Hot For Teacher (26 page)

Day 4

Zeke

Rachel never showed up to the meet last night, and she never wrote me back either. However, she did show up to first period today, but she wouldn’t sit anywhere near me. It was obvious she was depressed. Her hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head, she had her thick frames back on her face, and her infamous plaid jacket was back.

I had hoped that she didn’t alter her appearance just for me. She was always beautiful to me, but her senior year makeover did make her more attractive.

After the class bell rang, I tried to catch up with her, but she just ran right by me. I ran after her and grabbed her backpack. “Rachel Marie, you will talk to me.”

She turned around and pushed her frames further up her nose. “What do you want? Haven’t you caused me enough pain for one day?”

“Rach, you know that’s not what I wanted.”

“Oh? Well it sure is what you
did
.”

“Listen to me, we’ve been friends forever. We always made a pact with each other, never fall in love, right?”

“Yes, but I couldn’t help it. You were always there for me and never once judged me for being—
me
.”

“That’s what friends do, Rach. I’ll always have a special place for you in my heart, but all we’ll ever be is best friends, and I’m okay with that.”

“Fine.”

“Good. Now tomorrow I expect the new, sexy Rachel to return.”

She smiled at me and agreed.

***

Zach

News about Mindy being locked in the basement spread like wildfire. The entire football team congratulated me for finally putting her in her place. I hoped this would be the last personal run-in I had with her.

So far, I’ve gone through three classes with no sign of her. I went to my locker to grab my notebooks for Creative Writing and there was a note sticking out of it.

Zach,

I know I may have gone too far, but you didn’t have to lock me in the basement. All you had to do was tell me that you were sick of me and I would have left you alone. But don’t worry about that now. I’ve received the message loud and clear. I’ll only bother you during games to cheer you on and that’s it.

Goodbye,

-Mindy

That girl really was a piece of work. I took the letter, crumbled it into a ball, and shot it into the trashcan beside the lockers. “Nice shot,” I heard a familiar voice say from behind me.

I spun around to see Ms. Sheppard leaning against the locker behind me. “Thanks, I’m pretty good at what I do.”

“Good, I just might put that to the test in class,” she said, smiling at me, and then walked away.

On my way to class, I saw Mindy standing by her locker and kept walking. She didn’t even look twice at me and it felt weird, but good.

I took my seat in class beside Chris and waited for Ms. Sheppard to appear.

***

Zeke

Ms. Sheppard walked into the room and everyone took notice. I almost felt like she purposely waited until we were all seated to make her grand entrance.

She caught everyone’s attention the minute her heels hit the classroom floor. Today she was wearing a beautiful knee-length navy dress and matching shoes. No matter what sexy outfits she wore, I still appreciated the suspenders I saw her in when our paths crossed the first day of school. She seemed more innocent and down to earth like that. Not to say she isn’t the same person in these revealing outfits, I just prefer a more modern look.

“Today’s class will be about strengths. Some of you are athletic, some—not so much, but we all have strengths. Whatever you feel you’re good at, write about it in one paragraph—due by the end of class.”

“Well we all know what I’m good at,” Zach said.

“And what is that?” Chris said.

“EVERYTHING!” they said simultaneously.

“If you’re so good at ‘everything’, then why did you need me to tutor you in math last semester?” I blurted out, unable to contain it.

The classed gasped in unison as Zach glared over at me. “What’s that glasses? Just because we share the same DNA doesn’t mean I won’t punch you in the face.”

“Bring it on!” I yelled, not letting his cockiness get the best of me. It felt good to stand up for myself for once.

He threw his football at me, hitting me in the shoulder. Before I could retaliate, Ms. Sheppard ran in front of me, yelling at me to stop. “You both can stay after class for detention. I will not stand for such childish behavior in my classroom.

***

A minute before the final bell rang, we all turned in our assignments. Everyone left the room besides Zach and me.

“Thanks for this ass-wipe,” he yelled at me.

“You hit
me
, you prick!”

“Aww poor baby, what are you gonna do? Tell mom?”

“I might,” I snarled back at him.

