The Promise He Never Kept

Three

"Mr. Lynch, you can take a seat in the empty desk next to Ms. Ashmore." The teacher says, referring to the empty desk next to me.

"Okay." He says as he walks and sits in the desk next to mine.

The teacher, Mrs. Johanson, goes on about the basics of Spanish. Today, we were doing conversations with partners.

"Alright, class. Work with your usual partners." Mrs. Johanson says.

I turn to get up and go meet with Alisha, but Mrs. Johanson stops me.

"Cassidy, since you're the most advanced student in the class, please work with Ross today to catch him up on everything we've done so far. Also, I'm going to make him your new partner." She says as she smiles at me.

"Um, Mrs. Johanson, can we please speak in the hall?" I ask her as I smile politely.

I didn't like anyone knowing this, but Mrs. Johanson is actually my Dad's sister, making her my aunt.

"Yes?" She asks as she walks out into the hall. I follow behind her, closing the door behind us.

"But, Aunt Layla! Why do I have to be partners with Ross? You remember the Lynch's, don't you?" I say as I bite my lip to keep from crying.

"Yes, I remember the Lynch's, Cassidy. But you realize that you both live in Los Angeles, don't you? You guys already ran into eachother once, it was destined to happen again." My Aunt says in her loving voice instead of her teacher voice.

"Well, do I have to catch him up?" I say as I give her the puppy dog face.

"Yes. Now get back in there and teach him the basics of a conversation." She says as she opens the door.

I slowly walk back in to see Ross awkwardly looking around by himself. I walk over to him and sit in my desk before turning to him.

"Hola. Mi nombre es Cassidy. Soy su nueva pareja." I say to him with no emotion.

"What?" He says as he looks at me with a confused look.

"I said, Hi. My name is Cassidy. I am your new partner." I say to him in a 'duh' tone.

"Okay... But I have no idea what the Spanish teacher is talking about. I've been home schooled all my life." He says as he smiles slightly at me.

"Well, basic conversation is basically just learning to say 'How are you?' Or 'What's your name?' Or 'How old are you?' Just basic things in a conversation." I say to him.

"Well, with the way I was raised, that doesn't seem like basic conversation." He says.

"Well, let's get started. ¿Cómo estás?" I ask him.

"What does that mean?" He asks.

"It means 'How are you?' Now tell me your reply in English and I'll translate to Spanish." I say to him.

"I'm good. How about you?" He says to me.

"That would be 'Soy bueno. Qué hay de tí?' Now you say it." I say to him.

"Soy bueno. Qué hay de tí?" He says.

"Estás arruinando mi día a causa de nuestro pasado común, así que estoy terrible." I say to him.

"Which means?" He says.

"It means I'm great." I say as I fake smile at him.

Finally, the bell rings, signaling the end of the day.

"Ms. Ashmore, come to my desk please." My Aunt says as she sighs.

"Yes, Aunt Layla?" I ask her.

"You cannot say things like that to him. He needs to be learning real Spanish, not something you say to him and tell him the fake meaning! I'll see you tonight, your Dad and Mom invited me over for dinner." She says.

I quickly walk into the hall and get all of my things out of my locker, before beginning to walk home. Jonathan had football practice so he couldn't give me a ride.

Want to know what I said to Ross?

Estás arruinando mi día a causa de nuestro pasado común, así que estoy terrible translates to...

You're ruining my day because of our shared past, so I'm terrible.