Teach Me Something
Cassandra Carter slammed her locker and turned to her cousins, Matt and Lexis.
"And you guys are positive you won't pull any fast ones on me? I may be new, but I'm not an idiot," she said warningly.
She'd just moved in with her aunt and cousins, because her aunt had decided it would be best for her, even if that meant pulling double shifts everyday just to get by. It wasn't enough that Cassie was a burden to her dad so much that he up and left, and to her mom who was driven into being an addict and getting herself locked away, but now she was making everything hard for her aunt and two cousins who took her in without even letting her ask.
"We might be a little… mischievous, but not malicious," Lexis grinned.
Cass looked at her cousin warily, "Mischievous?"
Matt smiled comfortingly, "Don't worry; I'll keep Lex under control. And anyone else who even looks at you the wrong way," he added, glaring at a student across the hall who'd been eyeing the 'new girl'.
The guy quickly averted his eyes, as Matt was twice his size and had a starting position on the football team.
Cassandra loved her cousins, but they were way too perfect to live with. She had a feeling they'd hate her by the end of the week.
"Who's your homeroom teach?" Lex asked her, looking curiously over her shoulder before tossing her hair and a flirty grin to the guy across the hall who was eyeing both girls appreciatively now that Matt was effectively distracted by a fellow jock-buddy.
"J. Cahill," Cassandra said, glancing down at her schedule. "Have her for English too. Any good?"
"He, Cass. I have him, for English too. A very attractive and cool teacher, might I add. And yeah, he teaches good, too."
Cassandra cringed. "He teaches well." She corrected her cousin.
Lex looked at her confused, asking "How would you know, Cass? You haven't even met the guy yet!""
Cassandra sighed, "I already know he needs to work on his lesson plan for grammar…" her sarcastic comment fell on deaf ears as Lexis' boy toy walked up and they started making out against her locker.
"Well. That's brilliant," Cass said, rolling her eyes. "Funny, at Chilton, they never allowed PDA like that," she eyed her cousin and her guy warily.
Lex broke the kiss and grinned at her cousin, "No, but your guys there got off on how short the skirts were, you all did it under the bleachers, and you guys brought pot to school," she said, looking at Cassandra as if it were obvious that making out wasn't the worst that could happen.
Cassandra conceded, "And the sad part is, that's all true. But you seemed to leave out that I flirted with every older guy that was attractive, there. Even teachers," she smirked when Matt reacted to this part of the conversation by spitting out the water he'd just taken a sip from.
She smiled innocently. "Walk in at the wrong time of the conversation, Matty?" she asked with a pouty look. He averted his eyes, not wanting to think of his younger cousin flirting with anyone, let alone a teacher…
He shushed her. "Don't call me Matty, Sassy."
She made a face at him and he left. "Well, I gotta meet up with my girl. See you two after practice tonight."
Cassandra nodded and Lexis ignored her brother, turning back to make out with her friend.
"Erm… I'm going to go to see the guidance counselor, m'kay? They told me to skip homeroom to talk to her…" Cass tried to tell Lex, but the only acknowledgement she received was a slight "mmmhm" that could've been part of her make out session.'
She wandered through the halls, trying to find the guidance department when she walked into some guy. "Oh, sorry dude," she apologized, barely glancing at the guy.
"No worries. You're new," it wasn't a question- more of an observance. She looked at him for a second and nodded. "Yeah, how'd you know? Am I that obviously lost?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, no. I know everyone here," he said shrugging it off, and she looked doubtful.
"Everyone, hmm?"
He nodded, a small smile on his face. She was spunky, he noted.
"That I find extraordinarily unlikely," she stated matter-of-factly. "I'll take your word for it, though." She wondered vaguely what was with his jacket. He looked old enough to be in college, so she figured he was a senior. "I'm Cassandra Carter," she held out her hand for him to shake and he looked surprised.
"So you're Carter, hmm? Okay. Well, guidance is over there, to your right. I'll see you in English," and with that he walked his own way, and she looked confused. She frowned, and mentally shrugged it off figuring he was one of Matt's friends or something. She continued on to the guidance department, wondering how he knew where to direct her…
It was right after lunch, and she was on her way out of her AP History class to her English class. She was laughing at her cousin, and walked backwards out the door. "Well, you know me. I fall for any guy, and the second I fall for him, I flirt with him until he can no longer resist my charms," she joked, as she so gracefully walked backwards right into someone, who had happened to hear the joke. She stopped laughing, as she had landed rather ungracefully on her ass. She looked up at her cousin's shocked and amused face, and up at the guy she'd bumped into –the one she ran into earlier- and started laughing hysterically.
The guy looked questioningly at Lex, who gave an awkward shrug. He then leaned down to help her with her stuff and getting to her feet.
"Good first day?" he asked, almost sarcastically, and still getting over her fit of laughter, she nodded, holding back a smile.
"Thanks, dude," she said, grinning. "The new girl slash soon to be dubbed klutz appreciates your uncharacteristic chivalry."
He looked at her confused, "How do you know I'm out of character when I act with chivalry?" he asked, curiously.
"Chivalry is dead," she answered simply, shrugging. "Society's gone downhill since the good ol' days with knights and princes so plentiful and polite," she smirked a bit. "Speaking of lack of grace and manner, you never did tell me your name. Seems a fair exchange that if you know mine, I know yours. After all, you know everyone here, and I know two people," she pointed out reasonably.
He barely had any time to be impressed with her answer to his question before he had to answer hers. "Jeff Cahill. But most people call me Mister, around here. For some reason, the administration frowns upon the usage of first names from students to teachers. I'll accept dude, though," he said smirking as she looked astonished and embarrassed.
"You're a teacher?" she asked incredulously.
"No. I'm not a teacher, I'm a punter for the Giants," he said, smirking.
She looked at him blankly and said, "Sorry, Mr.… Cahill, was it? I'm a Pats fan," she grinned as he looked curiously at her and she pulled a Boston hat out of her messenger bag.
"Dangerous gear to be wearing in New Jersey," he informed her, only to catch her rolling her eyes.
"Believe me that's not the worst that I'll do," she mumbled. He noticed the yellow slip in her hand and asked, shocked, "Detention on day one? My, my, are we busy…"
"Speaking of busy, don't you have a class to teach?" she asked, almost condescendingly as she tried to shift the focus away from her failures.
"Yes, the same one you have to attend," he countered equally, not sounding offended, but rather slightly sarcastic.
If this guy could teach English as well as he could keep up a conversation, she may not hate Filmore High as much as she thought she would….