CHAPTER 3: to break or bury
AN: Enjoy, you guys! Please read the AN at the end!
Lucky for Ryan, she hadn't overestimated Mr. Jackson's attachment to them. So when Liam and Mike walked into the classroom behind their teacher and heard her declaration, their reaction didn't lead to a lawsuit.
However, the history teacher was very close to strangling his best friend's favorite student.
Luckily for Mr. Jackson, Liam was well aware that his best friend, though well intentioned, had just crossed a line.
"Ryan, what the fuck?" He exclaimed, looking wide eyed at her.
The two boys, each carrying their backpacks on one shoulder, had walked into the classroom behind Mr. Jackson, who was still standing a few feet inside the doorway. The pair had halted as soon as they heard Ryan's declaration. Mike looked between Liam, who was staring openmouthed at Ryan, and Mr. Jackson, whose expression the boys couldn't read, since his back was two him. Ryan now looked sheepish, more because of Liam's response than her actual statement.
Mr. Jackson turned around to face the doorway and looked at Liam incredulously. "Really? You know I'm supposed to give you detention for profanity, right?"
Liam heard 'supposed to' and relaxed. 'Supposed to' meant that Mr. Jackson should give him a detention, but probably wouldn't. Luckily, the tight end beside him had his back.
"Mr. J, you literally called Oedipus a motherfucker when we did our Greek Mythology unit in September," Mike laughed.
The history teacher pointed a finger at the football player. "You were sworn to secrecy about that."
"And I haven't told a soul."
As more students started to filter into the room around Liam and Mike, who were both still frozen in shock in the doorway, Mr. Jackson turned back to Ryan. The blonde had her hands on her hips, blue eyes lit with challenge. The history teacher sighed.
"We'll talk about this later."
Ryan pumped a fist into the air, an action that was met with a warning glare from her teacher.
"You won't regret this, Mr. Jackson."
"I already am, Ryan." Knowing that Ryan was already on thin ice, Liam decided that the best course of action would be to drag his best friend to their desks in the third row.
Because Mr. Jackson was the coolest teacher at Goode, he strategically placed everyone with their friends on his seating chart- but would always claim that they were "chosen at random". However, Mr. Jackson giveth, Mr. Jackson can taketh away. The unspoken rule was that if a student misbehaved, their seat could be moved. Ryan constantly was thanking her lucky stars that Mr. Jackson had given her Liam as a seat partner. In front of them, Mike was paired with Spencer Washington, his teammate from football, and in front of them, Allison and Maria were paired.
Now, Ryan was grateful for both the seating arrangement and the documentary that they'd be watching for the first 15 minutes of class, so that she could catch Liam up on the last 10 minutes of her morning.
"You see, I dragged Allison in here to ask what was up with her and Mike," Ryan explained, whispering. Mr. Jackson had turned off the lights for the video, so the two could surreptitiously put their heads together and discuss.
"And?" Liam asked, also interested in what was going on with their friends.
"Too soon to tell. She's definitely crushing on him, though. Anyway, so we're in here and we hear Mr. Jackson and Miss Chase. And Miss Chase basically confesses to having feelings for Mr. Jackson and says that she can't handle his PDA anymore because she claims that she knows it's only because he knows us students ship them and he wants to stir things up."
Liam stared at his best friend, mouth hanging open. "You're kidding me? You heard all of that?"
"Unfortunately."
Mike, who sat in front of Liam, pushed his chair back until it was flush with Liam's desk. To the outside observer, it might just look like he was stretching out his legs, leaning back in his seat. But to his two friends behind him, it meant that he's heard bits and pieces of the conversation and wanted in on it.
Liam and Ryan leaned forward to include him. Ryan reiterated her earlier explanation, telling Mike that Miss Chase thought that all of Mr. Jackson's PDA was just to stir things up with the students.
Mike coughed in response, an obvious reaction confirming that he thought it was bullshit.
Ryan agreed. For someone so smart, how could Miss Chase not see that Mr. Jackson was freaking in love with her?
Mike's cough earned Mr. Jackson's attention, however, and the trio had to pretend they were watching the video- some documentary about the causes of the Peloponnesian War- for a minute until their teacher was no longer suspicious. Liam elbowed Ryan to continue.
"So Mr. Jackson comes back into the room and sees us here and proceeds to ream us out, right?" Ryan whispered, looking between her two friends and the teacher in question, hoping he doesn't look at them again and see her blatantly ignoring the history video they're supposed to be watching.
"But I tell him that it was an accident and that he's more than a teacher to us, and because of that, we're going to help him get Miss Chase back."
