Monica is the new culinary teacher at Lincoln high, Ross is her brother and teaches History while also coaching basketball there, Phoebe is a councilor, Rachel is in clothing & textiles and of course Joey teaches acting. Chandler's son Noah goes to the school.
"So this is what a teachers lounge looks like..." She said to herself walking in and looking around.
"Monica." She heard someone call her name and turned her attention to where she heard it coming from. Ross; her brother.
She walked over and sat down next to him. "Hey, I want you to meet some people." Ross said. He started from his left pointing at them as he named them off. "Joey..."
He shook her hand "Acting."
She nodded "Phoebe..."
She shook her hand "Counseling."
She nodded "And Rachel..."
"Textiles."
"Nice to meet all of you." Monica said, smiling
"Monica is my little sister. She teaches Culinary here."
"Oh, so you're the new culinary teacher?" Joeys eyes went wide. Everyone had a nervous look on their faces.
Monica nodded "Yeah, I'm excited." She said pulling out her lunch and starting to eat her salad. She paused when she looked up at them and saw the looks they were giving her "Is that a bad thing?"
They all dropped the serious look and started laughing. She was confused. "What?...Ross?" She looked at him, what did she get herself into?
They stopped "Mon, it's a joke. You're going to love it here." He said when she still looked worried "It's something that we do to all the new teachers." He explained
"Yeah when I first started here they got me so scared that I cried." Rachel said looking at all of them angry.
She smiled, relieved, and continued to eat her lunch with the rest of her new friends.
After school Monica was walking towards her car when she heard someone shouting her name "Monica!..." She turned around to see Rachel rushing towards her. "Hey, you get out of here quick." Monica just smiled "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight with Phoebe and I?" She asked
Monica nodded "Sure I'd love to."
"Okay great. Oh, can we hang at your place though? My apartment is being remodeled and Phoebe...well we never hang at her place."
"Of course." She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down her address "If you get lost or still don't know where it is, Ross will tell you." She said handing Rachel her address "I got to go. See you tonight." Monica said then headed to her car.
"Dad I'm leaving!" Noah shouted up the stairs before he headed for the front door.
Chandler rushed down the stairs trying to catch Noah "And where exactly are you going?" He asked
"To the beach with Holly." He said simply continuing to walk towards the door. Holly was his best friend ever since he was five. They were like brother and sister to each other.
"When will you be back."
"Does it matter?" He said opening up the front door.
"Don't give me attitude. You need to start taking responsibility, you're fifteen." Chandler said, his voice rising.
Noah turned around and faced his dad. "Me, taking responsibility?" He said angrily "You haven't even been a real father to me since mom died!" He shouted
"It's been really hard on me!" Chandler shouted back "It's not easy taking care of a teenager alone."
"You think it's hard on you? I just lost a parent, my mom..." He softened his voice "And you are barely even around to support me during this whole thing. It's like I lost you too." He said.
Chandler sighed heavily "Noah-" He got no reply, just the door slamming as he left.
A week went by and Monica couldn't be happier with all her new friends. She walked into the teachers lounge and noticed that everyone stopped talking "What?" She asked
"Nothing, nothing." Everyone said while Phoebe tried to hide her laughter.
"Pheebs, what's so funny?" Monica asked sitting down next to her.
Phoebe hesitated before answering "You're the hot new teacher here."
"What? What are you talking about?"
Rachel spoke up "All the teenage boys are talking about you. Mon, you are the new gossip going around school."
Monica was shocked, she didn't expect that to be said. "How long has this been going on? How do you know?" When no one answered she smiled softly "You're lying." She chuckled "Funny, playing jokes on the new teacher."
"Monica, your next class stop and look around. You will notice them all staring at you." Joey said taking another bite of his sandwich.
The next hour she did just that. "Okay class. Pop quiz." Monica went around and handed out the quiz "If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask." She said and went back to her desk.
She was in the middle of grading papers when one of her students, Steven, came up to her. "Ms. Geller can you tell me what this word means?" He asked getting closer to her to show her on his paper.
