So, it's been entirely too long. And I've had free time lately... So I apologise for the fact I haven't been updating anytime ever... And now I'm in History class, writing a story for Degrassi. Seems like a good time as any! So without further ado...
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I will continue to own nothing, because I'm a student, and a distractible one at best.

Alli was trying to pay attention. Really, she was. She was just failing miserably at it. It wasn't her fault. She couldn't help that Johnny looked sexy when he was teaching Shakespeare. His enthusiasm for English had always charmed her, and this was no exception. The fact that he was dressed professionally made it no easier to pay attention to the lesson. She couldn't help but let her mind wander.

The fantasies cycled. One day she would be thinking about what went wrong between them. Another day she would be thinking about how she ended up in an English class that he taught in. The other fantasies were her favorites though. The fantasy where she envisioned their future, with children extremely adept at navigating literature. The fantasy where they finally told each other how they felt, thus ending this silly game happening in the present. And her absolute favorites: the fantasies where she could totally let her mind wander and think of things that her mother would be terribly upset if she knew of those fantasies of Alli.

This daydreaming was often caught by Johnny. He would call her out on it, causing her to pay attention for the day in fears of being called out again. Not to say it wouldn't happen again the next day, it did. She felt bad though, he had worked so hard for it and she was showing him no respect. Not that she didn't try, she just got distracted. By him.

The teacher noticed too. This led to a very awkward conversation between the teacher and Johnny. The teacher came up with all these outlandish theories about his students' lack of attention. Johnny knew the answer. Most of them didn't pay attention because they, like most other teenagers in the world, found Shakespeare boring. The teacher also worried about Alli's lack of attention. Unlike most of the other students, she liked Shakespeare. He had noticed she was getting called out on daydreaming more often than usual. This was a problem to him, and he wanted to try to refocus the mind of the student during class. He proposed meeting with her after class, and berating her for it. Johnny knew this would make her hate them. So, he proposed an alternate solution that might be more favorable in the eyes of Alli.

_

The next day, Johnny caught Alli daydreaming again. He saw the teacher staring at him, waiting for him to do something. He would have preferred to let Alli live in her la-la land for a little while, before he had to do something that would quite possible make her hate him. But he couldn't, and the teacher's small cough meant there was no way out. He couldn't pretend he didn't notice, there was no other option.

"Miss Bhandari?" he asked. Her head shot up in surprise. "Can you please tell me about the reason for Macbeth's speech about his late wife that I'm sure you were just thinking about?"

She narrowed her eyes a little bit, obviously grasping for an answer. When she couldn't pull one out of thin air like she usually did, she got noticeably flustered. Red color rushed to her cheeks as she opened her mouth to speak. She stuttered, getting angry at herself for not coming up with a good answer and instead submitting herself to this embarrassment. Finally she squeaked out, "I don't know."

Johnny felt sorry for her, and so guilty that he put her through that. She looked like she was about to cry. He couldn't stand the fact he did that to her. However, a look from the teacher reassured him he was doing the right thing. And he really wanted to know what was going on in Alli's head. The teacher was still giving him a pointed glare, so he started to speak to her again. "Miss Bhandari?" He asked again. She practically jumped from her seat. He could see what would become a tear forming in her eye, and felt absolutely terrible. He continued on, though, because he was still receiving a glare from the teacher. "I'm concerned with the amount of attention that you pay in class. Please stay after class to meet with me." As soon as the words left his mouth, he cringed inside. For someone who loved the intricacies of the English language, he sure did an awful job of getting his point across.

Alli's reaction didn't do much to reassure him either. Her jaw dropped open and he could see her blinking furiously, trying to keep any tears from falling.
_

She couldn't believe him. Even after everything they had been through, she couldn't believe he would ever be that arrogant. Did he not notice that every other person in the class was in their own world! He didn't call anyone else out! He didn't tell anyone else to stay after class! Only her!

She could feel his eyes on her while she desperately tried to avoid crying. Finally, she gave up and just buried her face in her arms. He was kind enough to ignore her. One of her fantasies was coming true, but not nearly close to the way she had envisioned. She had envisioned him tapping her on the back as she was exiting out of the classroom, and whispering in her ear that he wanted to see her after class. Not singling her out in class and nearly making her cry. Though, she still felt a little excited. Butterflies were dancing in her stomach as she considered the fact that maybe it was all a ruse. And that fact alone was the only reason why she didn't completely break down in the middle of class.

