A Book of Firsts!

Third Chapter One! (❌)

"Sadie, can I see you please?"

I stopped the process of gathering my things and turned to look at my teacher. His face didn't give anything away, and he didn't look necessarily upset, but that fact didn't do much to quell the fear that rose up in my throat. "Yes, yes sir, of course."

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble," he reassured, probably because my fear was written so clearly across my face.

I let out a sigh of relief, but his face was still set in a straight line, something was up.

"Is there something wrong?"

He gave me a shake of his head and rubbed a hand down the front of his tired face. "Not in the way you're thinking. Sadie, you're my brightest student, you're likely to be valedictorian, and you're probably the best kid I've ever had the privilege to teach," he said this with a small smile on his old sun-weathered face.

I returned his smile with an uneasy one of my own. "Thank you?"

"I'm not done."

I nodded my head and waited for him to continue.

"I'm going to ask a favor of you, and I want you to understand why I chose you for the task."

"Okay," I answered, waiting for him to continue his rambling.

"Granted, it will not be easy, but I think you are the one who could handle it. I won't pressure you to accept, if you don't want to do it, that's totally up to you, but I have to ask you anyway," he took a deep breath, as if he was preparing himself for what he was about to ask me.

I let the silence stretch until finally he met my gaze with a stern one of his own, and opened his mouth to speak.

"You've heard about Mr. Pierce's accident I assume," he left it off as a question until I confirmed it with a slight nod of my head.

I'd heard about the motorcycle accident he'd gotten into from various sources, but I hadn't heard much more than that or what condition he was in.

"A little."

"He's paralyzed, Miss. West."

He gave the words time for them to fully sink in. I'd never been a fan of the guy, but not even he deserved something like that. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach as I swallowed down some unease.

"I'm sorry to hear, but, with all due respect, what does this have to do with me?"

"His parents have requested that the school find him someone to assist him," his eyebrows rose as he waited for me to catch on.

The pieces clicked almost instantly and panic was quick to settle over me. "Assist, Mr. Barlowe, I don't know the first thing about helping recovering patients, helping him around school would be a lot," I hated how my voice whined, but I knew Zephaniah Pierce would not be a willing participant.

"It would be a little more than that, Miss west."

"How much more," I asked skeptically.

"His parents both work, it would probably mean after school hours, of course."

"Why can't they just hire someone?"

"They think that he would be more comfortable with someone his own age, someone he knew."

"And you think that would be me?"

I was tempted to laugh. "I hardly know him, ever since first grade I've done the best I could to avoid being one of his targets."

"No need for dramatics, I just thought I would approach you with the idea. If you say no, I can always ask someone else, but you might want to consider what this could mean for an application."