She gave him a friendly smile "Yeah." She looked over at the quiz then looked back at him "Steven, you don't know what a whisk is?" She asked a little shocked.
He looked at the paper in his hand and laughed "Oh a whisk, I thought it said mhick." He smiled "Sorry."
"That's okay."
Steven went back to his desk "Dude she is so hot." He whispered to Daniel next to him.
"I know, too bad she is my teacher." Daniel whispered back
Noah who was also at the table looked up "Guys she's like twenty years older than you." He said
"Your point?" They both said in unison.
"You guys are sick." Holly cut in.
They just shrugged and went back to their quiz.
"Mon?"
Monica looked up towards the door and saw Phoebe standing there. Getting up she walked towards her "Whats up?" She asked
"Do you have any extra test sheets I can borrow?" She asked
"Yeah." Monica walked over to her desk with Phoebe following. Phoebe looked at the class in front of her and saw that half of them were staring at them.
Monica got some scan-tron sheets for Phoebe and handed them to her. "Here you go. If you need any more just ask."
"Okay thanks." Phoebe turned to leave. Monica sat back in her chair. "Oh and Monica?" Phoebe said turning back around.
"Yeah?"
Phoebe held up the papers to her face blocking out everyone else. She pointed silently behind the papers at her class. Monica looked to where she was pointing and saw the whole class quickly look away and back to their quiz. Monica looked back at Phoebe and smiled shyly then shh-ed her away.
Chandler got home late that night. He quietly opened the door on his way in.
He put the keys down on the table slowly and gently, trying not to make a noise. But when they made a sound, he was caught.
Noah turned on the lamp beside him and eyed him angrily. "Late night at the office again?" He questioned "Get lost on your way home?" He got up from his spot on the chair and walked towards Chandler "I made dinner." He said brushing past him and up the stairs.
Chandler sighed defeated "Noah, wait." When he stopped, but didn't turn around there was only one thing he could think of to say "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, I bet the bartenders are sorry too." He said continuing to walk to his room.
Chandler stood there. He's losing his son, he knows it. He has to change.
The next day Noah woke up to the smell of pancakes. He got up and grabbed his robe. Making his way downstairs very cautiously, Noah stopped in the doorway when he heard someone talking.
He peeked in the kitchen. No one was there, then he saw his dad appear around the corner. Singing.
"I've got yummy in my tummy-" Chandler stopped when he heard Noah come in the kitchen with a umbrella in his hand. Chandler put his hands up in defense.
Noah looked at him confused then realized he still had the umbrella in his hand from where he grabbed it by the front door. He put it down and chuckled "Sorry, I didn't think you were up." Noah paused "Why are you up this early anyway?" He asked
Licking his fingers from the batter, Chandler took a deep breath before answering "I thought about what you said last night and you're right, I need to change and start taking responsibility " He said seriously. Then he smiled while putting a pancake on Noah's plate "Starting today, I'm going back to the dad you had before."
Noah smiled. He's glad he finally got his dad back.
Monica woke up at 8:17 the next day. It was Saturday and there was nothing on the agenda. So she decided to clean
She got out of bed not bothering to change out of her pajama's and went out to the living room, she would start there. Monica turned on the radio so she won't get lonely while she cleaned.
About an hour into her cleaning frenzy, the phone rang.
Monica emerged from the bathroom and went to go answer it "Hello?"
"Hey Mon, what are you doing today?" Ross asked through the phone.
"Not much." Monica replied looking at the bottle of cleaning spray in her hand.
"Oh well, I have basketball tryouts today and tomorrow so I kind of need someone to watch Ben for a couple hours." He explained
"Yeah, of course I can do that. I have nothing really to do today besides go shopping later for groceries." She said
"Great, thank you. I'll come by and drop him off in about an hour." He said
"Sounds great." She smiled through the phone.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later, bye."
"Bye." She hung up and went back to quickly tidy up and take a shower before he came. Monica loved to watch her eight year old nephew Ben, they always had fun.