_

The butterflies grew stronger as the class's end neared. Alli was still pouty about the whole thing, but she was also immensely excited. When the bell finally rang, she lingered around, picking up her books slowly, and pushing in her seat carefully. Eventually, the last person walked out of the room. She, Johnny, and the teacher were the only ones left.

As Alli dragged her feet walking to the front of the room, she saw the teacher nod to Johnny and head out of the room. She picked up the pace a little bit, still sniffling quite a bit from her earlier breakdown. However, she tried her best to sound sexy as she said, "Mr. DiMarco? You said you wanted to see me after class..." She let her voice trail off as she leaned closer to him.

She could see him practically roll his eyes. "Alli," he said, "The teacher of this class wanted to meet with you about your apparent difficulty in paying attention during my lessons. However, I assured him that I would take care of the problem. Now, do you want to tell me what's got you so distracted?" He asked.

Alli's heart sunk. He didn't want to be with her. What was she thinking, getting her schoolgirl emotions in the way of reason. What he said led her eyes to fill with tears once more. The classroom they were standing in would soon be filled with students, students who could watch her cry over some stupid crush she had on a student teacher.

Johnny watched Alli start to form tears in her eyes, and glanced at the clock. He knew she wouldn't want others to see her cry, and the next class would be drifting into the room soon. "Alli," he said, gently. It was the first time he had used her actual name all year. She was too busy blinking back tears to notice however, because Johnny saw no reaction from her. "Perhaps we should go to my office?" He suggested gently.

She looked up at him, and nodded. He took her hand and led her to a door a few rooms away. Usually, student teachers don't get offices. However, Johnny had found the little room vacant, and had turned it into his makeshift office of sorts. He had even managed to fit a desk and a couch in there. No one minded, the room had no purpose otherwise.

He guided her over to the couch, and gestured for her to sit. He tried to speak to her again. "Alli?" he asked, "Can you please tell me what's going on inside your head?" She looked up at him, but shook her head in a silent "no". She didn't trust herself to say anything, and instead of words coming to the surface, tears did.

Johnny tried again to talk to her. "Was it because I singled you out in class?" She gave a little nod. "Alli," he said, "You weren't paying attention and the teacher wanted me to tell you to..." She was still staring at the ground... "Alli?" He asked. "Was it because of the way I singled you out?" Alli gave him another small nod. "Do you feel it was too harsh?" Another nod. "There's something more..." Alli looked down at her feet, but Johnny could see another small nod. "Alli," he started again, "Can you please use your words? We're getting nowhere here..."

She looked up again, her expression different than what it had been before. Instead of looking meek, she looked angry. She took a deep breath, then spoke in a passion filled voice, "I came to this school to earn back my parents' trust. They found out what happened at Degrassi, including the sexting! So I came here, and who do I see? You! And in your class, I just can't stop thinking about you. I can't stop fantasizing about what could happen between us! So, sorry for not paying attention, but my mind can't seem to focus anywhere else!" She basically yelled the last part, then dissolved into another round of tears.

Johnny took a seat on the couch, and positioned her so she was laying on his lap. He began to stroke her hair, attempting to calm her down. When that didn't work, he kept stroking her hair while mumbling reassuring things like "It's alright." She had a free period, as did he, and he had every intention of spending the entire time there with her. Hopefully, he mused, she would calm down by then.

A.N.- So, hopefully this was a better length. I'm sorry it's been a while, my schedule is just a little hectic. Winter break is soon though, so fingers crossed I can write then. However, it might not be updated then because my cousin's bat mitzvah is over the break and the chances I'll have wifi or time is doubtful. Maybe I could write in the 6 hour long car ride, but I can't update without internet. Anyways, I hope you liked this! As a holiday present, it would mean so much to me if you give me your feedback. Reviews are friends, and food (for thought). Thank you for bearing with me on this story, I realized today (in all my classes, not just History) how much I missed it. As always, until next time!
-shiftyeyesandanevilsmile