by Jordan Lynde
‘Then what?’
Tucker set his jaw before answering. ‘I make lunch using the supplies.’
‘Why?’
He narrowed his eyes at me. ‘Butt out.’
I sighed softly. There were only a few possibilities for the reason Tucker was using the school’s supplies to make food. Suddenly Tucker’s skinny frame made a lot more sense. ‘Money problems?’
‘Look, I don’t expect a girl like you to understand,’ Tucker shot at me, his shoulders shaking in anger. ‘You probably still get spoiled by Mommy and Daddy.’
‘Actually, I don’t,’ I said coldly. ‘You don’t know me, so don’t assume anything.’
Tucker’s hard face faltered. He didn’t look as angry as before; in fact, he looked a little empathetic. His fists were unclenched now, and he had stopped shaking. I took this opportunity to talk.
‘I’ve been working since, um, senior year to make money to support my brother and myself,’ I told him quietly. ‘I know how hard it is . . . And I’m not going to tell you that you can’t use the supplies.’
‘I don’t need pity—’ Tucker started, but I cut him off.
‘I’m not pitying you! I want to help.’
Tucker gave me a flat look. ‘Why?’
‘Because I know the position you’re in,’ I told him. ‘I know families have tough times with money. A lot of families do.’
Tucker frowned at me. ‘You’re not going to tell?’
‘Of course not!’ I responded, shaking my head. ‘There’s so much stuff back there I don’t think anyone will notice.’ Not to mention I was doing something far more worse to the school than stealing some supplies from the stock room.
Tucker stared at me curiously for a minute. I returned his look with a small smile, and then turned to look at what he was cooking. ‘What is this supposed to be?’ I asked, trying not to laugh.
‘Grilled cheese,’ Tucker muttered.
‘Really?’
‘Shut up,’ he snapped. ‘I can’t cook.’
The laugh escaped. ‘I can see that.’
‘I said, shut up!’
Biting my cheek, I turned to him. ‘Tell you what, Tucker. If you can drop your attitude around me, I’ll make you lunch every day.’
Tucker narrowed his eyes. ‘Are you pitying me?’
‘Nope,’ I responded with a shrug. ‘I just want you to stop being so mean.’
‘And you’ll make me lunch every day?’
‘I don’t think you can exactly enjoy your lunch if it looks like that,’ I told him, pointing at the charcoaled bread.
‘Why?’ Tucker was furrowing his eyebrows at me, a frown on his face.
I returned his frown. ‘Why not?’
‘I’ve been a—’
‘Jerk.’
Tucker rolled his eyes. ‘A jerk. Why do you want to be nice and help me?’
‘First, like I said, I’ve been in your position. And second, I want to help. You are my student after all, right?’
Suddenly Tucker looked embarrassed. He lowered his gaze, staring determinedly at the floor. ‘I’m not going to thank you.’
I cracked a smile. ‘You don’t have to. So I take it we have a deal?’
Tucker nodded briefly.
‘Good,’ I said just as the warning bell sounded. ‘If you stop by before lunch, I’ll have something ready for you for today.’
He looked up at me in surprise. ‘Really?’
‘Really.’
‘OK,’ he mumbled, returning his attention to the floor.
I tried my best to hold in a laugh. He was just like Elliot when he wanted something! And when Tucker wasn’t being mean, he was actually kind of cute. It made a grin appear on my face once more. ‘You should probably get going,’ I advised him. ‘I’ll clean up.’
Tucker nodded again, and quickly started towards the door. Just before he exited he paused, his hand on the door handle. ‘Sorry about that . . . I didn’t mean to bring up unpleasant memories.’
I smiled at him. ‘It’s all right.’
Tucker moved forward like he was going to leave, and then stopped again. He sighed. ‘Sorry again.’
‘Sorry again?’
‘For pushing you earlier,’ he muttered.
I stared at him in surprise. ‘Um . . . no, it’s fine. Thank you, though.’
Tucker nodded once before disappearing from my view. I stared after him for a few minutes, astonished. Who knew such a simple thing could change a person’s personality? Unless Tucker was acting like that because he was embarrassed . . . I frowned slightly. I was definitely going to make him the best lunch ever today.
