The Class Agreement

21

She bent down toward my ear and whispered, "Take the bathroom pass and take a walk."

I nodded. She moved her hand and kept walking. I didn't want to get up just because I'm dreading the unwanted attention I'm going to get when leaving the class even though I'm sure I already have some of that. I guess she noticed that I was on the verge of losing it.

I got up as silent as I could and walked over to her desk to grab an orange pass from the stack that was already sitting there. I quickly left and took a short stroll around.

I tried to limit myself. It'd be rude to come back into class when it's almost over. I didn't want to miss too much even though Tommy would've surely had my back.

"I need you to come by during lunch," Athena said quietly.

I was standing at her desk while people were rushing out of class. I managed to sit through the rest of the hour, but it was a little painful.

"Okay," I responded. "Sorry for—"

"It's okay," She cut me off. "I could see your face twisting and turning. I knew something was up."

How embarrassing.

"It was that bad?" I asked.

"I can clearly tell the difference from you being normal to ... not normal. Have a good rest of your classes, Ms. Jolie."

I quickly caught onto what she was doing, though it feels so weird and sounds weird too. She never treats me like a student. I don't think she's ever really treated me like one from the beginning.

I cleared my throat, feeling slightly exposed, "Uh, thanks. See you."

I went through the rest of my classes just waiting for lunch. When it did come around, I couldn't really eat. Honestly, I didn't want to waste any time.

I took a deep breath before knocking on Athena's door. When I knocked she didn't miss a beat. She opened the door, brushing her hair behind her ear and brought her eyes to me.

"What a surprise," I said. "You were already up?"

She smiled, "I was throwing some papers away. Come in."

I walked inside. Her smile surprised me a little. Am I the only one feeling a sense of dread? Anxiety? How is she managing to smile right now?

I heard her approaching me from behind. She came into my view when she leaned up against the side of her desk. I cleared my throat and forced my sweaty clammy hands into my pockets.

I was in no mood to sit down. I brought up last night's scary event at the library.

"You okay? About the ... attempted robbery?"

She replied, "Oh, um ... yeah. It ... flew out of mind actually."

Same. How could anyone think about that when something else much more important happened.

"Well ... are you okay?" She asked.

"Honestly? I ... I've been very anxious. Since last night," I answered. "But it's not cause — um ... It's not cause of you, or anything."

She sighed deeply, "Nova, I want to apologize to you. And I mean really apologize. I seriously crossed a major line last night and ... I shouldn't even have this job anymore."

Her voice shook with each word. I know she's being genuine, but it hurts me. How do I tell her that line being crossed was the best thing to happen to me in a long time.