Trustworthy

1

    "Okay everybody. So, before I let you all leave..." I watched Daniel – formally referred to as Mr. Sanders by all his students – walk over to his desk, placed at the front of our afternoon math excel summer class in his dark pants and maroon plaid shirt. A colour that I wasn't familiar seeing him in, but that brought out his dark curls. "I wanted to inform you guys..." My eyes zoomed in on his long, firm, slender fingers as he gracefully scooped up a stack of papers from his desk, returning to his standing position in the center of the room. "... that I am happy to have received all of your signed forms for online school, a few of them having been submitted right before class today." He flashed his handsome smile and I heard a few chuckles. "But nonetheless, I am glad that we'll be continuing the math portion of our summer program all together amidst this heat wave, even though we won't be seeing each other in person for a while."

"Aw," a girl at the back of the class said. I couldn't agree more. Due to a recent heatwave, a broken school AC, and no available repairman in town who wasn't on vacation, our principal had decided that for the safety of the students, it would be best to continue all summer programs online. At least until everything got handled, but no one knew how long that would take. Which meant I wouldn't be seeing Daniel in person for a little while. I stared at his smiling face, not able to control the sadness I felt in my heart.

"I look forward to seeing you all online tomorrow in the afternoon at one. We'll be having another teacher join our class as help. Okay? So get today's assignment done and I expect to correct it during our first online class." People began to pack up. "See you all tomorrow." Some people got up on cue with his dismissal and headed for the open classroom door. I watched Daniel as I slowly began to pack up and clear my desk. His dark hazel eyes caught mine and lingered for a moment as the right corner of his mouth twitched, as though he were holding back a smile. I supressed mine as well and broke the gaze at the same time as him, focussing on stuffing my belongings in my purple JanSport bag.

"Wanna get some ice cream Amaya?"

I looked up to see my classmate since grade five and best-slash-only bud since seventh grade – Toni, having forgotten that his desk was placed next to mine. "Um..." Zipping up my bag, I got up to level with his tanned face. Over his shoulder, at the desk behind him, stood Ms. Popular Sara, staring at me. Uck. Was she part of the ice cream plans too? Ugh. How did Toni hang out with her? I turned back to him. In the corner of my eye, I could see a girl talking to Daniel. "I'm gonna stay back to ask a question," I told Toni.

There was a sudden cough followed by, "Dick!" I automatically turned to shoot a glare at Sara, who was imitating oral sex movements. She stopped when Toni looked at her, but still had an amused look on her face. Her beige bag slung over her shoulder, she said to Toni, "I'll be in the hall," and walked away.

Toni looked at me. "We can wait-"

I shook my head. "No, this might take a while. You guys go ahead." Plus, I wasn't about to hang around Sara. Toni seemed a little disappointed but nodded and left as I told him I'd text him.

The classroom was empty afterwards, and soon, the girl talking to Daniel was gone – leaving us alone, staring at each other. Me sitting, Daniel standing. "So, what can I help you with today?" he asked professionally, heading over to the classroom door in long strides, and doing a little surveillance of the hall, before closing it for privacy. I got up, setting my bag on my desk's chair, and headed over to Daniel's neat desk, taking a seat on an available surface space. Barely able to hold back the smile that tugged at my lips, I watched Daniel walk over slowly and lean against a student desk across from me. Crossing his arms over his chest casually, he stared at me. "Amaya," he said warmly, as though saying the name left a good taste in his mouth. I felt the butterflies in my stomach react to the warm bass of his voice. "How do you feel about continuing the program online due to the heatwave?"