Liam pinched her in the side. Ryan stifled a yelp, squirming away from him. "What was that for? You're gonna get me in trouble. Again!"
"Are you insane?" He hissed, looking between Ryan and Mr. Jackson. "I stand by my earlier statement."
"Ryan what the fuck?" Mike asked under his breath, and Liam nodded.
"That's the one. Ryan, what the fuck?"
Mike turned his head slightly so that the pair could see his grin. "I think it's cute. Ryan wants to get them together. Murph, we gotta help your girl."
Liam thanked whoever in the heavens would listen that Mr. Jackson turned out the lights. Ryan, however, wasn't paying close enough attention to Liam to see him blush. She was instead staring at Mike.
"Speaking of cute, what's going on with you and Allison?"
Mike fully turned to stare at Ryan incredulously. "Is now really the time, Ryan?"
"Hey, she's one of my best friends and I just want to make sure you have good intentions!" Though it was dark, it was obvious that the blonde, weighing in at 120 pounds, was doing her best to intimidate one of her best friends since kindergarten.
Before Mike could reply, Mr. Jackson was speaking quietly from the front of the room. "Ryan. Mike. The video?"
Ryan flinched and whisper-yelled an apology, while Mike just turned around in his seat to face the front of the room.
"See?" Liam whispered to Ryan. "I told you meddling wasn't the right approach."
Ryan wasn't sure which couple her friend was talking about.
.
"We're here to save the day!" Ryan announced as she, Liam, and Allison entered Mr. Jackson's classroom at , Allison, and Liam were all in Miss Chase's third block class. Mike and Maria had Miss Chase for second block, but were still lucky enough to have the same lunch period as their friends.
The swimming coach sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he turned to face them. "You're what?"
Ryan set her lunchbox down on top of one of the desks closest to Mr. Jackson's. "We're here to save the day. You know, help you fix things between you and Miss Chase."
Liam cringed, looking between Ryan and Mr. Jackson. "Ry, our interest in the situation is why there's something that needs fixing."
Mike entered the classroom, trailed by Maria. Each of them had lunch trays in their hands.
"What did we miss?" Maria asked, sitting down behind Ryan. Mike sat down beside the blonde. Allison and Liam remained standing. The two had talked on their way from the calculus classroom, agreeing that they wanted to see their teachers together and happy, but they weren't sure meddling was going to help.
Both were expecting their history teacher to kick them out of his classroom so that he could eat his own lunch in peace.
They were not expecting him to lean back in his chair, prop his feet up on his desk, fold his hands behind his head and ask Ryan how she was planning on fixing things between him and Miss Chase.
However, neither were surprised when Ryan leaned forward in her seat and folded her hands on top of the desk, looking like the picture of diplomacy. "Mr. Jackson, I know we're your students, but you need to be honest with us if this is going to work."
Maria, more of an artist than a traditional academic student like Ryan, Liam, and Allison (Mike was comfortable letting football come first and school come second), thought that there was something beautiful about the picture in front of her. Teacher and student, on opposite sides of the table, coming head-to-head on a matter of the heart. For once, the student was the sober, responsible one. The teacher was now above the conversation, acting like he cared less to protect his heart.
After a pause, during which Maria contemplated what colors she would use to paint the scene in front of her, the history teacher scoffed. Upon realizing that the 17-year-old was perfectly serious, he dropped his feet from his desk and matched Ryan's somber attitude. He wasn't sure how she could go from the 17-year-old goofball who announced her arrival similarly to Loki in Thor: Ragnorak, to an experienced diplomat in Chuck Taylors.
For some reason, the juxtaposition reminded him of Annabeth. She could flip a switch and go from a hard-ass calculus teacher who didn't take any crap from her high school students, to an easily excited geek who invited him over for Harry Potter marathons and cried when the series' most beloved character dies.
"Ryan, seriously-" Liam started to say, but when she interrupted him with a scathing look, he rolled his eyes and sat down beside Mike. Allison, still standing, looked between her friends and her history teacher. Mike realized that she wasn't sitting with them and turned to lock eyes with the brunette. Without saying anything, just tilting his head, he broke her resolve. Allison found herself sitting beside Maria and stealing a French fry off of her lunch tray. The five seniors stared at their history teacher, unified, prepared to get detention for their meddling.
But at least they'd get detention together.
Mr. Jackson looked between each of them and had to hide the smile on his face. They weren't explicitly a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal, but in their own way, they'd become some sort of Lunch Club. He was glad he didn't have to give them detention to bring them together. He hoped that they'd stay together after graduation.
The thought that in this analogy he was Principal Vernon brought his thoughts back down to Earth.
