My Yearning Heart

Chapter 2

I Don't Want Surprises

The next couple of days were alright. Things were slowly returning to how they normally were. A couple of students visited my office, both with actual conditions and others just trying to get out of class to see. Even though this made me feel good, I had to send them back. My job as the nurse was to help the helpless and if they didn't need help, there was nothing I could do for them.

At the same time, I noticed that Blake and Yang were spending a lot of time together. Normally, I would talk to her about this, but there was nothing wrong. The two of them were preforming perfectly as students. Their attendance was perfect and their classwork was above average. I couldn't say they were spending too much time together when they know they weren't. They had their priorities straight which made me want to support them even more. It's just strange how a girl in high school is taking her relationship very serious without the immature behavior of high school students. I did my job as a mother so I'll just go ahead and pat myself on the back.

…

Today was a fun one. A kid came in saying that he was nailed in the face by a soccer ball. I quickly took him and laid him down on the bed. I checked his head, eyes, nose, and mouth and luckily, there was nothing wrong with him. I simply gave him an ice pack and told him to rotate the position of it every few minutes. I checked on him from time to time and once I saw that he was healing, I sent him on his way.

However, before he left, he turned around and stared me down, asking if I would date him. I couldn't believe it. I was speechless at first, but he quickly apologized. Apparently, my face told him that I was traumatized and that he said his friends dared him to do. Once I heard that, my heart began to beat again. I took a deep breath, patted him on the head, and sent him out. I walked back to my desk and pulled out my sticky notes from my drawer. I out another tally on it and sighed. I then turned around and saw the window with 2 sticky notes on it. All of those tallies were of students asking me to date them, both real and fake.

Yes, there have been some students who have actually had feelings for me. They've been both boys and girls. No matter who they were, I had to turn them down, but the weird thing is that every time it happens, I get even more surprised. One would think I would get used to it, but no., it's quite the opposite. I don't know why so many people have done this too much. I'm so much older than them so why? I don't that some do it as a joke, but for those who were serious, wasn't there something inside of them that told them no? A relationship like that just shouldn't be. There are so many available young men and women out there that shouldn't resort to me. As I continued to think, that thought from when I fall asleep suddenly made its way back into my mind.

Is it too late to love someone?

I quickly shook my head. I may be alone, but I'm going to fall in love with some high schooler. I'm not that desperate. I turned around again and to retract my eyes from all of those tally marks. However, I couldn't help but wonder why so many students were asking me.

During lunch, I decided to close up and head to the teacher's lounge. There, all of the teachers were eating lunch and talking amongst each other. Some of them noticed me and joked about how I never ate with them. I couldn't help but smile at that little crack. It was true. I never ate in the teacher's lounge. I always offered my room as a place for students to feel welcome and just spend some time together.

"So what brings you here, Alex?"

"I don't know. I just felt like getting out of my room for a bit."

"Haha, you're in there quite a lot."

"Yeah, and I here students go gaga over you." I widened my eyes. They actually knew about that? Since the topic was brought up, I had to ask.

"Do any of you get requests like that?" No one spoke. They were confused by my question.

"What are you talking about?" I immediately grew nervous. They obviously had no idea what I was talking about. I sighed and did my best to come out with it.

"Over the past year, students have come up to me and asked me to go out with them." Out of nowhere, everyone busted out laughing. I knew it was hopeless.

"You're kidding me, right? That's ridiculous."

"Yeah, I think you're just exaggerating." I opened my mouth, but immediately pulled back the words. It wasn't worth trying to defend. I simply left the room and returned to my happy place. When I got there, there were students sitting outside my door eating their lunch. I asked them why they were there and they told me that they were waiting for me. I felt bad so I quickly opened up my room and everyone filed in like usual. Luckily, there was some time left until lunch was over so they tried to make the best of it.

The strange thing was that Blake didn't visit me. To be honest, it wasn't a pact that we made, but it was nice seeing my daughter during the day. When lunch ended and there was no sign of her, I did my best to stop worrying about it and move on. For the rest of the day, it was pretty quiet the kids who had a free last period decided to visit me, but other than that, no one else came by.

When school ended, I closed up shop and made my way out when I got a text message. It was from Blake saying that she was heading home without me. I was confused. Why would she leave without me? Was there something she had to do without me knowing? She's not normally one to hide things so I just made my way home with minimal amounts of thought on the situation.

When I got home, I knocked on the door to make sure that she was actually home. It took a couple of knocks, but Blake finally responded to me. I then walked through the door where Blake popped out of the living room. The weird thing was that her hair was all messy and her uniform was half buttoned up. I was afraid to ask what was going on, but when I walked further into the house, I saw Yang sitting on the couch with the same look as Blake. The pillows were on the ground and there was a weird smell in the air.

I nearly threw up as I continued to think about it. Did they just… no, don't think about it. Just let it go. It can't be as bad. Anyway, as long as it wasn't a guy, it was fine. Oh my God, what am I talking about? Either sex in this house was against the rules. I grabbed Blake's arm and pulled her to the back of the house.

"What the hell were you two doing?"

"N-Nothing. We were just studying," she said with a nervous look on her face.

"Uh huh, and why are you all sweaty?"

"It was hot."

"Blake, you know there's a thing called an A/C that you could turn on. And also, why is she here? You know you can't have anyone over without my permission." She looked down. I knew I had her cornered, but it just didn't feel right. I was turning into a mom at this point in time.

"I'm sorry mom. It just happened. I'm sorry." I sighed.

"There weren't any guys, were there?" She shook her head. "I'm not gonna let this go lightly, but I forgive you for now. I don't want to see this happen again."

"Okay, I'm sorry." She fell into my body and hugged me. I had nothing else to do, but hug her back.

"So what now?"

"Would it be alright if she stayed for dinner?" I immediately pulled away and gave her a dirty look. "I will accept any sort of punishment as soon as she leaves for the night."

"Alright, fine." She ran back into the living room where I followed behind her. When I made my way in, I noticed Yang looking at me. I looked at her and then turned away. The way she was looking at me was a little weird so I tried to avoid eye contact.

Dinner was alright. I tried not to make things awkward, but Yang managed to make things feel more awkward than ever. Her eyes were constantly looking across the table in my direction. For some reason, it was hard to look at her so I just stayed quiet and looked at my food. The atmosphere was so tense that I could barely take it. I finished up my food and left the table. After a few minutes, the two of them finished their food and started to pack up. When I heard them make their way to the front door, I finally came out again to say goodbye.

"I hope you enjoyed the food."

"Boy, did I? Thank you Ms. Belladonna."

"Of course," I said nervously. She was still looking at me with that look I can't describe.

"Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Alright. Thank you for having me."

"No problem. Come back any time." Immediately, I regretted saying that. It was just a host's way of being polite, but something felt different. Blake closed the door, but I managed to catch Yang's glance towards me one last time. It sent chills down my spine as Blake turned slowly and bowed her head.

"Okay, I'm ready for my punishment." It took me a while to snap out of head.

"Right, you're punishment. Clean the living room and kitchen and then you can go to bed."

"Huh? All of that tonight?"

"I'm tired. Good night." She couldn't argue with me. I was right and she was wrong so she quickly got work and I didn't see her for the rest of the night.

In my room, I was too busy to fall asleep. I was thinking about everything that happened today. That request, Blake's mysterious behavior, Yang's mysterious behavior; everything was jumbled around in my head that I couldn't find peace. Thinking about these things was even worse than thinking of the normal thing I usually think about. I smacked my face a couple of times, hoping that it would clear my mind, but it didn't. I simply shut my eyes and tried to do nothing. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was Yang's face.

Why?

End of Chapter 2