Hey you! Yes, you, the person with their cell phone in one hand and in the other their wiener... SRRY! I mean... the person who's bored out of their mind reading this crap because no one with any real writing talent (Fagg, I'm looking at you) has posted anything lately. Aren't you sick of waiting for someone to post in the fandom only to find out it's me when you see a new TLH fanfic? Do you need more of this crap so that comparing this to your own projects will improve your self-esteem? Do you want to read more of these sad attempts at stories that no one likes so you can mock them at your leisure? Well, if that's the case, the solution is simple.
Well, pay attention, young dude or young dudette, this is of interest to you, because if you feel identified with at least one of the previously mentioned cases, all you need to do to guarantee that I continue publishing this crap is to leave me a comment, and THAT'S IT! that's the solution; a single comment in exchange for continuing to be the local laughing stock.
01
Impatient to get her workday over with, Gabriela DiMartino focused, perhaps for the fourth or fifth time during the day, her gaze on the ring finger of her left hand, right where an engagement ring had been. After almost a year since their breakup, she had told herself that ending it so abruptly no longer mattered to her, yet absolutely everything in town reminded her of that unforgivable betrayal committed by the man who had promised to love her forever... although fortunately, in just six short months, that would no longer be a problem.
Moving would at least free her from the unpleasantness of being constantly plagued by memories of that infidelity, but she still had other problems to worry about.
At thirty-two, Gabriela no longer considered herself exactly a young woman. But expertly groomed as she always was and with the enviable figure that years of exercise and dieting had given her, she still looked far too young for the title of "full-time teacher" she now held. For she still looked youthful enough for every co-worker, as well as every parent, who saw her for the first time to mistake her for a student's older sister. And that was just her other problem with the town; those misunderstandings, while flattering and good for her self-esteem, were beginning to wear her down, to make her feel unappreciated. She needed a change of scenery.
The vibration of her cell phone, hidden discreetly in the front pocket of her blouse, brought her out of her thoughts. That silent alarm indicated that it was less than half an hour before this class, fortunately the last of the day, would be over.
And that, that was her main problem; teaching was also starting to become a drag, something she had never thought possible. For the students, if they weren't drooling as they indiscreetly undressed her with their eyes every time she had to walk between their seats while teaching a class, they were content to invent all sorts of derogatory rumors; that someone parents were only looking to seduce her, that she had gotten the job thanks to her body. Worst of all, she hadn't had the full-time job at the high school for very long, it was only three years since she stopped being just a substitute teacher, and she was already fed up with it.
Gabriela had always wanted to be an educator, and had worked hard in college to get her degree, however, after her graduation ceremony many things started to go wrong for her; no school in her hometown wanted to hire someone without experience so she ended up traveling almost the entire state, and then almost the entire country, until she ended up stranded as a substitute teacher in a small town far to the north... falling in love in the process with a two-faced bastard who had said he loved her just to avoid being judged by his homophobic family!
These three problems, all of which had happened relatively recently, had finally convinced Gabriela to leave town and look for another school to teach in. She might have to settle for working in an elementary school, the salary would probably be much less than what she had now, but at least it would free her from the prying eyes and hurtful comments, would all elementary schools be as gentle and welcoming as Royal Woods? Gabriela DiMartino hoped so.
A second mute alarm on her cell phone told her that the class had only twenty minutes left to go.
Finally getting up from her desk, Gabriela decided to walk around her students' desks, checking one last time on their progress on their written exams. She even had to admonish of one of her students, as she had caught Mollie Freilich with a cell phone hidden under her desk. As far as she could tell, the brunette girl wasn't even looking up the answers to the test on her own, that at least would be something Gabriela could respect, but was simply waiting for a friend outside the class, most likely her friend Jordan Rosato, to send her the answers via Wassup.
After taking both the cell phone and the test away from the poor girl, and having returned to her desk, it occurred to Gabriela that it might have been better to have ignored Mollie's poor attempts at cheating. She had already decided that she was not going to stay in town to start a next course. And only fifteen years ago she herself had been a student in her senior year of high school, had also cheated on exams, had also skipped classes or entered classes she wasn't enrolled in just to keep chatting with her friends. Of course, it was easier to get away with it in those years, because in 2008 almost no one had a cell phone with a good enough camera for their photos to count as evidence.
