Delphine was taking her first class, although she had years of practice during her teaching degree, the pressure of all these young people's lives on her shoulders was still enough to make her hands clammy. Taking a single breath to steady herself, the french woman turned towards the blackboard and began to draw a diagram of an enzyme.
"I trust you know what this is." She said calmly, turning back towards the senior class with a smile. She was met with some hushed mumbling and the majority of her students turning away from her eye contact. A few of the higher level students at the front of the class smiled smugly or nodded to themselves quietly. One solitary hand raised above the rest of the student's heads, and Delphine felt her breath hitch as she met the eyes of a particular bespectacled girl. "Uh, yes, Cosima." Delphine tried to take more calming breaths, but she couldn't force the air down her throat. After a few seconds she realized that she had been staring at her student for some time, and ignoring the scientific knowledge that Cosima was imparting. The french woman bounced her eyes quickly across the room, before settling back into comfortable eye contact with Cosima, and letting a tiny smile dance across her lips. She didn't need to have heard what Cosima said, the look in the teens eyes, and the warm, comfortable feeling in the pit of Delphine's stomach as she looked at her was enough to let her know that the student had enough knowledge of biology to be trusted in pretty much whatever she said. "Yes, thankyou, Miss Niehaus. That's correct. Would you like to come up here and add some labels to the diagram?"
"Sure" Cosima nodded at this and placed her hands on the sides of her chair. The small teen suddenly pushed herself up and jumped over the back of the chair, walking calmly up to the blackboard. She took the chalk from her teacher's hand, smiling widely as their hands brushed against one-anothers', smirking slightly as she heard her teacher's sharp breath and saw the weak smile that the french woman was trying to plaster across her face. Cosima glided forward to the blackboard and labelled the diagram, "hydrophobic head, hydrophillic tail" she thought to herself. She turned back in a matter of seconds to face her classmates, modestly proud of herself. She walked back to the chair and sat down just as the bell went for lunch.
"Okay class, you're dismissed" The blonde teacher said calmly, letting out a small sigh of relief at the knowledge that her first class was finished. She smiled politely at her students as they filed out of the room, tapping Cosima's shoulder to get the attention of the young girl. "Cosima, I have some study notes I thought you might find useful for how do you say? Merde... Extra credit" The french woman looked back at her with a beaming smile on her face.
"Wow, thanks." Cosima said, circling her teacher's desk comfortably. Delphine watched her for a few moments, before scolding herself and looking away... This shouldn't be happening to her. Nothing could ever happen between Cosima and her. It just couldn't, and she had to restrain herself from catching feelings for her student. "Do you think you could talk me through some of this stuff about Homeostasis?"
"Uh, sure... Take a seat." Delphine instructed her student, gesturing towards the desk closest to her own. "Homeostasis is the.. uh.. process the body goes through to keep control of internal conditions, such as temperature or the conditions of blood."
"Right, homeostasis is staying the same. Got it." The dreadlocked girl took a quick look at her teacher, and was honestly taken aback by the angelic beauty she found looking back at her. However lame it might be, she had to admit to herself that she had a crush on her teacher. It's not like she wasn't out or anything, it was just kind of cliche, and because of that, definitely not Cosima's style. She made a mental note to talk to Helena and Sarah about this after she had finished her study session with the french woman.
"Okay," Delphine smiled at the student. "Is there anything else that you want to ask about? I tried to make the easiest possible annotations, but it is a text book that I used during my masters degree. I was offered a copy in English from a guy I went to university with, and I thought of you."
"Wow, I don't know what to say. I'm honored thank you. Would you mind if I had a little read of this at home and got back to you about that in a few days?" Delphine laughed at this "What? What did I say?"
"Don't you think you're forgetting something Cosima?" She was met by a very confused looking girl. "Tomorrow is Christmas eve?"
"Oh, Shit, is it?" The american answered. "My mom and I don't usually celebrate christmas... My dad kind of left a few christmasses ago." Cosima watched as her teacher raised a hand to her mouth in horror.
"Oh, Cosima I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, I'm over that no-good sperm donor anyway, my mom is my only parent as far as I'm concerned. How are you spending christmas?"
"I'm kinda not either. Anyway, don't tell anyone that I'm saying this, but I'll give you my personal number, that way you can text me if you need any help. I trust you enough to keep that to yourself." The french woman smiled at Cosima and wrote down her number. "Just, how do you kids say, drop me a text if you need anything. Anything at all" She finished with a wide and stunning smile. Cosima laughed at this and stood up to exit the room. "Joyeux Noel, mouse"
"Merry Christmas, Delphine." Cosima said sassily, testing the water to see how the french woman reacted to the use of her first name.
"You're testing me, Cosima." She laughed. "Just try not to get caught calling me that, I don't want to lose my job because I'm found to be flirting with a particularly adorable student."
"Flirting?" Cosima asked, shocked. "What? Are you flirting with me?"
"FUCK."
