Sealed With A Kiss

Chapter Two

School had ended and I walk down the hall towards the art room. Art Club would be starting in fifteen minutes, and I wanted to get there before the other students began to crowd the room. When I walk into the room, Mr. Wolfe is at the desk, shuffling papers and I freeze in the doorway. His back is to me, but I see the outline of his back and hips, his body very muscular in the fitted black shirt he's wearing with a pair of khakis. I must have made a noise because he turns his head and looks my way.

"Miss. Alexander, please, come inside." He says.

I nod, lowering my eyes as I make my way to the first desk in the room and set my bag down on the desk. "Were you looking for something in particular?" I ask.

"Ah, no, just going over the stuff the last art teacher left for me." Mr. Wolfe says, looking back at me. He scratches the back of his neck, and continues "I can't make out most of Ms. Wu's writing. It's very condensed and scribbled."

"Oh, would you like me to help you?" I ask, walking toward the desk at the front of the room.

"Could you?" Mr. Wolfe asks.

"I have no problem reading her writing. I've been in Art Club since I started here." I tell him. I'd gotten used to Ms. Wu's writing a while ago. Mr. Wolfe just nods, almost dumbfounded. He passes me a few papers, and our fingers brush when I grab for them. Mr. Wolfe's eyes lock on mine, and I quickly look away, pulling my hand away from his. I look down at the papers, and begin to read the papers.

We spend the next ten minutes going over the papers, and Mr. Wolfe thanks me as students begin to walk into the room. "I don't know how you can read Ms. Wu's writing, but it just saved me a lot of time, Miss. Alexander."

"Anytime, Mr. Wolfe." I say, and make my way to my desk. I sit down and face Mr. Wolfe. His face was lit up in the classroom lights, and he looked really handsome. God, he's dreamy. Shit, not again.

I had no idea why I was thinking these things, but it had to stop. I will myself to stop. I couldn't be thinking about a teacher this way.

"Alright, kids." Mr. Wolfe says. "This is Art Club. If you thought this was something else, you should probably leave."

A few students let out nervous chuckles.

One student raised their hand. It was Sara Hardewick, blonde and blue eyed, very creative, and easy going. "This is your first year here, so you probably don't know the rules-"

"Ms. Wu's rules?" Mr. Wolfe asks.

"Um, yes." She says.

"Ms. Wu's rules no longer apply here. What's your name?"

"Sara. Sara Hardewick."

"Well, Sara, look at it this way if you will. I'm teaching Art Club now, so feel free to explore things as openly as possible. There are no rules in my classroom except respect me and each other." Mr. Wolfe says. "We are here to be creative and to have fun. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

No one says anything, so I speak up. "No, sir, I don't think we do."

"Thank you, Miss. Alexander." Mr. Wolfe says. "Now, for our first project, I thought we'd be really creative and make abstract paintings of the Mona Lisa." A collect whisper starts around the room, and Mr. Wolfe asks, "What, is that a problem?"

"We painted the Mona Lisa last year." A boy named Stuart Randall says.

"Was it abstract?" Mr. Wolfe asks.

"No." Stuart says.

"Then you shouldn't have a problem with painting her again, this time abstract." Mr. Wolfe says. "Get your supplies, and begin."