the island with a root beer opened, obviously patiently waiting for my arrival.

                “Was she hot,” Eli scoffed. “Uncle Lou, which is not something a gentleman, asks.”

                “You are 100 percent right,” Louis agreed.

                “She was a beautiful individual,” I answered carefully.

                “So, how did it go Harry?” Eli asked me. He calling me ‘Harry’ caught me completely off guard. The way Eli was acting…adult like, was adorable.

                “Well Eli,” I began, opening and scanning the fridge for a cold beer. I finally found one, pulled it out, and popped it open. “It went good,” I finally answered him. I took a swig of my beer and sat next to Eli on the island.

                “What did Ms. Brown want to talk to you about?” Eli inquired, taking a long, drawn out sip of his root beer.

                “About how great of a kid you are,” I nudged him. The nudge was obviously not welcomed, because Eli narrowed his eyes at me. “She told me how, socially, you were doing great…” I took a sip of my beer, a longer sip this time, swallowing hard. “She also told me you are struggling a little bit academically.” I looked over at Eli who was studying my face hard. “So, she is going to come over and tutor you for an hour on Tuesday and Thursday in math and reading.”

                Eli smiled, “Sounds good to me,” and hopped down from his seat at the island. “I am going to go play FIFA with Pete.” And with that Eli waltzed out of the kitchen and trotted up the stairs.

                “That kid,” Louis chuckled, pulling out a beer and sitting next to me.

                “I love that kid,” Niall copied Louis, but sat across from me instead.

                “He is such a hoot!” Liam added.

                “He is definitely something else,” I muttered, but a smile broke through my lips.

                Tuesday finally arrived, meaning Eli’s first tutoring session with Ms. Brown. I was kind of nervous, not going to lie, and I think Eli was as well. “Why are you two pacing by the door…?” Niall asked as he was walking up the stairs.

                Eli and I both stopped and exchanged looks. We had not even noticed we were pacing, let along together. “Are you two seriously waiting by the door for Ms. Brown?” Louis teased as he trotted down the stairs.

                “I am not waiting,” Eli protested.

                “Me either,” I quickly remarked.

                “That’s why you two are pacing,” Niall smirked, “Ms. Brown is coming to tutor the little booger today!”

                “I cannot wait to meet her!” Louis exclaimed as he passed by us, heading to the kitchen.

                “No one gets to meet her,” I called out to Louis.

                “That’s because Harry wants her all to himself,” Niall teased as he ran up the stairs.

                It was just Eli and I now. “So, how was your day today…?” I asked trying to make small talk with my son.

                “Fine,” was the only response I got from Eli.

                Then, just on cue, I heard a car pull into our driveway. As if we were hungry dogs, Eli and I ran to peek out the window. Ms. Brown stepped out of the car looking gorgeous. She was wearing a coral, quarter sleeve dress with a brown, bow belt resting under her breasts. Underneath her dress she was wearing grey leggings, with brown boots which had little bows on the outsides. Her hair was lightly curled at the ends. All in all she looked gorgeous. “Wow,” I muttered.

                “I know,” Eli remarked.

                Ms. Brown pulled out a huge tote bag from her trunk. She looked down at the ground as she walked up to our door. “We have to act cool, like we weren’t waiting,” Eli informs me as he moves away from the window.

                “Gotchya,” I replied, and moved just as quickly away from the window.

                A minute later Ms. Brown was knocking at the door. Eli and I both looked at each other, at the door, and then back at each other. As if he was reading my mind we both lunged for the door, but we were both beat…by Louis. Great.

                Louis opened the door, “You must be Ms. Brown!”