Today's not gonna be all about Jack but mostly, and for the Jelsa lovers: This will be the first time Elsa will spend time with Jack alone. So be prepared... No fluffiness or whatsoever, come on guys, the lady has a boyfriend ! Anyways, I hope this chapter will satisfy the Jelsa Clan and if not, you seriously have to wait. It takes time for them to develop a relationship. She already has someone and he's just crushing hard for her. It'll come, okay. Just wait for it. And don't forget to review, if you have questions, I'll answer them.
Jack sighs. Today is another maths lesson and Ms. Winters seems a little stressed. First, she came in very late, like half an hour late. Which is nothing for her because she always has her things done. Then she was a bit grumpy when the class was screaming and shit, so Jack doesn't really know what to think. Maybe it's an off day for her. Everybody has it sometimes. Ms. Winters is explaining some difficult maths calculation but Jack doesn't pay any attention. He's too busy observing her, her moves, her hands, her eyes that dart around the class. He thinks she's fascinating in every way.
"Mr Frost, do I need to repeat what I just said or did you write it down ?" Ms. Winters suddenly asks while she snaps her fingers loudly. Jack jolts, he wasn't paying attention, he knows. But he didn't realize that SHE knows.
"Ehm... I eh. I don't know. Eh..." Jack stammers. Next to him, Eugene chuckles. Jack gives him a poke in the ribs. "Shut up, you ass !"
Ms. Winters continues with her sermon. "This is the second time I warned you this week. One more time and you'll have a word with me, is that clear ?"
Jack nods, that's super clear to him. Wait, one more time and you'll have a word with me ? Does that mean I get to be alone with her ? That might be it... Maybe I'll get to know her a bit better, she seems like we are 4 years apart or something ? She can't be that old, she looks so young ! Eugene grins. His friend is so interested in the teacher ! He's definitely more than crushing. He bends over to Jack and whispers in his ear.
"So, you and the Ms. alone huh ? I bet you'll like it !"
"Shut up man, you and Rapunzel then. You look like a complete douche when she walks by !" Jack snaps back.
"Haha, yeah. But she IS gorgeous !" Says his friend dreamy.
"Wat the hell, and you say SHE isn't ?" Jack says while pointing at Ms. Winters who was getting angry with the fact Jack still wasn't paying attention.
"I didn't say that, you made that out yourself !" Eugene teases.
Ms. Winters was now furious. "Ok, that's enough. Mr Frost, I will speak with you after class !" It hadn't been her day and he was ruing her lessons ? Hell no !
"Hahaha, yeah. I bet you did THAT on purpose !" Eugene chuckles. Sadly for him, it is a really bad day for Ms. Winters so she snaps at him too.
"Same counts for you Mr Rider. One more word and I'll send you to the genitor. He'll probably have a nice chore for you to do. You may choose."
"Ehm no ma'am. I'm fine over here. Thank you." Eugene says and crosses his arms before his chest.
"Good, I don't want to hear you again." Ms. Winters says and moves on with the lesson.
Jack is excited. He's going to spend time alone with her and he has to prepare himself. He doesn't want to come over as a total loser. What should I say to her ? What if she's going to flip out on me and scream like mad. I don't want her to do that, she looks totally cool. Why am I so fond over her, what's wrong with me ?
The class is dismissed and only Jack stays seated. He packs his bag and places himself on top of his table. He's getting pretty nervous. Why ? She's only going to talk with him, not slap him or something. Jack watches Ms. Winters make everything ready on her desk and then she calls him. It caught him by surprise.
"Jack."
She hasn't been calling him that since the day school started. She always says the last names of the students because if she respects them, then maybe they will respect her back. Funny, I don't even know her first name...
"Jack !"
Jack comes over at Ms. Winter's desk. He tries come over as a cool kid but he's sending Ms. Winters the wrong signals as she picks it up as being annoyed. She sighs deeply before she continues.
"Are you ok ? You seem a little off the last time."
"Ehm yeah, I'm quite alright. I am just really tired I guess. How about you ? Because today you also seemed a little bit off..." Jack asks her carefully.
"Me ? I'm fine. Thank you, I just had so much to think of. I think it's an amalgamation of causes that trigger my behavior." Jack nods. Wow, impressive vocabulary !