Still impatient for her workday to end once and for all, Gabriela focused all her attention on the window to the side of her desk, intently watching the snow continue to fall from the skies, just as she used to do when she was still a high school student. The difference between then and now was that as a teacher she had all the power to make the class end a little bit early, and if that pest of Oliver, principal River's assistant, ever nag her again for making such a decision, she could simply make the snow as an excuse. Everyone in Royal Woods knew that she lived on the outskirts of town, and everyone in Royal Woods knew that the roads through that area become a trap once frozen.
After graduating from college, and while looking for a job across the country, it had seemed like a good idea to move somewhere where it snowed regularly. Gabriela's parents were a couple of migrants, an Italian linguist and a Latin American actress, and she herself was not used to seeing that much snow, but after a good ten years of watching it fall copiously every winter, that white spectacle had lost all its novel charm. Now she was thinking of moving somewhere warmer, and far away, Colorado seemed to be the main option for now; a good place where she could live peacefully, where her children could grow up and be happy...
Thinking about having children suddenly brought her mind back to the homosexual in denial who had used her, and to the idea that she was no longer a young woman, even though her colleagues and the parents of her students insisted on treating her almost like a teenager.
Already completely desperate, she took out her cell phone from its hiding place and without thinking about what her students would say, she checked the time; there were ten minutes left until the end of class. Taking advantage of having the device already in her hand, she deleted from her e-mail all the spam messages that the administration, actually the insufferable Oliver, keep sending in order to recruit chaperones for the winter dance, apparently having been forced to accept did not exempt her from continuing to receive them. And as soon as she had finished, she instructed her students to turn in their exams.
Despite the usual complaints and requests for more time, a small stack of bond paper soon formed on her desk. Gabriela didn't bother to appear disinterested as she arranged the tests into three smaller groups; Papa Wheelie's, along with Mollie Freilich's, to the right in the failing group, the vast majority to the middle group who were the automatic B's and C's, and only a few to the left... only those last were the ones she bothered to read and grade carefully.
DiMartino was already focused on the growing group in the middle, barely even pretending that she was reading the exams before grading them with C's and B's alternating one and one, when a bruised hand left its exam on the desk. Surprised to see it, she looked up and found that the hand belonged to Lincoln Loud, a senior, known to everyone at Royal Woods for getting into and solving the most varied problems, as well as for being the only person in the entire school district with naturally white hair.
Puzzled by what she saw, Gabriela returned her attention to the hand that was giving her the exam: a myriad of cuts ran along his fingers, his knuckles were also red and swollen, and a couple of larger scars adorned the rest of his arm. Had that been the result of a fight? Impossible! Lincoln was one of those people who helped everybody and who everybody liked. What if maybe it was an adverse situation at home? although he wasn't a brainiac, the albino could be considered a good student... although lately his performance in class was below the usual...
Wordlessly, Gabriela took the test from Lincoln, put it in the group on the left, and followed the boy with her eyes until he left the room. «Damn, this is serious» she thought, pledging to herself that she would remember to talk to Lincoln in the future. No matter how disillusioned she was with her job, with her personal life, and with the attitude of the people around her, the commitment to helping and protecting her students remained at the forefront of her mind.
"I hope everything is all right with him... " she said to herself as soon as the last student, a young girl wearing a knitted cap in the shape of a panda, left the room.
However, when she finally got into her car, the alarm on her phone went off once again, causing her to completely forget about Lincoln. For this alarm, the only one that went off at full volume, was a reminder that she needed to buy a Christmas tree. As well as decorations. And lights, lots and lots of Christmas lights! This being her last winter in town, Gabriela DiMartino had promised herself to go all out with the decorations to say a proper goodbye to the house she rented on the outskirts of town, her home for the past ten years.
-o-
After almost two hours of shopping, Gabriela finally gave up; she had gone through the entire supermarket, perhaps for the fourth or fifth time, and still hadn't found a single Christmas tree that wasn't made of cheap plastic. Her shopping cart was crammed with ornaments of every possible size and long strings of colorful lights... BUT NOTHING REMOTELY LIKE A DAMN TREE OF...! "Miss DiMartino?"
Turning around quickly, trying not to let her frustration show on her face, Gabriela found a white-haired teenager staring at her. The teen had a serious expression on his face, a expression that was rarely seen on his face at school.
"Lincoln? Hello!" DiMartino instantly relaxed, in a town as small as Royal Woods you quickly get used to running into co-workers and students everywhere, "What are you doing here on a Friday night?"
"I... work here..." as soon as she heard that, Gabriela's gaze left her student's pale and haggard face before focusing on the red apron and uniform the young man was wearing «how the damn did I not notice that?» "and I couldn't help but notice that you look like you need help."
