I would like to sincerely apologize for the delay in getting this chapter up. First week of my new college, knew absolutely nobody, and just a little bit difficult to get my head around to begin with. But everything is okay now, and I'm back for writing! I will try to write a chapter every week, but I can't promise that strict schedule as I actually have homework to do :O
I hope this chapter was worth the wait...
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who at all.
Chapter 4: Embarrassing
"Distracted, eh?" John quizzed Rose as he returned to his chair behind the desk and grabbed his coat.
As he shrugged on his coat, Rose wandered over to his desk, "Sorry," she said guiltily.
He smiled, "I'll let you off, just this once. But don't let it became a permanent feature, please," his eyebrows raised, almost as if asking a question instead of making a statement.
"I won't," she grinned before heading for the door.
"Rose," he called quickly, as Rose turned suddenly on her heels to face him, "Can you have lunch with me?"
Her eyebrows knotted together, "What?"
"I'm the new teacher; no one will sit in here with me... You're the only person I actually know," he spoke with puppy like eyes.
"I don't know... You're my teacher. There's probably some law against it," she joked.
He thought about it quickly, "A law that means you can't eat lunch with a friend?"
"I've actually got a free last, so I'm going home for lunch."
"I have nothing either..." his eyes were expectant.
Before Rose could answer, her phone rang, "Sorry,"
"That should be on silent," he managed to add before she answered it, and received a humorous glare from Rose.
"Mum, I'm on my way, I'm just running late."
There was a very silent pause, where the only sound was the bustle of the corridors outside the closed door.
"I'm just talking to Doctor Smith. He's my teacher... Y'know, the guy who moved in on our floor?" she added.
John just gave a small smile.
"I don't think he'll want to have lunch with us, Mum. Especially not with your cookin'!" She managed to joke, whilst John's eyebrows lifted with surprise.
"No! I will not just ask him!" Rose felt slightly embarrassed to even be having this conversation with her mum, in front of her teacher. Who, albeit, was a friend before he became her teacher. Nevertheless, it didn't stop her feeling embarrassed. And even more so as hot blood rose to her cheeks, making her blush even more with the thought that she was blushing in the first place.
"Fine," she gave in and the held the phone to her chest, as she turned her attention to John, "My mum wants to know if you wanna come over for lunch? With you not have coffee and food an' all?" She said hurriedly, as if she knew the answer would be 'no'.
He had kind of assumed that would be the question after listening to one end of the argument. Yet, he had not managed to make a decision.
One, Jackie would be there. And she, quite frankly, scared the pants off him. Even the thought of sitting next to her at the table – she wouldn't allow him to sit anywhere else – made him feel uncomfortable, and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Two, he didn't want to make Rose uncomfortable; the basics of being a polite human being.
So, those two amounted to a 'no' so far.
Except, the fact that Rose would be there was whole different concept. He did like her. She was different if she were compared with the 'plastics' her age. And a lot of other girls his age. Sure, there was an age gap – but only of about eight years. That didn't bother him. What was he thinking anyway? Just over an hour ago he found out he would be her teacher for the next year!
But really, he didn't want to pass up an opportunity just to be with her, so he wasn't going to complain...
"If it's alright with you?" He nibbled the inside of his bottom lip, "If you don't want me there then I'll go to the chippy for lunch..." He was being his usual polite self.
Rose hesitated, knowing what she was about to say next would result in an 'I told you' from the other end of the phone.
She lifted the phone to her ear, "He said alright... But only if you don't use any of that weird turkey ham for sandwiches."
John couldn't help but let out a childish giggle, "I did not," he mouthed.
"He did. I swear, Mum!"
John shrugged his coat on, whilst shaking his head quite obviously at Rose.
"Bye, Mum!" She hung up before she was found guilty.
"I do not encourage your blatant lying, Miss Rose," he joked.
"Rose directed her dagger eyes at him, resulting in him darting out the door in a chaotic frenzy and gangly legs and flailing arms; giggling all the way.
