Mrs. Walsh

Reunited

"Mrs. Walsh!" I yelled as I raced down the long hallway towards my favorite teacher. It had been six weeks since I saw her because I had been away on vacation all summer long. "I missed you!"

A grin stretched across her face as she opened her arms to embrace me. "Sophia, I missed you too! How was Boston?"

Hugging onto her tightly but letting go far too soon I told her all about my time spent in Boston going to various art museums and selling some of my original work. She put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed, and I could tell she was very proud of me. How could she not be? Everything I knew was learned from her.

After praising me endlessly, the bell rang signaling the start of class. Before we walked into the art classroom, she stopped me. "I am really very proud of you, Sophia. And I missed you very, very much this summer. I'd like to stay after school today and catch up, if you don't mind."

I smiled and nodded. "I would love to." As she walked away I watched her sway through the door. Her dark hair looked so silky and inviting, I couldn't help but imagine myself running my fingers through it... 'What?! She's my teacher, that's so wrong!' I scolded myself in my head. I took a deep breath, shaking the strange feeling off and following after her.

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After a fairly uneventful art class I practically sprinted off to history. As soon as I cleared the doorway I heard a familiar voice, "Sophia!" I turned to see my two best friends sitting together at a table with a spot saved for me.

"Hey guys!" I sat my backpack in the chair in front of my friends before walking to their side of the table and forcing them into a group hug. "I missed you both so much!"

Heather and Jackson took their seats back after our hug and we started chatting away. Heather started babbling about how I looked, as always "Your hair looks so nice! It's a little shorter and it looks lighter, and your skin is flawless! Are... are you actually wearing makeup?! Oh and I love your outfit..."

She was sort of a beauty queen and was always noticing how people looked. Jackson on the other hand was very quiet, but I loved to have him around.

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History class seemed to go by very quickly as Mr. Ward was still hanging onto summer, and didn't want to assign us work yet. As he lazily dismissed class Heather, Jackson, and I walked to lunch together. "I sure didn't miss these school lunches," I groaned as the smell from the cafeteria found it's way to my nose.

"Hey, at least it's our last year of them," Jackson chimed in trying to be positive. I agreed with him, thankful that it was our senior year of high school. After getting our lunches and finding seats at a table near the middle of the cafeteria, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around confused as to who it could be.

"Mrs. Walsh!" She was leaning down slightly so she could more easily speak to me and I could smell the vanilla in her hair. I studied her face and for the first time I noticed how her blue eyes sparkled and reflected even the slightest light. Her lips were painted a soft pink color and she was wearing blush to match. 'Oh my God, she's so beautiful. How have I never noticed it before?' I let my thoughts trail before finally snapping back to reality when Heather punched me on the arm.

"Oh, uh, what?" I stuttered and felt my face blush.

"If you can't I understand, but I asked if you could come to my room for the remainder of the lunch period," Mrs. Walsh repeated in a soft voice, clearly suppressing a laugh.

I nodded my head and got up to follow her. "Are you going to finish this?" Jackson called out to me holding up half of my grilled cheese sandwich. I laughed and shook my head no, and he devoured it before I even turned my head back.

As we got closer to Mrs. Walsh's classroom, I got a strange feeling in my stomach. She wasn't speaking during our walk and hadn't even glanced at me. 'I hope she hasn't noticed that I was acting weird today. I don't even know why I've been doing it. She just seems so... different.'