Fourth period had just ended as the hallways began to fill with almost the entire student body. Jay's child-like antics embraced her from within as she was literally skipping down the hall, obviously excited to go to the new Sex-Ed's teacher class and for Riley to finally see exactly who she was fawning over.
"Jay, can you chill out? You look like an idiot." Riley rolled her eyes just as her best friend twirled in the middle of the hallway, gaining some odd stares. Despite being annoyed, she couldn't fight back the smile threatening to overtake her lips.
Jay kept up her antics, not caring about her peers staring at her with puzzled looks. This was a part of her goofy personality and people would deal. If they didn't like it, she'll simply tell them to kiss her brown ass and keep it moving. Riley adored that about her.
"Hell, you'll be acting like this too when you lay your eyes on that fine specimen." Jay retorted, still skipping down the hallway. "Hurry up!"
Riley put her face into her hand and pinched her eyebrows together. "Lord, help her."
She followed closely behind Jay, who managed to calm down before finally reaching the classroom on the other side of the school building. Only their classmates were present when they entered. No sign of the "fine ass teacher" that everyone's been talking about.
Riley took her third seat in the second row next to her best friend. She took a glance at Ms. Babcock's old desk that was once usually cluttered with various teacher supplies and leaning stacks of ungraded papers, and noticed that it was completely bare except for the computer monitor sitting to the side.
"Hmm.. maybe he quit, too." She mumbled.
"Shh, don't jinx him!" She glared, slapping Riley's shoulder. "If he did quit, I'm blaming you just 'cause you said it!"
"He must have you turned out by the way you're acting." Riley laughed to herself.
"Har-har-har..." Jay mocked.
The bell rung right as the last student entered the classroom, signaling that class was ready to begin. Most of their classmates still stood around and talked since the teacher hadn't arrived. It was going on another five minutes when the class was beginning to realize he was a no-show.
"See Riley, it's your fault." Jay pushed her lips into a pout and folded her arms as she slouched down into her seat.
"What's my fault?" Riley stopped scribbling across a torn sticky note and turned to look at her confused.
"He quit. You jinxed him."
She sucked her teeth, then chuckled a bit. "Jay, I was just playing. I doubt he quit after his first few hours teaching."
As if to suddenly back her up, in walked the very man that everyone was ogling over since his presence was first sighted. Long, curly black hair that framed his handsome face. Caramel complexion. Lean, tall body that his outfit embraced perfectly. He was literally sex on legs.
'Damn, did they go out and hire the sexiest man to ever walk this earth?' She thought as she gawked at him.
"Excuse me, Miss." Riley heard Jay whisper and she looked at her. "I think you dropped something."
Her dark eyebrows creased as she looked around her desk. "What?"
"Your jaw."
She narrowed her eyes at Jay's laughter. "Shut up."
The distraction was brief as she found herself staring at him one more and taking in his attractive appearance. Even the most mundane tasks he did such as taking off his black blazer and folding it over the back of his chair had her stuck in a trance. The red silk shirt he wore hugged his toned torso to perfection and the black slacks paired with short-heeled boots emphasized his height.
Almost immediately, the class settled down in his presence. After getting himself situated, he set a stack of papers that were in his hands onto the desk.
"Good afternoon, class." He smiled, his perfect teeth on full display.
From that action alone, some students were already swooning and leaning forward in their seat, their interest piquing higher than it had all semester. Riley looked over at Jay wide-eyed and she smirked in response.
"Told you." She mouthed silently.
"Good afternoon." Majority of the class replied.
"In case you haven't heard, my name is Mr. Jackson, and I'm the new Sex-Ed teacher." He leaned against the edge of his desk. "I've been told about the previous teacher and I definitely don't agree on her choice of actions. So, I'm going to make these last few months before the end of the semester as fun as possible."
The class lit up with excitement at the idea of no longer doing torturous work and constantly living in fear of being yelled at for trivial reasons. Michael shared yet another smile as he shifted a little to retrieve the papers.
Riley couldn't help but notice his cute little butt before she glanced at Jay who was leaning out of her chair to get a better look at his backside.
She smirked at Riley, and purposely spoke a little too loudly, "Dat ass though!"
Riley covered her mouth to stifle a laugh as Jay jerked back into her seat before Mr. Jackson turned around.
"What was that?" He raised his perfectly arched eyebrow, a small smile lingering on his lips, knowing full well what was said. Some of their classmates snickered.
"Nothing, Mr. Jackson." Jay spoke up, able to hide her laughter. "We were just admiring your outfit."
'And that ass.'
"Oh," he chuckled. "thank you."
"Mhm, you're welcome." Jay hid her smile behind her pencil as her eyes flicked over to Riley. They shared a silent laugh.
