Janelle opened the door to find her Mom sitting on the couch looking worried. When her Mom saw her come in, she rushed to Janelle and gave her the biggest hug.
"Where have you been, young lady?" She then turned serious as she closed the door behind Janelle.
"Mr. Gardner was talking to me and he thought it would be better if he gave me a ride home instead of walking." Janelle said, walking towards the stairs. She turned around to face her Mom, "Don't worry, Mom, I'm fine."
"Well, that was nice of him."
"Yup, he's pretty cool for a teacher." Janelle went to her room and took a shower before starting on her homework. Even though Mr. Gardner was a nice teacher and very understanding, he assigned a lot of homework. She had to take notes for his class which was about ten pages long. Her Mom called me to dinner when Janelle was in the middle of doing notes, not even close to being finished and it was already 7:30.
"So, what was he talking to you about?" Janelle's Mom asked.
"Who?" Her Dad interrupted, looking a bit confused.
"Oh, Mr. Gardner, honey. He gave her a ride home because he thought it would be a lot safer."
"Has he tried anything on you? If he does, I swear, the things I would do that man!" Janelle's Dad became angry. Who could blame him?
"Dad, it's nothing like that. We were talking about the incident that happened yesterday and asked why I moved here and all that. Plus, he wouldn't have to be the one trying anything on me." Janelle laughed and her parents just gave her a weird look.
"What? He's way too cute to be a teacher." Janelle said and her parents started laughing.
"He's so old, dear." Janelle's Mom said.
"Age is nothing but a number, Mom." Janelle winked and her Dad shook his head, smiling. They finished eating and Janelle went back up to her room to finish her notes. She turned on her music to help her relax. It was already eleven o'clock and she still wasn't half way done. Next thing she knew, she fell asleep. Her parents thought she had already left for school, so Janelle woke up pretty late. She panicked, not because she was late, but because she didn't finish her homework. She was never the type of person who never finished her homework. Janelle took a shower and got ready. She didn't have time to put on her contacts, so she just grabbed her glasses and left. She was wearing a floral blouse under a black cardigan with beige jeans and black flats. She put on her gold locket, which had a picture of her and her grandmother in it, and she wore her cross earrings. She put on her black g-shock and she straightened her hair and left for school. When she arrived at Western Summit, the people at the office gave her a dirty look. Supposedly, they didn't like Janelle because she hit Ashley. Oh well, who cares. She got a tardy slip and went to first period. Class started about twenty minutes ago and when she walked in, everyone looked at her for a second then went back to listening to Mr. Gardner speak. Mr. Gardner saw her and excused himself.
"Alright, guys. Do the bookwork that's on the board and I'll be back." Mr. Gardner said to the class. He pulled Janelle by the elbow and took her outside the classroom. He closed the door behind him and looked at Janelle from top to bottom.
"You know, it's not really appropriate to check out your students, Mr. Gardner." Janelle laughed.
"I was not checking you out." Mr. Gardner said.
"I didn't say you were checking me out. But now that you mention it –"
"Alright, enough. Why are you late?" Mr. Gardner interrupted her.
"Well, I overslept because I stayed up last night TRYING to do the notes you gave us to do. Which I have to say is A LOT of work for one night."
"Well, it's AP World, get used to it honey." He winked at her and opened the door for her for a sign to sit down at her desk. The class was doing bookwork and Janelle was trying to finish her notes so she could turn them in at the end of the class. Mr. Gardner was at his desk, looking over some papers. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. To Janelle, he looked stressed. Janelle noticed she was staring way too long at her very handsome teacher and tried to finish her notes. By the time the bell rang for the class to end, she was finished. She was the last one out because she had to gather her things. She went up to Mr. Gardner's desk and threw the ten pages of notes on his desk. He looked up at her confused.
"What's this?"
"The notes from last night's homework."
"Oh, thank you." Janelle noticed that Mr. Gardner's prep period was second period. He looked at her when she didn't leave to go to her next class. "What are you still doing here? You're going to be late for second period."
"Why do you look stressed?" Janelle asked, not even answering his question.
"How do you know I'm stressed?"
"Trust me, I know. So why are you?"
"You should really be getting to class." He was trying to change the subject, but Janelle was the type of girl who doesn't give up until she gets an answer.
"Mr. Gardner, I'm serious. Last night you told me that you'd be there for me if I needed someone to talk to, and guess what? I'm here for you if you need someone to talk to." Janelle sat back down at her desk and Mr. Gardner got up to close his door and took a seat next to her. He angled his seat so that they were facing each other. He was looking intently at Janelle. She was about to faint from the look her teacher was giving her. His eyes made her stomach turn. His smile made her heart beat faster than she expected.
"Well, budget cuts, my daughter, basically money."
"Oh, well I can't say I understand, but what about your daughter?"
"She's at college with her boyfriend, Charlie, and the father I am, I get worried when she doesn't call, you know?"
"Yeah, well, every father has to let go of his princess sometime." Janelle's hands were together on her desk and she kept looking down at them. She looked up when Mr. Gardner placed his hands on top of hers.
"Thank you, that helped me a lot." Janelle smiled, but not even moving her hands because she loved the way Mr. Gardner's hands felt. Smooth and so soft. When Mr. Gardner took his hands off of hers, she looked up, again only to see those big brown eyes of his.
"You know, you have beautiful eyes." Mr. Gardner told her.
"Is Mr. Gardner flirting with me?" They both laughed.
"Only if you want me to." Mr. Gardner winked at her playfully.
"Well, thank you. So do you." Janelle smiled and so did Mr. Gardner.
"You're late for your second period." Mr. Gardner said.
"I'd rather stay here."
"I'd rather you stay here, too, but you've got to class." Janelle got up and was walking towards the door when Mr. Gardner grabbed her wrist gently and turned her around to face him. They were so close that their noses were touching.
"I'm giving you a ride home later on, okay?" Mr. Gardner said.
"Sure." Janelle replied and with that, Mr. Gardner gave her a kiss on the cheek. She was stunned and she felt her cheeks begin to heat up and turn to light pink. When she walked out of his classroom, she felt all these butterflies in her stomach. Somehow, she was sort of excited that Mr. Gardner would be giving her a ride home later on.