New Feelings

A Bit of a Letdown

Jill sighed as she rested her head on her head. She wasn't sure if she was having fun, or if she was dreadfully bored. It was a Friday night and Mike had all but cornered her in her classroom again, asking if she wanted to join him for a drink. She didn't really want to, but since she couldn't find an excuse not to, she decided it might be a good idea for her to just go and maybe have some fun. The bar was good enough, she supposed. There was a nice group of people there and the music wasn't too loud. She couldn't imagine that she would've found an ounce of enjoyment if the bar was as loud as a concert with overly rowdy people.

"So," Mike started slowly, "what do you think of the place? Not bad, huh? I come here fairly often?"

"Yeah, it's pretty decent," Jill answered with a shrug. "I just don't come to places like this often."

"Ah, I see," Mike laughed. "Maybe I just need to educate you," he added, laughing at what Jill imagined he thought was a clever quip. She didn't find it that funny at all.

"Do you often bring friends here?" Jill asked, curious to know what Mike had to say. She didn't think that the bar they were in was particularly a "friend" location. They were surrounded by couples and it was making Jill question what Mike's plans were. She watched as Mike looked around and he gave a slight shrug.

"Eh, not really," Mike said. "I mean, I've brought a few of my mates, but not a lot of girls," he added, trying to subtly lean in towards Jill. "Hey, want to get another drink? Maybe something a little stronger? It's the weekend after all, you should enjoy it."

"I'll do another Coke Zero, but definitely no alcohol for me. I still need to drive home, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, of course. I'll be right back. Don't run, okay?" Mike gave Jill a beaming smile before running off in the direction of the bar.

"Yeah, of course not," Jill muttered under her breath, giving Mike a small smile when he turned back to look at her. "Wish I could though," she added to herself. She wasn't on her first drink, but she was hoping the next one would be her last. Her bladder was beginning to take notice of how much she was drinking and had alerted her to that fact, but Mike had given her zero chance to leave and relieve herself. Jill wasn't given much time to lament as Mike returned with another massive Coke and a beer for himself.

"I see you didn't run for it," Mike laughed. "That's a positive."

"Yeah, no, I'm all right," Jill replied, accepting her Coke from Mike and taking a sip just to distract herself for a moment.

"So, I have a question for you," Mike said. "How did a hottie like you wind up getting into teaching?"

Jill peered at Mike over the top of her glass completely flabbergasted. He had the subtlety of a brick. If she hadn't been questioning his thoughts before, she was certainly questioning them now.

"Uhm, excuse me?" Jill asked, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Mike frowned at Jill's response, running a hand through his hair as he seemed to debate on whether or not he had offended Jill or if she just misheard. He seemed to settle on the latter and tried to play it off, scooching in closer to her as he repeated the question.

"How did you get into teaching?"

That's better, Jill thought to herself.

"Well, that's a good question," Jill answered thoughtfully. "I used to absolutely hate kids, actually. When I was a teen, I couldn't stand them and absolutely hated when anyone asked me to babysit. I genuinely couldn't stand having to spend time or be near them at all. Drove me absolutely insane. I actually wanted to become a nurse, but when my mom reminded me that I'm deathly afraid of needles, I started to explore a little more. I was totally clueless on what to do.