A little blush came to the teacher's cheeks as she discovered that it was apparently obvious that she was in distress. "Yes, I... I've been here half the afternoon and I still can't find the Christmas trees... you know... the real ones."
"Oh, no problem, Miss DiMartino," the dimples that appeared on his face whenever he smiled genuinely lit up Lincoln's face, giving him back that charming mischievous look that had made him so popular with the high school girls and some of the middle school girls. "Please follow me."
Gabriela nodded, and pushing her heavy shopping cart with difficulty, followed the albino to a huge sign, which strangely she had not seen in her long search, advertising the sale of Christmas trees.
Where was the sign advertising the Christmas tree sale? Right at the entrance of the store.
Where was the sale taking place? Right in the main parking lot of the supermarket.
Trying to look as if her face was not flushed with embarrassment, and trying to ignore her student's amused expression, DiMartino continued to make conversation.
"So... Lincoln, have you been working here long? I've never seen you before."
During her past job search, DiMartino had discovered that small towns don't tend to have a lot of variety in terms of stores. And in Royal Woods there was only a single supermarket, and she had shopped there weekly for the past twelve years, never finding any of her students working there. Lincoln was the first one.
"I've been working here for over a year now. The evening shift pays a little less than the morning shift, but it's the best I could get." With a naturalness and gentleness that showed he was used to it, Lincoln took DiMartino's cart full of Christmas decorations and colorful lights from her as soon as they pulled out into the parking lot, carrying it now as if it weighed nothing. "I'm also working weekends as a night watchman at the local cemetery, and occasionally help out with whatever they ask me to do at the Hunnicutt and Rosato estates."
"Why are you working so hard?"
"I'm saving as much money as possible so I can move out after school. I've had enough of Royal Woods."
Hearing those words, so similar to what she had been thinking for the last few months, a warm smile and a blush, not exactly caused by embarrassment, settled on DiMartino's face. They both had the same goals for the future, the same aspiration to carve out a different and better tomorrow. Maybe Lincoln could become his favorite student - her first favorite student!
Outside, the supermarket parking lot was obviously divided, with the back half being completely filled with trees that looked at first glance almost all the same, like green cones, but each with differences that jumped out at you once you paid attention to them. If Gabriela had spent hours picking out ornaments and lights, it would undoubtedly take her a whole afternoon to differentiate one tree that appeared to be identical to the one next to it.
"So... Miss DiMartino," Lincoln began, immediately catching the hesitation in his teacher's demeanor, "Do you know what kind of tree you want to buy?"
Intimidated, as she didn't think choosing a simple Christmas tree was that complicated, DiMartino simply shook her head.
"I didn't even know there were different types."
"Don't worry, hardly anyone can tell the difference between firs, pine, and the huge varieties of spruce that we also sell," Lincoln's tone was silky and inviting, the tone of an expert salesman. "So... you don't want your tree to wither so quickly, do you?"
DiMartino nodded.
"Very well, what kind of decorations do you plan to put on it?" A quick glance at the shopping cart was enough to answer the question. "I can see there will be quite a few... and heavy ones."
"It's just that this is a special occasion," the teacher hastened to defend herself.
"Don't worry, they like big ornaments back at my parents' house, too," Lincoln reassured her as he led his teacher to the group of trees in the back, "so I might suggest, trees from my own experience, one of our fir trees."
Looking to where Lincoln was pointing, DiMartino came upon an eight-foot tree, bushy and gleaming green. It was the perfect tree for her! Then she saw the price tag and knew why it looked like something straight out of a movie. $109.99.
"Well, I like it... but it costs more than I expected to pay," Gabriela replied before turning around and starting to walk back towards the supermarket. "I can go to the sale organized by the church and buy a pine tree for half the price."
"Yes, you could do that, Miss DiMartino, but you're here now, and I know this is the ideal tree for you," Lincoln insisted, maintaining his role as a good salesman.
"Oh, and why are you so sure?" Despite trying to sound mocking, DiMartino returned to the albino's side.
"With fir trees you have the whole package," Lincoln, with a naturalness that belied his young age, captured his teacher's attention with his voice alone. "They have a fresh fragrance that doesn't saturate the room where you place them. Its branches are strong enough to support all kinds of ornaments. They don't wilt quickly. And best of all, they hardly litter at all. The whole package!"
"You seem to know quite a bit about Christmas trees... as well as have the makings of a professional salesman."
