Stef and Lena's journey from the day they meet to the beginning of the show.
(A lighthearted story with no major drama and honestly, no outline either so I'm making this up as I go along.)
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Hi I'm Lena Adams, the assistant vice principal." Lena said extending a hand to the blond woman waiting for her.
"Hi, I'm Stef Foster." Stef said, completely taken by the woman in front of her, holding onto her hand a little longer than required.
"So... your son..." Lena enquired, just as drawn to Stef and she was to her.
"Brandon... Brandon." Stef stuttered.
"Brandon." Lena acknowledged. "He will be starting Kindergarten this fall."
"Yes, he's five." Stef said.
"Great, well I would be glad to give you a tour, tell you about our school, are we waiting for your husband to join?" Lena asked, hoping that Stef would say that she was single.
"Uh no, uh he's not... uh he couldn't make it." Stef said, unsure of how much to share exactly.
The two of them laughed awkwardly.
"Okay, well uh... follow me." Lena said and lead Stef on a tour of the school.
An hour later Lena couldn't remember one single thing that she had told Stef on that tour but she could remember exactly what Stef had worn, how she smelled and the way her voice sounded. It took all of Lena's focus to remember that she was at work and speaking to a prospective parent - a straight, married, prospective parent.
'This is crazy Lena.' Lena chastised herself. 'What are you doing? You're just lonely and miss being in a serious relationship, that's all.' She knew she couldn't get involved with a parent. If she was straight, the parent was gay, single or anything else it was just a bad idea.
Stef drove home in much the same way - a complete daze. She vaguely remembered the list of activities that the school offered, the after-school care program, the well-experienced teachers and administrators and the facilities but it was almost like she'd gone on that tour a few years ago rather than a few minutes. That woman - Lena Adams - was what Stef could remember.
Suddenly Stef shuddered at the though. What was she doing? She knew she couldn't think like this. It had caused nothing but trouble in the past and instantly her father's voice filled her head. She couldn't be thinking about another woman, not this way at least - wondering just how smooth her skin would actually feel and how soft her hair was.
Luckily for her, Stef didn't have to think about it too much for the moment she got home her five year old son came charging out the door.
"Daddy came." Brandon said excitedly.
"He did?" Stef asked. Though she wore a smile for her son's sake she was less than happy about it. She hated it when Mike showed up unannounced because it usually meant that he was drunk and Stef wanted to keep Brandon away from him when that happened.
Stef glanced up at the baby-sitter who had followed Brandon out the door and relaxed slightly when she received a soft smile from the young girl. Obviously things hadn't gone too bad.
"Mike thought it was the weekend." Hannah explained. "He wanted to take Brandon to the baseball game. I managed to remind him that the game wasn't on for another two days."
Stef gave Hanna a grateful smile. She was lucky to have the fourteen year old for a neighbor. She was a responsible girl who didn't seem too troubled by the challenges that Stef and her family were facing.
"Brandon, why don't you go get your picture to show your mom." Hannah suggested.
"Oh yeah!" Brandon said excitedly as he ran inside to get his work of art.
"It wasn't so bad." Hannah said. "I showed him the schedule and when he saw that there was no game he lost interest in taking Brandon."
"Thanks Hannah." Stef said gratefully. She was just relieved that Hannah's brother, Evan, didn't have to come and help out this time.
"No problem Stef." Hannah replied with a smile just as Brandon came darting to the front door again.
"Look mom." Brandon said excitedly as he held up a piece of paper with a plane and some clouds drawn on it.
"That's great baby." Stef praised, studying the picture. "Definitely refrigerator material."
Brandon beamed, proud of his work.
"I should get going, I have a movie to get to." Hannah said and Stef smiled as she paid the girl, giving her an extra five for all the trouble Mike caused.
The next few weeks were busy for Lena. The last few weeks of summer were always hectic with parents constantly visiting the school, asking questions, reconfirming everything. But through it all the blond woman never completely left her mind. She knew it was foolish and futile but she eventually figured that just fantasizing didn't do anyone any harm.
Stef on the other hand had found it rather easy to put Lena out of her mind. Apart from the years of practice of avoiding thinking about women in that way, she was too busy between her job, her son and getting him all set for school, her husband and his drinking and her father who was doing everything in his power to convince her to move back in with Mike. So she didn't have much time to really think about Lena and eventually the woman was almost entirely forgotten.
The gym was packed and noisy with parents, students, teachers and administrators shuffling about waiting for the orientation assembly to begin. Lena stood with the Principal, Mr. Gomez, and the Vice Principal Mrs. Grant on the small makeshift stage waiting for the assembly to start but every so often she found herself glancing around for the blond that even now, after almost a month, was a permanent resident in her mind.