"So, Mr. J," Ryan started. "How long have you been in love with Miss Chase?"
The history teacher let out a bark of laughter. "Damn, okay, Ryan. You're just jumping right in, aren't you?"
She just looked at him, drawing the answer out of him.
He sighed. "One year, four months, and about 8 days."
Allison and Maria's eyes widened and Ryan's jaw dropped. While the boys weren't as expressive, the shock was evident on their faces. While all five students had been aware that the two teachers had feelings for one another, they weren't prepared for how deep those feelings went.
"Coach," Allison said quietly. "Miss Chase had only been here for a few months at that point."
He nodded. "I know that, Allison. She and I became friends in December, at the faculty holiday party. She made fun of my ugly Christmas sweater and I just… wanted to keep making her laugh."
There was a pause before Maria let out a squeal. "Mr. J! That's adorable!"
Ryan smiled. "You knew you loved her then?"
Liam looked sidelong at her, a contemplative look on his face. Mike, in between the pair, flicked his eyes between Ryan and Liam to see if the blonde caught the baseball player's glance. Mike wasn't stupid. He knew that there'd been something between Ryan and Liam for years. The three of them had grown up in the same neighborhood. Liam and Ryan lived next door to each other, while Mike's house was on the other side of the cul-de-sac.
They'd been inseparable since kindergarten, but while Mike greatly valued his friendship with Ryan, he knew Liam had always seen her in a different light. He didn't have to talk to Liam to be aware of it.
Mr. Jackson sat back in his seat, having to think about the answer.
"I think," He started to say, then sighed. "I think I've always loved her. I'm not saying it was love at first sight. But I think that once I saw her, I wanted to meet her. And once I met her, I wanted to know her. And then once I knew her, I knew that I'd already fallen for her."
Ryan had to bite her lip to keep from squealing, as Maria had done. She knew that she had to maintain her composure if she was going to be of any help to her teacher. But she couldn't lie and pretend that his words hadn't touched her heart.
"Mr. Jackson," Mike said quietly. Each person in the room turned to face him, surprised that he had spoken. "Why haven't you told Miss Chase this?"
The room was silent as they all contemplated his words.
"Not to be disrespectful or anything," He continued. "I'm sure you have your reasons. But if Miss Chase knew this, I don't think she would've gotten confused. I think if she knew this, she'd know that the PDA and stuff wasn't meant for us, it was you acting on your feelings for her."
Mike shrugged, then took a bite of his sandwich, ending his brief monologue.
When he had finished chewing, the room was still quiet, so he swallowed and spoke up one last time.
"If you want, Mr. Jackson, you can give me an A as thanks for my advice."
Allison had to give him credit. Mike had a talent for dissolving an awkward silence in a way that didn't make things more awkward, a feat that few could accomplish. As the classroom descended into laughter, Mr. Jackson joining the seniors, she snuck a look at her history teacher and swimming coach.
The tension that he'd been carrying in his shoulders since he'd walked into the classroom that morning was gone. The wrinkle in his brow that he got typically only before the swim team went up against a particularly rough opponent had finally disappeared. The signs of his stress had been replaced by the glint of determination in his sea-green eyes, his shoulders relaxed, but fixed in a way that indicated to Allison that he finally knew what he had to do.
But she knew that he'd accepted that it wouldn't be easy.
.
Lunch ended soon after Mike had spoken his piece. From there, Ryan reminded Mr. Jackson of a few things.
"I think you know what you have to do. You've got to tell her how you feel. But you can't do it in front of anyone. It's the public displays of affection that got you into this pickle in the first place."
Liam rolled his eyes. "If you hadn't meddled and gotten the school in a shipping war over the two of them, we wouldn't be in this pickle."
"Semantics. Mr. Jackson, just tell her how you feel."
The history teacher smiled at his students and told them to enjoy their weekend before he kicked them out of his classroom to finish his third block lesson.
"Do you think he's done it yet?"
"Ryan, if you ask me that question one more time, I'm going to throw this at you."
The blonde sighed as she laid flat on her back beside Liam. He was tossing a baseball up in the air and catching it in one hand, the two lying on his bed as they waited for Mike. The trio was having Friday Movie Night, like they did most weeks. When they were younger, every Friday night was Friday Movie Night. When Mike and Liam became more well known for their athletic prowess, they were invited to parties at the older kids' houses. But they found that cheap beer and popularity weren't as good as movie theatre popcorn and Mrs. Murphy's chocolate chip cookies; and making out with someone they barely knew couldn't compare to making a pillow fort in Liam's basement to watch their favorite movies in. So while they had to grow up, and it felt like some weeks they'd moved on from the pursuits of their younger selves, the three best friends still tried to find time for Friday Movie Nights.