"They give us a commission for every Christmas tree we sell," Gabriela couldn't help but laugh at the unexpected comment and the complicit tone, which contrasted so much with the attitude he had adopted before. "What's more, I'll tell you what we can do. Since this is a tree for my favorite teacher, how about I give you my employee discount?"
"So I'm your favorite teacher? You flatter me," said DiMartino, amused and unconsciously participating in his student's complicit tone, "And how much is this discount you're talking about?"
Lincoln's smile widened, revealing his also famous, and also adorable, chirped front teeth. "It would be ten percent less."
DiMartino's smile evolved into a small giggle and a blush that lit up her face. «How confident he is», she thought, «no wonder he's so popular with his little classmates». She hadn't been his teacher long, only six months, and in that short time she had already heard and witnessed on her own how almost every girl in different groups yearned for him.
Unable to refuse, DiMartino shrugged.
"Great! Just let me wrap this bad boy up for you."
Still smiling, Gabriela watched as Lincoln effortlessly moved the tree to a wrapping machine that transformed it in a jiffy into a sausage of leaves and wood. Then, carrying it just as easily on his shoulders, the albino accompanied her back to the supermarket.
Once inside the store, DiMartino watched as another employee, a short, fat teenager with thick bangs that covered his eyes began to wave at Lincoln with laughter. As soon as he caught the albino's attention, the other one exclaimed, "Watch your hands, these trees already have a taste for blood!
"Hank, shut your beak or you'll eat another fly!"
Both boys laughed and went back to their business.
"What's that about?" asked Gabriela as soon as the other was out of sight.
"Oh..." The smile momentarily disappeared from Lincoln's face before returning with greater intensity and this time accompanied by a more than obvious blush, "I forgot my work gloves in my apartment on Tuesday and ended up hurting my hands using the wrapping machine."
Recalling only then her concern about the injuries to Lincoln's hand, DiMartino experienced a great relief, relief that one of her students wasn't being physically abused, and relief that she wouldn't have to alert the relevant authorities... or specifically, the annoying Oliver.
After she paid for all of her things, Lincoln walked her to her car so he could secure the tree on the roof.
"Lincoln, thank you so much for all your help," said Gabriela as she opened her car door.
"It was nothing, Miss DiMartino. It can happen to all of us that we can't find the product we've been looking for hours in the shelves... whether it's a ten-foot Christmas tree or a simple can of beans of our favorite brand, isn't that right?" commented Lincoln mockingly by way of farewell, taking the liberty of closing the door of the vehicle as soon as she sat down in the pilot's seat.
Gabriela liked the air of informal camaraderie that was beginning to form between the two of them. She no longer felt their relationship as the strict and extremely formal one that a student has with his teacher, but an atmosphere more akin to a friendship. She didn't know if it was right for her to feel such an affinity with a student, but at that moment she couldn't help but remember what he had just confided in her; how he was trying to raise enough money to leave town at the end of the school year... maybe she could help.
"Hey... Lincoln... would you like to earn fifty dollars' tomorrow?"
That wonderful smile appeared again on his face, escorted by his endearing dimples on his cheeks and crowned by his characteristic front teeth.
"Who wouldn't want to?"
Without wasting any more time, Gabriela confessed that she wouldn't be able to put up all the ornaments she had just bought on her own and that she would need help. Lincoln, keeping his smile, asked her to explain in great detail what needed to be done, and she explained that he would just have to put up a few strings of lights outside, arrange the tree so that it wouldn't fall over easily, and perhaps help her with some of the larger decorations for her yard; a relatively simple job.
As soon as they agreed, they shook hands to close the deal. And with a pen, Gabriela wrote down her address on Lincoln's palm, before suggesting he stop by after two o'clock.
-o-
Pacing incessantly from her closet to her bed, carrying some old clothes from one side of her room to dump them in the other, DiMartino began to have second thoughts about what she had said yesterday; was it really okay for one of her students to visit her home for other than school purposes? She had promised to pay him in exchange for helping her decorate, so really the situation wasn't much different than hiring someone to move a heavy piece of furniture for her, but she still had her doubts... she never thought she would go so far as to invite a young man, possibly a minor, into her home. That would surely raise a couple of eyebrows within the school staff.
And then there was the uneasiness she had about not knowing if he was really coming or if he was going to stand her up, Lincoln didn't seem to be the kind of man to break a promise, but a man she had trusted deeply had already betrayed her in the worst possible way in the past.
Throwing a big pile of clothes with more force than necessary out of her walk-in closet, Gabriela finally gave in to her nerves and checked the time on her cell phone.
