by Sam Crescent
“You don’t have a car?” he asked.
“Nope. My parents don’t think it’s logical me having a car just yet. They want me to focus on my studies and, you know, walk.”
Jack saw there was some other underlying reason, but he didn’t say anything, or even ask. Teenage girls had a lot of drama in their lives, and he wasn’t about to delve into that kind of sticky mess.
“I don’t feel it would be good for you to walk home. I will take you.”
“You really don’t need to do that.”
“Yeah, I really do. I don’t like the thought of you walking home alone, and it’s the least I can do.”
She cringed. “Isn’t that kind of wrong?”
“What?”
“A teacher offering a student a ride home?”
He chuckled. “I’m being a gentleman here, Lucia. You’re perfectly safe with me. I promise nothing will happen. I just want to make sure you’re safe. I’d do it for every single student. You’re the one with all the power here, Lucia. You can make me lose my job by saying one bad word.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’d never do something like that.”
“And I won’t let anything happen to a student.”
He saw she looked nervous, but she nodded her head.
“We all good?” he asked.
“Yes, perfectly good.”
Urging her forward, he walked her toward his car. Pulling his key out, he opened it up and placed his bag in the trunk of the car. Climbing in the driver’s side, the sudden hint of strawberries hit him.
Lucia had leaned to the side and strapped herself in. The large bag she carried was on the floor between her legs.
He liked the smell, and quickly opening a window, he turned over the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. She kept tapping her fingers against the door. He found the sound oddly soothing as she kept up the same beat.
“So, how am I doing in English?” he asked. He’d never taught Lucia, not even when he was temping for the other English teacher who’d quit.
“You’re doing really well,” she said. “This is not your first class, is it?”
“No, it’s not my first.”
“Whatever you do, don’t show that you’re nervous. They will eat you up and spit you back out.”
He burst out laughing. “I was a kid once, you know. I know what I’m doing.”
“Yeah, I get that. It was a good lesson. I know several girls are already happy that you’re teaching English this year.”
He didn’t like how uncomfortable that made him. Even in this past week he’d noticed a couple of the girls opening their shirts, exposing their bras. He wasn’t interested in them, not even a little bit.
“So, what do you think of poetry?” he asked.
She groaned. “I’m not good with poetry. I find it a little boring.”
“You think it’s boring?”
“What good is it?”
“You don’t think some poetry is romantic?”
“I guess,” she said. “I mean, some of it is funny. You know the odd little rhyme and stuff, but it’s not great. I don’t think you can get great romance unless it’s in a book.”
“Books can be a little too long to help express your feelings, Lucia. Poetry provides a quick outlet for some of our rawer feelings. It delves deep into ourselves, to find those words that mean so much to us.”
“You ever thought that past writers and authors just wrote something for the sheer hell of it?”
“Sure.”
She chuckled. “I sometimes wonder if Shakespeare can see, you know, the whole heaven and hell thing. If there was one and Shakespeare was looking down on us all, and he’d just say, dude, it was a fucking play or a story. A lame-ass betrayal, or that sucks of a love story.”
Jack couldn’t help but be entertained by her views. “That is really good.”
“I don’t know,” she said, shrugging. “I sometimes think we put more into stories than is actually there.”
“We probably do. Stories speak to all of us in different ways. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy and has so much to also do with families, the feuding of families as well.”
“I love the Leo and Claire version better than the book,” Lucia said. “I love to read, I really do, but the way they talk. It’s, like, really off-putting.” She wrinkled her nose. “I do love stories and words. I am a great believer in the pen being mightier or stronger.”
“It’s mightier,” he said.
She gave him directions to her home, and as they were coming up ahead, he couldn’t believe that it had already taken him thirty minutes by car. Talking with her had been a real pleasure.
“This your house?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s my parents’.”
The house was huge, at least three floors, with a large driveway. “What do your parents do?” he asked.
“One is a research assistant in a laboratory, and the other is a partner in a law firm,” she said. “Thank you so much for the ride, Mr. Parker.”
She released her seatbelt, and the car smelled like strawberries once again. He watched her climb out and said goodbye.
Jack waited until she was safely in the house before turning around and going in the opposite direction.
He stopped by to grab that burger he wanted, making sure they wrapped it up to keep warm. Pulling up into his drive, he grabbed his food and his bag out of the trunk. Entering his home, he locked the door immediately behind him. Living and teaching in the city had taught him to always lock his door.
Taking a beer out of the fridge, he pulled the cap off and went straight to his backyard table. The evening was warm, and he didn’t plan to be stuck inside all day. The stack of papers demanded his attention. Sipping at his beer in between bites of his juicy burger, he got through the stack of paperwork.
At the end of it, he sat back, resting his head in his locked fingers as he did. His thoughts returned to Lucia. Considering the home he’d just taken her to, she didn’t seem like a spoiled little brat.
He’d spotted her when she first entered his classroom today. She carried that bag like a lifeline, her head always bowed, even when she’d been near her locker or walking up and down the halls. Her long hair cascaded down around her.
