Lessons In Love

one

You sighed as you stepped out of your car and tried not to slam the door. It was a Monday, which meant the weekend was over and you had to go back to teaching. Not that you hated your job, it was just exhausting and could take a lot out of you. And lately, it had been.

"Good morning, Miss L/N."

Your lips couldn't help but form a small smile at the sound of your coworker's voice. It was rough, yet smooth somehow. You turned to face Obi-Wan, trying not to swoon at how attractive you found him. His short auburn hair with the matching well-groomed beard helped bring out his sparkling blue eyes. He was wearing dark brown slacks and a cream long-sleeve button-down with his satchel thrown over his shoulder and across his body.

"Good morning, Mr. Kenobi," you replied. "Are you ready for this week?"

"Always," he smiled at you. "You?"

"Oh, you know me, Mondays are always my favorite."

He laughed and your heart filled with so much joy. Obi-Wan's laugh was one of your favorite sounds ever since you had heard it a little over a year ago.

Obi-Wan joined the faculty last school year as a fifth-grade teacher. He immediately caught the eye of many of the women and men on the faculty with his looks. His charm and wit didn't help ease any of that. You weren't saved from the school-girl crush on him and as you actually got to know him, it worsened. You never did anything about it though as you didn't know how dating a colleague would work out and you had no idea how he felt about you due to the fact he seemed to flirt with everyone on the staff.

"How was your weekend?" Obi-Wan wondered as he walked side-by-side with you.

"Not long enough," you answered. "Spent most of it around my apartment, just trying to recover from last week." Obi-Wan nodded along as you spoke. "How was yours?"

"It was good." He opened the school door, holding it open for you. You walked in, giving him a thankful nod as he kept talking. "I spent a majority of it reading."

"Oh? What were you reading?"

"My student's stories," he chuckled.

"Makes sense," you smiled.

The two of you walked down the halls together, chatting, until you reached your classrooms. Your classroom was located right across the hall from his. Sometimes you would catch yourself staring at Obi-Wan as he taught. His students were always so engaged in his lessons and respected him. You longed to have the students view you similarly.

"Well, I hope you have a good day, Y/N," Obi-Wan said before heading into his classroom.

"You too, Obi-Wan," you replied, going into your own.

You went to your back u-shaped table and sighed as you sat down. Your elbows went on the tabletop and your head rested in your hands. When you told Obi-Wan that you spent the weekend recovering, you meant it. Last week had been hard on your arthritic body. You have Rheumatoid Arthritis and it really acted up last week due to the stress of your class. Though you loved your students, you had the hardest class in the grade, and most of their parents not helping with that. You were beginning to feel like more of a babysitter than a teacher, unable to actually teach because you were too busy handling the behavior problems in the class.

"Hey," you looked up to see one of the third-grade teachers, Padme Amidala, coming into your room. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," you responded, pressing out a small smile.

"I don't believe you." Padme came up and pulled out one of the chairs on the other side of the table so that she could sit across from you. "Hard weekend?"