Drowning Lessons

4.

"You've written a lot about vampires, are they a special interest of yours?" Mr. Way asked as he looked up from the papers and smiled a little.
"Oh, yes sir.. it's uhm... just something I like to read about" I answered hesitantly.
"Vampires are very fascinating, aren't they" he brushed his fingers through his hair and leaned towards me. He had an ominous look on his face and I shuddered.
"Yes sir" I nodded, fidgeting with my tie.
"How about you come here when the day ends and write me a quick essay about vampires?"
"You'd let me do that? I can talk about my special interests with you?" My eyes lit up.
"Of course, I wanna get to know you and the things you like" he smiled at me. "Now go to your desk, please, class starts in two minutes"
"Yes sir" I nodded.

I went to sit at my and Patrick's desk.
Patrick was nowhere to be seen as all the other student came in. Mr. Way glanced at me and shook his head. I sighed and leaned back on my chair.
"Today we're gonna dive into romance stories and their history..."

"And that's all for today, class dismissed" Mr. Way said, leaning on his desk and brushing his hair back. "I'll see you after school Y/N"
"Mr. Way?" I mumbled.
"Yes?"
"Can I s-skip music and uhm... w-write my essay instead?"
"Is there a reason as to why you want to skip music?" He crossed his arms and have me a hard stare.
"It's j-just because Joe isn't here either and... I have bad a-anxiety..."
His expression softened and he nodded.
"You can go stay in my office for the rest of the day or stay with me, if that would help"
"Will you be in your office during the day?"
"I'll come there during lunch and most breaks" he said, handing me his spare key.

I smiled a little and started walking to the door but Mr. Way grabbed my sleeve.
"If you need to eat, there's snacks in the top left drawer of my desk, don't look through anything else, please" he
"Yes sir" I smiled.
He smiled at me warmly and patted my shoulder.

"Why are you so nice to me?" I asked as I was about to open the door to leave.
"Because I have feeling you'll be something amazing" Mr. Way answered, tapping his finger against the desk. "Something extraordinary..."
His voice was smooth and slightly lower than normal.
I blushed and looked down. "Thank you, sir"
"Go now dear, my next lesson starts in a moment"
I could feel my face burning and I hurried out.

I went to Mr. Way office and unlocked the door to go inside. It was a small cozy room with a small couch and a desk along with multiple drawers, most likely for files and papers.
I sat on the couch and set my bag down.
"Wait... where are the snacks again?" I muttered as I got up and walked over to the desk.