Classroom Confessions: A Teachers Heart in an Unscripted Love Triangle

4. Oh Great

Y/ns POV

As I am winding around the curve of the rows of apple trees I feel Lizzie tighten her arms around me and then I feel her helmet press into the spot on my back between my shoulder blades. We're not going very fast but fast enough that I can still see the other three ahead of me.

With the golden delicious to my left and the Fuji apples to my right I know the clearing isn't far ahead and slow down a bit. When you approach the clearing there is a pretty steep hill down then it rises back up again into flat land. I don't want to scare Lizzie so I stop at the top of the hill to watch the boys and Scarlett fly down it. They scream and yell and I can see the smile on Scarlett's face through her helmet that tells me she loves it.

"Wow, look at how beautiful these trees are." Lizzie mumbles through her helmet.

I get off the bike, leaving it running and help Lizzie off once I'm on the ground. She doesn't take my helmet off but does walk around the bike and walk towards a tree. This specific tree is one of the biggest ones that my Fuji apples have grown from, and also the oldest. Half of the branches are dead but half of them keep sprouting apples so I refuse to cut it down.

Lizzie walks up to the roots and touches the bark of the tree with her hands. She looks up in the branches and reaches up and takes an apple off the branch. When she spins and faces me, the glow of her eyes in the pathway lights entrances me and makes me feel this small little warmth in my chest. She grabbed the apple off the stem so delicately like she was afraid to hurt the tree. With that and the way she talks about her garden, I can see the care and honor she has when dealing with things in nature.

"I should have asked first before I picked one of these." She says walking closer to me, breaking the spell she casted over me.

"It's okay they just aren't fully grown so it may be sour." I say as she takes a bite from the apple and makes a face at me. Her eyes scrunch shut and her nose scrunches with them while her face turn into a disgust look. I'd never think a face of disgust could look so damn cute.

"Told ya" I say and she nudges my arm laughing and when her hand touches my jacket, I can feel the spark all the way through the jacket.

"How do we get to the other side?" She asks me looking down the hill trying to hide the blush creeping across her face.

"Down the hill, or a quarter mile west and around." I point to my left.

I can see the apprehension in her face and it's my job to make her feel safe. My land, my priorities.

"We can go slow, or we can walk down the hill but it's a killer to get back up it." I try to laugh to keep it light hearted so she won't work herself up.

"Can't we just go visit the animals?" She asks looking back at the pastures.

"They're asleep, and you do not want to wake a flock of chickens." I laugh and see her eyes widen.

"Okay, we can go down." She says.

"There is chairs and a firepit on the other side." I offer and see her smile in my helmet. She nods her head and I help her back on the back of the ATV while I climb infront of her.

I rev the engine twice before slowly going over the edge of the hill and go down it holding my break the entire time. I've never gone this slow down but it's actually quite nice. Just a bit of speed but I don't feel like I'm going to go flying off the handlebars. Once up on the other side Lizzie's grip loosens and I hear her actually laugh and it makes me smile.

Once I'm off the ATV and help Lizzie off she pulls at her helmet but can't get it off. I unclip her buckle and the helmet slides right off and her bright smile engulfs her face. "Woooo! That wasn't too bad!" She says and flings her hair from side to side to get the helmet hair away.