I go with Lourdes to get some coffee at lunch today. I could really use an espresso, instead of that black lagoon water that Diane heats up in the coffee pot. I don't know if it's the brand of coffee she uses, or the coffee maker itself, but I have to agree with Negan that Diane consistently fucks up the coffee in the break room. She's nice, so I don't make a scene like that asshole does, but it's still pretty bad.

Lourdes prattles on about how her mother spent thirty minutes over the phone last night to rag on Simon and how she thinks Lourdes could do so much better. "Mira, if you knew my mother, it wouldn't matter if Simon was the right hand man of the Savior himself," She shakes her head, "He still wouldn't be good enough. No one I like ever is."

I smile at the way she rolls her eyes. "I know what you mean."

"Your mom the same way?"

"Mm, not really, because I haven't really ever been in a relationship, but she certainly has some thoughts she likes to share with me on the subject."

Lourdes looks at me, confounded. "You've never been in a relationship?"

I shrug, as we go through the coffee shop's drive-thru. "Well, that's technically not true. I have, just not in the strictest sense."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning...I haven't been with another person in a committed, monogamous setting."

She chuckles a little. "What? So, you went around with someone who had side bitches?"

I laugh with her. "No, I mean, I just haven't ever been interested in getting into something serious with anyone."

"What about Jolyon's dad?" Lourdes inquires. "Is he one of those losers that took off when the test showed double lines?"

I rest my head against my closed hand. "Not exactly."

Lourdes rolls down her window and orders into the box. We each get our coffees and something to eat, then head back to the school. On the way back, Lourdes' phone beeps to indicate she's got a text message.

"Would you mind seeing who that's from?" She hands me her phone.

"It's from your boyfriend."

"What does it say?"

I look down at the screen. "Um, I don't know. The notification just says it's from Simon."

"Oh, my phone isn't locked," She informs me, "You can go ahead and open it."

I hesitate, but open up the message. "It says; 'Are you at lunch?'"

"Can you tell him that I am?"

"Okay." I nod, a little surprised that she's so comfortable about someone else text for her. I type in "Yeah" and send the message.

The phone rings shortly after and I look to Lourdes for guidance. She bites her lip, peering down at the phone. "Um, don't answer it. Just let it go to voicemail and then tell him I'll call him in a minute."

I wait until it stops ringing and then message him what Lourdes told me to, feeling just a little weird being their medium. A message pings and Lourdes gives me the go ahead to read it.

My cheeks warm up. "Um..." I show her the screen as she pulls into her parking spot.

She reads the message and then her eyes widen and she gasps. "Oh, shit." She grabs the phone from me. "I'm so sorry! I should've just waited."

"It's okay." I chuckle, somewhat amused.

"I'm so embarrassed," She shakes her head, "I gotta call him back and tell him what an ass he just made of me."

"Okay," I open the car door, "See you later."

"Yeah." She smiles with the phone to her ear. As I walk away, I can hear her shouting in her car. "I was driving! Pippa was texting for me, Simon! She saw that message!"

I laugh under my breath as I stroll towards the entrance. As I enter the school, I hear some commotion coming from the first hall to the left. It sounds like some girls are arguing. I recognize one of the voices to be Ravinder's and I tread faster to the hall.

"Please, give 'em back!" She shouts.

"You made me look stupid!" Another girl yells back.

I go down the corner and see Ravinder reaching for her magenta framed glasses that are being suspended higher up than her grasp can reach by her older sister.

"Nanda!" Ravinder begs with a little bit of cracking in her voice.

"How am I suppose to show my face in gym tomorrow, shithead?" Nanda shoves her back a little.

Ravinder smacks her sister's hand away. "You're such a...bitch!" Crack!

"Hey!" I shout as I make my way over to the sisters and the two other girls that look like they're Nanda's grade. "Give her back her glasses and go to the office, right now!"

Nanda scoffs. "But she-"

"Now!" I firmly repeat.

She tosses Ravinder back her glasses and then storms off in the direction of the office. Ravinder puts her glasses on, while holding her cheek.

"Are you alright?" I ask her.

She nods. "Yeah, my sister's just being her usual self."