Two o'clock in the afternoon.
What if he had indeed wanted to go to her home, but something had happened to him on the way? How could she answer to his parents if Lincoln had an accident and it was discovered that he was on his way to the home of one of his teachers? But before she could descend further into her neurotic spiral, the sound of the doorbell interrupted her train of thought.
Showing off the power of her legs, strengthened by endless squatting and cross-country walking routines, DiMartino descended in a matter of seconds to the first floor of her home and without paying attention to the camera on her doorbell, which would reveal who was on the other side of his door, she opened it.
Standing on his porch was a smiling Lincoln, wearing gray jeans, an orange sweatshirt without a cap, and a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Both garments somehow managed to look snug yet loose on his body, revealing in an understated way, that Lincoln had been doing heavy work for a sweet long, loooong time.
His white hair was even slicked back and gelled, a hairstyle he never wore to school... and boy, did he look good with it...
"Good afternoon, Miss DiMartino," as he felt his teacher's intense gaze sweeping over him, a nervous blush began to warm the albino's face. That appalled Gabriela; did Lincoln have the idea that it was not a good idea for him to be at his teacher's house alone with her? For some reason, Gabriela didn't want Lincoln to be uncomfortable when he was alone with her.
"No, Lincoln, please don't keep calling me that, it makes me feel old," DiMartino, seeing the way Lincoln's smile grew again as his cheeks grew even redder, wished he was blind so he wouldn't notice the blush that was beginning to color her face as well. "I'll tell you what we can do, since we're not in school and today you're going to help me with something personal why don't you just call me by my name? Let's have a little more trust."
"That sounds... I would like that very much, Gabriela..."
Gabriela's mood improved considerably when she heard Lincoln abandoning the formalities that reminded her so much of school... the same formalities that also reminded her that Lincoln was actually one of her students.
"So, tell me, how was your trip here?" Finally stepping away from the door, she gestured for the boy to enter her home, "Did you take the bus or did your parents drive you?"
Lincoln's smile grew a little, giving him back that adorable naughty-boy look, but something in that expression told DiMartino that it wasn't exactly a happy smile, but one full of bitter pride. "Nah, I came in my own car. I don't think I'll ever be allowed to drive Dad's van."
"O…okay..." All the alarm bells went off in the teacher's mind as she thought, «So there is trouble in his house!» Aloud she said. "So... would you like something to drink? I have water, soda and juice."
"Thank you, but I'm fine." Walking slowly side by side, they eventually stopped halfway across the living room. Lincoln's blue eyes focused on the tree he had sold to his teacher last night; it was still wrapped in netting and bare of ornaments and lights. "I think I should get started."
"And how long do you think it will take you to do everything I asked you?" Gabriela asked, and thinking that her words could be taken the wrong way, she hastened to add. "It's not that I'm rushing you or anything like that..."
"Just let me see if I remember everything," trying to mask his smile, a truly happy smile this time, Lincoln began to pretend to think carefully. "You had asked me to place the miles of strings of Christmas lights you bought on every possible surface, to wrap every column and every window frame with the ones I had left, to carve in ice a couple of statues displaying your incomparable beauty and place them in the garden, and to grow a baobab tree in the living room that would automatically light up. If that's all you had asked me to do, it will take me about two hours."
"Perfect," making an effort not to burst out laughing at Lincoln's witticism, DiMartino started walking towards the kitchen of her home before trying to imitate him. "And while you take care of all that, I'll try to cook a delicious feast of snacks for my handsome hero."
Determined as she was to enjoy all the Christmas traditions before moving away, Gabriela had planned from the start to bake some cookies, and what better than to do it now that she had someone else to try them for her? There was only one problem with that plan; she didn't usually bake. So focusing all her attention so that what came out of the oven would be something edible, DiMartino lost track of time until she put the gingerbread cookies in the oven, and it was then that she noticed that the house was now submerged in silence and that the clock on her cell phone indicated that an hour had already passed. Curious, she peeked into the living room.
And there was her Christmas tree waiting for her, gleaming! From its sturdy branches hung beautifully not only the crystal bubbles and tinsel she had just bought, but also hundreds of colorful lights and a couple of colorful bows and garlands.
The scene that featured the fir tree in conjunction with the fully decorated room could easily pass as a Christmas card.
"It seems that living surrounded by women ended up teaching her a thing or two about interior decoration... " said DiMartino before taking a picture of her tree with her cell phone, she would later upload it to her Snapgram profile... saying that she had decorated it herself.