“Gentlemen. My detention will not be like any other normal detention you’ve ever been to. You see, this class is all about creativity and expressing yourself. So I’d like you both to write one page about your goals and aspirations after you graduate from high school. The catch? You also need to include one thing you’ll miss, and one thing you can do without.”
 

I grabbed a sheet of paper and stared at it for a moment, before the words started to flow.

Goals

By Zeke Cunningham

After I graduate from Sheercrest, my goal is to join the Young Engineer Program at Brookline University. I’ve always loved to build and design new gadgets and there, I feel like I’d have unlimited resources to fulfill my destiny.

One thing I can do without is my twin brother, who always tries to ruin my life.

One thing I’ll miss—is—her.

***

Zach

My Goals

By Zach Cunningham

My goal is to first become a Division I quarterback for Briarwood College. They’re number one in the country and your first year there, will either make or break you. They always have scouts there looking for new talent and I hope to be one of them next year.

One thing I’ll miss is one girl…They don’t make girls like her where I’m going.

P.S. One thing I can do without is my twin brother he’s such a downer.

“Time’s up boys. Switch letters and read them aloud.”

Zeke read mine and then I read his. We both seemed to not want anything to do with each other and were both interested in a girl here.

I wasn’t sure if it was Ms. Sheppard he liked, but there would be a snowball’s chance in hell that he’d get her in the sack before me.

Day 5

Zach

I wanted to ask Zeke who that girl was he was talking about in his letter yesterday. As we both were getting ready for school, I approached him in the kitchen. “Hey, so who was that ‘girl’ you wrote about in your paper yesterday?”

“Why does it matter? She’s nothing but a naughty fantasy and an unlikely reality for me to have anyway.” Zeke said.

“Dude, grow a pair and tell me. Is it Rachel?”

“No, it’s-”

“It’s Max, isn’t it?”

He hesitated answering and I knew I found my answer. “Well tough luck bro, she’s going to be mine and there’s nothing you can do about it. No woman can resist my charm, amongst other things.”

“You’re such a pompous ass. You really think you’re god’s gift to women, don’t you?”

“Why yes. But I don’t
think
so—I
know
so.”

“Whatever, it’s not like any of this matters. She’s our teacher and can go to jail for messing with either one of us,” he said.

“True, but we will be eighteen soon, and then all bets are off.”

“She won’t give you the time of day, Zach.”

“Yes, she will. I just have to figure out a way to get close to her without seeming desperate.”

***

Zeke

Zach was really something else, but he was right about one thing. We
would
be eighteen soon and any sexual conduct that we participated in, would in fact be legal. Even if I wasn’t legal, I would never tell.

On my way to homeroom, there was a bulletin board up and one flyer in particular, caught my eye.

Looking for an assistant to help me with afterschool projects, coaching sessions, and more. If you’re interested, please contact Maxine Sheppard for more details.

Bingo! This would be the way I could get close to her without seeming like some desperate horny teenager. I really enjoyed being in her presence, but if this could get me further than writing papers, and being a Mathlete I’m in.

I ripped the flyer off the wall, folded it, and stuffed it into my back pocket. I couldn’t let Zach see it, or else he’d think he would be capable of fulfilling this role, and would make this a serious competition. 

***

Zach

There was a flyer on the gym bulletin board and a bright pink one caught my attention.  Looking for an assistant…Maxine Sheppard were the only things I needed to see. I ripped it off the wall hoping no one else had seen it before me.

If this was the only way I could get close enough to her to make her mine, so be it.

Zeke

I felt like the day was dragging by so slow. It was only second period and I wasn’t really in the mood to solve equations in Algebra II right now. In fact, I was ready to jab my eye balls out with a fork, just looking at them.

Rachel was out sick today, so not having her around to ‘lighten’ the mood royally sucked.

The bell finally rang and I bolted for the door, I seriously needed to get out of here.

As I walked down the hallway, I spotted Ms. Sheppard talking to a student. Jealously silently struck me and took over me as I continued to watch them talk. I had secretly hoped that he hadn’t potentially seen that flyer too.

Being her assistant meant more to me than just winning her trust, I wanted much more than that. I wanted her—heart.

Call me crazy for falling in love with her in such a short amount of time, but I couldn’t help myself.

He walked away from her and she turned around and our eyes met. She smiled at me and walked over to me. “Hey Zeke, how are you today?”

