Lessons In Butterflies ｡ ｡ ｡ (StudentxTeacher Romance)

Chapter 4: Mr. insert better name than Gray.

1st Person (Shella's POV):

Dani was waiting outside, pacing back and forth, her shoes squeaking every few steps. The second she saw me, her head snapped up. "Well? What happened? Are you dead?"

I shook my head, still trying to make sense of it. "No, not dead. But... I don't know. He was weirdly calm."

Dani's eyes widened. "Calm? Are we talking about the same person? He doesn't do calm."

"I know!" I said, still in disbelief. "He yelled at Juliet, and then when it was my turn, I thought he was going to explode, but then... he didn't."

Dani stopped pacing, frowning. "What do you mean 'he didn't'?"

I let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing at the lingering stings on my fingers. 

"I don't know, okay? One second he was ready to kill me, and the next, he was looking at my cuts like it was his fault or something."

Her frown deepened. "And then what? He just let you go?"

"Pretty much," I muttered, crossing my arms. "Well, after telling me to be careful. That was it."

Dani raised her eyebrows. "That's it?"

"Yeah." I shrugged. "I have no idea what his deal is."

We both stood there in silence for a moment, the echoes of footsteps down the hall filling the awkward gap. 

Dani scratched the back of her head and then muttered, "Well, that's... weird. Maybe you broke him."

I couldn't help but let out a laugh at that. "Right? Maybe he's secretly malfunctioning or something."

Dani grinned. "You probably overloaded him with your clumsiness. He short-circuited."

I rolled my eyes but smiled. "Yeah, probably."

We started walking toward the exit. I was still confused, but at least I wasn't in detention or worse. 

The thought of his hand reaching out to mine was still a little too weird to shake, though.

"So," Dani asked after a few beats of silence, "do you think he's, like, secretly nice? You know, under all the layers of 'I hate everyone'?"

I snorted. "No way. I mean, he's scary, Dani. Maybe he was just tired or something."

"Or maybe you're his favourite now," she teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Gross, no thanks," I shot back, though the thought sent an unexpected shiver down my spine. 

"I'd rather be his least favourite forever."

We reached the main entrance, and Dani leaned against the doorframe, smirking. "Guess you'll find out soon enough, won't you? You two are destined to interact again."

I groaned. "He is our teacher so please don't jinx it."

Dani laughed as we stepped outside, the late afternoon sun casting a golden hue over the courtyard. "No promises, Shella."

I made a face at her but didn't correct her this time. "You're the worst."

"You love me," she quipped, nudging me with her elbow.

I laughed again, feeling the tension from earlier finally ease off for good. 

As we walked, I threw one last glance over my shoulder, wondering what he was doing right now, if he was still sitting there, staring at his desk like earlier. 

Maybe he was tired, or maybe Dani was right. Either way, I wasn't going to waste more brainpower trying to figure him out. 

I had enough on my plate without dissecting the enigma that was Mr. insert better name than Gray.