Ghost Flowers

39. Overdue

It had been thirty days since Savana and Landon had had their first big fight. And it had been twenty-nine days since they had made up. He surprised her with an apology and a teddy bear with chocolates in a heart-shaped box.

History class had just ended. Everyone got up to leave the room. Savana noticed Damon looking sad when she caught him glancing at her. She wondered what he was thinking about.

It had been two months since Damon started student teaching. Savana had not talked to him unless it was related to the class. She glanced at him again before leaving for Biology.

She didn't look forward to Biology either. Her lab partner was weird. He looked angry all the time. At one point, he even tried switching partners. Mr. Tanner denied his request. It was embarrassing.

"Miss Hollis, can I speak with you before your next class?" Mr. Fillens called out to her, interrupting her thoughts. It was another day of being late to school, and unfortunately, Mr. Fillens had finally had enough.

Savana groaned softly and looked at Cully and Faye, who stopped at the doorway. She waved them off before going to Mr. Fillens's desk.

She was too tired to say anything. She just wanted to listen to what her teacher had to say. Though she had a good idea what it was. It was way overdue.

"Miss Hollis, I feel like I have given you enough chances to get back on track with your work. I have been very lenient with your tardiness as well." 

Mr. Fillens's face wasn't filled with anger or annoyance. It was filled with disappointment and concern, just like Gavin's face when the office called him one day to ask if he knew why she had been late a lot. He didn't even realize it because he would already be at work when she had to be at school.

She couldn't tell him it was because she wasn't getting enough sleep from sneaking out in the middle of the night. So she explained that she had terrible headaches and cramps from her period. Gavin didn't ask about it after that.

Mr. Fillens continued and handed her a pink slip of paper. "I have no choice but to serve you detention for the next three weeks. The number of days you were late to class equals the number of detentions."

There it was. Savana sighed and accepted it. She was about to walk away when Mr. Fillens added something else.

"I prepared for your detention to be tutored by Mr. Melby. He offered to help you get your assignments caught up and study to retake that quarterly test you failed."

Savana's eyes widened, and she looked at Damon standing behind her. She remembered he'd been in the room listening to them the whole time. She was not expecting this part.

She smiled awkwardly at Damon. "Great."

Mr. Fillens dismissed her. Savana opened her locker and screamed into it. Several other students walked past her and mentioned how weird they thought she was. Everyone else proceeded to their next class except Cully and Faye. They looked at her, confused. She explained what had happened, and they both smirked.

"I'm glad you guys can finally agree on something." Savana sarcastically smirked back.

After her last class, Savana called Gavin to let him know about the three weeks of detention she was getting. He didn't say much except that he hoped she would get the help she needed with her schoolwork. If anything, Gavin felt guilty. He wondered if he wasn't spending enough time with her.

Savana returned to Mr. Fillens's room. Surprisingly, he wasn't there. It was just Damon. She sat at her usual desk and waited for him to say something. It was already awkward.

Damon sat at his small desk in the corner on the left side of the whiteboard. He finished writing something and looked up at Savana. His face didn't change when he saw her.

He slowly turned his chair and stood up. The sleeves on his grey sweater were rolled up, showing off his fine forearms. His dark blue slacks came up just enough to see he was wearing Pink Panther socks.

Savana stifled a laugh when she noticed them. She leaned back in the desk chair, opening her folder. Damon sat down at the desk to her right and leaned over to her.

"So, have you started the essay due Friday?" Damon asked politely. He knew something was wrong from the first day he saw her in class. She didn't seem like her usual self.

"Nope," Savana said bluntly.

"Well, I can help you with that first." He offered while studying her face. This was their first time alone since he drove her home from the party at Zander and Chase's house. He felt his cheeks flush when he thought about it.

"Whatever, you're the teacher." Savana threw up some air quotations.

"Okay, well I do have a list of assignments you haven't turned in yet. We can start with the oldest first." Damon flipped through a notebook he took from his desk.

"Oh, keeping tabs on me huh?" She snickered.

He looked at her and saw she was trying to put up this face, hiding whatever she truly felt.

"I don't know what's been going on with you, but it's concerning. I really want to help you." He placed his hand on top of hers, stopping it from repeatedly tapping her pencil on the desk. She seemed so anxious.

Savana saw his hand on hers, and it lingered. She looked at him, and it seemed he was pleading with her to let him keep his hand there. Then she thought of Landon. She moved her hand and put it on her lap. She glanced back at her folder.

"Let's start with the older stuff then." She said coldly and pulled out a worksheet.

Damon smiled weakly. He hoped she could confide in him soon.