“I told you he was hot.”
I looked up from my desk to see Casey standing over me, a smug smile on her face. Trying to be as casual as possible, I shrugged. “He’s alright…”
“Oh, come on!”
“Alright. He’s really handsome,” I admitted, a grin escaping onto my mouth. “But listen. He’s my mystery man.”
Casey’s mouth just about dropped to the floor. “No way.”
I nodded my head somberly. “That’s him.”
“So I’m taking it that transfer student is actually new biology teacher?”
“Exactly.”
Casey chuckled. “Well, that’s an unfortunate turn of events.”
I dropped my head onto my desk. “I know. And get this.” I explained how I had been late to class and how I tripped in front of him in my haste to catch up to Lance, who had totally ditched me. She listened and when I finished she started laughing. I frowned and crossed my arms.
“Way to go,” she commented, shaking her head at me. “That’s a good first impression.”
I scowled at her. “Shut up. It’s not like I meant to. I wanted to catch up to Lance!”
“What about me?” Lance came striding up behind Casey, an interested look on his face.
I stared at him with a confused expression. “Why are you here? Didn’t you finish Spanish 4 last year?”
Lance frowned at me, and shrugged. “I failed last year. By one point.”
“Why would you re-take the whole class again then?”
“I wanted to get four years in,” Lance told me, pursing his lips. “Better for college.”
I nodded. “True.”
“Guess what everyone?” the Spanish teacher, Ms. Elliot, started, walking into the room. “Tenemos un prueba!”
The whole class groaned, myself included. This was the first class in which we had got a first day of school quiz. Casey dropped into the seat next to me, and Lance slumped onto my desk with another groan, sitting in the chair in front of me.
“We would have a quiz the first day of Spanish class,” he muttered, making a nasty face.
“Date la vuelta, Lance!” Ms. Elliot commanded, and Lance begrudgingly turned around in his seat to face the front of the room.
The quiz was passed out and I felt relieved when I realized it was only one double-sided page. It was mostly old vocabulary, and verbs to conjugate. I finished quickly and flipped the paper over. Spanish had always been an easy subject for me. To occupy myself, I drummed the tips of my fingers on the desktop.
The hectic first day was almost over. It had actually been a great last first day of school— and not just because there was the new biology teacher. I couldn’t decide if Mr. Heywood was a good or bad thing. He seemed like an awesome teacher, but he was also my mystery man. It was depressing knowing I couldn’t be romantically involved with him. Like Casey had mentioned earlier, he was indeed young, funny, and did have a very attractive voice. You only read about these kinds of teachers in cheesy romance novels…
“Holly!”
I jumped and pulled myself out of my little reverie and raised an eyebrow at Lance who was pursing his lips at me. His fist suddenly slammed down on my fingers and I gasped in pain, retracting them quickly. “What was that for?” I demanded in a furious whisper, cradling my throbbing fingers.
“Your drumming was getting incredibly irritating,” he responded, his voice as quiet as mine.
“You could have just asked!”
“This was much more effective, don’t you agree?”
“Lance! Date la vuelta! Ahora!” Ms. Elliot ordered, glaring at him from her desk. “Do you want a zero on your quiz?”
“No,” Lance muttered, turning slowly, and facing forwards once more.
“Yeah, take your little British accent and face forwards like a good boy,” I murmured, smiling to myself.
“American’s are so boring,” he responded with a wave of his hand. “It’s okay to be jealous.”
I sighed and placed my head down onto my desk and shut my eyes. If only the day would just end already. I couldn’t wait to go home and take a nap… But first I had to do the grocery shopping; otherwise it was cardboard for dinner.
“Is everyone done?”
I looked up and looked around, mimicking every one else. Everyone soon came to a unanimous decision that we were all finished. Ms. Elliot then told us to pass the quizzes to the front. I turned around to grab the paper from the person behind me and realized that no one was there. Amazement swept through me. This was the first time in my whole high school career no one sat behind me. It was a bit refreshing.
The rest of class was spent on reviewing the course outline and expectations. I drifted off more than once and when the bell rang, it nearly scared me off my seat. I regained my composure and stood up, slinging my backpack over my bag.
“Blah,” Casey started as we walked out of the classroom together. “I don’t want to walk home…”
“You are so lazy,” Lance commented with a smirk.
Casey scowled. “Like you don’t complain about walking places.”
“But I’m not lazy.”
“Shut up.”
“You shut up, lazy.”
“I’m not lazy!”
“Oh no, you just don’t want to walk home because…?”
“Because… because…”
“Both of you guys stop it,” I interrupted, rolling my eyes at them. “It’s not a long walk.”