Chapter Fourteen
I frowned, staring at the clock. It was now halfway through first period.
And Arden wasn’t here.
Was he sick? Was he ditching? No, Arden wouldn’t ditch me – I mean, ditch his punishment from the whole food fight thing . . . Suddenly it felt like a weight had dropped in my gut: the month quota would soon be up. Amazingly, this was now my third week at the school . . .
I knew I should be happy for Arden when he’d done the punishment, but I really liked the help and company – I would even miss Oliver when the time was up. Sure, the boys were a lot to handle, but they were also, in some weird way, fun. A sigh escaped my lips as I put my head down on my desk. I really wanted to know where Arden was. What if he was sick? Well, there wasn’t anything I could do about that. He was probably just skipping. Not this period, but the whole day. But it’d be nice if he came in later . . .
I shook my head. Why was I so caught up with Arden? I still needed to get ready for second period – the sophomores could be quite a handful, despite what Melissa had said. Frowning, I marched to the supply closet to get the necessities for the chili we were making.
Third period was dedicated to working on Tucker’s lunch. After I had scanned the cabinets, I realized I didn’t know what Tucker liked or didn’t like, so I decided to go with something everyone usually liked – or if they didn’t like it, they’d still eat it: pizza. I also had some chili from second period left over. Starting to whistle, I began spreading pizza sauce on the pre-made dough. The school literally had every kitchen necessity, and ingredient, known to man.
Five minutes after the lunch bell rang, Tucker came stumbling into my room, looking mortified. I beamed up at him from my desk, which only seemed to increase his embarrassment. His face was tinting the slightest shade of red. When I started to smile, he shot daggers at me.
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ he snapped.
‘Like what?’ I asked innocently.
‘Like I’m some kind of animal you’re taking pity on.’
Well, he had the animal part right.
I frowned at him. ‘I’m not taking pity on you. I like to cook, you can’t cook, and you need lunch. It works out fine. However . . .’
Tucker looked at me questioningly. ‘What?’
I gave him a sheepish grin. ‘Do you think you could make me a list of things you like? I wasn’t sure.’
To my surprise, a small grin appeared on Tucker’s face. And boy did he have a beautiful smile – his teeth were perfect! Before I could make a comment about it, he quickly rearranged his face into a nonchalant expression, and gave me a casual shrug. ‘Whatever.’
‘That’s not going to help, Tucker.’
‘I’ll eat whatever you want to make.’
‘I want to make something you like.’
‘Anything.’
‘Tucker.’
‘Ms Allen.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Fine, but if you don’t like it, don’t blame me.’
‘Have you told anyone?’
‘Hmm?’
Tucker frowned at me, his lips pressed in a firm line. ‘About why I come in early.’
‘No!’ I responded quickly, shaking my head. ‘I won’t tell anyone, Tucker.’
He nodded once. ‘Good.’
An awkward silence settled in, and the only thing I could hear was the clock m
aking quiet tick sounds as time passed. Tucker stood by the door quietly, his hands jammed into his pockets. His face was blank, and he was rocking on the balls of his feet. Eventually I had enough of the silence.
Clearing my throat, I stood up from my desk, gesturing Tucker to follow me. ‘Because I didn’t know what you like to eat, I made pizza . . . do you like pizza?’
‘No.’
I stared at Tucker in surprise. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t . . .’ I trailed off when a smirk appeared on Tucker’s face. I pursed my lips. ‘Aren’t you the joker?’
Tucker shrugged. ‘Pizza is fine.’
‘Do you want to eat in here with me?’ I asked automatically. When the question left my lips I realized how odd it sounded. Tucker was probably a little unsettled now. ‘Uh, never mind. That was a weird question.’
‘I don’t mind,’ Tucker responded, surprising me once again. ‘What?’ he asked when he caught me staring at him.
I quickly averted my gaze. ‘Nothing . . . you’re just unexpectedly nice.’
‘Well, part of our deal was that I had to be nice to you.’
‘Oh, so you’re just being nice so you can use me?’ I responded playfully.
Another rare grin appeared on Tucker’s face. ‘Basically I don’t want you to poison my food.’
