Without The Words

Chapter 28

It was finally October. The trees were decorated in vibrant specks of red, yellow and orange. They were scattered across the roads and resting on top of cars and roofs.

The chilly breeze lulled everybody along, the same routine day by day. The cut on my knee has faded after a few days, leaving a scar in its wake.

I sat sleepily in Mr. Lee's class, a chatter falling upon the room as Mr. Lee wrote down notes on the smart-board, his arm muscles flexing through his white button-down shirt.

I had skipped a few days after Mr. Lee and I had kissed. How could I not skip? What student kisses their teacher? And where the hell did I get that confidence from? I couldn't sleep or eat and every time I closed my eyes, I felt the sensation of his lips on mine, even if the actual kiss had only lasted a beautiful few seconds.

I hadn't dared to lock eyes with Mr. Lee. The tension in the classroom was suffocating the both of us and even the tiniest look at him would send me into hysterics.

Mr. Lee looked completely and utterly stressed out. It was as if he attempted to look presentable, but today was just not his day. That wasn't saying he looked unattractive today, which he never did, but his eyes were bloodshot and his hair was worse than its' usual disheveled state- it just looked all over the place. Rather thick stubble dusted his lower chin and every once in a while he would swipe his hand against it, as if he were lost in thought.

However, I wasn't the only student that observed his lack of energy today. Most of the students respectfully did as they were told, where on a usual day they would chat next to each other sometimes a little too loudly and Mr. Lee would have to quiet them down. Thankfully, for the most part it seemed that Mr. Lee usually received respect from the students.

"Mr. Lee?" A girl in the back of the classroom asked, her hand raised.

"Yes Jessica?" Mr. Lee's hand stopped writing, his head still facing the electronic board.

"Are you alright? You're usually more cheerful."

He turned around and his eyes found her, but they slowly rotated over to me. I slid down in my seat and let my short hair fall over my face.

"I'm fine. Thank you for asking." He tore his gaze away from me and his eyes settled on the class. "Thank you all for cooperating with me today. I really appreciate it."

The students murmured you're-welcome's and I sat there completely dumbfounded, my eyes glued to the corner of my desk where pen marks were etched into a curse word followed by an undesirable and inappropriate drawing.

Could it be because of me? I couldn't possibly be the reason for his stress. He had a life outside of school- it had to be something outside of school. Perhaps a family member died or his girlfriend and him got into an argument. That was if he had a girlfriend, but I doubted he didn't have one. Someone as wonderful as him had to have a girlfriend.

When my thoughts caused time to pass rather quickly, I was the first one out the door, my gaze purposely concentrated on only what was in front of me.

With my plain salad in hand in the lunchroom, I anxiously sat down at the round table as Vera licked the salt from whatever type of chip off her fingers. It took her more than a few seconds to notice me, but when she did a huge smile broke out on her lips.

"Poppy!" She practically cheered, maybe a little too loudly. I felt other eyes fall upon me, my cheeks impulsively heating up. I fiddled with my fingers from under the table, my notepad firmly tucked in the sleeve of my sweater.

"How's your knee?"

I slipped out my notepad and began to write. It's doing better, I wrote.