"But to change the subject back to you: I'm worrying about you. You don't pay attention during the lessons, you either look outside the window or at me, but you don't write anything down. I don't know what it is but if I'm doing it wrong so you don't understand it, than you have to tell me ok ? I get the idea that most of my pupils pretty much get what I'm saying except for you and your friend, Eugene, isn't it ?" Ms. Winter goes on.
"Yeah, he's my friend. But he's the one who has problems, not me."
"Then why am I still catching you who doesn't pay attention and makes the wrong homework or no homework at all, and not Eugene ?"
"Well, I don't know. I just am not interested I think."
Ms. Winters looks disappointed. She totally gets what he's saying. Maths is a bad subject, nobody likes it the way she does. She knows that, but he could at least try, couldn't he ? Jack sees a slight difference in her facial expressions. He immediately regrets what he's said to her because she seems hurt.
"Ok I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Look, it's not that your profession is boring. You chose it as profession and I respect that. It's just that there are so many things that distract me, I can't easily concentrate on one thing for a long amount of time. I don't know what it is." It wasn't true that he had problems with concentrating. He just made it up so it she could sympathize with him. It seems like it works because after he said it, she immediately softened.
"That's ok. But it's good to know, because now I can figure a way out to get your attention." Ms Winters said while thinking of a way. She couldn't come with one this instant. Oh Ms, if only you knew that you already have my attention. My fullest attention ! I can't think of everything else, even though I'm right now with you. Here, alone... Shoot, I shouldn't have been thinking that. But she's just so gorgeous, how can I ever not notice that. She's just radiant !
"We'll figure a way out. I'm sure. I'm really glad you told me, Jack." Ms. Winters places her hand on Jack's shoulder and rubs it short. Holy shit, she just touched me again !
"If you need any help or else, you know that my door is open ok ? You can come in any time you want." Ms. Winters smiles friendly at Jack. He melts completely.
"Ok, thank you. Bye." Jack has trouble to walk away. He'd rather sit here and watch her all day long. But he can't, he has to go to the next class. He grabs his stuff and walks out the door. O my god, O my god. I can come in any time I want. Yes, ok that worked out great. Now just think of an excuse and then...While he's walking through the empty hallway, he almost bumps into someone.
"Holdy, watch out boy." A tall man says. Jack looks up. It's his history teacher, Mr. Anderson, although Jack calls him Sideburns.
Sideburns is walking towards the room Jack left. Jack's curious and follows him. Why is he going in there ? Jack stops near the door, it's open and he can hear him and Ms. Winters having a conversation. Shit, sideburns is talking to her. He likes her too, I knew it. Almost every guy in this building likes her, even if they don't know her. Not that I don't know her but you know, she's my teacher and shit.
"Hey, how is everything going ?"
"Oh hey, Hans. Ehm yeah, everything is going fine. Thank you." His name is Hans ? Jack is surprised, he really didn't expect that name for Sideburns. Though, it suited him.
"I was just wondering, you see I'm off for today. I don't know if you are but if you are then would you like to join me for lunch ?" Sideburns sounds a little nervous.
"Oh ehm yeah, let's see. I have one class to go so I'll be off in 90 minutes and I have to do a few things at home. I won't make it for lunch but how about drinking some tea or coffee ?"
"Yeah sounds great ! What time ? Like 3:30 PM at Starbucks ?"
"I'll be there. See you then."
Jack is boiling with anger. How dare he ! Asking her out like that. He didn't even do it polite like a real gentleman, he just blurred something out. The jerk, I hate those guys who steal a girl away while someone else already likes her. Shoot, I should have done something like interrupting. Pretending like I lost a pencil or so. I wish I was that Hans guy, then I got to spend an amazing afternoon with her. Gosh, it's so unfair !
Elsa packs her things after she made herself ready to go. She says Seth goodbye and walks out. When she arrives at Starbucks, she already spots Hans. He's pretty recognizable with his auburn hair and sideburns. Elsa likes his sideburns, it suits him. Hans turns around and sees Elsa walking up to him. His heart makes a quick jump and he waves happily at her. She smiles and waves back. Her hair is lose and the wind is playing with it. She tries to keep the hair out of her face but failed cutely.
"Hi Elsa. Glad you could make it !"