"What happened?"

Ravinder looks nervously at me, fiddling with her hands. "Um...nothing."

"Ravinder?" I arch my brow.

She sighs, "I was just teasing her, because she teased me first!"

"About what?"

"Well, she said I was a nerd for liking graphic novels and I said she was a bigger nerd for..."

"For?" I press.

"...Um, for liking Coach Negan." Ravinder winces lIke I'm going to snap.

I unknit my brows. "Oh."

"She has a huge crush on him and she's always making fun of me, so I was just doing it back to her!" She pleads her case. "I didn't know that he was behind us!"

"He heard you?"

"Yes, well...I don't know," Ravinder shrugs, "He didn't say anything...he barely even acknowledged us. Am I in trouble?"

"Well, sweetie," I sigh, "I think you're gonna have to do detention."

"Okay." She hangs her head and walks off.

I turn around and go to return to my office. On my way, I almost collide with Lourdes, who's just come in from her car. "Oops, sorry."

"No worries." She smiles brightly with a rosy flush in her cheeks that is unmistakably a result of doing what the text message suggested.

I get back into my office and let out a long exhale of breath. I pace a little before deciding to go talk to him. There isn't any girls hanging out around the corner of the locker rooms, nor is there any moaning hailing from down the hall either, so I figure it's safe to say he's alone.

Once I'm down the hall, I can see from the window of his office that he is in fact by himself. I reconsider for a moment, before treading down to his office. I knock on the door and wait for him to open up.

"Come in."

I turn the handle and push the door open. "Hey."

Negan looks away from his computer, briefly glances me over, and then returns to the screen. "Hey."

"Got a minute?" I ask.

"What?" He types something into the computer.

"Are you entering in grades?" I huff, somewhat amazed.

"Don't act so fucking surprised."

"Well, I just can't imagine you actually doing any of the paperwork."

"How the fuck do you figure I don't issue out grades?" Negan looks over at me. "It's the one thing you can't fuckin' blow off, or else they'll ride your ass."

I shrug, eyeing the office that's moderately tidy. "Um...did you happen to pass some girls a little while ago?"

"Students? Yeah, why?"

"Did you hear what they were talking about?" I inquire, brushing a hand down the front of my dress.

"Mm, nope," Negan shakes his head, "I don't give a flying fuck about what teenagers talk about at lunch. Why?"

"No reason," I sigh, relieved, although I don't know why, "Well, bye."

"Hey, wait a minute." He calls out.

I turn to look at him. "Yeah?"

Negan stares at me, before exhaling. "Look, about the other night...I'm sorry if I misinterpreted things and crossed a line."

I'm a little astounded. Negan's not really an apologetic kind of guy, but his words are sincere. "Okay. Thank you."

"So, we're cool?"

I aimlessly step inside his office. "Yeah, we're cool."

"Fan-fucking-tastic."

I snicker. "Yeah..."

"Have a seat." He offers the chair across from his.

"Are there any stains, or..." A letter taped to the white brick wall of his office catches my eye, "No fucking way."

"What?"

"You weren't joking about the letters from the school district." I state, pointing to the letter.

Negan gives me a toothy grin, amused by my reaction. "No, ma'am, I was not joking."

I smile, glancing back to the letter on the wall. "Wow, verbatim what you told me the other day."

"That's not the only one, baby," He chuckles, "I got plenty fuckin' more where that came from."

"So what makes this one special?"

"That's the first one sent by my wife."

My eyes flicker to him and then I scroll down to the bottom of the letter, where a name is both printed and signed next to her title and a gold foil seal. "Proud?"

"And a little turned on." He claims.

"Lucille Addams?" I look over to him. "Addams is your last name? Like the Addams Family? That's so appropriate."

Negan snickers. "That's her maiden name, smartass."

"Oh," I nod, "She not take your name when you married?"

"No, she did," He says, "But all her students knew her as Ms. Addams, so she kept the placard and just never changed it when she was moving on up."

"How bad is your last name that neither you, or her seem to want to go by it professionally?" I joke, grinning.

Negan laughs mildly, before looking down at his clipboard. "You can find it in the yearbooks in the library. It's not a secret, Ms. Barnes."

