by Sam Crescent
“I’m going to go and help.” He made his way toward Marie. “I’ll hold this for her.”
“You sure? I’m afraid of heights so I can’t go up there.”
“I’ve got it.”
Holding the ladder, he watched as Lucia pinned the large banner to the wall.
“Right, I’m coming down.”
She stepped down the ladder, and he held it.
Her ass came to his face, and the scent of strawberries was intense.
“Step away, Marie, I’ve got to step off.”
“It’s not Marie,” he said.
She gasped and turned to see him. “Jack. I mean, Mr. Parker.”
“What you just did was careless and irresponsible.”
“I do this all the time. You’ve seen me do it before.”
“I didn’t know you then. You don’t do this again,” he said.
“I like to help.”
“You can help, just do it where you’re safe.”
Her gaze moved past his shoulder. “Marie was holding the ladder.”
“She wouldn’t have been able to help you if you’d started to fall. Do not put yourself in danger again. You may not think people care, but believe me when I say there are people who do.”
He didn’t want to move away, but her body was like a flame to him, and he forced himself to step back.
The past few weeks, he’d been able to get his shit together, and now there was no fucking chance of that.
“Your parents are coming?” he asked.
“They said they would. I don’t know if they’ll actually show up.”
“They should show up. You’re worth showing up for.”
She smiled. “I appreciate that.”
“Hey, sorry, but Mr. Parker said that he had that ladder,” Marie said, coming to them. She held a soda out to Lucia.
“Thank you,” she said. “It’s fine. The banner is up, and everything is all set.”
“I want to know why those boys were not the ones up the ladder.”
“They never do it,” Marie said. “A bunch of wimps if you ask me.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind doing it. I can handle putting up a banner.”
He wanted to say more but the principal came in, and it was time for him to get back to his classroom as parents made their way inside.
The night went by rather fast; too fast as far as he was concerned.
He was putting away his notebook as Lucia knocked at his door.
“Sorry to bother you, I don’t suppose you have a report card for me to take home, do you?” she asked.
He’d completely forgotten about Lucia’s parents. “A no-show?”
“It’s not exactly a surprise to me.” She chuckled. “This was something the principal arranged so my help doesn’t go unrewarded.”
“They should be here, Lucia. You’re important to them.”
“I know. I know. It’s just … I was the mistake,” she said. “You know, they both have these amazing careers, and I shouldn’t have been born.”
“Do I look like I give a shit about that?” he asked. “You’re here now. They need to learn to care. To fucking be here for you.”
He saw tears in her eyes. “Thank you for the report card.”
She was leaving his classroom, and he was pissed off.
Closing up his room, he saw Beth waiting for him. “So, I was thinking we could go and get a drink.”
“I can’t. I’ve got things to do. Take Coleman. He’d love to go for a drink with you again.” He’d had to sit beside Coleman several times and listen to how much of a catch she was. He was bored and tired of hearing of the same old shit.
He got it.
Beth was a total babe, and kinky as fuck in the sack. Again, he didn’t care.
He had a lot of other things on his mind. Important things.
Leaving the school, he went to his car, and saw Lucia up ahead, walking.
She was always fucking walking.
It pissed him off.
She shouldn’t be walking this late at night.
Just because it was a small town didn’t mean she wasn’t at risk of being hurt or worse.
Climbing into his car, he drove the short distance toward her. “Get in,” he said.
“You really don’t need to do this.”
“Do I look like I’m fucking kidding right now? Get in.” Yes, his anger was starting to get the better of him, and he needed, really needed, to control his shit right now.
She stared at the car then at him. “I’m perfectly fine.”
“I swear, Lucia, do you want people to witness me picking you up and dumping you in my car? Right now, I’d even put you in my trunk. Don’t even get smart with me either.” He saw the attitude coming from her. “You’d fit.”
She glared. “It would be a tight fit.”
“You’d fucking fit so don’t start with me.”
“It’s not fitting for you to use that kind of language.”
“Bite me. Get in the car. I’m not arguing. I will make you.”
She rolled her eyes and moved toward his car. She opened the door and climbed inside. “There, happy?”
“Not completely, but for now it will do. Strap in.”
“You’ve not got far to go.”
“My car. My rules.”
She strapped on her seatbelt, and as he tapped on his steering wheel, he had several choices. The right choice was to take her home, and not listen to this need calling inside him to do something.
He ignored that, and instead, he spun the car around, going in the opposite direction of her house.
“Where are we going?”
“I’m not taking you home just yet.”
“Why not?”
“They should have come to your parent-teacher night. You shouldn’t be returning cards for them to read through.”
“They’re really busy, Jack. They don’t have time.”
“Don’t have time for their own kid? My parents were fucking useless at giving a shit. Their careers were the most important thing to them, and guess what, they still had time for me. They still went to my school and dealt with all my problems. That is bullshit.”