"He obviously didn't do it before practice, Miss Chase was all over the place. She had us do a workout, then starts, then handoffs, and then she almost made me do hurdle drills before our assistant coach distracted her and let us go home," Ryan explained. The blonde yawned. "I don't know how I'm going to make it through this movie. I'm exhausted."
Liam almost told her off for continuing to talk about their teachers' personal lives, but when she pushed his arm aside so that she could use his chest as a pillow, the boy decided against it. He knew that his mom would not have approved of his being alone in his bedroom with a girl, which is why he was glad that the girl in question was Ryan. The pair had been friends since preschool, along with Mike, who moved into the neighborhood when they were five years old. Liam only had brothers, and his mom thought of Ryan as the daughter she'd never had, which is the only reason why the blonde was allowed in his bedroom.
"Yo, Murph, your mom let me in…" The football player's voice trailed off as he turned the corner into Liam's bedroom and caught sight of the pair. The tall boy froze, one of Mrs. Murphy's chocolate chip cookies halfway to his mouth. "Am I interrupting?"
When Ryan didn't provide some sort of sarcastic remark, both boys looked at her and realized that she had fallen asleep.
"She looks almost… innocent in her sleep." Mike laughed quietly. "It's hard to believe that this is the girl who went head-to-head with our history teacher today."
Indeed Ryan, drowning in a pair of grey sweatpants (that she'd stolen long ago from Liam) and a hoodie (that she'd stolen more recently from Mike), had an almost serene expression on her face as she rested her head on Liam's shoulder.
Liam tilted his head up to look at Mike, voice soft. "Miss Chase was tough on them at practice today."
Mike winced in sympathy for both Ryan and for his teacher, whose love life was currently a hot topic at their school.
"Do you think Jackson's done it yet?" He asked, sitting beside Liam on the bed and falling onto his back.
Liam groaned. "Why is everyone asking me that question? Do you think he's done it yet?"
"No," Ryan mumbled groggily, not as asleep as both boys had previously thought. "He's too chicken. He doesn't want to ruin their friendship."
Mike thought of a similar situation and wondered if Ryan was talking about someone other than their teacher.
"Yeah, he's probably worried about how she's going to react," Liam said quietly. "She matters a lot to him."
Mike, sitting up to look at the pair beside him, knew that Liam was speaking for their teacher and for himself.
"He should just do it. He's her best friend. Of course she's in love with him too," Ryan replied, her head still resting on Liam's chest, eyes closed. It was almost as if she was talking in her sleep, though all three of them knew better.
"Well maybe he doesn't know how," Liam said, staring at the ceiling.
It was at this point that Mike wondered if he should be in the room for this conversation.
"He should ask her to prom. Not in a crazy way. Allison wants Mike to prompose. But that's Allison. Not everyone wants something like that."
Liam looked at Mike pointedly. Mike rolled his eyes.
"Ryan, before you go spilling everyone's secrets, you should know that neither of us believe that you're asleep," Mike informed the blonde.
There was a pause, both boys had their eyes on the ceiling, Ryan's eyes were still closed.
"Can I still use Liam as a pillow if you finally explain to your two oldest friends what's going on with you and Allison?"
The baseball player groaned. "Can Liam get a pillow?"
The other boy grinned. "Can Mike get a snack?"
"Ryan's going to beat up both of you if you don't stop talking in the third person," The blonde grumbled as she sat up, stretching her arms above her head.
After a moment, where Ryan yawned, she looked at her two oldest friends. "I have a really cheesy request and you guys have to promise you won't make fun of me."
Mike groaned. "Oh god, what's this gonna be?"
"Ryan, why do you have to make things cheesy," Liam laughed, sitting up and looking at her.
"Guys," She whined. "Can we dismantle the couch in the basement and make a pillow fort like we used to do when we were kids?"
Mike hid a smile behind an eye roll. "Are you gonna make us play truth or dare like you used to do?"
Ryan laughed, lightly punching Mike in the shoulder as the three seniors got up off of Liam's bed and started to make their way toward the stairs. "If that's what I have to do to get you to tell us your secrets."
.
That night, inside of the pillow fort they'd made, Ryan lay sleeping in between the two boys, head on the pillow that she'd been using to prop herself up. The sounds of Goodfellas played around her, but she slumbered on, to Liam's amusement.
He looked at her and smiled. As he turned his head back to face the television, he caught Mike's eye.