And where the damn hell was Lincoln?
It didn't take her long to find him; he was in the front yard, busily securing a couple of inflatable reindeer to the ground so they wouldn't be blown away by the wind. From the state of Lincoln's tense, flushed face, he appeared to be having trouble convincing the frozen ground to cooperate, but if one looked only at the speed with which he was working on securing the ornaments, he didn't really seem to be having any trouble at all.
Maybe something had to do with the muscles of his forearms and back, well-defined muscles that grew and stood out from the fabric of his sweatshirt after every effort he made. Gabriela knew it was wrong for her to see her student with the eyes she was seeing him with at that moment, but that wasn't exactly the body of a teenager... even the absolute concentration that could be seen in his blue eyes seemed to belong more to a grown man, a handsome man, than to a boy.
Yes, Gabriela had to admit, as much as her conscious mind, her teacher's mind, was screaming at her to remind her that what she was thinking was wrong, she had to admit that Lincoln was not hard on the eyes... quite the opposite.
Wanting to celebrate his hard-earned victory against the inflatable reindeer, Lincoln raised both arms and was about to let out a shout of triumph when his eyes met Gabriela's. The smile, lovely dimples and all, returned to his face as her heart skipped a beat. Was it too obvious that she had been ogling him until moments ago?
"So, what did you think of your new living room?" Crossing his arms, giving his body a well-deserved rest, Lincoln waited for his teacher's answer, but noticing that she didn't seem to have heard him, as well as the intense blush on her cheeks, he couldn't help but ask. "Gabriela, are you all right?"
But Gabriela wasn't all right; her conscience finally made itself heard and she didn't like the things it was reproaching her for. How was it possible that she was looking at one of her students as if he wasn't one? AS IF HE WASN'T A MERE TEENAGER?!
Gabriela didn't know for sure whether or not if Lincoln was a minor, but what she did know was that he was at least fifteen years younger than she was. And that, her conscience concluded, was reason enough to force her to stay away from him.
"Do you need anything?" She was quick to ask, although she really wanted to congratulate him on the great job he had done decorating her living room and the tree.
Confused, for it was obvious that he had not expected such a cold response from the woman who had been so friendly to him, Lincoln replied.
"I'm almost done here. I just need to check that all the sets of Christmas lights run just fine before I get on the ladder I brought to start setting them up."
"If you need anything, I'll be upstairs. Let me know when you're done."
Trying desperately to distract herself from the guilt she felt at having spoken to Lincoln so coldly, and also of the shame she felt at remembering the thoughts he had provoked in her, and now alone in her room again, Gabriela stared at the pile of clothes she had unceremoniously dumped at the foot of her bed just before Lincoln knocked on her door. She looked back at her walk-in closet and discovered that it had barely made a difference; the closet was still on the verge of overflowing. Adding to her gloominess was the discouragement of her inability to get rid of her old clothes and donate them to charity, as she had originally planned to do.
DiMartino started grabbing as many clothes as she could to indiscriminately pull them out of the closet, but she didn't last long doing that, as she soon came across a pink bag she recognized immediately; it was the Bunny's Secret lingerie she had bought as a surprise for her ex-fiancé... when she didn't yet know that he actually liked the sweaty boxers of a muscle-bound blue-collar worker from Great Lakes. She had never gotten to wear them in front of anyone...
Either way, she needed to distract herself, that probably still fit, and there is no better way for a woman to distract herself than to discover that the lingerie she had bought over a full year ago still fit!
Determined, Gabriela pulled the sweater she had been wearing over her head before tossing it unceremoniously on the bed. She then pulled her thermal pants down to her knees and, in trying to quickly remove them, ended up falling down with all the grace of a hardened drunk on a Monday morning « Ow, wasn't that sexy» she thought mockingly before getting back to her feet. She reached both hands behind her back and unclasped her bra. As that garment fell to the floor, Gabriela removed her panties as well and then, completely naked, reached into the bag and pulled out the lingerie. And after ripping off the price tags, she slowly slid the garments over her body.
Once she was dressed again, and without wanting to waste a single second, she stood in front of her full-length mirror. Looking at her reflection, she wondered why she was still suffering from love issues when she could get any man she wanted. The red lace bra molded perfectly to her perky breasts. She caressed them gently with the palm of both hands, enjoying how they bounced, responding to every movement she impressed upon them. Yes, sir! A healthy, natural C-cup, which on her shapely body seemed even larger. Turning around, but still staring at the mirror, Gabriela reached down and pulled up the elastic of the matching red thong. Her ass looked .LOUS!