“Hmph.” Casey pursed her lips and adjusted her side bag. “Let’s just go home.”
The trip home went by quickly, and luckily it was nice out. I bid adieu to my friends and climbed up the porch steps to my house, trying the handle. It was locked. I sighed and pulled out my extra key, unlocking the door and entering the house. My mom must have left for work.
I dropped my backpack off in the hall and kicked off my shoes, heading towards the kitchen. There were a few twenty dollar bills on the counter and a note attached to them saying “Food Money.” I pocketed the money and yawned. First I wanted a snack, and then I’d go to the grocery store. With a bag of Lays in hand, I trudged to my bedroom, flopping onto the bed. It was time to be the definition of lazy.
I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep until I awoke with a start when an unnecessarily loud commercial came on the television. Sitting up, I looked around dazedly. After a second I realized I was in my room. The clock on my nightstand read six o’ clock.
“Shoot,” I muttered, hopping off the bed. I still had to do grocery shopping!
I looked out my window and frowned. The sky was beginning to change now, and soon it would be pitch black out. I clicked my tongue and hurried down the stairs, grabbing my keys of the table as I went by. The last time I had gone to the grocery store late I had run into Mr. Heywood about to be assaulted in an ally way. I didn’t want a repeat of that.
I made it to the grocery store just as the last rays of sunlight faded. Sighing, I grabbed a basket from the front of the store. After I got the essentials I was out of here. There was no use in wasting time when it was getting colder by the second. By the time I was done, it was completely dark outside. Just like the other night.
Butterflies appeared in my stomach as I started home, feeling paranoid. What if those thugs were out again tonight? The thought made me shiver in fear. Maybe they wouldn’t remember my face. I slowed down as I approached the ally. Holding my breath tightly I stopped just outside the mouth, listening carefully. When no noises came from within it, I let out a sigh of relief.
“Damn it!”
A shriek of terror escaped my lips and I dropped my groceries, nearly having a heart attack. I twirled around in a panic, bringing up my fists, ready to fight if I had to. Nothing entered my vision. Slowly, I relaxed again, lowering my arms. Maybe I was being too paranoid and imagining things.
“Excuse me—”
“No!” I shouted, moving forwards as a hand landed on my shoulder. “I didn’t mean to hit you with my groceries! It was an accident!”
“Holly?”
I froze, immediately recognizing the voice of the man speaking to me. Slowly, I turned around, coming face-to-face with Mr. Heywood. He raised an eyebrow, holding up his hands defensively. I flushed, but hopefully he couldn’t see it because of the dark.
“W-what are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here? It’s dangerous for you to be alone at night,” he said, sounding a little irritated.
I frowned at him, nodding my head towards my groceries. “Grocery shopping.”
“Don’t you have a car or something?”
“My mom has it.”
He pursed his lips at me. “Oh.”
“What are you doing out here alone? Trying to get in another fight?” I questioned, bending over to retrieve my groceries.
Mr. Heywood quickly leaned over and snatched them before I could. “Actually, my car ran out of gas. I’m trying to figure out what to do seeing as how the nearest gas station is a few miles away.”
I hesitated for a moment, wondering why he wasn’t handing my groceries over to me. “Um, I think my mom keeps a few gallons in the shed for our lawn mower. If you want you can—”
“Sounds good,” Mr. Heywood cut me off, brushing past me. “Your house is this way, right?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Stick close to me. Who knows who is out here...”
My heartbeat sped up a little and I did as Mr. Heywood advised, looking around me warily. He led the way back to my house, not having to ask for directions once. He walked all the way up to my front door, then moved out of the way, waiting expectantly. Watching him suspiciously, I dug my key out of my pocket, and opened the door. He entered first, going in the direction of my kitchen. I followed behind him quickly.
“How’d you know where my kitchen is?” I asked him, switching on the light.
Light flooded the kitchen as Mr. Heywood set the groceries down on the counter. He glanced at me, shrugging. “I noticed it was here the other day.”
“Oh,” I responded lamely. An awkward silence passed. “Do you, um, want that gas now?”
Mr. Heywood gave me a mysterious smile. “You aren’t going to offer me coffee?”
I blinked at him in surprise. “You want it?”
“Well, all that walking made me thirsty…”
For a moment I hesitated, trying to decide what the best decision was. He was my teacher. I probably shouldn’t have him in my house. But then again, he was Mr. Heywood. I didn’t exactly want him to leave. It had been pure luck I had run into him— why waste it by sending him on his way so quickly?
“Sure,” I finally responded, smiling up at him.