I chuckled, putting on some oven mitts and pulling the pizza out of the oven. ‘So your mean persona was just a ruse?’
Tucker shrugged. ‘Not really. That’s just my personality. Especially when Arden is around.’
‘Where is Arden?’ I asked before I could stop myself. ‘He didn’t turn up this morning. Is he even in school?’
‘I don’t know,’ Tucker responded, oblivious to my disappointment. ‘I texted him this morning, but he just said he was out with a girlfriend.’
‘Girlfriend?’ I repeated. It felt like something had shifted inside my stomach. I didn’t like the feeling at all. But of course Arden had a girlfriend. He was gorgeous. Tall and fit, why wouldn’t he have a girlfriend? How could I not have thought about him having one before? And why did it suddenly matter? I scowled.
‘A girlfriend,’ Tucker corrected me. ‘I don’t know which one.’
‘Which one?’ I said, surprised.
Suddenly Tucker’s eyes shot open. Then his eyes quickly narrowed and he glared at me. ‘Don’t repeat what I just said to anyone!’
‘I won’t,’ I squeaked, still taking in this new information.
Arden had multiple girlfriends? Arden was a playboy? A small knot appeared in my stomach and I swallowed. Why did I feel so upset about this new information? It wasn’t like it affected me – I wasn’t his girlfriend; there wasn’t something between us. He was my student, and I was his teacher. It was as simple as that . . . and yet still . . .
‘If Arden finds out I told you, he will personally murder me,’ Tucker told me, now picking at the pizza still in my hands. ‘Ow!’
Frowning, I pulled the pizza away from him. ‘It just came out of the oven. Don’t burn yourself.’
‘Too late,’ Tucker responded with a scowl, shaking his finger.
‘Clearly.’
Tucker scowled at me for another moment before heaving a sigh. ‘Look, if you want, I can text Arden again.’
My eyes widened. ‘Why would you think I’d want that?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘I can see it in your expression.’
‘But I wasn’t thinking that,’ I protested. ‘If you’re willing, though . . .’
‘For a teacher, you’re pretty lax about me wanting to use my phone in school,’ Tucker teased, whipping out an iPhone. When he noticed me eying it, he lowered his gaze. ‘Birthday present . . . I told my parents not to, but they insisted . . . It’s just a waste of money.’
I softened my look. ‘That’s nice of them.’
‘Yeah, but they also could have paid the bill to heat the house,’ he pointed out, his eyebrows furrowing. ‘They do stuff like that sometimes.’
I smiled. ‘I can understand why. You know I have a brother, right?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Well, when you don’t have money, it’s hard to have to say no to everything your child – or in this case my brother – wants. Elliot literally always wants everything, but I’ve often had to say no because we couldn’t afford it. But sometimes I’d give in and say yes, and then I’d have to give up buying Tylenol or something . . .’ I trailed off. What was I doing? I’d basically just told him I looked after my brother on my own. Luckily, Tucker seemed to be only thinking of himself right now.
He frowned at me. ‘But I’m seventeen, almost eighteen. It’s different than when I was younger.’
‘But to your parents you’re still that little boy,’ I pointed out. ‘Nothing will change that.’
Tucker’s face tinted red, and he quickly looked away from me. ‘Let’s just drop it. I texted Arden.’
‘Has he texted back?’
‘I just texted Arden,’ Tucker responded, turning to me with a smirk on his face. ‘Anxious, are we?’
Now it was my turn to turn away in embarrassment. ‘No. I just don’t appreciate people skipping out on a class.’
Tucker gave me a guilty look and I smiled and rolled my eyes at him – hopefully his habit of skipping my class would go away now. My class wasn’t even that bad; it was cooking, for crying out loud. There wasn’t that much you had to do in it. The easiest A if I ever saw one.
Tucker’s phone went off and he gave me a knowing look before picking it up and putting it to his ear. ‘Hello? . . . Yeah, she’s here. Sure.’ Tucker turned and held out the phone for me. ‘He wants to talk to you.’
‘He?’ I echoed, reaching to take the phone.