And speaking of the fact that she could have any man she wanted... taking some racy pictures and creating a Finder profile with them wouldn't be a bad way to say goodbye to the town either.
Emboldened, Gabriela grabbed her cell phone and took a picture, just as she was, showing off the magnificent ass that years of squats and exercise had forged. Then she changed poses and took another, this time from the front. Then she took another one, and then another, and another, and kept taking pictures until the loud sound of a thud brought her out of her reverie. It had sounded like metal and something else hitting the ground. The thud was followed by a groan, deep and long.
It was only then that she remembered the teen who was helping her with the decorations! With her heart about to leap out of her throat, Gabriela grabbed an old bathrobe that was in the bundle of clothes she had just taken out of the closet, and hurried down the stairs. Running, she left the house, and in the yard found Lincoln on the ground, lying over a fallen ladder.
"Oh damn!" She shouted, as she ran across her barely snow covered front yard. "Lincoln, Lincoln, are you all right?!"
"Yeah, I didn't break me anything… I think," Lincoln groaned his joke before turning away from the folding ladder and slowly sitting up. He looked a little beat up, but nothing too serious. He looked fine to the naked eye, but he might still have a concussion. And that would be a real nightmare; a student with a head injury caused under her care and on her property.
Gabriela covered her mouth, wondering if his parents would sue her as soon as he told them or if they would wait for the whole town to find out just to then sue her.
"Tell me, did you... did you... did you... did you hit your head?" she asked, almost holding her breath.
"I don't know... I don't think so... but I know that I don't need to go to a doctor." Although she had experienced some relief at hearing them, Gabriela ignored those words, she would be the one to judge whether he needed to go to a doctor or not.
"Tell me, what happened?"
"I was at the top of the ladder when it started falling over and then... it fell over! I think I had put the ladder on some ice... I can't remember..." Suddenly, Lincoln's face lit up as if all his blood had gathered under the skin of his cheeks as his eyes focused on her body.
"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you, let's get you checked out by some doctor and then..." But as soon as she said that, Gabriela's shoulders tensed up again, "Oh DAMN!"
Ignoring what had caught his attention at first, and rather surprised, for apart from his old elementary school teacher, Miss Johnson, he had never heard a teacher say a swear word aloud, Lincoln followed Gabriela's astonished gaze to his left hand, where from a wound right on his palm blood was gushing copiously.
"Come with me!" commanded the teacher before taking him firmly by the arm and almost dragging him back inside the house, right into the kitchen.
«Okay, first I should... what should I do? Well, stop the bleeding, of course! Then I'll take him to a doctor and talk to his parents» Her shoulders slumped with that last thought; the idea of spending her last months in town fighting a malpractice suit was far from ideal.
Without saying anything to him, Gabriela took Lincoln's hand and placed it inside her sink before letting the tap water run freely, quickly cleaning the blood from the wound.
"I want you to keep your hand under the stream of water and don't move," even though he did as she told him, Lincoln's gaze was once again fixed on her body, "I'll go get the first aid kit and then we'll see if you need stitches or anything like that."
Gabriela didn't stay long enough to hear what he answered, because immediately afterwards she left the kitchen and, almost running, went to the bathroom, where she had some bandages and hydrogen peroxide. Without taking more than the minimum time necessary to take in her arms everything she thought she needed to treat Lincoln before taking him to the emergency room of a hospital, Gabriela quickly returned to her injured student.
Although when she returned she found Lincoln where she had left him, it was obvious that the boy had wandered for a moment away from the sink; for the oven was now off and the gingerbread cookies were cooling on the kitchen counter.
"Gabriela, I told you I didn't need a doctor or anything like that, look! I'm not bleeding anymore..."
She ignored that statement and using a little more force than necessary, for she was not pleased that he disobeyed her, she took Lincoln's wounded limb between her two hands. And indeed, now clean, the cut on his hand didn't look as deep or as long as she had first thought... or at least it didn't look as big compared to the hand itself; with both hands holding his palm, Gabriela discovered that Lincoln's fingers had taken a full phalanx out of hers.
Would what's said of men with large hands apply to him?
Realizing what she had just wondered about her student, Gabriela hurried to clean the cut with hydrogen peroxide and wrap it in a bandage.
"How are you felling?"
He responded by nodding his head slowly, his eyes fixed once again on her body.