The football player grinned, then turned to watch the movie, saying nothing about what he just witnessed. Liam followed suit. After a moment, he heard Mike whisper: "Hey Liam, truth or dare?"
He stifled a laugh, looking over at his best friend. "Oh my god, you sound like Ryan."
"Liam," Mike feigned a high-pitch whine, like the one a young Ryan used to convince the boys to do what she wanted. "You have to pick one!"
"Jesus, uh, truth."
Mike grinned, wincing as someone was shot on screen. "Were you talking about yourself, upstairs?"
Liam let out a small snort. "I thought I was being subtle."
"Dude, nothing about you and Ryan is subtle," Mike said. "It's obvious that the two of you really aren't friends anymore. You just don't get to do all of the fun stuff that comes with dating."
"What like kissing?"
"Sure, man," Mike shook his head. He wondered when his conversations with Liam went from sports to emotions.
"Is that what you're doing with Allison?" Liam taunted, and Mike laughed.
"Liam, wait your turn!" He whined in his Young Ryan voice. He coughed, then returned his voice to normal. "I think she's ready to kill me, to be honest."
"Allison?"
Mike shook his head. "Ryan. Since I won't tell her what's going on."
Liam's expression sobered as he looked between his two friends, the one asleep between them and the other, wide awake and focused on anything but the movie playing in front of them.
"You don't have to tell us. It's your business, Mike."
The dark haired boy shrugged as best he could while leaning on his elbows, then rolled onto his back. "I just don't know yet. I want to ask her to prom, but with everything…"
His voice trailed off and Liam nodded, even though he wasn't sure if Mike could see him. "With us graduating in a few months, it doesn't feel like a good time to start a relationship."
"Is that why you haven't made a move with Ryan?"
Liam didn't answer for a few moments, during which Mike rolled onto his side to make sure he wasn't having a conversation with a sleeping person.
"Yeah, I guess that's it. That and I don't want to do anything to mess up our friendship. I'd hate to lose all this."
"I guess you just need to decide if it's worth the risk," Mike said. "If it makes you feel any better, Ryan feels the same way. Allie told me."
Liam raised an eyebrow at Mike's use of Allison's nickname-that only her family seemed to call her, but said nothing.
After a few moments, the boys returned to watching the movie. For the next hour or so, they watched the movie in silence, passing the bowl of popcorn over Ryan's head and praying the other boy didn't drop it on her. While the two boys claimed to fear nothing, neither wanted to risk to wrath of a once-asleep Ryan.
"Murph," Mike whispered. "Are you awake?"
"Yes?"
"Hand me Ryan's phone, I need to see her Pinterest."
Liam grinned over at his friend as he passed him the phone. "Are we looking up promposals?"
"Shut the fuck up, Liam."
On Monday, Liam walked over to Mike's house before school, since it was Mike's turn to drive their carpool. The baseball player dabbed him up then looked in the back of his car. "You have everything?"
Mike, though he claimed to fear nothing, looked nervous. Having seen him before countless football games, history tests, and important life moments, Liam was almost amused at the sudden change in his friend's demeanor. Mike saw the amusement on Liam's face and rolled his eyes.
"Shut up, Murph."
"I didn't even say anything!"
On the drive to school, after Mike had changed the radio station four times, Ryan leaned forward from her seat in the back of the car and looked at the two boys. "You guys are acting weird."
"No we're not," Both replied simultaneously. Liam cringed. There was nothing more suspicious than two people who immediately refuted something in unison.
The blonde sat back in her seat, arms crossed. "Uh huh. You've convinced me."
After a moment, where both boys remained staring straight ahead, not wanting to move in fear of revealing to Ryan that something was indeed up. It was one moment too long, however, because the impatient girl soon had her hands on the back of each of their seats, leaning between them to look at the boys.
"You guys have to tell me what's going on, please?"
Mike laughed, shaking his head. "Even if something was going on, Ryan, you'd be the last person to know."
"What! Why?"
"You can't keep a secret to save your life," Liam said, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. "Remember who saw our two teachers flirting with each other and decided to get the entire school caught up in a shipping war that ended up ending their relationship?"
Ryan poked him in the shoulder. "That was one time."
"And it better not happen again," Mike warned her. "I don't want to get any calls in the middle of the semester next year asking for my help because you decided to set up your TA with your RA and now both of them hate you."
"Shh," Ryan shushed him. "I don't want to think about us going to different schools next year. You're going to live in my cul de sac forever."
The light ahead turned yellow, and the car in front of the three teens stopped, causing Mike to slam on the brakes. Even the radio wasn't enough to keep Ryan from hearing all of the stuff moving around in the back of the car.
