Lee wasn’t very sure herself. She wasn’t sure why she was following her teacher. She wasn’t sure why she said she was hungry. So she definitely isn’t sure what she was going to do.
But she knew very well what they say about strangers—to never do what they say.
Strangely enough, she was reasoning to herself that she wasn’t doing anything he said.
All he did was ask and all she did was follow.
And while thinking of those trivial things, she didn’t realize they had stopped at a noodle shop.
It was old at first glance, the door was almost crippled and, even in the lack of light, the sign was obviously rusty.
Mr. Avery came in and said “Hello” to the ones inside while she followed pace.
She kept her head down, passing thru unfamiliar faces.
When they sat down, Mr. Avery gave out another smile and said, “Relax. The food’s not bad here at all. Plus, they’re almost always open. They’re like, the haven food place for construction workers or late night salary men. There’s good beer and good noodles and no noise.”
She remained silent. A waitress came over to their table and pulled out a notepad.
“I’ll be getting the usual.” Avery said.
“Right-o.” The waitress, blonde and looks around thirty, eyed her casually. “New face.”
“Oh, she’s Lee. She’s from the cram school I teach at. Get her something mild like egg noodles.”
“Sure thing.” She chuckled. “You never bring students here. When you said you were a teacher, I thought you were lying.”
“Well, at that time I was. Because, you know, I was still a student.”
“Not like you even grew up in two years.”
“Gimme a break, Agnes. I’m twenty-three but I feel like forty.”
“You can keep dreaming, boy. Makes you feel young.”
She gave out a small laugh and went on her way.
Lee contemplated. But it was a good chance to try and find out what kind of person this teacher was.
“You seem to really like this place.”
“Finally feel like talking, huh? Like, I said. The place’s not all that bad. It’s pretty cool. Just eat here once and they make you feel like family.”
“I didn’t really feel any family energy back there.”
“Someone like you comes by every now and then. You were too quiet and too wary. Makes you look like a suspicious person and Agnes really don’t like that—”
“Well, Agnes can keep on not liking it and I can continue to not give a fuck.”
“You do not curse in front of the dining table, Lee.”
At that time, their order had arrived but the two were locked in serious gaze with each other. The steam from the soup wasn’t much help to the situation. It was a tense atmosphere that had probably reached a good point of not going back immediately.
For the next minutes, they ate quietly without looking away from their food. Not a word was spoken or a hand outstretched.
It seemed like eternity but it ended in merely fifteen minutes.
When they got out of the shop, Avery had taken time thanking the waitress again while Lee left him behind.
“Hey, wait up!”
He ran with uneven pace and caught her arm.
“It’s no good for a girl like you to walk around in the dark.”
“Oh, thank you for these wonderful, wonderful sermons of yours, dear cram school teacher. I hope by the time I get resurrected, I’ll find out a way to use them.” Lee yanked his hold off.
“My name’s Kyle, by the way.”
“I hope I’ll remember that good next time, too.”
“I’m Kyle Avery, twenty three years old. Graduated from college six months ago… Single.”
Lee turned around abruptly. She stared at him for a second then opened her mouth.
“How is that going to help me again?”
Kyle rubbed his chin and looked upwards.
“I always get A’s in Math so I ended up teaching it. But when it comes to student relations, I just suck ass.”
“So—”
“But one good guy once told me that I have to take responsibility of my students and how they’re going to grow up as adults.”
Lee wanted to retort fast but she couldn’t. It was a feeling of defeat but not quite because in the beginning there hadn’t been a score.
“When I saw you this afternoon, I thought you were pretty messed up with how you smiled at me or how you waved goodbye to your guide and especially how you sat down and fell asleep.
It’s not like I could be able to help you or anything but I do want that. So, even just as a teacher, I wish to take responsibility of you.”
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Because of this I want noodles right now but I have a choco drink so noodles can wait for later...
Thanks, FireworkMoney, for being a fan! =]
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