Not The Teacher's Pet

33. A Strange Bond

Ruby yawned while poking at the pancake she was making. Her eyelids felt heavy, even her back ached from all the hard exercise.

She snapped awake when a pair of hands enveloped her from behind, attempting to push her t-shirt up.

"Hey...!" She gasped when Hayes brushed his lips against her neck.

"Come back to bed" He whispered, letting his other hand travel down. She squirmed from the sudden intrusion.

"Gosh, I'm hungry, go away!" She pushed him but he wasn't giving up soon.

Hayes leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms, "That's a very messy pancake"

"Don't eat it then" She retorted.

He quietly gazed at her for a while.

"Ruby?"

"What?"

"You're cute when you're mad"

She glared at him, hiding the fact that his cheesiness could make her heart burst.

"Am I not cute otherwise?" She tried to get back at him.

"No"

He smiled, "You're beautiful"

"Shut up Mr.Hayes!"

He laughed.

"Also, where do you live now?"

"An apartment near the school. It's an amazing place"

"Give me the address and I'll pop up sometime"

"For sex?"

"For you, Ruby. I'm not as crazy about sex as you are" He replied, sounding dignified for a moment till she made a face that made him chuckle.

"We have to go to the drugstore soon, and from there I'll give you a ride home so that you can get your things. We'll go to school together"

"The drugstore?"

"Yeah, I don't want to end up like K. He got a stripper pregnant and now he takes care of their daughter, Mia"

She stared at him wide-eyed, "It's hard to process K and care in a single sentence"

Hayes laughed, "I love kids but I don't want to get you pregnant..."

"Aw," she made a grateful puppy face.

"At least, not yet" He smirked, leaning in to peck her lips before waltzing back to his room.

***

The three busses carried each batch of students from the 12th grade with each bus having nearly thirty students and two teachers.

Mr.Hayes took the headcount and Ruby noted it down. As the engines were ignited, Hayes sat down at the far back while Ruby was at the front to monitor the students. He didn't like it but they had to put up with the seating arrangement.

The first destination was a Native American heritage village and the teachers divided their students into groups of three to let them explore with the tour guide.

B batch was headed by Mr.Greez, a man in his late fifties, and Mrs.Carmen, a young Physics teacher who joined a couple of years back while C batch had Mrs. Reina and Mrs.Kore.

They split up to make sure that no group would wander off but they kept their distance from the students as none of them liked to be tailed.

Ruby in particular was beginning to be adored by most of her students, especially the boys as she was pretty and raw. Unlike most teachers, she didn't care if the kid belonged to a rich family or not, if he or she hadn't done the work she gave, Miss Stranstroff eventually had an amazing comeback for their sass.