"What was that?" She asked, turning in her seat to look behind her. "Oh my God, Mike!"
The two boys winced as Ryan began chattering about how excited Allison would be when Mike asked her to prom.
"This is so sweet! But I can't believe you never talked to me about this. You do know that I'm a girl right, I can help with this stuff."
Mike rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, Ry, in twelve years of friendship, I somehow never noticed that you were a girl."
"Seriously, though, why didn't you ask me for help?" She asked, and Mike looked in the rear view mirror to find the slightest bit of hurt reflected in Ryan's expression.
"You did help. I stole your phone while you were sleeping and got ideas from your Pinterest."
"You what?"
.
For the rest of the ride to school, Ryan grilled Mike on his plan to ask Allison to prom. When he explained that he was probably just going to ask her after school, in the parking lot, Ryan cringed. And, like with Mr. Jackson, the blonde took over the situation.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do. We'll ask Miss Chase if we can leave everything in her room, and then we'll leave lunch early, and you can surprise Allison in Miss Chase's room, since she has to come back to calc after lunch."
The boys exchanged a look, then turned to face Ryan once the car had parked.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Mike asked, and Ryan nodded confidently.
"When have I ever been wrong?"
Liam opened his mouth to remind her of the situation that their teachers were in, but Ryan pointed a finger at him. "That was not my fault. And that was one time. And I'm fixing it."
The boys were quiet as they considered, then looked at each other again and shrugged.
"Let's do it. You can get all of this stuff to Miss Chase's room without anyone noticing?" Mike asked again, and Ryan shrugged.
"People will notice, but its 7:30 am on a Monday, they're too tired to care. Now come on, we gotta move quick."
Liam frowned as he got out of the car, then helped Mike unload the flowers out of the trunk of his SUV. "Why do we need to hurry?"
"Because the snap map says that Allison isn't here yet, but she will be soon, hence the hurrying."
The three seniors, hands filled with a poster, multiple bouquets of flowers, a track bag, and a baseball bag, as well as their backpacks, ran through the parking lot, then burst into the athletic hallway, where they nearly ran over Miss Chase.
"Di immortales!" She exclaimed, then recognized her three students. "Hi, guys?"
"Coach!" Ryan shrieked, nearly dropping the flowers that she was holding in excitement. "Just the person we were looking for!"
Miss Chase now looked worried. She couldn't imagine what the three of them could want with her, especially looking as disorganized as they did.
"Why don't you guys walk with me to my classroom, and you can explain what's going on."
Ryan looked to Mike, and he began explaining that he wanted to prompose to Allison, since they'd been seeing each other a lot lately. Miss Chase's response was similar to that of Mr. Jackson.
"Allison Lewis?" When Mike nodded, she beamed at him. "I knew it! Oh, I can't believe this, I need to tell…"
She trailed off, pursing her lips together, trying not to let the disappointment show on her face. The three students knew who she wanted to say, they also knew why she couldn't finish that sentence. Ryan coughed, uncomfortably, then continued where he left off.
"We were hoping that we could use your classroom so that Mike could prompose to Allison after lunch."
Miss Chase smiled, though Ryan could see the slightest bit of pain in her eyes. She knew that this was probably bittersweet for Miss Chase, knowing that her students were happily pairing off, but at the same time thinking that the man that she loved wasn't in love with her.
But Ryan also knew that he was in love with her.
She just didn't understand what was taking him so long.
"Of course you can use my classroom. Allison's a lucky girl," Miss Chase said as she unlocked her classroom. Once the door was open, she pointed toward the cabinets in the back of the room. "You can hide the flowers and the poster in there."
The three students thanked their teacher and made their way to the back of the room. Miss Chase began unloading her bag onto her desk.
"Annabeth," A voice suddenly spoke, and everyone turned, wide-eyed, to face the doorway, where Percy Jackson stood.
The calculus teacher opened her mouth, but the history teacher didn't let her speak, holding his hands out in front of him, almost as if he were trying to placate her.
"I know you're mad at me, and you have every reason to be. But I need to get this off my chest." Mr. Jackson took two steps into the classroom, his back to the students, frozen in shock. Miss Chase's eyes darted between Liam, Mike, and Ryan, then back to Mr. Jackson.
"Percy-"
"I love you," He said, not letting her finish. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Miss Chase froze. "I am in love with you. Annabeth, I think I knew I loved you the second you opened your mouth and told me that my ugly Christmas sweater was childish and dorky. I don't know how you haven't figured it out yet, since you're the smartest person I've ever met, but I guess the blonde comes out in weird ways."
Miss Chase's hands were over her mouth, but a small laugh escaped at Mr. Jackson's attempt at a blonde joke at her expense.