‘Arden,’ Tucker stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
I pursed my lips at him, bringing the phone to my ear. ‘Hello?’
‘Harley,’ Arden greeted in a joyful voice.
‘Where are you?’
‘Not at school.
I frowned. ‘I noticed that. Why aren’t you?’
‘Stuff to do,’ Arden said. ‘I’ll be in by seventh period, though.’ Suddenly I heard giggling in the background, and then someone murmur something. Arden chuckled, then I heard him say, ‘Shh, you’re going to get me in trouble.’
‘Are you ditching to hang out with your girlfriend?’ I demanded, sounding more irritated than I had meant to.
Arden cleared his throat. ‘What—’
‘Arden,’ a loud, girly voice whined in the background.
I raised an eyebrow. ‘Uh-huh.’
‘Well, I . . . it’s not . . .’ Arden trailed off, clearly at a loss for words.
‘I wouldn’t be telling a teacher that,’ I finally snapped. ‘You can get in trouble for skipping classes to fool around with girls.’
‘Harley—’
‘Ms Allen,’ I corrected him. ‘I’ll see you seventh period. Maybe.’
‘Wait—’
I pulled the phone away, glancing down at it and locating the end button. When the call was finished, I gave it back to Tucker with a scowl. He raised an eyebrow at me, shoving his phone back into a pocket.
‘You know, right there you sounded more like a jealous girlfriend than a teacher,’ he pointed out.
My head jerked toward him. ‘I did?’
Tucker nodded. ‘Very unprofessional.’
I resisted the urge to beat myself over the head with something hard. What was I doing? Was I jealous? I had no reason to be jealous. I wasn’t jealous – I was just angry with Arden for ditching his classes. To be with a girl. I wasn’t jealous . . .
Dang, maybe I was a little jealous. Not good.
‘Eat your pizza,’ I finally grumbled at Tucker, shoving the hot pizza plate toward him.
He stumbled back in surprise, throwing his arms out. ‘Careful with that thing!’
I immediately stopped pushing it so it wouldn’t fall off the table. But Tucker’s words still lingered in my head. Unprofessional. F
or some reason they made me feel really irritated. I was a teenage girl! I had hormones just like everyone else. Sure, I wasn’t a young girl, but I wasn’t an adult either. Unprofessional . . .? I shook my head, letting out a sigh. How could I become more teacher-like? Really, I had to be more careful otherwise I could be found out.
That sobered me up quickly. Right. I couldn’t act foolishly. What I was doing here was illegal. By some miracle it’d been working out for me, but I needed to keep it that way. I couldn’t mess up. I’d lose more than just my job.
Seventh period came and I stood at my desk as my class of seniors trudged in, looking wiped. A smile of amusement appeared on my face as they slinked into the seats, yawns escaping their mouths. Arden came in, looking sheepish. I ignored him the best I could. Which wasn’t very professional, but I was still a little annoyed.
‘Hard day?’ I asked as Luke trudged by me looking like he was about to collapse.
He gave me a flat look. ‘If you count three tests and two quizzes as a hard day, then yes.’
‘Ouch,’ I commented, wincing. ‘Too bad it’s about to get harder.’
‘What do you mean . . .?’
Once everyone was in the classroom and seated, I cleared my throat. ‘Today I’m switching up your partners.’
A unanimous groan swept through the room, and I heard a few snorts. I looked toward the corner just in time to see Oliver roll his eyes.
‘Ms Allen, you do realize you could be creating more problems by switching our pairings?’
‘I do realize that,’ I told him. ‘But that’s the point. I’m tired of you guys arguing all the time, so you’re going to make friends with your new partner.’
Once again there were a few snorts through the classroom, and even some mocking laughter. I narrowed my eyes at Luke, who was the one snickering. He immediately sobered up, directing his gaze to the floor.
‘You’re serious?’ Joel asked.
‘The first pair is Mason and Tyler,’ I announced in response.
Two groans.
‘Luke and Ben.’
‘What?’ Ben cried.
‘Don’t be a baby,’ Luke responded.
I rolled my eyes. ‘Please be quiet so I can finish the list . . . Joey and Joel,’ I said slowly, gazing at the pair to see their reactions.