🖤, Alex (TeacherxStudent )

Chapter Two (Alex)

Later that evening I pulled out my laptop to finish my essay. I saw a new note on google Docs. I skimmed it, heart jumping when I realized it was from Miss Shepherd. It must have been what she typed in my laptop earlier.

You seemed very skittish today. I hope it wasn't something I said or did. I'm glad you joined my class, I feel lucky to have you. It seems like this class should be a breeze for you. Don't bulldoze anymore teachers!
-B.S

"B.S?" I repeated under my breath.
"No. what's BS is the amount of homework we have on the first day of school." My dorm roommate, Nikki, spoke up from across the room.
"Huh?" I asked dumbly before realizing what she thought I meant. "Oh, yeah. Hey, what's Miss Shepher's first name?" I questioned.
"Bridget, I think."
Bridget. Pretty. It suited her. I re-read the note. I couldn't help but fixate on the fact she felt lucky to have me. She feels lucky after just one day? Maybe my feeling aren't one-sided? I shook my head. Okay, now i was just being ridiculous and reading way too much into it.
"Speaking of Miss Shepherd," Nikki said, pulling me out of my thoughts. ", how did you like her class?"
I shrugged. "It was alright."
"Just alright? Huh. I would've thought you'd love it considering Shepherd is drop-dead gorgeous."
I froze. Was it that obvious? "What?" I asked her, nervously.
"You didn't notice? She's pretty in that confident I-get-what-I-want kind of way that you like. And she fits the age requirement that you go after: much older."
I shot her a look as she laughed.
"Are you done?" I asked.
"It's okay I get it, you have mommy issues. I'm not judging."
"I don't have mommy issues. I just like maturity and I think women look better as they get older. It's a preference, notthing to do with my mom." I snapped. My mom is dead to be. I refuse to associate anything about me with her.
"Hey, I was just teasing."Nikki told me. She must have seen the look on my face. "I was just trying to get you to admit you think she's hot." She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
I smiled. " She's...pretty. But I don't...." Just thinking about her made me blush. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.
"Oh my god." Nikki sat up. "You have a crush on her."
"Don't be ridiculous." I said simply, turning back to my laptop.
She squealed. "You do! Tell me all about it."
"There's nothing to tell."
"I heard at the beginning of the class some student was running and damn near knocked her over. I would've killed to see that. Did you see who did it?"
I cleared my thoat. "Can we just change the subject."
The most dramatic gasp I've ever heard left her mouth.
"No way." She started laughing. "Oh my god, that was you?"
I rubbed my temple. "Nikki..."
"Holy shit, you are never going to live that down."
"Tell me about it. She keeps telling me not to take anyone else down today every time I see her."
"Just to be clear, you don't have a crush on her?"
I sighed, but couldn't help the smile that escaped my lips. Nikki did my head in sometimes but shes been my best friend since freshman year. We had an instant connection, and two years later, were as close as ever.
"Okay, maybe a small one." I told her.
"I knew it. Were you all weird and awkward? You were, weren't you?"
"You have no idea." I groaned.
"That bad?"
"Worse. I couldn't form a sentence. I lied about having another class so i could leave and stop embrassing myself."
"That's not too bad."
"Then she saw me in the library so she knew I was lying."
Nikki winced. "Okay, not great. But it could be worse."
"You mean like almost running her over?"
She laughed. "Yeah like that. You've always just been so good with the ladies."
I grabbed my pen from my desk and tossed it at her. She dodged it easily. "I mean you're just miss steal-ya-girl over here." She continued.
"Shut up." I laughed.
"Your rizz? Off the charts."
I groaned, resting my head on the desk. "I'm gonna have to transfer schools, aren't I?"
"Oh, you're not that bad."
"Gee, thanks."
"Hey, you have a backup school, right?" She asked, laughing loudly, as she ducked down to dodge a book that nearly hit her in the head.
"Your aim is about as bad as your ability to talk to girls." She taunted.
"Keep it up and we'll get to see how good you are at dodging a desk." I warned.
She put her hands up in fake-surrender. "Okay okay." She stood up and walked across the room.
"I'd dodge it as well as you dodge not making a fool out of yourself." She said quickly, running out of the room and closing the door before I could react. I shook my head, smirking. Yeah, she better run. Brat.

***

(Bridget)

I couldn't get that wild, awkward girl out of my head. There was just something about her. I have no idea why she seemed so nervous but I found it to be very adorable. I watched her in the hallway after class and her anxiety seemed to be gone. She stopped and talked to one of her friends, head thrown back in laughter. She had a beautiful smile, I couldn't help but notice.

She looked so carefree in the hallway, which led me to believe her odd behavior had something to do with me. Was she that embarrassed about nearly knocking me over? It happened nearly every week. There was always a kid running late and not paying attention. It was nothing new.

Did I make her uncomfortable somehow? I tried to make light out of the situation as best I could. When she rambled and tripped over her words, I made sure not to react and to make it obvious that I was listening and that she could talk as much as she wanted. So I couldn't figure out what the problem was. I chalked it down to first day jitters and decided to stop worrying about it.

I made my way to my living room, glass of wine in hand, and sat down on the couch with my laptop. I sighed. Being a teacher didn't end when class was over. I had a lot of work to look over and grade.

It's okay, you love being a teacher, I reminded myself. Suck it up.

So I opened the laptop and got to work. I scanned my email and let out a chuckle. Alex had already finished and submitted her essay. I loved her determination. I fished my reading glasses out of the pocket of my robe. I've already read part of it earlier in the library this morning to make sure she didn't need caught up on anything. She definitely didn't. She was off to a great start, so let's hope she kept that up. I starting reading.

The essay was one of the best I've seen on The cask of Amontillado. She had a clear understanding of the story, and made it original. That's something I've always taught in my classes: originality. Anyone can write a standard essay. But very few can write one with a touch of themselves in it.

I was impressed, considering I didn't even have to teach her that. She just transferred today, so it was something that came natural to her. After fixing a few grammar mistakes, I graded it as a 100%

I looked at the notes tab, debating for a second. Ah, screw it. I sent her a quick note telling her I'm glad she was in my class and that I hoped I didn't do anything to make her uncomfortable. Maybe she just got nervous face-to-face. I knew that I, personally, was better at expressing my feels over message. It gives you time to think of what you want to say and you don't feel quite on the spot. Maybe she'll message me back, maybe not.

I don't know why I was worrying so much about it. I think I just wanted to ease my nerves about it being something that I did, even though I was pretty sure I didn't. For god's sake, just stop thinking about it, I snapped at myself. She's probably not dwelling on it, so what are you?

I shook my head, blocking her from my mind. Just keep grading, Bridget. Nobody else in her class turned the essay in yet. After all, it wasn't due for another week. So I started working on grading assignments from another class.

After about twenty minutes, my laptop chimed with an email notification. I opened it and was pleased to see that Alex responded.

Oh my gosh no, it was nothing you did. I'm usually very awkward when I'm in new situations and I've been known to not be very good at first impressions haha. It will be better ! I feel lucky to be in your class. See you Wednesday!
            -Alex

Her message put my mind to ease. Good, it wasn't something I did. So now I could drop it and move on.
Ha. Even as I thought that, I knew it wasn't going to happen. She said Wednesday would be better and I hoped it was. But there was only one way to find out.