When Connor had said that nasty shit to her, he’d been pissed.
She’d merely taken it though, even all the giggles that had followed the nasty statement. Compared to the other girls, yes, she was bigger, but that didn’t make her fat or ugly.
“It’s not your problem, Jack. Just carry on doing what you do.”
He picked up the empty beer bottle and work, heading back inside. The last thing he needed right now was to think about one of his students.
All students mattered to him.
When he realized he wanted to be a teacher, he’d given himself three rules. One, never ever fuck a student. Two, never ever fall for a student. Three, don’t ever break any of the first two rules.
None of them would ever be broken, ever.
Chapter Two
Entering her quiet house, Lucia leaned against the door, hating the loneliness that always crept over her when she came home. She’d been a surprise baby to her parents, and they hadn’t wanted a repeat of that nasty little surprise. Releasing a breath, she moved away from the door. She went straight to her bedroom, tossing her bag on the bed and collapsing.
“You’re better than this.” She gritted her teeth, running a hand across her face in an attempt to gain some sanity. Life wasn’t supposed to be like this. She felt a little broken just thinking about the last week.
The same old crap, just a brand new day and week.
“Enough!” She wouldn’t allow their mean words to get to her. For a long time, she’d lived with it.
Getting up from her bed, she took a quick shower, changing into a skirt and blouse. Her parents didn’t like her boyish style for school. She didn’t have many skirts and dresses. They were kept neatly folded at the back of her
closet. Opening up her textbook, she went through several of the test papers that had been handed out for them to study, and to be prepared for in upcoming tests in class. When that was done, she checked her cell to see if there was anything from Marie. Nothing.
Just as she was about to watch a movie she heard her parents arriving home. She ventured out of her room to see them in the doorway talking. They carried a takeout bag from some kind of vegan restaurant, which meant she had tofu in some weird ass sauce for dinner. Yay.
“I got you your favorite,” her mother said.
“Yum.”
She left her parents to sit at the table, taking a bottle of water for each of them from the fridge. They didn’t believe in drinking wine or soda like normal parents. They wouldn’t do anything that could damage their brain cells.
“How was work?” she asked.
It wasn’t long before they were talking about their jobs. Her father’s latest case, her mother’s latest research.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to pick you up,” her father said. “It was so last-minute that it completely slipped my mind.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“She got home safely enough,” her mother said. “Walking is good for her.”
Lucia gritted her teeth and didn’t tell them her teacher had brought her home because he was actually worried.
“How was school?” her mother asked.
“Fine. It was fine. I’ve got a couple of tests to get through.”
“Tests? What kind?” This came from her father.
“Pretty standard stuff. I think it’s just to help some of the new teachers see where we’re at in our grades,” she said.
“New teachers? Bill, do we know any new teachers that have moved here?”
“No.”
Lucia tuned out as they started talking about the educational system and how flawed it all was. The tofu had way too much garlic and ginger. She hated it and pushed it around her plate, not wanting to take another bite.
“So, I was thinking about you joining a gym,” her mother said.
“Pat, not now.”
“We need to do something, and we all know sticking around the house is not healthy for her.”
“You want me to join a gym now?” Lucia stared at her mother, and she couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
“I’m just saying, honey, it will do you good. It’ll get you out there. Maybe help you make friends.”
“You do know I’m nearly eighteen, and I’ve got Marie.”
“But all you girls do is watch movies. It’s time you got out there and did something.” Her mother leaned over and kissed her head. “I only want what’s best for you.”
Her weight was always a problem for her mother. For as long as she could remember, she’d been on some diet or other. From milkshakes, to controlled calorie meals, to everything. She’d even forced her to go to one of those weird psycho doctors that told you to hold the fruit. That didn’t last long. The small satsuma that had been in her hand, she crushed with how angry she was.
“You know, I’m not very hungry right now. I’m going to go and head up. Do my homework.”
“We’re going away for the weekend,” her dad said.
“I know.” She got to her feet, kissing them both before disappearing to her room. Diving onto the bed, she quickly called Marie.
“What’s up?”
“Parental problems, as always. What ya doing?”
“I am painting my nails blue. It seems like a garish color, and I know my mom hates it. I know, lame, but I don’t care right now. Do you know she wants me to go to camp to help out?”
Lucia chuckled. “Mom wants me to join a gym, which means she already has me signed up at one. Probably with a horrible instructor that is going to make me run. I don’t know how I’m going to get out of it.”
“Your mother’s a bitch. Sorry, she is.”
She sighed. “It’s not that bad.”
“You’re about to be forced to work out. Isn’t that, like, child abuse or something?”
“Or something? I don’t know.” She got up and looked at the mirror. “I guess I could work to lose a couple of pounds. I just don’t want to do it in front of everyone. You know, I can’t stand that. Ugh, this is so frustrating right now.”
“I think you’re totally fine. You have these huge boobs that I would kill for. I have to pad mine out, and if I get it wrong, I look stupid.”