Stef held onto Brandon's hand tight as she maneuvered them through the crowed trying to find three seats in a row. Mike had promised to be there but as usual Stef wasn't holding her breath - Mike had broken so many promises lately.
"Is this my class?" Brandon asked innocently, looking around at everyone.
"No honey." Stef said as she took a seat somewhere in the middle between some high school kids and their parents. "This is an orientation. It's an assembly where all the new kids and their parents have a meeting. They are going to tell us about the school and then we'll be taken to your class."
"Oh." Brandon said, looking a little relieved. The crowd was a little overwhelming.
The two looked around as they waited for things to begin until they finally heard the mike come to life.
"Good morning and on behalf of all the staff I would like to welcome you to Anchor Beach Community Charter School. I am Principal Andy Gomez." A rather stout, jolly old man said.
"Is that santa?" Brandon asked excitedly, his eyes going wide at the sight of the white haired, bearded man.
"No honey. That's the principal" Stef smiled as she noticed some of the people around smiling too.
As Mr. Gomez continued with his speech, telling them about the school and what it expects of itself, it's staff and students and it's parents Stef began to tune out the lecture, wondering what had kept Mike this time. She wasn't sure how long she'd been mentally yelling at her husband but suddenly she felt Brandon fidget beside her as he tried to stand on his chair to get a better view of the pictures that were now being shown.
"Sit down Brandon." Stef scolded softly as she tugged on his arm.
"But I can't see." Brandon complained.
Stef quickly moved him over to her lap so the little boy could get a better view as the two of them focused once again on what was being said.
Lena didn't miss the little boy towards the back of the middle section stand up and for a moment she smiled, loving the curiosity of small children but her heart skipped a beat when she noticed the woman sitting next to him, obviously scolding him. Her mind turned to mush instantly and for the first time she felt relieved that she was only the assistant vice-principal, which meant that she wasn't required to speak at all. She wasn't sure she'd remember what to say, or how to say anything for that matter.
She kept watch on the blond through the assembly and observed how the two of them were together. She was pretty impressed with the way that Brandon paid attention through almost the entire assembly and only really fidgeted when Mrs. Grant came up to speak. She was a grouchy woman, just a little older than Lena was herself and the only reason that Lena ever regretted her job. The kids at school avoided her and so did most of the teachers. They were all just lucky that the principal was such a good man.
Once again Lena glanced as Stef and this time she caught the woman looking back at her. The two smiled politely but Lena wasn't sure if it was just wishful thinking when Stef's eyes remained on her just a little longer than they normally should have.
"This is your classroom." Stef said as she held Brandon's hand and led him into a room filled with other five year olds and their parents.
"Wow!" Brandon's eyes lit up at all the toys and games and puzzles and other things that were littered across the room. "Look at all this stuff."
"We have an art table and a construction table and a story corner and over there is a dress up corner and the music center and the free play station and the magic carpet is where we all come together and share our stories and thoughts." A woman came up to Brandon and said as she pointed to each section in the room.
"Hi, I'm Becky Miller, Kindergarten teacher." The woman said with a smiled, offering her hand to Stef.
"Stef Foster." Stef said as she shook the teacher's hand. "And this is Brandon."
"Welcome Brandon." Becky said kindly. "Would you like to look around?"
"I can come and play here everyday?" Brandon asked, still taking everything in.
"I certainly hope so." Becky said. "What do you like?"
Brandon shrugged. "I like to draw." He said, saying the first thing that came to mind.
"Well we have some paper over there and there are crayons and some things you can stick to add to your picture if you'd like to try it." Ms. Miller said and watched with fascination as Brandon pulled his hand from his mother's grip and disappeared to the table he was told about.
"Don't worry the doors are closed, no kid can get out." Becky said to Stef when she noticed the worrying look on the mother's face.
"This is really impressive." Stef said, looking around herself. The class was set up quite well and while she did think it looked a little crowded, she expected it was because there were so many extra people around with the parents all being there.
"It is." Becky said. "But it's just for this week. We display everything for the first week so the parents and kids get and idea of what to expect and it gives us teachers a chance to observe the kids and their interests as well. But from next week there will only be four corners and they rotate every month. The story corner, art corner and magic carpet are the only ones that are out through the year."
"That makes sense." Stef said. "How long have you been teaching?"
"This is my fifth year." Becky began and went on to give Stef a brief account of her experience, knowing it was something every parent wanted to know when they were sending their child to school for the first time.
But Stef was only half paying attention to the young woman for she was distracted when the door opened and in walked Lena, her eyes sparkling and the smile never leaving her face.