She stood just outside the door, watching his stride down the corridor, "Wrong way!"
He strode back up to her as she wandered off in the right direction, "I still don't know my way round this bloody school."
"Swearing? Shouldn't that be a detention, sir?"
John decided to let that one go, "Bus?"
"What?"
"Do you have a bus pass?" He enunciated.
"Oh... yeah."
"What did you think I meant?" His eyebrows pinned together at the bridge of his nose.
"I dunno. Most people don't start a sentence with bus," she giggled.
"I'm not most people," his eyes gave off a childlike innocence and polite modesty, "At least I hope not."
They met up at the bus stop, after Rose had retrieved her jumper from her locker, just as the bus arrived.
They were two of only four people on the bus. There was a middle aged man, with tired lines weaving across his face. He was reading a newspaper from two days ago and had a white, untanned mark around his ring finger. His hair was thin and turning more grey by the day. His clothes were generally quite dark colours – grey shirt and black jeans. He grumbled as John and Rose got on the bus. And muttered to himself for the journey, glaring at them both every few seconds.
And obviously, the other person was the bus driver. He didn't look like the type of man to be a bus driver. He wore dark aviators and had a day's old stubble. His hair was black, slightly shaved around the edges and just a bit longer on top. He wore a polo t-shirt and beige coloured trousers. He looked like he was in his late thirties, but tried to dress 'in trend' to hide that. When he asked John and Rose for their bus passes, his voice was impossibly deep and mysterious.
Both John and Rose sat down with wide eyes and stared at each other, before staring, in silence, at the chewing gum infested floor for the rest of the journey.
~dwdwdw~
John struggled with the front door before giving it a quick, sharp nudge with his shoulder.
Jackie had arrived in front of them within seconds. And almost as if her daughter were invisible, or even inexistent, Jackie pulled John into a strange, uncomfortable hug – or suffocation.
He was taken aback. And as he foreshadowed earlier, scared. He didn't know how to react, and instead of being impolite and pushing her away, he stood with his arms glued to his sides.
"Let's get this lump of a coat of ya then, my handsome pyjama man," Jackie enthused.
John wriggled out of his coat, with the inescapable 'assistance' from Jackie. And as she went to drape it over a chair at the table, Rose quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the sofa. Anything to get them both away from Jackie.
Rose quickly switched on the TV, drowning out anything embarrassing that Jackie would undoubtedly say, from the kitchen next door.
"So what's for lunch?" John asked Rose, trying to erase the past few minutes from his memory – and hopefully from all existence.
"Dunno. But if you don't like it we'll get a take away... Mum always tries to cook when people come over..."
Jackie inelegantly stumbled into the room with a tray of food, "Sausage rolls and ham sandwiches!"
"You sure you mean 'cook'?" John questioned Rose, politely, but never lacking the hint of humour in his tone.
He rubbed the back of his next awkwardly as Jackie came towards him with a sausage roll, grinning like a mad goblin.
"Mum, just leave him alone!" She snatched the sausage roll from Jackie's hand and shovelled into her own mouth, "Gone," she mumbled.
"Rose, you're so embarrassing!" Jackie squealed.
Rose's eyebrows shot through the ceiling and into the flat above.
The phone rang and Jackie was all too quick to answer it, "Janine! How're you? You'll never guess whose round at mine," She didn't wait for a response. She then darted off to her bedroom, to have another three hour conversation with the woman who lives only two floors below.
Rose had just about finished her sausage roll when John spoke, "Yeah, Rose. You're so embarrassing," he tried to keep a straight face, but then burst into an uncontrollable laughter.
"Don't even start," she was still shocked after her mother's behaviour in the hallway.
"Is she like this with everyone?"
"Just men."
"All men?"
"I wanna say no, but she brought me up saying I should never lie."
John laughed, nudging her shoulder with his, "Oh, Miss Rose, you're so cruel," his eyes seemed wild and his lips pursed into a comical pout.
I hope you liked it, and was worth the wait... CHAPTER 5 written!