"So, what is it then?"

"Why so interested?" He retorts.

"Well," I walk around towards the door, "I'm just thinking that your last name has to be pretty bad, if you choose to have everyone call you Negan."

"You mean my first name?" Negan furrows his brows, smiling.

"Yeah, because what sort of name is that?" I taunt, laughing. "I mean, who came up with that dumb name?"

"Who came up with Pippa?" He cackles back. "Talk about dumb names. Pippa sounds like the name you'd give to a lap dog."

"At least it's an actual name." I chuckle, "Like there are other Pippas out there, but there's not other Negans. At least not any I've heard of."

"Maybe the name will catch on one day," Negan smirks, "Then everyone will be Negan, instead of John, or Tom."

"I highly doubt it, kiddo." I snort. The bell rings and my smile fades a little. "Well, I better go."

"You gonna be here after school?"

I nod my head. "Yeah, are you?"

"Yep." Negan grins.

...

After school, Jolyon and I clean up around my classroom. Well, I clean up around my classroom. Jolyon, bless his heart, wants to help, but is more of a thorn in my side than an answered prayer. Still, I let him participate by giving him smaller tasks that'll only take me a minute to redo once he's done.

Negan knocks on the open door after football practice gets over. "Busy?"

"Just sanitizing my classroom," I smirk as I spray disinfectant on the desks, "Figured I'd take a preemptive strike, before cold season hits."

"In like three months?"

"Preparation is key to a lot of things," I inform him, "like having an emergency kit."

"There are some things you can't prepare for, I hope you know."

"Trust me," I breathe, solemnly, "I know all about things you're not prepared to handle."

"Such as?" Negan smiles.

"You," I reply right away, "Need something?"

"No, but I was about to offer to take the kid off your hands."

I scoff, smiling. "To help me out, or keep you from going home?"

"Well, I guess I'll just be on my merry fucking way, then," Negan looks over at Jolyon who's been listening, hopeful, this whole time, "Sorry, kid, but your mom's not being nice."

Jolyon gasps, looking my way. "Mom!"

I look at Negan with my mouth agape. "Don't try to make me out to be a mean mom!"

"Calls 'em as I fuckin' sees 'em." He grins.

"Please, Mom!" Jolyon pats my arm.

"Go ahead, Jol." I smile down at him.

"Yay!" He runs over to the door.

Negan winks at me, before following Jolyon down the hall.

Half an hour later, we walk to our cars to go home. Jolyon yawns as we stroll with our hands clasped together. "Thanks for being nice to my son," I tell Negan, "Even if you're a dick to me. I appreciate it."

"It's no big deal," He shrugs it off, "I like him better than I like you."

"Funny." I chuckle.

"Thank you."

We stop at my car and I unlock the doors, so Jolyon can climb in. "Alright."

"Alright." Negan repeats, sighing.

"See you Monday."

"See you."

...

Lorelei's is not so bad during the late shift once you get use to the ghostliness of the place after midnight. I ate the rest of the pie straight out the pan with some coffee. I also found an old pair of roller skates in the back room from when they use to make the waitresses skate around the restaurant and parking lot to the customers. Thank god that was changed like ten years before I ever started working here.

Regardless, it's fun to skate around an empty restaurant to the oldies, especially since I did all of my duties and don't have anything else to do until six. I've fallen down a few times, not being the most graceful of creatures, but a few bruises on the ass and knees never ended the world.

Around three, I see a familiar truck pull in and so I exit the restaurant to go out to meet him. I skate slowly over, a little intimidated by the bumpy, gravelly pavement. Dwight comes around from the driver's side with his hands tucked into his jacket.

"Hi," I skate towards him.

"Oh, you're working tonight?" He asks, placidly.

"Yeah, Mindy asked for the night off to go to a concert in Richmond." I smoothly turn around right as he gets to me.

"Oh, cool," Dwight looks down at my feet and snickers, "What are those?"

"Skates, silly," I push myself on, "I found them on a top shelf in the storage closet and Louis said Leda wouldn't mind."

"And you know how to roller skate?" He smiles.

