Warning: Severe swearing, you'll discover why. I am sorry if I upset you, I don't use swear words frequently, only if it really needs to set a certain atmosphere in a certain situation.
"Eugene !" Jack calls. Eugene turns around, his face in question. "Jack."
"Eugene, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me this afternoon ?" Jack asks his friend.
"Yeah, sure."
"Ok, nice. I only have to go to Ms. Winter's class room. I need to talk with her, will you wait for me ?"
Eugene nods. "Ok. I'll walk with you and I'll just wait outside the door."
The two friends are walking through the hallways. The school is not entirely empty and some kids are passing them. As they arrive at the class room, Jack and Eugene peek inside. They see a tall man, he's holding someone from behind in his arms. The man is very muscular and mumbles something in the person's ear. The person is seated in the desk chair and holds the man's arms as they are folded around the chest. The person chuckles. Wait, I've heard that chuckle before... Then the man steps aside from the desk with a playful smirk on his face, revealing the person in the chair. It's no one else but Ms. Winters.
"No John, you have to go." She giggles. "I can't concentrate if you keep distracting me." She finally manages to say it with a stern voice.
"Aaawwww, come on Elsa ! I only do that because I love you !" John wines and pulls a sad face. Elsa starts to laugh at his scene. She pushes his chest in order to get him out.
"Go away !"
Jack watches it live happen before his eyes. Who dafuq is HE !? Never heard her speaking a word about him ! And her name is Elsa, omg, I couldn't have chosen a better name. Although I never thought she would wear that name... It's a really rare name but still so beautiful. OMG, HE'S NOT HER BOYFRIEND IS HE, SHE HAS A MOTHAF'ING BOYFRIEND !? WTF, what is going on ? Maybe he's her brother or just a friend ? I hope it's her friend or brother... Just as Jack guesses it might be her brother or friend, John suddenly kisses Elsa on the lips, it looks like she enjoys it because she kisses him back ! It all happens so fast that Jack doesn't know how to react. Instead of thinking, he just blurs something out and in his negative.
"OH HOLY FUCK ! He screams with big eyes and dilated pupils. Ok, it's her boyfriend, a brother doesn't kiss you on the lips !
John and Elsa look up to where the sound came from, they discover two young men standing, one is clearly upset about something and the other looks at him with the face of a monkey. Some people in the hallway, who heard Jack scream also stand still to see what's going on. Jack still doesn't realize all eyes are on him until Eugene punches his shoulder.
"Mind explaining what's going on ? He asks demanding.
Jack sees that every single person is watching him. Shit, I said that out loud, didn't I ? Yeah, I am definitely good in screwing things up. Ehm, let's see if we can improvise then. "OMG I THOUGHT THERE WAS A HUGE SPIDER ON THAT WALL !" He screams again dramatically while pointing at nothing on the wall. "You know, I hate spiders so much I must have mistaken myself for seeing one that wasn't really there. I'm sorry peeps, showtime is over. You all can leave, thank you ! Bye, bye ! Have a nice day." He makes a little bow and waves with his hand, feeling embarrassed like hell.
"Man, you're really acting weird." Eugene says, still recovering from Jack's dramatic scene. Secretly he chuckles, his friend is so funny.
"Well, I have to go. I'll see you at home, darling." John kisses Elsa again, which makes Jack wanna puke in jealousy, and walks out of the class room, as he walks past the boys he friendly pats Jack on the shoulder. "You're not the only one who has a phobia for spiders..."
Elsa, or Ms. Winters walks up to the boys as she straightens her clothes and fiddles with her hair. Just act normally, don't let him show. "Hi, Jack. You wanted to see me ?"
Fuck, fuck, fuck, what am I supposed to do now ? I can't just blur out what I just saw, maybe she doesn't know ? No, she knows, she heard me as I heard myself clear enough. Ok, you can do this Jack, you can do this. Just act normally, don't let her show. Jack nods quietly and walks into the class room.
"So, what did you want to tell me ?"
OMFG, why didn't you just say you were already taken ! He screams mentally at her, but instead he says what he had to say in the first place. "I have... Well, I discussed the matter with my parents yesterday, about the extra lessons. And my dad sorta flipped out, he always does that, and he said he needed to have a word with you."
