[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...
"It was nice meeting you two," I say, shaking hands with Mrs. Able and Lina, Tammy does the same. Abigail notices us finishing and skips over to us. The three of us walk together to the parking lot.
"So, what'd they say?" Abigail asks eagerly. I have a feeling she already has an idea of what was said.
"You're doing really well honey," Tammy smiles, "we're proud of you."
"Yeah, keep it up kiddo," I add. Abigail is beaming. We leave the building and it's pouring rain outside. "Aw shit," I mumble. I forgot my umbrella in my car trunk.
Tammy elbows me in the ribs. "Language," she hisses. I try to discreetly rub the spot she elbowed, god why are her elbows so sharp? She looks at Abigail who's wearing a new pair of non waterproof shoes and a non waterproof coat. "Abby, could you wait under the cover here with Dad? I'll drive my car here." She nods.
"Your new student teacher seems nice Abby," I say to her. I remember the way she shyly turned away and blushed when she caught my eye. The way her green eyes glittered. The way her shiny dark brown hair fell in loose waves down her back. It's been a while since I've thought this way about a girl. I've been so busy with work I haven't had a girlfriend in over a year.
She just shrugs. "I don't really like her. She's not that good at teaching cause she makes mistakes and gets all nervous and weird." I'm slightly taken aback at her words. It's not like Abby to be very critical of people. Before I can follow up, Tammy pulls up.
I kiss Abby's forehead. "See you Saturday honey."
"Bye Daddy!" she shouts, quickly running down the stairs and into the car.
I head towards my car, hurrying so I don't get soaked by the rain. As I reach my car, I notice someone a couple parking spots away. I think it's Lina, it looks like she's having trouble. I quickly take my umbrella out of my trunk and head over to her.
"God fucking dammit," I hear her curse and kick her car's tire as I approach her. I hold my open umbrella above her, not that it'll make much difference at this point, she's soaked. She turns around, and slightly jumps, dropping her phone on the ground. I should probably make my presence known from further away next time before this girl drops anything else.
She quickly picks it back up. "Are you alright?" I ask, even though I already know the answer is most likely no.
Her look of embarrassment is quickly replaced by one of frustration before she sighs. "Flat tire and no spare. I was going to get an Uber but my phone died after such a long day."
"Let me drive you home," I offer. She looks up at me nervously and bites her lip.
She quickly shakes her head. "No it's ok, I-I don't want to inconvenience you," she stammers sheepishly.
I chuckle a bit. "So how were you planning to get home?" She slightly parts her lips to speak but closes them again, with a puzzled look on her face. "Yeah. It's no trouble really Lina, I'm parked right over there." I gesture towards my car.
"Alright, thank you so much," she says, following me. I unlock the doors and she gets into the passenger seat. Her dark hair is messy and stuck to her face from the rain, she takes a hair tie off her wrist and pulls her hair into a bun. I hand my phone to her so she can enter her address into maps, before I secure it onto the dashboard. "I guess I haven't made the best first impressions so far huh," she says, in a slightly humorous tone.
I chuckle as we pull out of the parking lot. "Everyone has rough days. Speaking of which, I think I owe you an apology for being so curt last week. I had a rough day at work, and I was worried about Abigail." I felt bad afterwards about how rude I probably seemed.
Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. "Oh no no, that's fine. I was just being my awkward self," she shrugs with a sheepish laugh, "no harm done. Thank you for apologizing though."
I nod. We drive in a peaceful, relaxed silence for a while. The sounds of the windshield wipers going back and forth like metronomes and rain tapping against the car creates a peaceful ambience. Rush hour has just passed, so traffic is quiet as well.
Lina looks like she wants to say something, but has been holding it back for a while. I've noticed her slightly part her lips ever so slightly, before pursing them back together with a tiny shake of her head several times now. I'm about to ask if she's ok, before she finally speaks. "So, you and Abigail's mom aren't together?" she asks hesitantly.
"Yeah. We broke up before Abigail was born. We just alternate weeks with her now," I try to give as much and as little information as I can. Just enough for her to get the gist of it. I don't exactly want to explain my chaotic backstory to this girl I've basically just met. "So you're a student? How'd you end up here?" I ask, changing the subject.
She definitely looks like she has more questions but drops it. "Yeah, I studied social work during undergrad, and I'm in my last year of my master's now. I want to teach elementary school after I graduate, so I applied for a student teacher position at this school and was lucky enough to get it."
"Why elementary school?"
"I love kids," she smiles warmly, "so I took a gap year in between undergrad and grad school where I worked at a day care centre because I wanted to be an ECE."
"And that didn't work out?"
She wrinkles her nose. "I couldn't handle an entire class of kids that young. So chaotic and messy. I did find out I had a knack for teaching while I was there though, so I decided to study for a master's in childhood education instead."
It's refreshing to meet someone with confidence in what they want. I've interviewed way too many twenty something year old's fresh out of post secondary who seemed so clueless. "That's nice, glad to hear things are going well."
She gives me a shy smile that I can't help but find endearing. "Thank you."
'Destination is on your right' my phone tells me and I pull over. Lina turns to me. Somehow even in the dark car with light only coming in from the street lights, her eyes still glimmer a bright emerald green. "I've never seen eyes like yours," I say softly, "they're beautiful."
She bites her lip and looks downwards. "I think hazel eyes are really nice too," she mumbles. The corners of my lips tug upwards slightly, I guess she got a good look at me at some point too.
We lock eyes for a moment. It feels as if time has stopped as tension lingers in the air, her hand is on the door handle, but she doesn't open it. I want to say something, but nothing comes out. Her lips are slightly parted but nothing comes out either. I rest my hand lightly over her's, and slowly, so slowly, lean in towards her. She does the same, our lips are barely an inch apart before she quickly pulls back. "W-wait, no I-I don't think this is a good idea." her face is bright red. "T-thank you for driving me home Paxton, I'll see you around."