"Polish your peepers, Dwighty boy, because that's exactly what you're looking at."

"Don't be so cocky, Pip." Dwight laughs quietly.

"If you're bad than flaunt it," I giggle saucily, "And I happen to be one bad motherff-!" My rubber stoppers hit the sidewalk and I go down on my hands and knees.

"Shit, are you alright?" D lends a hand to help me up to my feet.

"Fucker," I finish, less arrogant, "Thanks."

"Sure, cool breeze." He lets me put a hand on his shoulder, so I can step up on the sidewalk.

"Don't you just love it when hubris is rewarded and punished with such expediency?"

"Where were you rewarded just now?" Dwight chuckles.

"I felt invincible up until now." I claim, opening the door to the diner.

Dwight holds it open behind me. "You felt invincible for roller skating?"

"Hey, it's the little things that build you up."

"Jesus, you're gonna break your goddamn neck!" Louis tells me, producing a first aid kit.

"Well, better on someone else's time than my own, eh?" I wink at him and open the box. I look over my shoulder at Dwight. "Know what you want?"

"Biscuits and gravy with a side of hash browns, please."

"Coffee?"

"Nah, just some water."

I glance back at Louis. "I'll get the water."

"Smart ass." He mumbles, before shuffling into the kitchen.

I plant it on a stool and examine my scraped up hands. There's also some pretty decent cuts and scrapes on my already sore knees. I suck air in through my teeth as the rubbing alcohol pads sting my bloody wounds. Dwight just quietly observes.

"God, these are the kind of boo-boos I'd be cleaning up for Jolyon, not myself," I laugh after a few minutes, "Just the other day, he ran into the living room after I had just mopped and slipped and fell. He had a good size bump on back of his head for the whole day."

Dwight smiles, looking down at his hands on the table. "I bet he felt pretty invincible before that, huh?"

I laugh out, as I stick a band-aid to my knee. "If he's anything like me..."

"How'd the cookies turn out?"

"Delicious," I report with a grin, "I might have been a naive little girl in the tenth grade, but I've learned a few things."

He glances up. "You didn't set the smoke alarm off?"

"Nope."

Dwight reaches into his pocket. "Do you think I have time to smoke?"

I close the lid to the first aid kit. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay." He slides out of the booth.

"Mind if I come with you?" I carefully get off the stool.

"Sure."

I skate out in front of him to avoid the possibility of knocking into him. Feeling a little brazen, I whirl myself around and skate backwards.

Dwight snickers, slowly trailing behind me to the door. When my back touches the door, I push myself against it to hold it open for him. After he passes through, I skate off in the direction he's going. I fetch a cigarette from my apron and light it, rolling towards the side of Lorelei's.

I put my hand on the building and take baby steps in the dirt, until I'm a few short feet away from Dwight. It's chilly out and goose bumps whip across my flesh, but I don't mind. I take a drag from my cigarette.

"That was a really nice speech that Sherry gave the other day at your party." I lightly exhale.

"Yeah." Dwight puts his cigarette up to his mouth.

"Her sister's really nice," I add, "Sweet."

"Yeah, she's a good kid."

"What does she do for a living?"

D exhales smoke. "She goes to college up in D.C., but she works part- time at a coffee shop."

"What's she studying?" I ask, curiously.

"Uh..." He takes another drag, "I don't remember."

"Oh," I blow smoke from my lips, "Where were their parents? I don't think I saw them at the party."

"No," Dwight shakes his head, "They died about six years ago in a car crash."

"Jesus, that's awful." I wince, looking down at my cigarette.

"My mom kinda mothered them after that, so if Tina can't get a hold of Sherry, she calls her instead."

"You two are the only family they have?"

He nods, letting smoke exit through his nose. "Yeah, they don't have any other family, so I guess my mom and I are it."

"Well, they couldn't have asked for better people to care about them." I note, dabbing the end of my cigarette out on the wall and then flicking it.

I let out a breath, before treading lightly back towards the front. Despite being careful, one of my skates fumbles with a rock and I almost go down again. My hands grip the sleeves of Dwight's jacket as he catches me before I fall.

I look up at him, as I steady myself. "Thanks."