She was silent, and he kept on driving.
He headed out of town.
It was a Friday, so a lot places were packed full. He knew a nice little diner and drive-thru that sold burgers and fries.
“Do you want to eat in or in the car?” he asked.
“Eat in.”
He saw the challenge in her eyes. “More than fine to me.”
Climbing out of the car, he took several steps toward the diner. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
Jack stopped and turned toward her. “We won’t.”
“I can eat in the car.”
“We won’t get into trouble. We’re out of town. I’ve never seen anyone else even come here. We’re both safe here. So long as you don’t mind being seen with an old man, that is.”
She smiled. “Then sure. Why not?”
Taking her hand, he made his way into the diner. He found the booth and slid the menu toward her.
“Pick something.”
She opened it up and scanned the menu.
“You’re sure?”
“I’ve brought you here. The house special is pretty amazing if I do say so myself.”
“Then I’ll have that.”
He ordered for the both of them, and sat back in his seat, watching her. The scent of strawberry was still heavy in the air, and he loved the smell.
“You have two career-obsessed parents?”
“Yes, both of them are lawyers.”
“And you’re not.”
“Much to their annoyance, yes. Law didn’t appeal to me. I don’t like it, never have. They assumed my passion for teaching was just some lame-ass excuse. It wasn’t. I was very fucking serious.”
“You do love teaching?”
“I do. I think education is important, and I’m not giving y
ou some bullshit here either. I’m telling you the truth. We can learn a lot by learning, by understanding, by thinking. Some teachers are naturally gifted and can have every single student eating out of the palm of their hands, and others, they’re useless. They can’t even hold a classroom together.”
“But you love it?”
“Yes, I love it. It’s … magical. Especially when you find a student who is passionate or special. They have a talent for writing and telling stories. I’d love to find that person.” He watched her and smiled. “You’re not special at writing.”
She burst out laughing. “I didn’t think I was. That poem took me hours to write. It was so hard. I didn’t want to just do something stupid.”
He chuckled. “Well, we’ll see if your story-telling is any better soon.”
“I have no talent for writing. I know that.”
“What do you want to be?” he asked. “Have you gotten a focus point? Do you see where your passion is?”
“I don’t know. It has been a weird couple of weeks so far. Everything seemed to have tilted on its axis, and I’ve been stuck in a rut on what to do.”
“And now?”
“And now, I’m still in the same place. It’s just not as tilted, if that makes sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.”
“I had so many hopes and dreams for senior year. I imagined people would let go of pettiness.”
“No one lets it go. It stays with you everywhere you go, Lucia. You’ve got to learn to fight those feelings.”
“I’m getting that, which is why the other day I stood up to Connor. I insinuated he had tiny balls and dick. It was weird, but it felt really good. Who knew insulting someone could actually make me feel better.” She winced. “Nope, it didn’t. It was just nice to see him shocked that I stood up for myself for a change.” She paused. “I don’t ever stand up for myself.”
“You should.”
“What were you like in high school?” she asked.
He chuckled. He couldn’t help it. “You really want to know?”
“I wouldn’t ask.”
“Be careful what you ask for. I was the rebel. The bad boy.”
“You were?”
“Yes. I did what I wanted when I wanted it. I didn’t care who stood in my way. All that mattered to me was getting what I wanted.”
“Wow, really? That doesn’t seem who you are now?”
“It’s not. I’m different now. I know what I love.”
“Teaching?”
“Yes. It is a passion of mine, and I never want to give it up.”
“You’re a pretty good teacher.”
“Well, I have some pretty awesome students who listen.”
She smiled, and those dimples were back again.
The food was brought to their table, and he watched her grab her burger and take a bite. “Oh, wow, you know, I didn’t know I could miss actual food.”
“What do you mean?”
“My mom has got me on a vegan diet right now. So falafel, cauliflower pizza, stuff like that; tofu, tahini. Yuck. I mean seriously. It’s not real food.”
“That does suck.”
“Yeah, add into that I’ve got to join this gym that she keeps going on about.”
“Why don’t you say no?” he asked.
“It’s kind of hard to say no to your mom.”
“You’re going away to college soon. What are you going to do then?”
“I don’t know. I guess you’re right, but it’s just easier to do what she wants.”
He wanted to say so much more, but he couldn’t. His hands were tied on this one. Picking up his own burger, he took a large bite, relishing the taste as the juicy meat rolled over his tongue. It had been a long time since he’d come here, and it was one of his favorite places in the entire world.
“I suppose I could tell her I’m running,” she said.
He glanced over at her, and her cheeks were flushed. “You are running.”
“Not really. I try, but I get a stitch in my side.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
She picked up a fry, taking a bite. “I like this.”
“The food?”