Mr. Jackson finally grabbed the stack of papers and took a step forward. "So before we officially start Sex-Ed, I wanna get to know you all a bit better." He began walking around and placing two pieces of paper on every desk. "Nothing too personal. Just something like 'what's your favorite movie or pastime?' "
While he had started walking down her row, Riley noticed that some of the guys were checking him out too. 'Dang, Mr. Jackson has dudes coming out the closet.'
When he reached her and placed two sheets on her desk, she looked up without a second thought and unintentionally made direct eye contact with him. His doe-brown eyes twinkled with kindness and warmth as he smiled sweetly at her. She shyly smiled back, then ducked her head down.
Once he finished passing out papers, he sat on the edge of his desk. "Any questions?"
Naomi, one of the quietest students in there, raised her hand. Michael nodded his head to grant her permission to speak. "What exactly is psychological and emotional disorders?"
A few heads popped up from their papers curious as to what the explanation was.
"Psychological and emotional disorders are things such as depression, social anxiety, personality disorders, et cetera. If you wish to keep these things private, that's fine. However, telling me these things will help me figure out the best way to teach this class. Not only am I your teacher, I would like to be that person that you could tell your problems to. Think of me as a therapist that charges zero dollars per hour to listen to your troubles." He said.
'Mrs. Babcock leaving was the best thing she ever did for us.' Riley continued to think as she rested the palm of her hand underneath her chin and unwillingly tore her gaze away from Mr. Jackson to her paper.
The room was silent in exception for the lead pencils that scribbled across papers and the occasional cough. After a while of writing, Mr. Jackson stood up and clapped his hands. "Alright, we're gonna go around the room and name at least one interesting fact about ourselves. Should I go first?"
Several heads nodded yes.
"Hm, one interesting fact about me..." He tapped his chin as he pondered briefly. "I can draw anything ranging from a stick-figure to a portrait."
"Ooh!" Jay raised her hand, bouncing in her seat.
Mr. Jackson chuckled. "Yes?"
"Can you draw my friend over here?" She pointed at Riley who immediately covered her face in embarrassment while glaring at Jay through the cracks of her fingers.
"Yeah, sure." He nodded with a grin.
Jay dug into her purse and pulled out a wallet size picture of Riley from last year. It felt like the immense embarrassment was swallowing her whole. "Can you draw this?"
Mr. Jackson walked over and took the photo. "Yeah, I'll have it done by tomorrow."
"Jay!" She hissed under her breath, feeling her cheeks grow hot.
"What? At least he'll be thinking about you after-school hours." She whispered, then winked. "You're welcome."
"So before you name an interesting fact, make sure you tell us your names first." Mr. Jackson pointed to a guy nicknamed Ty in the front seat a few rows over.
"Uh, my name is Tyrone Geter, and I like to sleep." The class chortled in response before moving onto to someone else.
Everyone's facts ranged from taking years of ballet to street racing. It turned out pretty interesting to Riley because most things people named, she wouldn't have never pictured them doing. Finally it was down to only her and Jay.
"My name is Janelle Johnson, but usually I go by Jay or JJ, and I enjoy partying." Jay began doing a little dance in her seat, making the class laugh.
It wasn't long before everyone's attention was on Riley and she became overwhelmed with nervousness. If it was one thing she absolutely loathed, it was being the center of attention unless she was in her area of expertise: dancing. Mr. Jackson took notice, so he gave her a reassuring smile. "C'mon, don't be shy. No judgment here."
She squeezed her hands in her lap but it did little to comfort her. "My name is Riley, and um... I do Color Guard."
Mr. Jackson nodded for her to keep going. "What else do you do?"
She bit her tongue before saying, "I'm in the school's choir and I help downtown at the Dance Academy."
"Ah, so you're a busy one, aren't you?" Mr. Jackson joked.
She shrugged and smiled before her heart suddenly fluttered in her chest when she noticed he hadn't stopped staring at her.
"Well guys and girls," he started off before finally breaking eye contact and looking over the class once more, "it's almost lunch and we're gonna stop here for now."
The class awed in disappointment.
"Don't worry, we'll see each other again in a few." He laughed, "If you finished those sheets, you can place them in that rack by the door. If not, take 'em home to finish. We're starting something new when we get back."
The bell rung not even a millisecond after his last word. Everyone filed out the room slowly not wanting to leave, which was a first. Jay and Riley were the last ones to go.
"See you after lunch, Mr. Jackson." Jay eagerly said.
In return, he gave her a warm smile. But seconds later, his stare was directed at Riley and her breath lodged in her throat as they shared eye contact again.
"See you, girls." He softly spoke just as Jay linked arms with Riley and led her out of the room.