He kept going.
"But I need you to know that I love you. I love how you bite the end of your pen when you're concentrating, I love how you have this cold exterior but you have the warmest heart of anyone except my mom, I love how you'll call me in the middle of the night when you can't sleep and tell me random facts about architecture, I love how much you love architecture, I love how much you love teaching. I love you, even though you thought blue cookies are weird and you still refused to wear an ugly Christmas sweater with me this year, but I want to spend the rest of my Christmases with you, and I know I'll wear you down eventually."
A tear slid out of Miss Chase's eye, and Mr. Jackson stepped forward to wipe it away. In doing so, he peeled her hands away from her mouth and held them in his, revealing the smile she'd been hiding underneath.
Upon seeing the smile on her face, Mr. Jackson let out a breath that was somewhere between a sigh of relief and a laugh and a sob.
"Annabeth, I made a mistake. I have been in love with you for one year, four months, and eleven days, and I haven't told you any of those days how I truly felt. And because I didn't tell you, you thought that what I was doing for you was just for our students, but it isn't. Any affection I've shown you was for you and you alone. And I'm sorry that that wasn't clear before. But I hope that I'm being clear now. Because our students aren't here right now, and all I want to do is keep telling you how much I love you."
There was a brief pause, during which Miss Chase began to laugh, sniffling and wiping tears from the corner of her eyes with hers and Mr. Jackson's joined hands. "Percy, oh my gods, Percy, I love you too! But there's just one thing. You missed one small detail."
Mr. Jackson frowned, unsure of what he could have possibly missed.
"Our students are here," Miss Chase said, laughing. She gestured toward the back of the classroom, where the three students stood. Mr. Jackson, face bright red, turned to see who had just witnessed what he'd done.
Mike and Liam were staring at their teachers in shock, both of their jaws hanging wide. While Mike was wondering how he was supposed to prompose to Allison after all of this, Liam was merely wondering how they always managed to find themselves in these situations.
And then there was Ryan, who had literal tears streaming down her face. Liam, for once, hadn't been watching her, so when he did finally turn to see how she was handling what had just happened, he couldn't stop himself from whispering: "Are you actually crying?"
"Shut up, Liam!" She hissed back, hoping that they hadn't just ruined what had been a beautiful moment.
Mr. Jackson luckily began to laugh as well. "Oh my gods. Of course you guys are here for this."
Now it was Miss Chase's turn to look confused and concerned. "Why 'of course'?"
Mr. Jackson turned back to face her. "Ryan's goal has been to get us back together since Friday."
"Since Friday? How did she know about Friday?" The calculus teacher looked back and forth between her student and the other teacher. Her boyfriend? Man she was mutually in love with?
"We don't need to go into that!" Ryan yelped, then looked between her friends and her teachers. "Actually, we should probably be going, let you guys talk this out…"
"What's going on in here?" A new voice asked, and everyone turned to face the doorway, where Allison and Maria stood.
Mike quickly glanced at the flowers that the three students were holding, then the poster at his feet, then at his teachers, then at Allison. "Um… we can explain?"
Maria was too busy looking at Percabeth to notice her friends in the back of the room. "Miss Chase, are you crying?"
Allison frowned, squinting at her friends. "Ryan, are you crying?"
The blonde student sniffled. "Maybe. But it's Mr. J's fault."
The history teacher turned around and gaped at his student. "I literally did what you told me to do!"
"I didn't know that you'd be doing it right in front of me! The goal was to make Miss Chase cry, not me!"
"The goal was to do it with only Miss Chase around! What are you guys even doing in here?"
Maria and Allison frowned, looked between one another, then back at Ryan. "Wait, what are you guys doing in here?" They asked in unison.
"Um, well, you see," Ryan stumbled over her words, looking at Mike, who sighed good naturedly.
"I guess I might as well do this now." He unrolled the poster at his feet, then held it up so that everyone could see. Allison gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Maria shrieked, gripping one of Allison's shoulders with both hands and shaking her. Mr. Jackson, his fingers laced with those of a still-confused Miss Chase, 'aww'-ed.
"Allison, will you go to prom with me?" Mike asked, and though his voice was steady, the smile on his face was nervous.
The brunette took a few steps forward, then nodded. She nodded again, her hands still over her mouth. Mike handed the poster to Liam, then wrapped his arms around Allison's waist in a hug. She hugged him back.
The noise of camera shutters interrupted the sweet moment, and all turned to look at Ryan, who was holding up her phone.
"I'm sorry! The silent button doesn't work on my phone!" She winced, then took another picture of the promposal as Mike took a step back, and handed Allison the flowers.
