The Adventures of a First Year Middle School Teacher

Needs

The projector had finally come in and Sandra was anxious to put it up especially since she had not received the teacher's edition of the literature book she needed. It was important that she had it as she was not just creating the assignments but the answer keys as well which meant that she had to complete the work that she assigned to know what to grade for.

Not having the book with the answers to the assignments she assigned from the book did not make things easier. Having the book would ease a load of the many things she had to do, but Maddie, Mrs. Toney, had not given it to her, and she had not found the time to go back to her room to ask about it.

It was a Monday morning when she had received the news about the projector coming in from the custodian, Kathy, who always made fun of her for forgetting her classroom key or living it inside the classroom. She knew it would be a good day and hoped that she could find Mr. Delaney and let him know about the projector coming in and asking him about who to get to hook the projector up.

In her attempt to find Mr. Delaney, she found Blaine sitting down with Mrs. Hilton who were talking as she had found them before. It was like deja vu. Especially after she heard what Blaine said.

-"Come and sit down with us Mrs. Monteverde."

-"Of course! I was looking for Mr. Delaney, but I guess that can wait." She meant that. Even though she wanted that projector put up and ready to use, her desire to sit beside Blaine, Mr. Buchanan, was greater than the other one at the moment. She felt as though she had been given the opportunity to relive this moment for a reason and she took it. Instead of fleeing and trying to find the principal, as she had done the last time, she took a sit beside Blaine.

The chair was beside him and she smiled at him as she sat down. He was looking at her intently with his blue eyes and she liked it. After what felt like a long time, he turned to Mrs. Hilton and asked her to tell her the story about the neighbor she had.

- "Which one? The neighbor that was yelling at us from across the lawn. Or the one that took our mail?" Mrs. Hilton laughed as she asked Blaine the question.

- "Either one. But better to start with the one yelling from across the lawn." Blaine's voice was melodious to Sandra, and she wished he would be the one speaking.

She wondered why she found his voice so nice, and his eyes, and his demeanor, his everything. She had gotten lost thinking about him and the feeling of sitting there beside him her leg almost touching his. She finally came to her senses and realized that she shouldn't be thinking of him that way for many reasons. Nick, her boyfriend, being one of them.

She only heard some parts of the story but understood what was going on without hearing all of the details and laughed when appropriate. Blaine's laugh made her giddy with excitement and could not understand why. The bell rang shortly after Mrs. Hilton finished telling the story. Sandra got up to head to her classroom.

- "So, what were you looking for Mr. Delaney for? Blaine asked her as she got up from the sit and met his blue eyes that looked at her eagerly and with satisfaction. A brief smile touched her lips.

-"Well, I just got my projector and I needed to ask him who I could get to hook it up for me, so I can start using it as soon as possible. It would help a lot." She kept her eyes on him even though it made her feel things she did not know she could feel. And that filled her with a nervous yet exciting energy that made her want to keep her own eyes on him and defy the nerves that made her so giddy. The need to be around him and look into his eyes was becoming an essential part of her work life. It put her at ease, and she had an extra bounce in her step. What she did not know was that it had become an essential part of Blaine's work life as well.

- "I can help you with that. Just let me know when you want to put it up." Blaine was excited that an opportunity had presented itself. He looked and invented reasons to spend more time with her, but it was hard to. They had very different schedules, and she was always doing something. Just like when he had visited her in her room one day during her lesson planning. He quickly learned when her lesson planning time was so that he could engage her into conversation and get to see her.

The first time he stood at the threshold of her classroom door papers covered her desk. He hoped that his presence alone would pull her away from grading those assignments, and that she would welcome the break, but his attempt was futile. He had planned to engage her into a conversation about last names and pronunciations.

He had rehearsed the beginning of the conversation in his head plenty of times and knew that he would start by explaining how no one ever pronounced his last name correctly to establish common ground with her. He knew that people mispronounced her name all the time and wanted to have that bond with her. Her reply brought him back to the present.

- " Do teachers usually put their projectors up? I mean, I would appreciate the help, but I would have thought that someone else was to do that which is why I was looking for Mr. Delaney. Kathy told me it was here, so I just assumed that I had to let him know." She realized she was talking quite fast and began to feel a little embarrassed because of it. 

- "Maintenance will do it, but they do have a lot to do that's why I offered to help you with it. If you ask them, they will probably take a while to hook it up. If you want to ask them that's okay with me. Just thought you would have needed up pretty quickly and wanted to lend a hand." He wondered if she spoke fast cause he made her nervous or because that was her way of speaking.

- "And you do not know how much I appreciate it because I am pretty sure that I have been driving Kathy mad with all the things that I have asked her to do for me. There are not enough people here to help her.  Would you mind helping me with it during my lesson planning?" She did not know how much he had been wanting to hear her say that and he was ecstatic and already planning on choice of topics such as their last names, interests, or 90's trivia since they were both 90's kids.

- "Yeah! I can be there." He immediately replied and was not aware of how quickly he had replied.

- "My lesson planning is at 11:45." He joined her when she said the time her lesson plan started and when she heard him join her, she could not help but laugh. She enjoyed knowing that he knew what time she had her lesson planning and he did not mind letting her know it.

-"See you then!" She said as she walked away without wanting to leave which made her aware of her every step as she walked away.

- "See you." He was not ready for her to leave his side. A part of him always ached when she walked away and felt that she took a part of himself with her when she did.

~
As students came in and out of her classroom, Sandra read through the instructions paper to set up the projector that needed for class. Many of the students asked if they were getting a new projector as they walked into the classroom to which she would reply with a simple yes. Some of the boys offered to help her put it up, but she knew they asked so they did not have to do classwork. Therefore, she proceeded to explain that they had to do classwork and that she would have the projector up in no time.

The time went by a little too slow for both Blaine and Sandra. They were both anxious to be around each other one more time. Sandra was giddy with excitement and students could notice that she was happier than normal and were not at all afraid of pointing it out as she began each class. For Blaine, it was not as evident. The students noticed that he was not as strict as he usually was, and he couldn't stop smiling to himself.