The Teacher's Pet

Chapter Three

Kat Claire:
"Start talking!" Cassidy begins yelling.
"We want to know every single detail of every single word he said to you." Mary finishes. Hazel is just sitting in the corner staring at her phone like usual. Too shy to have actual human interaction. I used to be extremely introverted like her, but I am working on it.
"His name is James." I stretch my arms out in front of me nervously. "Did you see when he touched my arm?" My heart is still beating in my throat when I think of it and I can't seem to stop my hands from shaking.
"He touched my arm!" I repeat once more, looking around the club to see no one heard me, which is almost impossible because of the music. My fingers run over the spot of my arm that James just touched a few minutes before.
"Do you have like... a date now?" Hazel asks, it's the first 7 words she has said tonight.
"We haven't made plans yet, but I have his number." With 2 fingers I fish the paper out of my pocket and hold it up like it's the most priceless piece of paper anyone has ever seen. "How is it going with your life loves, since we are all so interested in mine all of a sudden."
A long silence hits, not true silence. The music of the club beats right through my eardrums. At least it's good music.
Hazel takes a deep breath before speaking. "I met a guy." She holds up her phone with bright red cheeks and a smile from ear to ear. "I met him last week on tinder."
Cassidy and I give each other a look like: 'here we go again.' Hazel always has an online boyfriend, because it's impossible for her to communicate with an actual real-life guy.
"And when are you actually getting a real boyfriend?"
"Mary... He is real, and he is the prettiest guy I have ever met in my 24 years of existence, wait." She swipes a couple of times over her dirty phone screen looking for the perfect picture.
"I bet you, he looks better than that James guy." She pulls up a picture of a shirtless guy with the prettiest blue eyes and abs that any guy would die for. All 3 of us look more than shocked. The pretty blue eyes match Hazel's eyes perfectly. Hazel has hazel eyes, that's why her parents named her Hazel right at birth.
"Wow, he is a hottie!" Cassidy is as usual the first one to speak again. "You should watch your man, with a body like that, any girl would want him. What's his name?"
Hazel's expression turns awfully sour, full of jealousy, I've never seen her so worked up over a guy.
"Angelo." Cassidy bursts out in a pit of laughter.
"I take my words back, no girl would want a guy with a name like that."
Hazel looks like she is about to rip Cassidy's hair out.
"Woah, calm down girl, take a joke." The murderous look on her face doesn't change.
"I don't care about other girls, because he's mine, we already made marriage plans." Marriage plans in the first few dates of dating is the biggest red flag, I want to warn her. But I don't, I allow Hazel to have the least bit of fun with this guy. She deserves it after the rough year she had, with her mom passing away and her dad trying to kill himself.
The tension grows, to a point where I can't take it anymore and change the subject. "Mary, you seem awfully quiet, let us in on your love life. Met a cute guy?" She crinkles her nose up and squints her eyes. "Cute girl maybe?" Mary's cheeks flush a red tone, which she tries to hide with a smooth hair flip. That might work with the other girls, but I have known Mary almost since birth, so I know her better than any other person.
"Eh, I-I am not a lesbian."
"I didn't say that did I?"
With shaking hands, she stands up. "I'll be in the bathroom if you are looking for me.
"That girl is definitely a lesbian," Cassidy whispers to me when Mary is out of sight. I don't answer her immediately.
"Or bisexual."
Without noticing it myself I've been staring all around the club, hoping James would still be around. There is so much I want to say to him, but I simply didn't have the courage, now, after a couple more shots, I'm more than ever ready.
I would tell him I love it when someone calls me princess, that no one ever did that before. That I love his name, ask his age, tell him I love the way he looks, ask him how he got so rich. And a million more questions.
"Thinking about your new boyfriend?" Cassidy pokes my side with a harsh grin on her face. "You two would make a great-looking couple."
My spine stretches completely straight and a huge smile forms on my face. "You really think so?"
"Look at you, so hungry for a guy. There are a million other guys on the planet, why don't you go for them? No offense but James looks like a dick who isn't interested in anything other than his money and clothing." If that were the truth then why do I feel like this? So warm and fuzzy inside, I can't even stop myself from constantly thinking about him.
"Look at that guy over there." She points at a different guy; he looks a lot like James just a few inches shorter and different hair color. "He looks like him, but less of a douchebag look, go up to him!" She pokes my side to go up to him. But I have zero interest in anyone else after James.
James is special, no one has ever looked at me like that, and no one has made that much of a first impression on me with words.
God, I think I'm in love, deeply.