“I’m good,” I said, hoping she couldn’t hear my heart pounding in my chest.

“Great. Did you happen to catch my flyer on the bulletin board today?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Well, is it something that interests you?”

I wanted to say, ‘Of course it does! Do you think I’m insane to pass up this opportunity?’ But instead I said “Absolutely.”

“Fantastic. Meet me after school today in room 214 so I can interview you.”

“I’ll be there.” She patted me on my shoulder and walked away. I felt like I was going to melt into a puddle in the middle of the hallway.

My friend Jacob approached me soon after to make sure I was okay. “Hey man, are you okay? You’ve just been standing in the middle of the hallway, looking a little lost.”

Jacob was a lot bigger than me. He had a buzz cut and was about 200 lbs. He was also on the football team, but he steered clear of my brother.

“I’m fine, you wouldn’t understand anyway.”

“I wouldn’t understand what? That you’re secretly in love with our English teacher?” I pushed him into the locker and yelled at him.

“Keep it down! How the hell did you figure that out?”

“Dude, anyone in the hallway could see that. You’re smitten,” he said, laughing aloud.

Crap.
I didn’t think it was that obvious. I needed to figure out a way to dial back my feelings for her publicly. I was glad Rachel was out sick today, because if Jacob could pick up on that just by looking at me, I knew she’d point it out too.

***

After our Language Arts class, I went to room 214 and waited outside the door for Ms. Sheppard to arrive. Three others guys also showed up for an interview and it secretly ticked me off.  I knew these guys didn’t really want to ‘help’; they all secretly had hidden agendas as well.

I went inside and took a seat in the front of the room. The other guys sat scattered all over the room. I grabbed a notebook out of my bag and started doodling inside of it, to pass the time.

Then I heard the unthinkable in the hallway. “Tell coach I’ll be late, I have an interview.”

No! Not him too.

***

Zach

I walked into the classroom after telling Chris to send a message to coach and
he
was in the front row.

I sat in the back and tried to keep my composure until Ms. Sheppard arrived.

“Sorry I’m late guys, I had a meeting with the principal.”

“Better late than never, I always say.”

“Good, now you can be my first interview, Zach. Gentlemen, would you mind exiting the room, please? I’ll be interviewing you all one by one.”

She sat down behind the desk, and opened her briefcase. Pulling out a paper and pen, she asked me to come to the front of the room and to pull up a chair in front of her.

“So Zach, why do you want to be my intern?”

“Well, I figured it would be a great opportunity to learn more about you.”

“I see. Question two; what do you expect this position to entail?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping it would help me with my social skills, and I could learn a thing or two from you.”

She asked me countless boring questions and I tried to answer them all as best as I could. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get the position, but I really wanted it.

“That’ll be all for now. Could you please send Zeke in for me?”

I got up from the chair and walked out the room. “You’re up, jerk-face.”

He smiled at me and walked into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. 

***

Zeke

Ms. Sheppard looked gorgeous sitting behind the desk. Most of her hair was pulled back, except for a few stray hairs beside her face. She was wearing her thick frames, a white shirt, and no make-up. This was the way I loved seeing her.

“Have a seat Zeke. Let’s get right to this. What are your goals for this internship? What exactly do you hope to achieve?”

“My goal is to alleviate some stress from you. I know teaching a bunch of immature high school students can be time consuming and very stressful, but as your ‘potential’ intern, that’s where I would step in. I’d also be willing to stay as late as you needed, right by your side to help you with
anything.
  What I’d like to achieve is to become your go-to guy. If you ever feel overwhelmed—with paperwork I mean, I’d be there to step in.”

She looked deeply into my eyes and remained silent for a moment, which made me nervous.

“Next question. Why should I choose you over the other candidates?”

“Because I’m the only one who has actually come here to help you. I’m not in this just to try and sleep with you. I’m genuinely interested in assisting you, and it’ll also look great on my resume for college. It’ll show how much of a dedicated student I am.”

“Thank you. Please send in the next candidate, I’ll be in touch.”

I couldn’t believe I actually said that to her. I was starting to unleash a new found confidence ever since I’ve met her, and I was really starting to enjoy it.