The New English Teacher Sucks (GxG)

Chapter Four

"Seems a little dark for a simple ketchup stain," Aaliyah noted, her jade-colored eyes now softer as she examined the English teacher.

"What are you? The stain police?" Victoria half-joked, her thick and dark eyebrows cocked daringly.

"My bad, girl." Aaliyah raised a hand defensively, the corner of her small pink lips quirking up in a kind smile as she mindlessly swirled her straw around her pink drink. "How are you liking the school so far?"

"Yeah, you have successfully made it to your third day here." Leon pointed out, his small eyes hopeful for a positive answer from his new colleague.

Victoria raked a hand through her long obsidian tresses, casually styling it in a side part before crossing her arms over her chest. "You want my opinion on the school or the students and teachers?"

Leon flashed her a barely noticeable smirk and took a bite out of his sandwich, "Well the students and teachers are what make up a school, no?"

"Fair point." Victoria sighed, her mind beginning to wander again although she had already had her opinion formed since day one. "It's... Alright."

Aaliyah stopped twirling her straw in a dramatic pause, her covered head tilting in a slightly offended manner. "Just alright?"

Victoria shrugged, unsure of whether they were expecting a more exciting answer. "What's wrong with just 'alright'?"

"Nothing," Leon answered, shooting Aaliyah a sideways glance. "It just sounds like it doesn't entirely live up to your expectations."

"I don't have those." She quickly clarified, her smile the beginning of a thunderstorm. "When you expect things you are only setting yourself up for disappointment. The reason why I said it was just 'alright' is because it is. It's not so different from the schools I have taught in the past."

"So this is not your first teaching job?" Aaliyah asked, genuinely surprised.

"What gave you the impression that it was?" Victoria wondered aloud, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Well, you look a lot younger than the rest of us. And we're pretty young ourselves." She indicated between herself and Leon with a pointer finger. "This is our first job since graduating with our teacher degree and we have only been here for almost six years."

Victoria simply smiled, allowing them to have their little proud moment before saying, "I have been teaching for eight years at four different schools."

"Two years at each?" Leon offered as a joke but stopped smiling when Victoria nodded in confirmation. "Wait, seriously?"

Victoria chuckled at his surprised look and glanced at Aaliyah briefly, whose obvious curiosity about her had never left her square face. "Yeah. I have a habit of not staying in one place for too long."

"So you intend to only teach at Stanhope for a couple of years?" The green-eyed woman spoke up, her tone laced with a hint of disappointment.

"I don't know yet." She answered honestly, her grey eyes wandering elsewhere but at the bewildered look on their faces. "More or less."

Leon cleared his throat and shared a hopeful look with his booth partner. "Well, I believe I speak for the both of us when I say I'm hoping for the former."

"Me too. You fit in well at the school and the students seem to have grown very fond of you already." Aaliyah smiled broadly, silently hoping in her heart that whatever she said was going to convince Victoria to deflect from her two-year plan. "At least, I have heard your name being mentioned more than once in each of my classes."