"Hi ! Let's go inside. There is too much wind, I don't see anything."
The two of them go inside. They sit at table and order a drink and something small to eat.
"So, how was your day ?" Hans asks interested.
"Well, today is a bit of an off day for me. Everything goes wrong and then my sister called me in the middle of class. Said she had something important to say so I went outside and when I came back, everyone had cheated so they all got the same answers and calculations. And then I got mad and then they got grumpy so I just dismissed them early. But enough of my horrible day, how was your day ?"
"I really hadn't had fun either. I tried to teach them some of the history of Norway, in which I am very interested but my class wasn't. So nobody did really pay attention and I was talking for ages and everybody got bored and just got their phones out and messaged each other. It was really maddening."
"Ahh, that's a shame. I personally really like history too. And I like Norway too ! You should teach me instead !" Elsa jokes.
"Hahaha, yeah. Now we're talking about it... No just kidding. But it's a really interesting subject, I have to admit. I spent days searching on the internet for more information and what I found is quite interesting."
"Ok, well, I only know a few words in Norwegian but I can say that I'm tired in Norwegian."
"Well, what is it then ?" Hans asks curious.
"Jeg er trøtt. It literally means: I am tired. Funny right ?" Elsa chuckles, which makes Hans smile.
"Yeah, funny. Can you speak other languages besides English ?"
"Ehm yeah, quite few actually. I speak German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Dutch fluently. And a little Norwegian."
Hans is in awe. He didn't realize she is that smart ! "Wow, that's impressive. I speak only English and German."
"But your last name then ? Anderson, I think it's Scottish, isn't it ?"
"Yeah, it is. How did you know that ?" Hans is surprised. "It comes from Andreas or Andrew. My grandfather is Scottish so my origin lies in the UK. What's your origin ?"
"Well my last name is Winters, which is a Dutch word. It means the same in English and in Dutch, funny right ? My origin is Dutch, I also speak it fluently. Our parents raised me and my sister bilingual. So when we wanted to gossip about someone who was sitting near us, we simply spoke Dutch. No one understands Dutch, it's a really weird sounding language." Elsa answers.
"Can you speak some Dutch for me ?"
"Yeah sure. I'll just ask you how you are in Dutch. Hey, hoe gaat het ?"
"That's Dutch ?!" He exclaims, surprised that it sounds like she's clearing her throat.
Elsa nods.
"That sounds weird indeed. Can you say more ?"
She thinks a while before talking. "Well. Ehm. Ik ken het periodiek systeem van Tom Lehrer uit mijn hoofd, ik deed er twee weken over om het te leren."
"Wow, well I didn't understand a thing of it." Hans furrows his eyebrows, nope he really didn't make much of it. "Could you translate ?"
"I said: I know Tom Lehrer's periodic table song by heart, it took me two weeks to learn it.
"Wow, that's so awesome, you should sing it to me one day. I really admire people who can speak multiple languages ! I only now how to introduce myself in German. Guten Tag, Ich bin Hans und ich muss auf cloo."
"Haha, then go to the toilet !" Elsa laughs.
"No, not really. It's just that I know how to say that !"
"Yeah, I knew that. I just thought that was funny."
Hans and Elsa spent a nice afternoon. It was a relaxing conversation and they sat for 2 hours straight. Then Elsa realized she had other engagements to do so she had to go. Leaving a disappointed but satisfied Hans alone. He was happy, he finally found someone with whom he felt comfortable again. It had been such a long time, he totally forgot what that felt like.
As Hans continues his walk to his house he starts to think. Maybe I should change my lessons. To make it more interesting for my pupils, I want to get the best out of them but not this way. A way that they find boring or else. Maybe SHE could give me some advice ? She seems smart enough...
And that's chapter 8 already. It's going fast, at least I think so. Please point out the mistakes I made, if I made any. I try to write it down perfectly but, like I said before, my native language isn't English. I really like it though, during my holiday I only spoke English and it helped me improve my skills. As for the writing: the more you practice, the more skilled you become. I hope you like the character of Hans, at least I do. I don't know what I will do with him yet but I could leave it up to you guys. Maybe you have suggestions or sketches of how a chapter for you guys will look like and maybe I'll add it to my story as a bonus or something :) It's just an idea. It could be fun...or not. IDK.