Chapter 2
Bo laughed breathlessly, looking down at the woman in her arms. She was met by golden-brown eyes and pink lips, frozen in a shocked O.
"Hi," was all Bo could think to say.
"Hi."
"That was, uh… quite a tumble you took there." Bo gently lowered her to the ground.
"Yeah," the woman laughed, straightening her blouse. "Thanks for saving me the embarrassment of having to explain a broken wrist to my students." They both laughed. The blonde shook the hair out of her eyes and looked at Bo. "Are you new this year? I know I'm bad with faces but I feel like I would have remembered you if I'd seen you before."
Bo smirked, hoping that was meant as a compliment. "Yep, I just moved to town actually. I'm subbing for Mrs. Matthews while she's recovering from knee surgery. I'm Bo."
"Ah, the mysterious Ms. Bo Dennis. I saw your name on the sign outside your classroom; it's good to finally be able to put a face to it."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, uh… I'm sorry, I didn't stop to look at the sign on your door before coming in," Bo admitted.
"Lauren. And I'm glad you didn't stop to look or I would have ended up falling on my ass," she laughed, extending her hand for a handshake. "Lauren Lewis, AP Calculus teacher and head of the math department."
Bo took her handshake and returned her smile. They held eye contact for a minute while Lauren caught her breath. Bo finally took her hand back. "Hey, so I was going to go grab some coffee from the lounge… do you want to come with? I mean, if you're not too busy…" she trailed off.
"That sounds really nice, Bo," Lauren replied. "And thanks again for, you know, catching me."
"It was my pleasure."
They walked out of the classroom and continued down the hall towards the teachers' lounge. Bo watched Lauren from her peripheral vision, noticing the way she ran her hands through her blonde hair and chewed nervously on a fingernail as the walked. Do I make her nervous? Bo thought to herself. They turned a corner and Bo was glad she'd studied the online map of the building on the school's website so that she didn't look like a fool and turn the wrong way. They reached the teachers' lounge and Lauren walked through the doorway.
Bo froze.
It had been two weeks and Bo had been pretty drunk, but she would recognize mystery-bar-guy anywhere. She had been preparing herself to go back to the bar, maybe see him again there, but she was in no way prepared to see him at school. Standing in front of the coffee machine, leaning against the counter, stirring his coffee with one of those wooden sticks, he looked casual and relaxed. He hadn't noticed Bo standing in the doorway yet, and she wanted to keep it that way.
Before she could grab Lauren and make a run for it, maybe make up a reason for them to just head back to the classroom, Lauren walked right up to him.
"Coach Thornwood! How's the team looking so far? Ready for the big game next week?" Lauren walked right up to him, patting him on the back and squeezing in next to him to reach the coffee.
"Hey, Doctor Lewis!" He wrapped her up in a bear hug. She hugged him back, like they were old friends or something. "Yeah, they're lookin' pretty good. After McNally graduated it'll be hard to find a good enough replacement quarterback, but I think we'll be fine against Central High. How was your summer?"
"Ah, boring. Did some research, caught up on some sleep, the usual. And how many times have I told you to quit calling me 'doctor'? I don't finish the PhD for another eight months." They both laughed as Lauren filled a mug with coffee.
Bo slowly started backing out of the room when Lauren and mystery-bar-guy turned around. Now it was his turn to freeze. His jaw dropped. Lauren looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on.
Oh no, Bo thought. Lauren is not about to find out about this. She confidently strode across the room. "Hi, Coach Thornwood, was it? It is so nice to meet you. Bo Dennis, English sub." She extended her hand, mentally begging for him to go a long with it.
"Uh, yes. Please, call me Dyson," he said with a slightly puzzled smile. Bo exhaled as the confusion faded from Lauren's face. "Well, I've got freshman gym to teach! It was nice meeting you, Bo," he said, quickly excusing himself from the conversation. Bo relaxed a little as soon as he was gone.
A/N: So? Should I keep going? Let me know!
