Bending the Rules

By: BrendaBites

Christian made it to school the next day earlier than usual. He tapped his fingers against his keyboard, staring at his screen without a purpose. He probably had a few stacks of paper that could use grading, but right now his mind was clouded with the thought that Anastasia could be walking in through that door at any minute.

He waited for a knock, or any indication that someone was at the door.

He waited. And waited... And waited.

She's coming, he told himself, but after the first bell rang, he knew he was kidding himself.

Christian cursed under his breath, what was he thinking? He had his hopes so high, he knew any other of his students would jump to the chance to get one on one time with him. In his first months of teaching, he'd offered the help, but once he realized it was mostly girls who wanted nothing but joke around, he'd stop. He wasn't blind to the way his female students acted around him, but he did ignore them.

Even as he went to open the door to his classroom, he kept thinking about Ana.

He wasn't sure what it was about her. He'd barely met the girl, and yet, he couldn't stop thinking about her.

Her light giggles filled his thoughts, making his heart give a short thud. Her pink blush made his head feel light. The way her blue eyes widened and popped out made him want to stare into them all day. Sometimes he wasn't sure if it was sadness or fear in her blue eyes, but he did feel a bit guilty after saying something curt to her. He wanted to hear her giggle more. Christian wasn't sure what that bolt of electricity was when he first met Anastasia, but now he had an idea. It was him recognizing how special this girl really was.

He gave his students instructions, and went back to thinking about Anastasia. It wasn't something he chose to do, his brain just drifted off to her.

He wondered what she did after the date with Jack. Did she end up going to his house? Did she call Ethan and asked to go over, 'again'?

Christian hadn't realized he'd dropped his head, until a student catiously asked, "Mr. Grey? Are you okay?"

He looked up and nodded, "I'm fine."

"You look sick. Did you catch a cold or something?"
He must have caught something, he wasn't feeling so great anymore.

"I'm fine," he repeated, running a hand through his hair. It was only his first class, and lunch was still to come. Maybe Ana would come then.

X x X

Ana stared at the clock that was hung over the board. She tapped her pencil against her desk until the girl beside her scowled.

"Sorry," she mumbled, and put her pencil down.

Her stomach was turning into knots, the feeling she always got after she missed an opportunity for something. This morning, she had stayed behind at home longer than usual, and when she arrived at school, Kate had found her and started a conversation with her. She didn't try telling her that she had planned on meeting Mr. Grey, instead she stayed quiet and wondered what he would have told her if she had gone.

She had stayed up all night thinking of silly scenerios where he stood too close to her, and she didn't back away or mind.

But now, she wouldn't know what could have happened.

She didn't think she had the guts to go to him during lunch. Kate and Jose would have asked where she went, and how would she say, she'd rather go with a teacher than hang out with them?

Maybe after school, she would go.

She kept telling herself that, and even though she wanted the day to pass by slower, it seemed to be in a rush.

Soon it was time for lunch, and before she could change her mind, she almost ran to the table Jose and Kate sat at.

You're only going to make a fool out of yourself if you go, she told herself.

"Ana," Jose looked up, his smile only lasting for about a second. "How was your date with Jack?"

"Awkward," she replied, taking the seat across from him.

"Does that mean no more dates with Jack?" he asked, his smile returning.

"I think it means, I'm going to stop getting pressured into going on dates."

"Good for you," Kate said, as she sat down by Ana. "But I guess that means I can't go on about how great Ethan is, and how great a couple you two would make, right?"

"That would be appreciated," Ana responded.

"Okay, well, if Ethan asks, I did not stop talking about him all of our lunch hour. And it was good things too, almosts makes you want to date him."

Ana laughed, "I don't think I'll see him soon."

"That's good," Jose said, quiet enough Ana pretended not to hear.

Instead she looked around and tried to think of an excuse to leave the table. She should have gone to Mr. Greys class as soon as she came out of class, even if Kate had been right beside her.

Now she was just itching to get away. She wanted to jump out of the seat and hurry to Mr. Greys class.

X x X

Christian rested his head on his desk, the entire day had passed already. Anastasia hadn't came before school, or during lunch, and he was doubting she'd be coming after school.

After lunch, he had to force himself to stay in his class, and not go outside to see if she was in the class she was standing by last time.

Now, all his students had left, and it had been about five minutes since school ended. It felt like hours, before there was a soft knock at the door.

Christian shot out of his seat, but then shook his head. Why was he acting like this? He had to get himself together.

With a steady breath, he slowly walked to the door and opened it.