Chandler got home from the grocery store and brought in two bags. He saw Noah and Holly on the couch playing video games. "Did you get them?!" Noah yelled from the living room couch. Chandler came in from the kitchen and tossed him the sour cream'n'onion pringles he asked for. "Thanks." He said.
"And I got you the hot fries, Holly." He tossed her the bag.
"Thanks, Chandler." She said not taking her eyes off the screen.
"You're welcome." He said returning to the kitchen to put the rest of the groceries away.
Chandler was like a dad to Holly, he always looked after her ever since her dad left her when she was seven. Her mom and Chandler remained friends and became really close, close as in they lived right next door and gave each other a key to their house for emergencies.
"Oh and dad..." Noah paused the game and got off the couch.
"Hey!" Holly complained "I was just about to shoot him!" She fell back against the couch.
"I need you to sign my form for me to tryout for basketball." He said pulling the form off the refrigerator magnet and handing it to Chandler.
He looked over it "When's tryouts?" He asked
"Today." He said. Chandler looked at him. "But I'm hoping if I show up and give it to the coach he will still let me tryout today." Noah said after seeing his dad's look.
"You're usually suppose to turn this in a week in advance so they can put it on file." Chandler said looking over the form in his hands.
"I know but I forgot to pick it up then I left it at school and...yeah, you get the picture." He explained
Chandler nodded and signed the form. "What time does it start?" He asked
Noah looked at his watch "In about fifteen minutes." He said
"Let's get going." Chandler said. Noah rushed upstairs to change in his sweats.
Chandler went in the living room "Holly you coming?" He asked
"Sure, I got nothing else to do." She said putting back on her shoes.
Monica got changed and was fixing herself a sandwich when her phone rang again. She went to go answer it "Hello?"
"Hey Mon it's me..." Ross said into the phone "I'm stuck in traffic and won't be able to make it to you, then the school in time so is it alright if you could pick Ben up at the gym?" He asked
"Yeah no problem. I'll leave in a little bit and meet you there."
"Okay, thank you so much."
"You're welcome. See you in a while." She then hung up. Monica quickly finished eating her sandwich then went downstairs to her car.
Chandler and Holly decided to stay and watch Noah. They were both leaning forward elbows on their knees while watching him dribble down court.
Ross blew the whistle "Alright, bring it in..." He said going out to the middle of the court.
Monica walked through the doors to the gym and saw her brother standing on the court with all the boys gathered around explaining the directions and drills.
"Get into groups of five and practice free-throws, make sure..." He stopped when he noticed Monica by the door watching him. "Give me a minute." Ross jogged over to Monica "Thanks for coming."
Chandler saw the coach jog over to the door. He followed his lead and saw a beautiful young lady standing there.
"Aunt Monica!" Ben shouted through the echoed gym, he ran over to Monica. Monica bent down to give him a hug.
"Hey Ben." She stood back up and ruffled his hair.
"Okay so I'll pick him up in like two hours. Here's some things if he get's bored." Ross said handing Monica a bag.
Monica nodded and grabbed Ben's hand.
Chandler looked at her the whole time "Monica..." He whispered
"What's that Chandler?" Holly questioned.
Chandler didn't realized he said it out loud "N-Nothing.." He tried covering up.
"Mmhhmm..." She mumbled and continued to watch Noah and all the boys.
Monica walked Ben out to her car "Hey we have to go to the grocery store before we head back to my place?" She said getting in the car.
"Awww..." Ben whined
"Don't whine. I'll get you your favorite snack." She bribed.
"Okay!" He said excitedly
Monica smiled at his sudden change of expression.
After tryouts Ross was picking up the equipment when Chandler came up to him "Excuse me..." He said trying to get Ross's attention. Ross looked up at him "Hey, I'm Noah's father." They shook hands.
"Oh, your son has real talent." Ross told him.
"Thanks. I just wanted to explain the form he turned in today, sorry that it was so late." He apologized
"Don't worry about it. Better late then never." Ross smiled
"Ready dad?" Noah asked coming up behind them with Holly.