“No, your company. Besides Marie, I think you’re the first person to treat me like an actual person, and I do like that.”
“You are a person, Lucia.” Just one with a few extra curves.
He shouldn’t have taken her to his diner. This was the place where he liked to come to in order to think.
Taking a student to dinner wasn’t what he was supposed to fucking do.
Even as he was all over the place inside his head, he smiled so Lucia didn’t realize that anything was up.
“I appreciate this,” she said.
“What?”
“This, taking me out. I mean, not taking me out, out, but just, you know, giving me some company before I head home. It’s nice.”
“I’m sorry your parents were a no-show.”
“Not your fault. You don’t have to say sorry for them. I didn’t even expect them to come. They never did any other time of the year, why now?”
“You’re alone a lot?”
“They work a lot and travel.”
“They do that together?” he asked.
“Most of the time. I told you, I was the mistake child. They weren’t supposed to have me, and I think if they both believed in abortion I wouldn’t be here.”
He didn’t like that one bit.
“Don’t think like that. They’re your parents. They love you.”
This made her laugh. “No law says they’re supposed to. Take care of me, yes. That’s what any normal person is supposed to do. Love me, they don’t have to.”
He stared at her for a long time, not really sure what to make of her statement. “Do you think they don’t love you?”
“Most of the time I don’t know.”
They finished their food, and he turned the conversation to safer topics, school, upcoming projects. He asked her about her science assignment, and a few other things. Time flew by so fast that it seemed within a blink of an eye he was already parked outside of her home. The lights were on, but the curtains were closed.
“They’re home,” she said.
“I can see that.”
“Thank you for tonight. I really do appreciate it.”
She opened the door and climbed out.
“I enjoyed it, Lucia.”
She bent down, giving him a smile. “Me too, Jack.”
He watched her close the door and waited until she was inside.
It was the first time he could ever recall not wanting a woman to leave his company. He’d never had a long-term relationship. He’d always found women particularly boring, and they weren’t worth his time after a few fucks.
“You shouldn’t have taken her to the diner. You shouldn’t keep giving her lifts home.”
There were a lot of things he shouldn’t be doing, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from doing all of them. She called to him, and he knew that was wrong.
It was all wrong.
Every single part of it.
She was his student.
Underage.
Forbidden.
Wrong.
He shouldn’t be anywhere near her.
The best thing he could do was ask for her to be transferred to another class.
Entering his home, Jack knew he couldn’t do that.
There was a trust between them, and he didn’t want to be someone else in her life that ruined that trust.
Fuck.
He couldn’t hurt her.
He didn’t want to.
He was screwed.
Chapter Six
“As I’m sure you’re all aware, there was an attack outside of Beyer Hill High School Saturday night,” Coach Coleman said.
Marie grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze, and Lucia offered the same comfort back to her best friend. She’d heard the news. A woman had gotten a flat, parked at
the school, and a guy had walked over, offering to help, and the next thing, she’d been screaming.
He was about to rape her when he heard the sirens of the approaching sheriff. It had been scary, and all over the town within a matter of hours. The woman was relatively fine, shaken, scared, as they all were.
Her father had wanted to give her the car, but her mother still forbade it and told her she was to run home. She didn’t even argue.
Her gaze landed on Jack Parker. He’d been warning her about this.
It was Monday, and she’d heard that each year from junior up had been taken into the gym to be taught some self-defense.
She stood in her shorts and shirt with the school logo across her breast. He’d seen her in shorts before, but this felt more intimate. This emphasized that she was a high school girl, and she didn’t want him to see that, or to think of her as a young girl.
“What are you staring at?” Marie asked.
“Nothing. I’m listening.”
“So, with that in mind, the principal has asked me to conduct some self-defense lessons. Now, this attack was real. That poor woman is in the hospital recovering, and because of the severity of the attack, your partner has to be male. Same goes for the boys, pick a girl. Two minutes, I want you on the mat.”
They both groaned. They were always each other’s partner. No one was picking, so Coach Coleman took over, and teamed everyone up, and once he did that, there was no one else to argue with, and yes, of course, Lucia had to join with Connor.
She didn’t look over at Jack.
Stop thinking of him as Jack.
The last thing she wanted to do was call him that and then have people, or Marie, question her.
Mr. Parker.
Mr. Parker.
She said his name over and over in her head, making sure she got his name right.
Mr. Parker.
“I wonder if I can even lift you up. Don’t you weigh, like, a ton?”
“Wow, and here I thought you had a brain,” she said. “Believe me, I don’t want to be here with you.”
They stood on the mats, facing each other.
She didn’t like Connor, or his sneer.
“Right, ladies, turn your backs on your partner. We’re going to deal if they come up behind you on the attack.” Unwillingly, she turned her back, not wanting to do so to Connor.
“Nice ass, Deen.”