Standing there was Anastasia, fidgeting with her sweater. "Hi," she said nervously.

"You came," he said.

Ana nodded, "I was going to come before but-"

"It's fine," he interjected, motioning for her to come inside. "Have you started on the essay."

Anastasia smiled proudly, "Yes, I've got the rough draft down, I was going to ask you to edit it."

Christian felt his lips tugging up, "That's perfect," he commented.

He walked to his desk and pulled up a chair beside him. Ana sat down, and began to chew on her lip as she pulled her binder out of her bag.

He wished he would have placed the seat farther than he had, now that she was here, he wasn't sure how to control his thoughts.

"Stop biting that lip," he said. Anastasia looked up, startled but also letting go of her lip. Her mouth was now the tiniest bit open, it made Christian have to look away. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about those lips in that way, not if he valued his job.

"Here's the essay," she said, giving him a sheet of paper, tightly packed with words.

"Did your parents sign the course expectation sheet," he asked. looking over her essay. He had to admit, he was impressed. Most of the kids in the class wrote bigger in order to make the essay seem longer.

"Uh. Yeah, my dad," she began flipping through papers in her binder and pulled out a couple more sheets. "I have a few worksheets done too."

Christian set the essay down and took the papers from her. Just skimming through them, he saw she got most, if not all, of the questions right. "Great," he smiled, turning to his computer to start putting in her grades. He started with her signed sheet. "You know, usually mothers are the ones who are more involved in their kids studies," he said promptly when he read Ray's signature.

"Uh.. usually, I guess," she answered uneasily.

He glanced down at her, seeing she was fidgeting with the sleeves of her sweater again. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked quietly. Flynn had said she had issues in her life, what if they were just as bad as his? As a teenager, though he loved Grace, his mother was still a touchy subject.

"No, of course not," Ana responded. When he kept looking at her for further explanation, she added, "I just don't live with my mom anymore."

"Did you before you moved?" he asked cautiously. He wasn't sure how much she was willing to share, but he wanted to know.

"Yeah," Ana shrugged, "But it wasn't working out anymore, so I came back with Ray."

"So your parents are divorced?"

"My biological father died. I didn't know him, Ray is all the family I really have. He married my mom, but they weren't really meant for each other. Now she's married again."

"Is her new marriage more successful?"

"I think she wants to think that. But I think she couldn't have chosen a worse partner," she said solemnly

Christian didn't realize he placed a hand over her knee until she looked down at it and back at him. Kicking himself mentally, he pulled away. "Sorry," he mumured. If it didn't seem so inappropriate, he'd have Ana in his arms, consoling her. Her father was gone, and her mom chose to let Ana leave rather than loose her husband. "So you don't like her new husband?" Christian hadn't even heard of him, and already, he knew he wouldn't like him, just by the tone of Ana's voice when she spoke of him.

Ana gave a half smile at that, "No, but he hates me as much as I hate him."

Christian sat stunned, who could ever hate her? But wait.. "What did he do that makes you think he hates you?"

She didn't answer, but he waited patiently, until she made it clear she didn't want to discuss that. "It doesn't matter now. I moved here to get away from all that."

Christian nodded, "Right. Sorry, I got off track. I'll start on your essay, you can work on your other worksheets.. Unless you have to be home by a certain time?"

"I don't really have a curfew or anything," she said, "Ray is usually at work until way later."

So she was home all alone, unprotected? Christian didn't think that was safe.

"Did you have a time you wanted to get back?" he asked.

"I didn't want to be here for too long," she admitted, making Christians heart tighten. "I'd have to walk when the streets are mostly empty." It made him feel better to know that her reason wasn't because she didn't want to spend time with him, but he still didn't want to cut their time short.

"I can give you a ride," Christian blurted out.

Anastasia blinked, "That's fine, I can walk..."

Before he could do anything more stupid, he said, "In that case, I'll correct this, and tomorrow you can come before school to pick them up."

He didn't ask this time, he wanted her here in the morning.

"Uh, okay. Thank you," she began to gather her things, getting ready to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow then Ana," he smiled, reaching out for her hand.

He meant for it to be a handshake, but it felt like something more. In truth, he just wanted to see if the bolt of electricity went through them again.

This time it was something more powerful. It felt like his entire body was tingling with anticipation.

He gave her hand a small squeeze, and she smiled back at him, her eyes widened again. This time, he didn't see the same sadness, maybe it was hiding for now, but he decided he liked seeing her like that. "Yeah. Tomorrow."