At the end of the day, she found herself briskly walking to Mr. Bolton's classroom, which irritated her. This was how she used to walk at all her other schools, this was the reason for the snickers she sometimes heard in the halls, this was the walk of a girl anxious to get to class. She slowed down, and immediately felt better.
He was straightening some papers on his desk when she entered his classroom in her now leisurely stroll. He turned when he heard her, and smiled an incredible smile. She groaned inwardly; why did this school district have to hire such attractive teachers?
"Here, sit down," he said, pulling a chair to the other side of his desk.
"Thanks," she smiled, and sat down.
She wanted to look down at his desk, but he hadn't pulled any new papers out, so she had to look him in the eyes. Which was really derailing her thoughts. His eyes now looked almost green, and they were so beautiful she really would have been fine with just staring at them for the next hour. His hair swooped over his forehead, and really, what was he thinking, wearing his hair in such a youthful style when he knew he was a teacher? Gabrielle had no doubt that he knew he was hot, he had probably had tons of girls falling all over him in high school, couldn't he guess that his students were now going to do the same? The least he could do was try to make himself less attractive, so that they wouldn't make fools of themselves.
Or maybe that's just me, Gabriella thought to herself. Maybe it's just me, and everyone else has friends and boyfriends and can just appreciate the fact that he's hot without obsessing over him.
Because she had been obsessing over him. She'd met a girl named Taylor who'd invited her to sit with her for lunch, but Gabi had mainly stayed quiet and just thought about Mr. Bolton. There were too many new people here, and she was shy as it was, so she just kept to herself the rest of the day. There had been a girl, Sharpay, who'd made conversation during chemistry, but her sweetness seemed fake and Gabriella couldn't help feeling that Sharpay was actually kind of bitchy. It was easier to just ignore the other students and focus on the coursework. And Mr. Bolton.
"So," he started. Gabi's eyes darted from his eyes to his lips, lest he think she was staring too much. That was a mistake though, because his lips were also fairly attractive, especially when he started talking. "We've actually just started derivatives, I thought I could squeeze more in before break, but it's going kind of slow." He laughed, and Gabi belatedly laughed a bit too, even though she didn't know what was funny. She'd heard the words, but had been too focused on his lips, her mind now raced to process them before he needed a response from her. "I thought we'd cover more, but we really just started, and then with break, I bet most everyone's forgot everything. At least that's the impression I got today during class." Gabi wasn't sure if that was a joke, but she laughed anyways. He looked surprised for a split second, then smiled as well. He glanced down, then continued. "So, I think we'll just review tomorrow, basically start over, so you should be fine. Or did you guys start derivatives?"
They hadn't, but Gabi had used the break to read ahead in her math book. She wasn't about to admit to that, though. Her break had been boring, spent at some ski lodge. She wasn't much of a skier, so she'd spent the whole break reading, her math book and Hamlet (which she thought was actually not that good), a book on Egyptian mythology, and Eragon (which she had actually really liked, though she wasn't about to admit that either).
"No, we didn't, but I'm sure I'll be fine if we go over them tomorrow."
"Are you sure?" He asked. "Derivatives are kind of a tricky concept."
I know, she thought, I spent about 5 hours puzzling them out without the help of a teacher. "I think I'll be fine. But if not, I'll come to you for help tomorrow after school."
He smiled at her. "You're the kind of student I like," he said. "Determined, but still not afraid to ask for help. Some of these kids…" he trailed off. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow in class then."
"Yup, see you then!" She said as she grabbed her bag and started toward the classroom door.
"Oh, wait," he called behind her. The overactive part of her imagination made her think that maybe he was going to call out to her, grab her, and kiss her, even though she'd given him absolutely no signs that she was interested.
"Here, have my e-mail address," he was scribbling it down on a loose piece of paper. "District policy," he said, handing her the paper. "E-mail if you have any questions." She looked at the paper. Bolton_T.
"What's the T for?" she asked, not quite innocent, but far from flirtatious. She didn't want to make a fool out of herself.
He looked at her for a long moment. It was only now that she was standing that she noticed the butterflies in her stomach. "Troy."
"I like that name." She said, and then realized that was a really weird thing to say to a teacher. She almost made up some story about having a dog named Troy, or a neighbors dog named Troy, or something to excuse it, but then she mentally shrugged. This was probably far from the weirdest comment he'd ever received, so if she just acted like it was no big deal, he'd probably just ignore it. To her surprise, he did the opposite and laughed.
"Thanks. I don't know what my parents were thinking, it's not really a common name for them."
She was about to ask what he meant, maybe ask where he grew up, but then he said, "Well, see you tomorrow Gabriella." She nodded, then stepped out of the classroom.
Even once in the hallway, she still felt tingly and excited. Does being in the same room with him really have this much of an effect on me? She wondered. Regardless of the answer, she couldn't stop herself from smiling the whole drive home.
When she got home, her mom intercepted her. "How was school?" she asked.
"It was alright," Gabi replied distractedly. She wanted to go upstairs and review derivatives some more so she'd be sure not to embarrass herself tomorrow. Freaky genius girl, she thought to herself. It'd be different, though. She wouldn't flaunt her knowledge or be a know-it-all. She wouldn't answer every question, she just…just wanted to impress him. Maybe show him that she wasn't like the other students, so that he'd stop thinking of her as just a student? And then, maybe, he'd be more open to the idea of something, anything, between them? No, he probably sees me as a child. She thought to herself.
"Why just alright?" her mom asked jokingly. "Why not…AWESOME?!"
This was a game they'd used to play, but her mom had already soured her mood after how happy she felt with Mr. Bolton.
"Because it's a new school, mom." She said, her voice sharper than she'd intended. "Because your company transferred you, and now I don't know anyone and am completely out of my element, so I'm sorry that my first day wasn't as perfect as you'd like for it to be." Her mom looked stricken. "Gabi, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
"It's fine," she said, then went upstairs. Two minutes she came back down, hugged her mom, and said, "I'm sorry. You didn't want the company to transfer you, and it's not fair for me to get angry with you. I'm really sorry."
Her mom kissed her forehead and whispered, "It's nothing, Gabi."
After a few more moments in their embrace, Gabriella pulled away. "I have to go study now. Are you gonna need help with dinner?"
"No, I think I've got it today," her mom smiled, fondness in her eyes. "That's my girl, always so helpful, always so mature…" she trailed off as she turned away into the kitchen. Gabi's heart rose at the word mature.
That's what I have to keep striving for. She thought. That's what will make him see that this could be alright. She laughed at herself, sure that she was being ridiculous. Nothing's gonna happen. She told herself. He gets this all the time from students, he was just being friendly with you, and nothing's actually gonna happen. Even so, once she got to her room, she got straight to work on her derivatives. Might as well impress him, she thought.
