Chapter 26- In between Free Runner (II)
"Miss Freeman! What on Earth-!" Mrs King shouted while papers went flying everywhere around the classroom.
"It was either this or dinner monkeys." Stella was still rubbing Mr Flatley's pen back and forth in between her hands. The school bell rang for the next period and all of the students filed out of the classroom in a hurry. Mr Flatley walked over awkwardly to Stella.
"Nearly forgot my pen." She took the pen from her hands and waved it in Mrs King's and Frank's faces the left the class. Mrs King glared at Stella and stormed out of the class. Frank and Stella both watched as she left and Frank turned back to Stella with a smirk.
"Stel! If you want to piss Mrs King off, this is the way to do it! Are you crazy?" He tried to hold in a laugh and Stella shrugged. Frank couldn't hold his laugh in any longer and burst.
"Stel! You can't just piss her off whenever you feel like it! She'll take it out on all of us!" Frank said in-between laughs. Stella started to laugh too. Once they had calmed down after a couple of minutes, Stella said-
"Hey! It's not my fault she's a sour, old cow…" Frank smirked and Stella shrugged again. She started to pick up the papers which reminded Frank of something he wanted to ask her.
"Why are all the papers and books on the floor?" Stella stood up and smirked.
"I told the kids that if the books weren't helping them to learn, then chuck them in the bin. Mr Flatley was actually the first to chuck his textbook in the bin, and then the students threw all of their books and papers in the air. It was pretty funny, especially Mr Flatley." Frank chuckled and shook his head.
"That's just like something you would have done Stel." Did I just say that out loud? Frank thought and Stella giggled. He moved forward towards her and tucked a bit of her fringe that had fallen over her face, and tucked it behind her ear, causing her to blush. He then kissed her on the cheek, causing her to blush even redder than before.
"Come on then, we need to pick this mess up before Mrs King comes back, freakin' bum hole…" He mumbled the last bit but Stella heard him and laughed, making Frank smile.
He moved towards the corner where Tom, Aneisha and Keri were sitting and picked up their papers and textbooks to clear the floor. Stella sat down at the desk and wrote some words down on the assessment sheet on the clipboard. Frank looked up and frowned.
"Oi! You're supposed to be helping!" He placed his hands on his hips and slouched a bit while glaring at her with mock-anger. Stella looked up at smiled, half-smirked, at him.
"Well…I'm just not a cleaning person. I actually couldn't be bothered to clean up your HQ so I got your team to do it." She explained and Frank shook his head.
"You never have liked cleaning, have you?"
"Nope! Absolutely hate it! And it sucks how being tidy is actually a part of my job." Frank let out a laugh and Stella pouted. She went back to writing notes on the clipboard. Frank walked over, Stella noticed, of course, but wanted to see what he would do. Expecting nothing else, he came up behind her and peeked over her shoulder, but not before she held the clipboard against her chest.
"Frank! It's private and confidential!" She looked up at his innocent face and he shrugged.
"Oh whoops, must have forgotten." He said sarcastically, and then a smile crept up on his face, Stella still looking at him. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips and she smiled. She kissed him back and pulled out quickly, rubbing her neck while still holding the clipboard with one hand.
"Ow! My neck! This is not a good position to be in." Frank took the hand Stella was rubbing her neck with and gently pulled her up.
"Better?" He pulled her in closer, still clasping the clipboard. She placed it back on the desk, facing down and turned back to Frank.
"Better." She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. He pulled her waist towards him to hold her closer. After a couple of minutes, Frank opened his eyes and went to reach for the clipboard but Stella noticed and slapped his arm before he could grab it. She pulled out for a bit and leant her forehead against his. He took his glasses off and placed them in his pocket without taking his eyes off of Stella.
"What did I say about 'private' and 'confidential'?" She whispered and he smirked.
"Did I mention I have short-term memory loss?" Stella chuckled and gave him a peck on the lips before pulling out of his grasp. She grabbed the clipboard and his hand and nodded pointedly towards the door.
"Come on, I've got to go to my next class, you're coming too." Frank frowned but let her drag him along the corridors while he put his glasses back on. They laughed and flirted with each other but they didn't notice Mrs King standing a few metres away. She frowned and shook her head and then walked up to them.
"Mr London! A word?" When He heard Mrs King's voice, he immediately dropped Stella's hand and froze. Crap, he thought and turned around slowly to see Mrs King boiling with rage.
"Now!" Her fierce, crisp voice made him jump and walk over to her slowly, looking at the floor.
"Mr London, are you flirting with Miss Freeman?" Frank turned red.
"Yeah…sorry 'bout that, Mrs K."
"Make sure you keep her happy and make her feel welcome at this school."
"Look Mrs K, I…what?" His head snapped up to face her, shocked.
"I can see you two like each other very much, and make sure she feels welcome here." Frank sighed with relief and Mrs King raised an eyebrow.
"Do you know her from outside the school, Mr London?" Frank panicked and tried to come up with an excuse.
"Uhh… well you see Mrs K, she used to go to, um… school with me and we were both very good friends but when she left for university and I got a part-time job, we never saw each other again." At the last comment, a pang of guilt washed over him; he should have kept in contact with Stella instead of going 10 years with no contact at all. Mrs King nodded and relaxed a little.
"Right! Well, if all's good Mr London, I'll see you later." And with that she walked of down the corridor with multiple students staring at Frank and Stella. Frank walked back to Stella, who had a worried expression and was twiddling her thumbs. When she saw Frank walking towards her, her eyes widened.
"Well? What did that old hag want?" She whispered to him and he smiled, which made her relax a little.
"It's ok Stel, she's ok with it." Stella raised her eyebrows and her jaw dropped.
"You say what now?"
"I said, she's fine. I mean seriously, why would she care anyway?"
"Maybe because she's jealous of a handsome man like you." She smiled and he raised his eyebrow at her.
"What? In overalls and thick glasses? I don't think so!" Stella snickered at his comment and took his hand once more, walking, laughing and flirting through the halls of St Hearts. Students stared and pointed at them, but they didn't care. They had each other, and that's all that mattered.