"Yeah..."
"Oh, wait...I have some plays that could be really good for you to run at home with your dad..." Ross said turning around and looking through his bag. He started searching for them frantically "I can't seem to find them, I must have put them in my sons bag that I gave to my sister..." He said
Noah wanted more than anything to be on this team "Do you want me to go with you to get them?" Noah asked
Ross wasn't sure if that was such a good idea "If it's okay with you dad, yeah I guess." He said looking at Chandler.
"Yeah sure, do you mind if I follow you there?" Chandler asked
"Yeah, not a problem at all, let me just grab my stuff." Ross said turning around and grabbing his bag off the bench. He turned back around "Let's go."
Monica and Ben were sitting on the couch watching T.V. while eating their individual ice cream, forty-five minutes later.
"He's gonna get hit in the private." Ben said his mouth full of strawberry ice cream.
"Why do you say that?" Monica asked looking at the show.
"Because I've seen this one before..." He said
Ross made his way up to Monica's apartment with Chandler, Noah, and Holly behind him. He unlocked her door with the spare key she gave him.
Monica laughed "Well we don't have to watch it then. Because I've seen this one before too." She said picking up the remote and searching the channels again. They didn't hear the front door open.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Ben stopped her.
"What?"
"Let's watch that."
"What is this?"
"Bloopers..." He said obviously. He then saw Monica's face "You've never seen Bloopers before?" He asked her like she was nuts.
She shook her head.
"Oh, My, Gosh..." He fell back against the couch "I don't know you anymore...I-I can't even look at you..." He joked looking away.
Monica put down her ice cream. "You can't look at me?..." She said a little sad "Well then I guess I'm just going to have to tickle you..." She said tickling his sides. "You have to look at me now..." She said smiling
Ben started laughing uncontrollably "Okay, Okay!" He tried to say in between laughs while catching his breath.
Chandler, Noah, and Holly watched the scene from the door.
"Monica?" Monica stopped and looked towards the door where Ross stood. Ross walked towards them where they sat on the couch. "Is this ice cream?" He asked. Monica and Ben looked at each with wide eyes.
Ross took a bite "Hey!" Ben said taking his ice cream from him "That's mine..." He said
"Ross, I thought you weren't suppose to be back for at least another hour?" Monica asked
Ross licked his lips "Yeah well we did everything that I wanted to go over today."
Monica nodded understanding "Anyway, I need Ben's bag." He said
Monica nodded and went in the kitchen to get it. She stopped when she noticed the other three by her door. "Hello...?" She said confused
"Oh, Mon this is Chandler and his son Noah and Holly." He introduced them all.
"Hey." She gave them all a smile "Noah and Holly...? Aren't you in my class?" Monica gave them a warm smile. "You did really good on your quiz by the way." She said picking up Ben's bag on the table and handing it to Ross.
"It was pretty easy." Noah said
Monica smiled "Good, so you knew what a whisk was?" She giggled
"Yeah, Steven was never too bright." He smiled
Monica chuckled
"Here they are." Ross said getting the paper's out of the bag. He walked over to Noah and handed them to him "And this one is a fast break, you might need more people to practice that one." He explained
"Thanks." Noah said smiling, looking at the paper he was just handed.
Chandler's phone started ringing. He looked at the caller ID "Excuse me..." He went in the hall to answer it.
The rest of them made small talk until Chandler returned "Holly that was your mom, she's been looking for you." He said
Holly rolled her eyes and walked towards the door.
"Thank you again. See you tomorrow." Noah said following Holly out the door.
Chandler gave them a warm smile "Bye." He turned towards Monica "It was nice meeting you."
"You too." Monica said giving him a warm smile
They continued to stare at each other when Ben's laughing broke them apart. "Aunt Monica you missed it!" He said
Monica smiled "Bye." She said once more then went over to Ben on the couch.
Chandler left after that and went to go drop Holly off.
AN: Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know if you want me to continue. I'll try to update as soon as I can :)