Shiranda's POV
All the other students have left the classroom, only leaving Ms. Stevens and I in it.
I start walking to her desk. "Do you need something, Shiranda? Wanna talk about anything?"
Standing in front of her desk, my hand tugs on the hood of my hoodie as the other one is in one of the pockets.
"Uh, well, you should come over today." I say uneasily. Wanting to ask her to come over makes me nervous, but for some reason.....I really want to hang out with her.
She smiles at me and leans back in her seat, hands latched together behind her head.
"I wasn't going to schedule another tutoring session today." "No tutoring. No utensils. Just, uh, casual. But- but you don't have to if you don't want to." I quickly say the last sentence, low key freaking out.
She leans onto her desk, knuckles supporting her chin. "Don't worry, Shiranda. I'll be there." She says, a bright white smile on her face.
I give her a small smile. "Great. See you later." I walk out of the classroom, sighing in relief.
What I just did was awkward as fuck, but that's the only way I do things. The social skills are not always there, to say the least.
I can't believe I just asked her to hang out with me, but as an impulsive idiot, shit happens.
.....
The doorbell rings, and for some reason, I run over to it. I look through the peephole, delighted that it's who I thought it was.
I open the door for her. "Hey, Aurora. I'm, uh, glad you showed up."
She looks amazing in her button-up, ripped jeans, and sneakers. Damn. Hard to believe she's an Econ teacher.
She smiles. "You are? Well I'm glad to be here. Can I come in?" "Well, actually, we're going somewhere, uh, if you don't mind," I frantically say. "You don't have to if you don't want to."
"Nah, I'm down. You can take me anywhere you want." Oh wow. I actually wasn't expecting her to agree....
"Uh, coolio then. Let me just grab my keys." I quickly dash to my room and retrieve my keys. I dash back to the door.
"Ready to go?" "Yep." I close and lock the door, and we walk over to my car. I unlock it and open the door for her.
"Thank you." "You're welcome." I go over to my door and get in, starting the car up.
"Wanna listen to some music?" "I'm fine with whatever you want to do." Deciding that music will help me be less awkward, I turn on the radio.
Ms. Stevens' POV
Shiranda has a nice car. I'm surprised I'm actually sitting in it for the first time. I definitely didn't expect for her to want to take me anywhere, but it's a really nice gesture.
Shiranda's POV
I pull out of the driveway and onto the road, starting the drive. "I like your car, by the way." She compliments.
"Oh, thank you. I've had her since I was 16. I named her Analise." She smiles. "I like that name. It's really pretty."
"If I had a daughter, I'd name her that." "Did you get this car for your birthday?"
"Nah. I actually have a job and saved up for her. Deena actually took me to the Bahamas for my birthday that year."
"Oh wow, that sounds amazing. Deena is a really good sister." "She really is. She's the best sister anyone could've asked for. She's sorta like a mom to me, sometimes. And her dad, Damien, is my father figure. He treats me as his own. I'm really grateful for them."
Ms. Stevens' POV
The more I talk to Shiranda, the more I learn about her. I like learning about her......a lot, actually. She's like this mysterious onion, and you have to peel back the layers.
Shiranda's POV
"I'm glad that you have people that are there for you. People that want to see you grow and help you out when you need it."
"In a weird way, I feel like I have you, too." I can feel her eyes just staring at me, probably taken aback by the small admission.
I don't know why I said that. It just came out, and I couldn't stop it.
"You do, Shiranda. You really do, and I'm glad that you feel that way."
I don't know how to feel about that, but....I do feel a little happy inside.
.....
We get to the destination, getting out of the car. "The park? I love the park." She says, a happy smile on her face.
It's a beautiful day out. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping. People are walking their dogs. It feels great.
"I'm glad you don't mind that I took you here. I thought it would be a nice time."
"Of course I don't mind." We start walking around the park, having casual conversation.
Awhile into the walk, I point to the ice cream stand, saying, "Ooooooo! Do you wanna go and get ice cream?"
She giggles. "Let's do it." We skip over to the ice cream stand. "What can I get for you two lovely ladies today?" The ice cream dude says with a smile.
"You go first." I say to Ms. Stevens. "I'll take a cookies 'n cream ice cream cone please." She says.
"I'll have the same." "Okie dokie." He puts three scoops into a cone and gives it to Ms. Stevens before doing the same to me.
She goes into her pocket. "Nah, nah. I got it." I say. I pull out my wallet and pay for the cones.
"Have a great day." The dude says. "You, too." We both say, smiling at him before walking away.
We start walking on one of the trails, commencing to licking our ice creams. "Aw, Shiranda, you didn't have to do that."
"Nonsense. I wanted to. Plus, I invited you to hang out with me. I wasn't gonna let you pay for your ice cream."
"That's really sweet of you. Thank you." "No problem. So we always end up talking about me, but never about you. Where are you from?"
"New York. I'm from the Bronx." Now that I think about it, that actually makes a lot of sense. She does have an accent. It's really cute with her voice.
"Any siblings?" "I have two brothers. I'm the middle child." Huh. She kinda struck me as an only child.