Lucia giggled. She remembered the first time Marie had done it. She couldn’t stop laughing for days after. For a good few years now, Lucia didn’t have to pad anything. Her tits were one hundred percent real. Turning to the side, she saw she wasn’t slender.
Marie talked about some of her studies for a few more minutes and then screamed as her baby brother ran into the room. “I’ve got to go, Lucia, talk soon.”
Before she could say anything, Marie hung up.
Throwing her cell phone on the bed, she turned this way and that. Her stomach grumbled, and she opened her door, about to head downstairs when she heard both of her parents in the kitchen. Sitting down, she pressed her hands together, listening, waiting.
“You need to lighten up with Lucia. She’s perfectly fine the way she is.”
“Bill, stop kidding yourself, okay? I get it. She’s our little girl and we want to protect her forever, but that’s not going to happen.”
“Just … give her a break on her weight.”
She heard her mother huff. “She doesn’t date, Bill. Not once has a guy come around to ask to go out with her. She’s not going to know what it’s like to have that rush of a guy wanting to be with you. There’s no way that isn’t lonely.”
“I don’t want our little girl dating. Damn it, Pat, I’ve become our own fucking parents here.”
“Language. Look, we were never meant to have Lucia,” Pat said.
“But we did, okay? We did, and between the stupid fucking nannies and everything in between, I don’t even know if I know our own daughter.”
“We know our girl.”
“No, we know her grades and, because you like to print it on the fridge, her BMI as well.”
Resting her elbows on her knees, Lucia ran her fingers through her hair, resting, waiting, listening.
“I just want her to have everything a normal girl her age should be having. I don’t want her to get diabetes or be laughed at. I wasn’t like her in school, Bill. I was the popular girl. You know that, so even though we don’t talk about it, we all know exactly what’s happening to her. Boys are laughing at her, girls are pushing her. I don’t want her to have that kind of senior year.”
“She’s nothing like us, Pat. I want you to lay off her. We’ve already missed so much, and we’re missing more. We’re going away to London, and we’re leaving her here.”
“She wouldn’t like either of our conferences. It’s boring, and she probably has something set up with Marie anyway. Lots of movies and bad food galore.”
She’d listened to enough. Getting to her feet, she ignored her grumbling stomach and went back to her room, being careful to close the door. She’d never been close to her parents. In fact, for a long time, when she was a kid she’d thought her nanny was her mommy. She’d even called her nanny “Mommy” in front of them, and the next day a new nanny arrived.
Sitting on her bed, Lucia twiddled her thumbs before finally glancing up toward the mirror. Her mother hadn’t liked her weight for so long that it was like a never-ending debate between them.
Her mother wanted her to be slim. She didn’t really care about any of that. Her weight never felt like a problem to her, just to everyone else. Standing up once again, she stared at herself in the mirror. Her tits were too big, and so were her thighs, which jiggled and rubbed together. She couldn’t pull off tight pants as they showed her extra pounds in a not so flattering way. Her ass curved out, as did her stomach, and she just wasn’t the perfect size.
She was … fat.
Why did
people treat her like it was a crime to be this way? She’d never hurt anyone or been mean. She always helped the elderly lady across the road, or the frazzled mother carry groceries to her car. Babies laughed when she pulled funny faces, and she worked damn hard at school.
So why was it such a fucking problem to be fat?
She gritted her teeth as she felt the never-ending tears begin to start in her eyes. This wasn’t what she wanted.
Her senior year was supposed to be perfect.
When someone knocked on her door, she quickly sat on the edge of her bed and grabbed her chemistry book. Science was such a hard subject for her that she had to study twice as hard to get a decent grade.
“Come in,” she said.
“Hey, honey. I just thought I’d check on you.”
“Hey, Dad. What’s up?”
“You didn’t eat anything, and I know you don’t like tofu.” She didn’t have to turn around as she saw him place a sandwich with a couple of snacks on a plate for her.
“Thank you.”
He moved to sit beside her, and she tried to hide the tears from her eyes.
“You heard all of that?” her dad asked.
“What?”
“I know you were listening on the stairs.”
She turned toward him and frowned. “What?”
“Your door. I heard you leave the room.” He took her hand, and she sighed. “I think you’re fine the way you are, Lucia.”
It was a lie. They both knew it, but he was trying to be the nice parent, the better one.
“Thanks, Dad.”
She could tell he wanted to say more, but he didn’t speak another word. Instead, he kissed her temple, and she watched him leave her room, closing the door behind him. Her mother wouldn’t take the trip. She never came to see her.
Grabbing the plate of food, she picked up the sandwich. Ham and cheese was her favorite. She took a bite just as her stomach grumbled. It tasted good. She chewed the food and stared at herself in the mirror. Her gaze landed on her mouth, her puffed-out cheeks, and she just knew something had to change.
Maybe if she started doing some brisk walking or maybe some running. She would do something just to show that she was dropping a few pounds, and then maybe her mother would leave her alone.