Squinting, Gabriela studied Lincoln's goofy expression; his mouth was ajar and his eyes were wide open. This time it was her turn to follow Lincoln's gaze with her eyes, and as soon as she looked down she realized that her robe was unbuttoned, leaving her body covered only by quasi-transparent lingerie in full view of her student, her student who was quite possibly underage! With a scream trapped inside her throat and her face painfully red, she grabbed the ends of the robe and yanked them closed, then tied it tightly.
"I'm sorry! I'm REALLY SORRY!" Trembling with embarrassment, Gabriela tried not to think about how long she had been wearing the robe completely open in front of Lincoln. "I was trying on some clothes I don't wear anymore before getting rid of them, I hope this doesn't make you uncomfortable."
"Why would I be uncomfortable if you look so good dressed like that...?" judging by the alienated expression on his pale face, Gabriela guessed that he hadn't meant to say that out loud... that didn't stop a smile from settling on her face as his blushed when he realized what he had said. "No! I mean, I... uhhh... I was done with the lights before I fell! Yeah, that. Would you like... hmm... to see how it all turned out?"
Nodding silently, Gabriela followed him into the front yard, making sure that this time her robe stayed properly closed.
Indicating where she should stand, Lincoln returned inside the home and quickly turned on the outdoor lighting. Immediately hundreds of bulbs lit up in a myriad of colors, beautifully illuminating her home and causing a comforting warmth to begin to grow in her heart. With tears welling up in her fascinated eyes, Gabriela turned to see Lincoln and with a smile on her face, and all the misunderstanding of the fall and her robe out of her mind, she joined him at the entrance to her home.
"Thank you so much, Lincoln," Gabriela said, resting a hand on his chest, but then she realized what she was doing and pulled her hand away quickly. She shouldn't be touching him... not after what had just happened "I... uhhh... I think I'll go back inside... if you're done with the decorations, call me when you finish arranging the discharged packages and everything else in the garage."
Returning to the interior of her home at full speed, Gabriela climbed the stairs and locked herself in her room. It was only when she was certain she was alone that she ripped off the old robe that had failed to cover her half-naked body and her eyes focused on the full-length mirror. The lingerie she was wearing was, for all practical purposes, transparent. The dark skin of her nipples was effortlessly visible, as were the short pubic hairs that covered her sex... «I COULD SAY THAT LINCOLN LOUD JUST SAW ME NAKED!»
That thought made her heart race... and her crotch moisten... «Lincoln Loud just saw me naked…»
"Oh damn, what's wrong with me?" she groaned, disgusted and confused at her body's reaction to discovering that one of her students had seen her in lingerie. "I only reacted that way because I'm nervous about the reaction his parents will have when they find out that he hurt himself while helping me... yes sir... it was only because I'm nervous."
But fifteen minutes later, when Lincoln rang the doorbell to surely tell her that he was finally done with the cleaning and takin out the trash, the front door opened revealing DiMartino still in her robe... and even though her cheeks were still red, just like his, neither of them had any kind of problem maintaining eye contact.
"I'm done," said Lincoln.
"Oh, well, just give me a moment," Gabriela hurriedly disappeared into her home and after a couple of seconds she returned carrying a plastic container full of cookies and her purse.
"First, take these," she said, handing him the gingerbread cookies. Then Gabriela reached into her purse and pulled out fifty dollars. She was about to give it to him, but stopped herself. "I probably owe you more than this, you know... for the accident."
But Lincoln ignored her and took the money.
"You've already given me more than enough reward," he said with a big smile. "See you later, Gabriela."
Lincoln walked away, moving toward a white Ford Fiesta parked in front of the house, and Gabriela slowly closed the door as soon as she saw her student's car drive away down the road.
Once she was home alone again, she covered her face with her hands "this shouldn't have happened". Why had she thought it a good idea to model lingerie with a student at home? The weeks after the winter school dance, when she would meet him again in class, would surely be the most awkward of her career.
Taking a cookie between her fingers, she thought again of the smirk with which Lincoln had said goodbye. She also replayed in her mind the last words he had said to her. What was that 'You've already given me more than enough reward' supposed to mean?
Gabriela's eyes widened as the realization hit her.
"You fucking cocky bastard," she said aloud, devouring the whole cookie in one bite. "Well... at least now I know that someone still thinks I'm sexy..."
What did you think? Did you like it? Didn't like it?
I'll be waiting all day for your answer... and if I'm not... well, just leave me your insults as a review or as a private message to read it later.
Don't forget; you read this crap with me first... because no one else would stoop so low.