The Substitute Teacher

Part 99 ~ The Twins' Birthday Weekend Part 2

"Ok, everybody . . I have to leave for a few minutes . . I want you all to prepare for the presentations . . I give you guys 15 minutes . . please don't leave your seats and don't start a party in here when I'm out of that door . . . I'll punish every single one of you with watering the plants on saturday morning all around the school and no, I'm not kidding"

I was just about to leave but Julie, one of my students, raises her hand.
"Mr.Jackson?"

"Yes, Julie?"

"Was that your son?"

"Yes . . that was my son, Jaden" 

"How old is he?"

"He's turning 16 tomorrow . . with his twin sister Jaylah"

"He's really cute" Julie says with a grin on her face. Everybody giggles.

"Alright, I'll be gone now . . if you have any important questions, please ask Mr.Wilson next door. . I'll be back in a little bit"

I leave my classroom and head straight to the teacher's office lounge. I wonder what Jaden wants to talk to me about . . why the heck isn't he in school? . . I wonder if Ariana knows about this. . I doubt it. I walk inside . . Jaden is standing in front of the fridge, grabbing himself a bottle of coke.

"Jaden, why aren't you in class?" I ask sitting down on the couch.

"Dad . . that's what I have to talk to you about . . ."

"Ok then . . but can you make it fast? I'm in a little bit of a rush here"

"Dad . . this will probably take longer than just a few minutes . . I'm in a little bit of trouble . . and I . . I was like . . and . . you know, dad . . I wanted to tell you first before you here it from the . . . before you here it from the police . . ."

"Before I hear it from the police? . . the police? . . what the heck happened?"

"Don't freak out dad . . let me tell you, ok? . . calmly . . ."

"Alright . . I'm listening . . ."

"Ok . . so . . I was walking to school this morning with the guys. . like I do every morning, right?"

"Jaden . . I want to know what happened! can you please just get to the point?"

"Alright, alright . . . on our way to school we saw that really hot sports car on the side of the road . . . we looked at it and we noticed that the keys were in the ignition . . and the door was actually unlocked . . . ."

"What did you guys do to the car?. . ."

"Nothing . . . I just got in. . ."

"You got into the car?? you got into a stranger's car that was standing on the side of the road?? what possessed you to do that?! what the hell did you do to the car, Jaden? . . spit it out! . . right now!"

"Well . . . I got in . . . and since the keys were in the ignition I gave myself permission to start the car and drive it a little bit . . ."

I get up and walk over to the windows . . speechless from what Jaden just told me. I need to stay calm . . I'm in school . . it's lunch break in an hour . . relax, Michael . . . relaaaax . . . I tell myself.

"So . . let me get this straight . . you got into the car and you actually drove it? YOU DROVE THE FREAKIN' CAR??? let me guess . . you had an accident too? right? . . an accident I have to pay for, is that what you're going to tell me, Jaden?!!!"

"Hold on dad . . . I'm not there yet. . there's a little more to the story . ."

"A little more?! . . what more?!"

"I got into the car and I started it . . . Braxton and I just wanted to hear the motor running. . . that's all we really wanted but then I started the car and I couldn't help myself anymore . . . I drove down the road . . . I just wanted to drive down a few blocks and then return. . but that's not how it went down . . you see, dad, this is where the story takes an ugly turn . . the problem started when the owner of the car returned . . ."

"No, Jaden!!!! the problem started when you got into that car!!! are you out of your mind?! how can you do stuff like that?!! you don't have a driver's licence! you're still 15 years old! and you stole a strangers car for a ride!!! that's stealing!! you STOLE!"

"I'll be 16 tomorrow . . ."

"DON'T GET SMART WITH ME!! . . you got into that car, you drove it down hill and back to the parking spot and that's when the owner of the car returned? . . he was angry wasn't he?!"

"Wait dad . . . I'm still not done with the story yet" . . . *nervous laugh*

"Tell me the whole darn story now!!!! . . . everything!!!"

"So . . . when I parked the car, the owner came walking towards me . . I immediately knew what was going on . . I knew that that must be the owner of the car . . so . . I went into a little shock and I accidentally touched the gas again and I . . . kinda . . . hit the car in front of it . . . pretty bad . . ."

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??!!!"

"I'm sorry dad . . . "

"Sorry doesn't cut it!!! you stole a car, you DROVE it . . AND you manage to get into an accident!! . . can you be any more stupid, Jaden????!!!! . . what about the police?? what did they say?!"

"Well . . the guy . . his name is Pablo by the way . . he called the police and they came right away . . I was gonna run away but Pablo looked pretty damn angry so I decided to stay . . he called the police, they came . . bla bla . . long story short . . Pablo told the officer that I stole the car . . he told him that he was just gonna pick up something he forgot at home and when he returned, his car was gone . . . .he saw Braxton and our friends standing there so he knew that the person in the car will return sooner or later . . . .and ummm . . since I'm still a kid . . kinda . . the police will come by tonight at 6:30pm to discuss things further . . . dad, please don't get angry . . you know how much I love cars. . ."

"Get your ass up from this sofa and go to class!!! we will talk about this after school . . . I will write your teacher a note to inform that I know about you being late. . ."

"Yes dad . . . but please . . don't be angry . . you know I-"

"SHUT IT, Jaden! . ."

"Dad . . . I'm really sorry. . ."

"We will talk about this later. . wait for me here in the teacher's lounge after school . ."

"Yes, I will . . . . . . love you dad . . ."

I look at him and shake my head. . . "See you after school"


~ Ariana's point of view ~ 

I'm on the patio with Carli and Felicia . . we're talking about the food we're gonna make for the kids' birthday party tomorrow . . . we're actually going to celebrate tomorrow and on sunday . . so it's gonna be a two day party for them . . Felicia and I can't decide on the potato salad . . Jaden LOVES potato salad but Jaylah doesn't . . . and Jaden loves white chocolate and Jaylah doesn't . . . we're not sure what we're gonna do with the cake yet . . all we know is, it's gonna be a huge one. . 

It's 4:30pm  . . Jaylah came home from school half an hour ago. . but where is Jaden? . . I'll wait until 5pm and if he's still not home by then, I'll give him a call . . and Michael should be coming home soon too . . . I have something very nice planned for us tonight . . . . I'm inviting him to a late night spa visit 1 hour away . . it's a cute mountain lodge kind of thingy where they pamper you to the fullest and then leave you alone for a romantic night. . . we'll be leaving at 6:30 tonight.

Just the two of us . . all alone . . I know it will be so nice . . .
I'm sure he will be so excited when he gets home.


~ to be continued ~