I...am a terrible person. I'm so sorry to anyone who actually enjoys and follows my stories. I've really been neglecting my writing. To anyone who has stayed with me, may as well marry me. Because I love you to bits and pieces. Anyway, I'm going to get to the story as soon as possible.
Disclaimer: These lovely characters all belong to James Patterson.
Summary: In an alternate-universe, a 24-year-old Ignatius Griffiths is a grad-student chemistry teacher in Paradise Valley, where he finds himself to be the female student body's object of affection. While he usually enjoys lighthearted chemistry puns and small (or big) explosions, a certain Freshman named Ella Martinez causes him all kinds of trouble. Rated M for mature content, including language and sexual situations.
"Listen up, everyone! This experiment is going to be a little tricky so pay attention to my demonstration closely," Iggy bellows to the largest class he teaches each day. As he relays the instructions, he carefully measures and combines different chemicals, his long, nimble fingers working the tools and materials with ease. The entire class closely watches in awe, hushed in amazement at how simple their brilliant teacher makes the advanced experiment seem. His deep, husky voice fills the room, and a few girls nearly swoon.
Soon after finishing his explanation, he releases the animals onto their prey. Rather, he allows the students to begin the experiment. Not thirty seconds into their given time, just as the strawberry blond man was about to slouch lazily down into his swivel chair, the sharp sound of glass shattering startles him. "Oh, fudge…" The small, feminine voice no doubt belongs to the student population's clutz, Ella Martinez. "I-I'm so sorry, teacher!"
Sighing, Mr. Griffiths straightens his posture and responds, "Don't step on it. Go fetch a broom and dustpan from the janitor's closet...for the fifth time this week." He shoos her out the door as he slowly approaches the mess. "Ah, what am I gonna do with that girl?" The tall, 24-year-old man sifts his fingers through his long, shaggy hair then pushes his thin-framed glasses back up to their resting spot on his straight nose using two fingers. "The rest of ya, get back to work. No more accidents today, alright? I'm running out of bandaids."
He steps out into the hallway, smiling and waving at a couple of students who pass by him. They were Freshman girls, who skittered away in a fit of giggling. Once Ms. Martinez is back in view, he motions for her to come quickly over to him, a concerned expression plaguing his features. The 18-year-old bows her head slightly as she quickens her pace, her waist-length, obsidian hair billowing gently behind her. Just before reaching her teacher, she trips slightly, but the lanky man somehow gently catches her petite forearm, steadying her. "I'm really sorry about this all, Mister Griffiths. I just can't seem to get a handle of the tasks," the small, Latina girl apologizes solemnly, attempting to ease her impending punishment.
"I've noticed, Miss Martinez. Your grades are reflecting it. I wanted to talk to you about finding yourself a tutor because you are failing my class," Ignatius delivers his message to a very worried Ella, who is now quaking slightly and watching her feet. He glances down at her, his brow furrowing, and finds that tears are streaming down her cheeks. Faintly, he is able to catch her mumbling, "Failing…" The sorry sight before him jars the man, causing him to panic slightly. He's not used to seeing girls cry like this and it kind of freaks him out. "Ella, please, don't cry! I'm sure you'll figure it all out just fine. From what I hear from your professors, you're a very bright girl. In fact, how about I tutor you?" he rushes to explain, surprised at himself for saying the last bit. Is it bad that I'm doing this out of pity? Not to mention that it's probably also because she just looked so cute… He shakes the thoughts out of his head, anticipating the young lady's response. Once he finally looks at her, it's obvious what her answer is going to be. Her tan cheeks are lightly colored by a pinkish tone, and she looks hopeful even with slightly red, puffy eyes. He has to look away to contain himself.
All of a sudden, she grabs both of his calloused hands and brings them up near her face. He jumps slightly as she does so, now looking down at the adorable girl's smiling expression. "Thank you so much, Mister Griffiths!" Ella exclaims, gazing directly into his milky blue eyes.
"Yeah, of course. Anything for a student in need. I'm your last class for today, right? So let's start after class, if you're not busy." Immediately after he had finished his statement, she nodded vigorously, causing him to grin his dopey grin. "I won't go easy on you, so be prepared to work hard!" Ella affirms that she can meet with him just after class and returns back into the lab, leaving Iggy alone. I won't go easy on you? Work hard? Where the hell is my mind?! He groans in exasperation, mentally punching himself for the way he said that.
The rest of the class period goes by swimmingly, leaving Iggy feeling immensely relieved. Now is for the hard part. It appears as though Ella was trying to slip out of the lab under the radar, so he calls out to her, "Miss Martinez, forgetting something?" She obviously jumps. The poor girl really was trying to escape. "Despite your best efforts, I'm afraid if you skip out on tutoring, your grades will not improve." The young girl apologizes repeatedly, but when she looks up at him with those beautiful, milk chocolate-colored eyes, he can't help but be a dog at her heels. "Now, on with the lesson." They perform the same experiment they had gone through today in class, but this time with Iggy watching carefully, making sure she takes proper notes and records her results accurately. She is about to pour in the correct amount of the wrong compound, so Iggy rushes up behind her and grabs her hand. "Wrong compound. You want that same measure of 3.1 grams but of potassium iodide."
Ella pulls quickly away from him, causing the sodium bicarbonate to fall into the mixture anyway. "Oh, no… I ruined the experiment," she groans, looking so frustrated that it seems that she may cry.
"It's fine, don't worry about it," Iggy states with a sigh, "We weren't that far into the process anyway, so just take it from the top."
"But I'm afraid I'll never get it right…" She sounds genuinely disappointed in herself, causing the man to rub the back of his neck. Before he's able to attempt to console her, she continues, "Maybe I should just drop your class."
This catches him completely off-guard and, in all honesty, it hurts him on a slightly personal level. "I would be very disappointed if you did that, Ella. You're too intelligent and strong-willed to give up now," he insists with determination, continuing in a much lower tone, "Besides, I thought you liked having me for a teacher." That last bit was definitely supposed to add guilt-factor. On a sensitive girl like Ella, he didn't realize his little joke would strike such a serious chord with her.
It's her turn to be surprised this time. She quickly grabs his hands like before, and says with newfound confidence and drive, "I love having you as a teacher, Mister Griffiths! Please, teach me to do better!" Ignatius is so mesmerized by her sudden change of attitude that he does nothing but slowly nod in response and watch her execute the experiment perfectly in a daze. "All done, Mister Griffiths!" she beams.
"Please, call me Iggy. You've done well, Ella. When would you like to meet next?"
"Tomorrow! I'd like to meet tomorrow after my last class, which ends at a quarter to one! I need to catch up to the rest of the class as soon as possible." Her eyes nearly sparkle as she says this so quickly.
"Excellent. Tomorrow won't be any easier, so-"
"Be prepared to work hard! See you tomorrow, Iggy!" He simply smiles and ruffles her hair before she gathers her things and rushes out of the room.
What am I gonna do? She's just too damn cute…
Well, folks! That's it for chapter one! Stay tuned for the next chapter, where I promise there will be a decent helping of lovely smut. Ku ku ku...sorry you didn't get any in this chapter.
Anywho, see you in chapter two, lovely readers!