[Featured on @adultfiction, @NA, @teenfiction, @Contemporarylit]
"He takes a step closer to me, close enough that I can feel the warmth radiating off his body as my heart races. "Just say no if you want me to stop," he mumbles in a husky voice, as h...
"Well, we've been having trouble keeping Antonio from disturbing other students while they're working," Eleanor says to the woman sitting across from us.
His mom is nothing like I thought she'd be like. Antonio is rambunctious and very social. His mom seems to be very polite, quiet, and shy.
"Honestly, I believe he's probably just bored. Antonio does very well academically compared to most of the class. He might just be finishing his work quickly and wants to chat with other students because he doesn't realize most people are still working," I add as I look at my notes.
His mom gives me a grateful smile. "You're the first teacher to not just dismiss him as a troublemaker."
I smile back. I'm glad I could bring a different perspective.
We talk about a few more things before we run out of time.
"All these meetings get tiring huh, I don't know how teachers can do this twice a year," I say to Eleanor as I stand up and stretch. I look at the clock, it's 6pm and we've had five meetings already, and we still have three more days of this.
"Yes, they tend to become a bit much by the end of the evenings. Luckily we have an empty time slot before the next meeting," she grins, patting my shoulder. "Half an hour. I'm going to head to the lounge."
"Alright, I'll probably just stay in here, there's some marking I need to finish up," I nod, heading back to my desk as Eleanor leaves.
Time flies and I suddenly hear a knock on the door as Abigail and a woman who looks a lot like her come in. I can't help but feel slightly disappointed for two reasons. One, I don't get to see him. Two, he's probably either dating or married to this extremely attractive woman. Both are stupid reasons, I don't know what's wrong with me.
She has wavy long blonde hair, glimmering blue eyes, and full lips. She's tall and skinny, wearing an elegant off white blouse and a short navy pencil skirt. She's also surprisingly young, probably only in her mid twenties or so.
"Hi Ms. Neil, this is my mom," Abigail says politely. I walk over to them and reach out to shake her hand.
She shakes with her soft and warm hand. "Hi nice to meet you, I'm Tammy," she pauses and quickly scans across the room. "Is Abigail's dad not here yet?" I can't help but notice a very slight grimace appear on her face when she mentions him. "Typical," she mumbles under her breath.
"Oh, I didn't realize he was coming as well. You're a bit early though, Mrs. Able is still on her break. Maybe Abigail can show you around and some of the work she's done?" I suggest, and Abigail's face immediately lights up. I watch her bring her mom around the room, pointing out her art projects on the walls.
I head back to my desk and continue doing work. Around ten minutes later, Eleanor returns. She exchanges greetings with Tammy and comes to her desk. "Notes ready Lina?" She's holding a clipboard and a folder with Abigail's name on it. I nod, and we head to the meeting area of the room. Someone knocks on the door again, and Paxton rushes in.
He comes over to Eleanor and myself. "Hi you must be Mrs. Able, I'm Paxton. So sorry I'm late, my meeting ran a bit long."
Eleanor smiles and glances at the wall clock. "Don't worry about it, you're just on time in fact. This is my student teacher, Lina Neil."
"We've met," he says in a deep voice, looking at me. I nod quickly, feeling a little tongue tied.
"Abigail, you can wait in the reading corner while Ms. Neil and I talk to your parents." She nods and grabs a book off a shelf before sitting down on a beanbag chair on the other side of the room.
"Paxton." Tammy says dryly to him as she sits down in the plastic blue chair next to him.
"Tammy." He replies in the same tone.
My impression of their relationship might have been wrong.
Everything feels awkward and tense before Eleanor clears her throat. "Well, Abigail is a lovely student. She's well-behaved, does all her homework on time, gets along with her classmates, answers questions in class, and does well on her work."
"I think I know where she gets it from," Paxton chuckles.
Tammy rolls her eyes. "Yeah, so do I."
Eleanor and I give each other a look. The two of them eventually settle down though, after making a few additional passive aggressive jabs at each other, and the meeting goes along more or less normally.
After a bit, I can't help but notice a set of hazel eyes focusing on me in my peripheral vision. Paxton's resting his elbow on the table, his chin resting on his hand curled into a fist. I take a quick peek, and he's definitely looking at me very attentively. His sharp features and strong presence make my heart beat increase ever so slightly.
He doesn't look away though, like most people would when they're caught staring. If this was a way to establish dominance, he sure did it. I can't read his expression, he looks very serious, but there also seems to be a glint of amusement in his eyes. I bite my lip and pray no one notices my face turning slightly red.
"Lina?" I'm suddenly snapped out of my thoughts by Eleanor. "Abigail's marks please?" she says, gesturing towards the clipboard.
"O-oh right right, yes sorry," I stammer, handing the clipboard to Tammy. It's mostly A's and a few B's. I fumble through my notes. "Abigail's very social and kind. She's always helping her classmates who seem to be having trouble. I haven't noticed any issues arise." Paxton and Tammy nod approvingly.
We continue the rest of the meeting, I avoid making eye contact with Paxton so I don't embarrass myself again.