Elsa raises one eyebrow as she processes what the boy just had said. "He wants to speak with me ? Why ?"
"I dunno, he was upset about me getting extra lessons. In our family it is a crime, you're either good at school or you're out of the loop. So now my dad wants to discuss some things with you about if there are any other options besides those you proposed..."
"Hmmm, I get it. Well, when does he wish to come ?"
"Oh shoot, he didn't tell."
"Oh, that's ok, I'll just email your parents and then we'll set up a meeting."
Jack nods. "So, I guess that's what I wanted to tell you." That's not even half of what I wanted to say.
"Thank you, Jack. I guess I see you the next lesson then ?"
Elsa stands up and walks him out, she opens the door, waves at Eugene and then closes the door softly. Jack watches her walk back to the desk, then Eugene suddenly snaps at him.
"Dude, WTF was wrong with you !? What must they have been thinking, you were acting like a total weirdo. I know you like her but now you know she's taken so you don't really have an option any more, do you ? And screaming it out like that, you might as well have told everything about your feelings towards her !"
"Relax man, she doesn't have a clue what that was about. And you're right, I just need to get over her I guess. But you know, she could have told me that she had a boyfriend ! Fuck this, what am I supposed to do now ?!" Jack says frustrated and feeling really disappointed.
Eugene places his hand on Jack's shoulder as encouragement. "Don't worry, I'll help you find a nice chick if you want."
But I don't want another nice new chick, I just want the one I love. I've played it all out ! If I were a few years older, then maybe things might have been different. But then I wouldn't have met Eugene, I guess. Shit, shit, shit, I hate my life ! Everything goes wrong.
Once he's home, Jack throws his bike on the ground. He's mad, frustrated, angry and sad all in once. She is just out of my league, there is no way I can get her. She doesn't see me like I see her. She doesn't know how my heart melts every time she looks at me. She doesn't know how my heart makes quick jumps of joy, every time she says my name. She doesn't even know that I'm already excited to just catch a glimpse of her !
"FUCK THIS SHIT !" He screams as he throws his bag onto the ground, he kicks his bike, hurts his foot and swears again. Tears well up in his eyes. OH HELL NO, you are not going to cry over a girl ! Be strong and be a man ! But the tears come anyways. After five minutes of crying in the inside, he composes himself, picks his bag up and walks inside the house.
"Dad, Ms. Winters is going to email you to set a date." Jack says with a monotone voice. He is in the cowshed where he found his father, milking and feeding the animals. Jack covers his nose with his hand, the shed smells like shit. He never seems to get used to that smell. His dad looks up, noticing something wrong in his son's behavior but doesn't say anything about it.
"Oh, good. I'll check the mail tonight then." He says while still feeding the baby calf. "You want to help ?"
"Sure." I could use thinking about something else...
"Then put on your overall and come help feeding this calf, her mother rejected her and she won't eat from the bottle. Maybe you can get her doing it, it seems like she doesn't like my scent or something." His dad informs.
After Jack has put on his red overall, he comes over to the area where his dad is struggling to keep the calf in place. Jack kneels in front of the animal, takes the bottle and puts it gently in its mouth. As soon the teat is in it's mouth, the calf begins sucking at it like mad. Jack grins at his dad, who throws his hands in the air from frustration.
"I just don't get it, you are never here and though they seem to prefer you over me !"
"Dad, you just have to have some patience. If you keep pushing, they keep struggling. If you wait, then they'll come to you eventually. It takes time for them to bond with someone else besides their mom, you know." Jack says wisely. Wait, wait. Did I just say that ? If you wait, they'll come eventually to you, it takes time for them to bond... That's it, that's it ! If I just patiently wait for her to come to me... All I have to do is making her attracted to me, so she'll like me. But can I do that ? I mean, she and John are very happy, obviously, I can't just jump in and destroy her relationship, let alone her reputation !
His dad ruffles his son's hair. "Look how the roles are conversed, the son is teaching the dad a lesson." Jack laughs.
He really likes his dad, they always get along fine. The sudden outburst from yesterday is just because his dad is so neat on grades. He used to have lack on his lessons but he paid a fair price for it, not finding a job. He doesn't want the same for his sons, they need to get good grades because with good grades come good jobs. And with good jobs comes wealth.