"These are beautiful, thank you, Mike." She said, a blush spreading across her cheeks.
Before Mike could say anything else, the first bell rang, warning the students that in a few more minutes, they'd be late for their first block class. Ryan looked between her friends, then at her teachers, then at the door, where her classmates would soon begin filtering into the room.
"Well, this was lovely, but we should really be headed to our first block," She said, then made her way towards the door, Liam hot on her heels.
"Bye Miss Chase, see you in a minute, Mr. Jackson!" Liam said, waving to both of them as the pair skipped out the door.
Maria was behind them, stopping to take another picture of Mike and Allison before leaving the classroom. Mike and Allison stayed behind to organize their promposal, then left so that Mr. Jackson and Miss Chase might have a few seconds to talk about what just happened.
Annabeth smiled up at Percy as soon as they were left alone in the classroom. "Hey."
"Hey," He said, also smiling, as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight for a hug.
"I love you," Annabeth said softly. "I have for a while now."
"Good," Percy grinned. "Because I don't plan on ever letting you go. I want to build something permanent with you."
.
Ryan and Liam left Miss Chase's classroom, both beaming. The two shouldered their backpacks and made their way through the crowd of students pushing their way to their first class, talking about the eventful morning.
"Remember when you told me that nothing good happens when I meddle?" Ryan grinned up at her best friend. "Look what just happened, huh? Two pretty good things!"
"Yeah, yeah," Liam rolled his eyes, but when he met Ryan's stare, he let out a laugh. "Okay fine, fine! This actually turned out okay."
"Don't sound so surprised."
Liam took a deep breath. Then, staring straight forward, he said: "I guess if Mike's taking a date to prom, I should get on that."
Ryan's heart skipped a beat. Who would he be taking? A girl from the softball team? One of the girls from one of their classes?
"Oh?" She asked, hoping her voice didn't sound as terrified out loud as it did in her head. "Who will you ask?"
Liam cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, you mentioned that not every girl wants a promposal like Allison did. I suppose it's safe to assume you were talking about yourself?"
Ryan stopped in the middle of the hallway right in front of Mr. Jackson's classroom, much to the annoyance of the other students around them. She tugged on Liam's backpack strap to get him to stop. "Liam, what does what I want have anything to do with-"
He cut her off, grinning. "Ryan, will you be my date to prom?"
The blonde stared at him, unblinking. He waited for the words to register in her head.
"Do you mean like, as your best friend?" Ryan asked, frowning up at him. "Liam, if this is a prank, it's not funny."
Liam laughed, shaking his head. "No, it's not a prank. And no, I don't mean as my best friend, I mean as my date."
Slowly, a smile worked its way onto her face. "You mean, you want to date me?"
"Ryan Kelley, I want to date the crap out of you. I know we've been friends forever and I don't want to ruin that, but-"
Before he could say anything else, Ryan grabbed the strings of his hoodie and pulled his face down to hers.
And kissed him right in the middle of the hallway.
In front of Maria, Mike, and Allison, who had just caught up to the pair, Mr. Jackson, who was hot on their heels, and the entirety of the D hallway.
"Finally," Allison breathed, grinning as she caught sight of the pair.
Maria, as is to be expected, squealed in excitement and fished in her backpack for her phone.
And Mike, though he knew he was about to become the biggest third wheel since Mr. Underwood, whistled in support of the new couple.
Once the pair broke apart, they only had a few seconds to catch their breath before Mr. Jackson was interrupting.
"You know kissing in the hallways equals a lunch detention, right you two?" He asked, smiling as he passed the pair and entered his classroom.
Ryan smirked, grabbing Liam's hand and marching after her history teacher. "Mr. J, how many lunch detentions is it for kissing in a classroom? Because if I had to bet, you and Miss Chase just earned your fair share!"
Allison coughed, trying to hide her laugh as she followed her friends. Mike and Maria, on her heels, didn't bother to hide their amusement, 'oooh'-ing like fourth graders.
The rest of the class, however, looked between Ryan and their teacher, hoping they would get the full story. Mr. Jackson merely smiled, told Ryan that he would let her off with a warning, then turned to face the whiteboard.
"So, The Peloponnesian War started in 431 BC…"
AN: Oh my goodness, you guys! We just have the epilogue left! I'm actually sad that this story is coming to an end, but I promise I won't get emotional about it until the epilogue is uploaded.
Thank you guys so much for all the love, it genuinely warms my heart to know that you're enjoying reading this just as much as I'm enjoying writing it! Favorite, follow, and review for more!
Fred