"No problem." He murmurs, letting go.

I chuckle, a little abashed. "I think I should put my shoes-" I'm interrupted by Dwight's lips softly pecking mine.

My eyes follow his mouth as he returns to his own space, then slowly trail up to his eyes. I feel as if they should ask a question, but they don't; they just stare back at his. I put my hand on the wall of the building and not a moment later, Dwight lunges forward, kissing me more deeply.

His hands touch the sides of my face, ushering me to lean back against the wall. I drape my arms over his shoulders, allowing him to come closer. Dwight's mouth passionately captures mine, causing me to almost slide off my roller skate clad feet. I kiss him back with the same desperation that I can hear in the breaths he takes.

Dwight takes his hands from my face and begins to explore my body. I feel his warm, calloused hand travel down the curve of my hip until he reaches the end of my uniform. I sigh through my nose as he touches my skin. He lets his hand move up the length of my thigh, catching the dress as his hand goes under it. I make a moaning sound into his mouth, as his fingers gently clutch the side of my panties, and I press my lips to his more fervently. Then, out of nowhere, Dwight breaks away.

"Shit!" He curses; removing his mouth, hands, and then completely backs away from me. D looks at me again with furrowed brows, touching the side of his head, like he doesn't know what came over him.

"Um..." I fix my uniform, peering down at the dying cigarette he dropped on the ground before kissing me.

"I have to go." Dwight says, stalking off.

"Dwight, wait!"

"I have to go home."

I tread as fast as I can in these stupid fucking skates, but by time I make it to the front, Dwight's already walking around to get into his car. I watch as he pulls out of the parking spot and drives off down the road. The bell tings inside and I hear Louis yell "Order up!"

...

"When, Mom?"

"Soon, Jol." I tell him, driving slower than I usually do, which probably means I'm doing the speed limit, if not under.

Jolyon wanted to play some kiddy sing-a-long CD in the car. I figured after listening to my typical bluesy music on slow drive I took on the way to my parents' from Lorelei's, I could stand to be picked up, except the merriment is sort of annoying. After what happened with Dwight, I didn't want to go home, so I picked Jolyon up from my parent's house and we're driving to that pancake house that has the rude waitress.

"Mommy, sing with me!" Jolyon says from his car seat.

I sniff, "Okay, " I wipe the tears from my eyes.

When we get to the diner, we're seated in the same section as last time, but fortunately the cranky waitress isn't on shift this morning. A nicer waitress runs to get my coffee and Jolyon's milk. Jolyon occupies himself with the color placemat; drawing with the crayons he's breaking one by one. I just watch, not really having much else to do.

"Here." Jolyon gives me one half of a blue crayon.

"Thanks, baby." I smile, making little mindless hearts on the paper.

"Alright, now I'm starting to think I'm the one who needs a fucking restraining order," I look up to see Negan approaching my table, "Because this shit is just getting fuckin' weird."

"Really?" I croak, "Because we were here first and you just coincidentally show up? Suspicious."

Negan grins. "Mind if I join you?"

I shrug, then nod. "Sure, go ahead."

He sits down on the same side as me, making it a little bit of a tight squeeze.

"Hi," Jolyon smiles.

"Hey, kid." Negan smiles back.

"Where's your wife?" I ask, shaking the sugar into the bottom of a packet.

"Why are you always asking about my wife?" Negan snickers, before ordering coffee from the waitress who brings Jolyon and I's drinks.

"You always seem to be without her," I turn to give him a smart look, "Then again, I might not want people knowing I was married to you."

Negan smirks, looking my sorry complexion over. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

I shake my head, tipping a splash of my coffee into Jolyon's milk. "Long night."

"Oh," He growls, suggestively, "Tried your hand at dating again?"

"Mommy was working all night." Jolyon says while stirring his "coffee" with his straw. Negan's eyes flicker to Jolyon and then blink back to me for an explanation.

"I sometimes work at this diner in my town," I chuckle dryly, "Although it's not good money, unlike what you're thinking."

He laughs. "Then why not just do what you think I'm thinking?"

I tiredly smile. "Because I wouldn't be any good at it," I stir my coffee, "I'm not good company."

