The Teacher's Pet | Slowburn MJ FanFic

• | Chapter Four | •

At the end of the school day, Riley hesitated to approach Trent, the color guard director, as he sat on the ladder stand above the bleacher stand instructing the guard. Trent was highly unvarnished and he took practice extremely seriously. He wasn't afraid to call anyone out if they were doing something wrong, and any backtalk or lack of effort will lead to running the track 'til you collapsed of exhaustion.

Trent was yelling through the megaphone as Riley took a deep breath and stepped up to where he was. "OH MY GOODNESS, BROOKE! Is your head so far up your ass you still don't know where you're going!?"

His shrill voice made her wince, and he wasn't even talking to her. She peered over at dark-haired Brooke who sulked in humiliation. Trent held his hand to his head as if he had a sudden migraine, then climbed down. He spoke again before turning to Riley. "Flags stay here on the field. Sabers and rifles are gonna head to the student parking lot."

His piercing green eyes bore into Riley's soul and she almost forgot what she was going to say. Scary was an understatement when it came to him. "Trent, is it okay if I run back inside the school really quick? I lost my bracelet."

Trent narrowed his eyes into slits. "You're missing valuable practice time for a bracelet?"

Riley bit her tongue and shifted her weight from foot to foot. She hated annoying him, and she did anything she could to avoid it. "It's not just any bracelet. It means a lot to me."

He exhaled loudly and dismissively waved his hand. "Go on. But don't forget to take your rifle with you."

She nodded and went to grab her rifle from the field before heading back toward the school.

Riley ran as fast as she could so she wouldn't piss Trent off more than he already was. She had to get back in the school through one of the few unlocked doors, which was waaay on the other side of the school. She scurried down several corridors and the school lobby before reaching Mr. Jackson's room, where she last had her bracelet. But to her dismay, the lights were off and the door was locked.

"Dammit." She muttered, kicking at the air in frustration. She dropped her rifle and leaned against the wall to quickly catch her breath before having to run back outside.

She suddenly saw a tall, slim figure from her peripheral vision. "Looking for something?" A soft voice asked, causing her to look up.

Mr. Jackson stood a few feet away. He held his bag in one hand and a dream catcher bracelet with a variety of charms in the other. Riley gasped in relief and ran up to him to retrieve the bracelet.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She beamed, slipping the bracelet on her wrist and making sure it wouldn't budge.

Mr. Jackson chuckled with a kind smile. "It's no problem. I had a feeling it belonged to someone in my class. I saw you running through the school as I was leaving, so I assumed it was yours."

"You saw me?" Her face flushed in embarrassment and she bit the inside of her cheek.

"Yeah. I saw when you ran into that locker, too." He softy laughed to himself.

"My feet wouldn't stop sliding." Riley laughed as well, "But thanks again."

"Does that bracelet have some type of meaning since you came back for it?" He asked.

"My brother got this for me before he died. So yeah, it means a lot to me." She ran her hands over the engraved bracelet.

"Sorry for your loss." He frowned, but she shook her head.

"Thanks, but you don't have to worry about me being upset or anything. I've coped."

He softly smiled and walked around her to pick up her rifle. "Geez, this thing is heavy. You have practice today?"

Riley was thankful for the change in topic. "Yeah. We have a game this Friday and competition this weekend, so Trent is all over us right now. And if I don't get back, he's gonna bite my head off."

"Ah, the infamous Trent I've been hearing about." He heaved a small sigh. "Come on, I'll walk you back to practice."

"Are you sure?" She quickly matched his pace as he started walking. "I don't want to take any more time out of your day."

"Oh, you're fine." He replied, still grasping the rifle in his hand. He looked down at her as she adjusted the gloves on her hands, and took in her practice outfit. Had school still been in, she definitely would've gotten dress code.

"Those gloves are supposed to protect your hands?" He asked as they walked out the school and approached the student parking lot.

"Yeah, and to add extra grip." She wiggled her fingers.

"Interesting." He hummed. "Maybe I should come to the game this Friday to see your performance."

"You should. I mean, the whole routine is pretty cool." Riley shrugged nonchalantly, though on the inside she was becoming giddy with excitement at the thought of watching her perform.

"I can believe that, hearing how hard Trent works his students." Mr. Jackson smiled.

They walked down a few concrete steps and reached the parking lot. The flags stayed behind with one of the two assistants, whereas Trent and Drea were with the others. Riley noticed that even the most skilled throwers were clumsily dropping their sabers or rifles as Mr. Jackson approached.

Trent turned to see the cause of their sudden mistakes and his face dropped in utter annoyance. "No wonder it took you longer than expected."

Mr. Jackson handed Riley her rifle back and she smiled her thanks once again before joining her group. Drea slowly tore her gaze from Mr. Jackson and instructed the guard to start again.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Jackson, for kindly helping my student." Trent acknowledged dryly.

Trent rolled his eyes so hard that only the whiteness of his eyeballs could be seen at the sudden thuds of sabers and rifles hitting the ground. Riley was one of the two that still caught their weapon. "I would ask you to stay and watch, but you're obviously distracting my girls. They can't concentrate when a-this is their words, not mine- 'Sex God' is watching them."

Mr. Jackson chuckled rather than laughed, not seeing what made him a "Sex God". He held up his free hand in surrender as he slowly backed up. "Alright, Trent. See you ladies later."

"Bye, Mr. Jackson!" All the girls yelled in unison.

Once Mr. Jackson was out of sight, Trent's harden stare snapped back toward his guard and they immediately straightened up. If looks could kill, they would've been dead instantly. "I hope you all know that you looked like complete idiots for that little stunt you just pulled."

The girls bowed their head in shame. Trent snapped his fingers. "Three laps! Now!"

The girls frowned and shouted their complaints, but the utter cold glare Trent gave them quickly shut them up in a heartbeat. He pointed toward the edge of the parking lot. "Run before I add three more laps!"

They quickly started making their way to the edge of the lot. "Riley, run four!" Trent shouted and Riley gaped at him in disbelief.

"For what?"

He crossed his arms. "For taking your time, interrupting practice, and bringing along Sex God."

Riley exhaled in frustration and did as she was told. As she ran, she looked up toward the top of the concrete steps and caught a glimpse of Mr. Jackson watching before he walked away.