"Look, son." His dad begins. "You know why I was upset yesterday right ?"
Jack nods, yeah, he knows.
His father continues. "I just want the best for my children. And if your grades are bad for only maths then ok, but I still want to talk to that teacher of yours. Maybe we can figure a way out and maybe you just have to go to her extra lessons. It's already very nice that she wants to sacrifice her free time for you but if you take the lessons, then I want to see results. No lame excuses, you're going to work your ass off for once. Is that understood ?!"
Wait, I can't be alone with her anymore. She has a boyfriend and all I do is drooling over her. What if I say something wrong ? "Huh ? Eh, yeah dad. I get it."
"Ok, good. So, you want to help some more or do you have homework to do ?"
"Ehm, yeah, I have homework. I'll come tonight, when we're going to saddle the foals ok ?"
"Al right son."
When he's in his room, he starts his computer directly. Internet, Spotify and Mail opens.
-1 new message.
From: Ms. Winters "WTF ? Why me ?"
To: Jackson Overland Frost, Jeff Andrew Frost
Subject: Extra lessons
4:56:45 PM
Hello, Mr. Frost.
My name is Elsa Winters and I teach mathematics. I write on behalf of your son, who is a student in my class.
I noticed that his grades are seemingly going down, instead of up. I don't know what the cause of that is but I do know that if we do nothing, Jack is going to fail on maths. Now, we do not want that so I had a talk with him and offered him some extra lessons, just to get him back on track. I was told that yesterday night, Jack discussed the matter with you and you replied to him that you wanted to speak with me.
I have a few dates on which we can meet each other. Those are, January 23, 26 or the first of February. I hope one of the dates suit you. We'll meet each other at 5PM at the main entrance of the school. I will be waiting for you to arrive.
The school's address is: Chevellerauxstreet 1
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter,
Yours sincerely,
Ms. E. Winters.
Jack sighs, she wrote so formal and yet it's so nice. No backstabbing or anything, but why would she also send the mail to him ? Maybe because he's the subject... He opens his drawing program and the first drawing he sees, is the one he once made of Ms. Winters, weeks ago. He stares at the picture, it's a picture of her, arms for her chest, head down and eyes up. The drawing shows a lot of attitude and confidence, especially her eyes. Well, better not be dreaming to far ahead. I am her student, why would she be interested in me if she already has someone.
"Jack." His father knocks on the door.
Jack jolts, he has been sleeping because this day had been really exhausting. Slowly he rubs his eyes and yawns. "The door is open."
"He, I read the email from your teacher and I think we'll go the first date, January 23."
"Ok, so in two days."
His dad nods. "Jack ? Are you not feeling well ? You look quite pale..."
"Ehm, no it's just that I have a lot on my mind. School is killing me." SHE is killing me...
"Ok, but if there are any problems, you know who to talk to. We are there for you."
YEAH, like I can discuss my feelings for a teacher with you. You all will say that I'm crazy and need to get over her. No, I need to process this alone, I can't talk about it with anyone, except for Eugene. Jack nods. "I know, thanks dad."
His father leaves his room and Jack falls on his bed. He stares at nothing on the ceiling, hoping this all would be a stupid dream. But secretly he knows he's not dreaming. Who am I kidding, how could you love someone who doesn't love you back ? I waisted my time for nothing !
BUZZ BUZZ
His phone goes off, Jack picks it up and sees Eugene left him a message.
E: He Jackie man ! How 'r ya doing, feeling a bit better ?
J: Yo dude. No, I am not feeling better. In fact, I couldn't feel worse !
E: Jeez, I'm so sorry man. But you know, I kinda knew that was coming. She's pretty attractive, what man wouldn't want her ?
J: Someone who's gay perhaps ?!
E: Ok, you got a point. So, wanna do some stuff together ?
J: You sure you want to do things with me, don't you wanna, IDK, hang out with Punzie ?
E: Of course I do, but you're my friend and I want to do something with you. I'll pick you up ok ?
J: Sure, after dinner. 7PM.
E: Got it mate, see ya then !
So now Jack knows, his crush is already taken. It was really hard for me to express how he felt when he found out, though. I just tried to sympathize with him and exaggerate a little. Next chap will be: Just a spare.