"You're not so bad," Negan reaches over for the sugar, "I mean, you're an asshole, but I like you okay."

The waitress comes by again, taking our orders, and getting a little shy and giggly when Negan smiles his order at her.

"Well, you're an insufferable prick with a motor mouth," I smirk, watching the twenty year old waitress walk away, "So you'll talk to anyone, even if they are an asshole. Even if they don't want to talk to you."

"Shit, especially if they're an asshole who doesn't want to talk to me." He chuckles, smiling at the waitress, whose cheeks redden as she pours water for another customer.

I clear my throat. "So, your wife?"

"She's not a morning person," Negan turns my way, "Especially not on the weekends."

"And you are?"

"I'm an any time of the fuckin' day person," He grins, "I wake up at five every morning and the sun shines out my ass all damn day."

"What's your secret?" I snicker into my coffee. "Drugs? "

"Sure as hell isn't whatever you put in your coffee at work."

"Cream and sugar?" I scoff, "I don't drink at work."

"Just the night before then?" Negan raises his brows into his forehead.

I look down at my coffee. "That's not against the school code of conduct."

"Mommy." Jolyon holds up a crayon. I smile and take the crayon, doodling little swirls. "Here," He hands one to Negan.

"No...private parts." I warn Negan.

He chuckles under his breath. "Gotcha."

When we're done eating, the waitress brings us our separate bills. Negan gets up to take a leak, but leaves money down. The bubbly waitress returns promptly and comes back with our receipts before Negan gets back from the bathroom. As I'm getting some money out for a tip, I notice that she's left her number on his receipt. I roll my eyes and take it off the little plastic tray, crumpling it in my hand, and tossing it on the floor under the table.

Negan comes back and sticks some dollars down as a tip. Jolyon and I walk out with him to the parking lot.

"This was fun."

"Eating breakfast?" I scoff with a smile, "Don't make a joke about it being the most important meal of the day."

"Well, now I don't know what to fuckin' say." He chuckles.

"It was fun." I buckle Jolyon into his car seat.

Negan smirks, scratching his five o'clock shadow. "I better go; Lucille's probably awake by now."

"Have a good weekend." I meekly smile, waving as I go to my side of the car.

...

My eyes keep glancing over at the clock on the wall. I've been out of sorts since very early Saturday morning, but as I stand before my students, I keep finding myself losing my train of thought. My stomach feels like a bundle of nerves, twisting around as I wait to dismiss the class for lunch.

Finally, the bell rings and everyone puts their work away in their backpacks. I watch impatiently as they lazily leave. Ravinder stays, because the book club's going to meet in here today. I wait a full ten minutes for all the other club members to come in.

"Hey, Ravinder," I call her over, "I'm gonna step out for a few minutes to get some coffee."

"Okay." She nods.

"Okay." I smile, before leaving.

I walk down the halls, maneuvering around students as casually as possible. Lourdes comes from around a corner, hanging up her phone.

"Hey," She smiles, "I was just about to come find you."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah," Lourdes tucks her phone in her purse, "Wanna get something to eat?"

"Oh, I actually have book club going on in my room." I apologetically smile at her.

"Oh, too bad."

"Maybe tomorrow?" I suggest.

Lourdes nods, "Okay."

We go our separate ways and I look over my shoulder to see her head out the front entrance. Right before I turn the corner where the locker rooms are located, I glance back again to make sure that no one is around. The blinds of his office are drawn, but I still tread up to his door. I listen for a minute to see if he's alone and once I've concluded that he is, I knock on Negan's office door.

"It's open." He claims from inside.

I open the door and go in. "Hi."

Negan smiles. "Well, hello, there," He scoots back from his desk, "I was about to come to you, 'til I remembered you had nerd club going on today."

"I told them I was stepping out."

"To come see little 'ol me?" He beams.

I smile back, closing the door behind me. "Yeah."

Hope you all enjoy this week's installment! Thank you all for reading!

Just a head's up: Starting next week, I will only be posting one chapter a week instead of two, because of school starting up again. The chapters may therefore be longer, but is entirely at the mercy of how busy my schedule becomes.