"Really?" "Yep. I've never really gotten much attention growing up from my parents. I guess it's true what they say about being a middle child."
"Did you ever feel lonely?" "Not really. My siblings and I have strong bonds, and I've learned how to be my own company and be on my own."
"I respect that. Favorite color?" "Purple, hands down." "Favorite food?" "I don't have one. I'm mostly down to just eat whatever, but I do like barbeque restaurants. I'm never really one to go to expensive restaurants."
One thing that I've learned about Ms. Stevens so far from just knowing her this long is that she's actually a really chill person. She's more of a "go with the flow" type of person. I like that.
"I like that you're so chill. You're not very hard to please." "Thank you, and that's true. I don't see the point in trying to always have such opulent things or trying to keep up with the Joneses."
"Same. Like, live your life and don't try to compete with others. Trying to keep up with everyone else is only gonna make you unhappy and stressed out, and also possibly out of money."
"Exactly. I'm glad you feel that way. You're really mature, especially for your age." She smiles at me.
I smile back. "Thanks, Aurora. That means a lot, especially coming from you."
I don't know why, but....I feel this urge to be closer to her. My hand slowly reaches for hers. She doesn't stop it. She doesn't say anything about it, and my hand takes hers in mine.
.....
We're back to the main area of the park. I'm currently petting this adorable fluffy dog that the owner let me pet.
"Who's a good booooyy? You are. Yes you are!" The dog is equally as excited as I am, trying to lick me and wagging his tail.
"What's his name?" I ask the woman holding the leash. "Shiloh." "Hi, Shilooooh."
After petting him for a little bit longer, I thank the owner for letting me pet him. "No problem," She smiles at me. "Now come on, Shiloh! I got some treats for ya if you can do some tricks!"
Shiloh excitedly barks and they run off. "You're really good with dogs." Ms. Stevens says, smiling at me.
"I literally love them so much. Big dogs, little dogs. It doesn't matter." I say, showing a bright smile.
We keep talking for a little until we get interrupted. "Well, well. What's going on here?"
I do not feel like dealing with this right now. "Kiera, leave us alone." "I need to speak to Ms. Stevens." "Yeah, you need to apologize to her."
"Shiranda, can you give us a moment please?" Ms. Stevens says, knowing that she won't go away until she gets what she wants.
I look at Ms. Stevens, unsure, the look in my eyes saying, "Are you sure?" She nods, getting my nonverbal message.
I turn away, rolling my eyes and walking off.
Ms. Stevens' POV
"The hell do you want, Kiera?" I say, venom in my voice. "Seems a bit cozy for someone that's not trying to get with her. Thought you didn't want her? What happened to that?"
"You are seriously insane." "Calling a student insane? That's truly appalling behavior."
"I'm not your teacher, so as far as I'm concerned, you're not my student. Besides, I'm off the clock anyway, so I'm not a teacher right now."
"Using that as an excuse to date your student, I see." "The hell are you talking about?" I say, frowning so hard that I'm going to get lines on my forehead for life.
"I can see right through you. You're clearly on a date with Shiranda." "For the last fucking time, you're the only one trying to get with her. It's not my fault that your actions are pushing her away from you."
"How do you know that she said we needed space?" She says, looking as if I've found out one of her deepest, darkest secrets.
"I didn't. You just told me. But it's pretty clear that you're starting to annoy her. She talks to me, y'know."
"You're weird. Really fuckin' weird. Why are you trying so hard to get close to her? You're always at her house, you claim she talks to you about things unrelated to school. What are you trying to do if you're not trying to date her?"
"As you probably already know because Shiranda probably already told you, but you can't get it through your thick ass skull, I'm friends with her sister. That's why I'm always around. And I allow her to talk to me because she's a human being. You should seriously stop worrying about what I'm doing, and worry about you. Do you even know super personal shit about her? What are you doing to get ahead?"
She opens her mouth to speak, but silence overtakes her as she closes it back. She looks at the ground before looking back at me.
"That's what I thought. Before you try to piss on her and claim her for your own, at least try to get to know her better first. Now this is going to be the last time I say this. Leave. Me. Alone."
I walk over to Shiranda, leaving the bitchy thorn in my side alone to mull over everything I said.
"How did it go? Did she apologize?" "What do you think?" I say with a bit of sarcasm, not giving her attitude.
She rolls her eyes then runs a hand through her hair as she lets out a sigh. "That's it. She's getting cut off."
"Wait, really? Why?" "Because she's pissing me off and she keeps coming at you." "I thought you loved her ass, though?"
"Her ass isn't everything to me. Plus, there's plenty more asses in the sea. I thought she was a really cool person, but she's possessive when it's not warranted, and she's borderline crazy."
"Well, as long as you think that's what's best for you." "Of course I do. She's been a thorn in my side."
Tell me about it.
"True." "It just sucks that she ruined this day, y'know?" I shake my head, a small smile on my face. "I don't think she did."
"You don't?" "Nope. I got to have a good time with you. Nothing can ruin that."
She smiles at me, instantly giving me a hug. "Let's go back to my place."