Hold On

Chapter 14

 I wanna try something different Yall.

~Ethan's POV~

Flatter her? Of course. I should have thought of that. There wasn't much time before her mom would be here. I could feel the heat spreading throughout my body. I was afraid of what she might think of me. Although, I knew it was inappropriate to think that way, there's no denying that I was completely head over heals for Clarissa, and winning over her mom, whether it was as Claire's teacher or her boyfriend, it meant everything to me at the moment. I needed to wow her. It would just be her mom and I in my classroom, talking. My eyes flashed over to my desk. Her daughter and I had Sex on that desk.

Sudden, the situation became much more intense. Claire said her mom likes confidence. I can't be sitting here like a dog with it's tail in between it's legs. I started to straighten out my desk, and make it look presentable. I will be the first one to admit that a teacher's desk is always much more messy than they appear to be.

Before I knew it, there was a knock at the door. My heart stopped as I glanced over to see Peter Gallagher standing with a petite young woman with short brunette woman and with bright hazel colored eyes. I suddenly knew exactly where Clarissa got her stunning looks from. I stood up from my desk and smiled over at her.

"Ethan, this is Mrs.Winter. Clarissa's mother." He said.

Obviously, I thought to myself.

"Hi, Mrs.Winter. I'm Ethan Dolan" I said as an introduction, holding out my hand for her.

"Please call me Liz." She smiled sweetly as she took my hand into hers.

"Liz. . ." I corrected myself.

"Alright, I'll leave you two to your meeting. Have a nice day, Liz." Peter said before exiting my room. I shut the door behind him, started to feel a little uneasy as I turned back to her. I sat down at my desk as she took a seat in one of the students' desks directly across from me.

"First and foremost. . . How's she doing?" She asked me looking a bit concerned.

"Claire is doing a great job. Her scores are incredible. . ." I said, not actually trying to flatter her, but telling her the truth.

"No. . ." She said quietly. "How is she, really?" She asked me concern filling her hazel eyes.

A rush of confusion ran through me. "I'm sorry, I'm not following." I said with a shake of my head.

"Peter told me that you've been trying to work with Clarissa because of everything that happened last year. He told me that you're making quite a bit of progress with her." She cleared it up causing me to understand now.

"Well. . .Claire's hanging in here." I said honestly. "I won't lie, she's had her doubts . . . But she's also had her moments of greatness. She's been shining pretty bright lately." I said giving her a bright smile.

"I'm glad you care so much about her. She could use someone new in her life to help her out." I don't think that she caught the irony in her statement the way I did..

"I do care about her. She's an amazing woman, and she's very smart."

"Have you seen her drawing yet?" She asked completely out of the blue.

I nodded, "Yes, I have."

"Wow. . . You must really bring her out of her shell. She's usually very private with her drawing. That's why I asked."

"I think I caught that when she was showing me them" I said in understanding.

Then there was a sudden hint of sadness in her eyes. She looked down at her nails as she picked at the; the same way that Claire does.