the secret of us

prologue

The staff room is absolutely buzzing with chatter and Taylor gasps when she rushes in, coffee cup and work bag in hand. She's almost late for their weekly meeting because not only was it a Monday morning, it was the first day back after summer vacation. Sue her for being a bit delayed... even teachers dreaded the first day of school.

But the reason she gasps is not because she's out of breath. No, she's speechless because of the Greek god that has seemingly found his way to Park East High School. Even though he's seated amongst a crowd of other people, it's pretty hard not to notice him right away. His short, brunette hair catches the light perfectly and she wants to run her fingertips over every perfectly sculpted part of his body. Besides his crazy good looks, he's also a freaking giant. Who the hell is this perfect specimen and what is he doing in their less-than-average government school?

She doesn't have time to ogle, though - she's barely made it in time as it is. She probably also shouldn't stare too hard anyway if she wants to be a decent human being, considering she has a loving boyfriend of three years. The blonde squeezes past other chairs and finds a seat saved at the back by one of her closest friends, Blake. She's the female gym teacher (besides having an affinity with acting) and will drill those kids to sweat and tears but everyone knows she has the kindest heart. Taylor had really felt her compassion when she was new two years ago and the slightly older woman had taken her under her wing.

"Good evening, Miss Swift. Nice of you to finally join us," Blake says sarcastically when she sits down.

"Oh, shut it," she huffs, pushing a stray hair out of her face. "You're spending too much time with Ryan, you sound just like him."

Before Blake can throw a comment back in her face, their boss, Tree Paine, enters with a clipboard under her arm and a deadly silence falls, as if they're all secret agents waiting to hear about a mission. Their principal's presence (scariness) had a way of doing that to a room.

"Welcome back, everyone. I hope you had a restful vacation and are ready to work hard this year," Tree says as she stands in front of the teachers. "A special welcome to our newest member of staff, Mr Travis Kelce. As you all know, he's taking over from Andy Reid as our male gym teacher."

Taylor looks around the room to try spot the guy and her mouth falls open when Adonis himself stands up, looks around and waves. The enormous brunette hunk was her new colleague? When Tree had told them that a 'Mr Travis' was joining the staff, she'd imagined a sweet old man who wore knitted cardigans and told stories about his four grandkids. Fair enough, she should have figured out that a geriatric wouldn't be ideal in coaching sports.

"Oh. My. God!" Blake whisper-screams at the sight of the new teacher. "Why didn't Tree inform us that we'd be getting a Calvin Klein supermodel?"

And she really wasn't exaggerating. Travis Kelce was a sight to behold. Taylor can't help but roll her eyes at her friend, though. "Did you happen to forget about your husband? The father of your kids?" She asks while sipping on her chai latte. And if she was being a hypocrite considering the fact that she'd practically made heart eyes at him, well... Blake didn't need to know.

"I'm looking at the menu without ordering," Blake winks at her. "Besides. I think Ryan would have to agree with me. The man is straight but he's not blind."

Tree interrupts their banter by saying, without looking up from her clipboard, "I'm doing our usual buddy system that we use for new individuals. Lively, can I team you up with Kelce?"

No! She wants to yell. Pick me! Choose me!

Maybe Blake will do her a solid and pass on the job to her?

"Yes, of course."

Never mind. She needs to take action on her own. She pinches her friend's arm hard until she lets out a pained squeal. It's loud enough that Tree and a few others turn to look at her.

"Um, a-actually, Tree, this week is a bit busy for me. Lots of admin. Uh, I think maybe someone else should take the role," Blake speaks through gritted teeth and glares at her. She gives her sweetest smile in return and bats her eyelashes.

"Love you," she mouths happily once there are less eyes on them and she gets a middle finger in return. Ah, the beauties of friendship.

Tree frowns in confusion and her eyes narrow but she doesn't question the sudden change of heart. "Alright..." she trails off, "are you up to it, Taylor?"

If Tree wasn't her boss and old enough to be her mother, she might have jumped into her arms out of happiness. Oh, and she probably owed Blake a display of gratitude, too. She doesn't want to seem too eager, though, so she pretends to consider the proposition for a bit. "Hmm. Yeah, that sounds good," she answers nonchalantly. Meanwhile, in her head, she's doing cartwheels around the room.

Don't get it twisted, she doesn't seriously want Travis Kelce. Not only was she off the market but she knows better than to get involved with a colleague. He's just really, really nice to look at and helping him out will add some excitement in her life. And perhaps she can get a new friend out of this. The only other guy she trusted apart from Joe was her cat, Benji. Travis Kelce could be added to the list soon. Platonically.

Then, he waits for her by the door after the meeting, gives her the brightest smile known to mankind and says, "Ma'am," with such a boyish charm that Taylor thinks maybe she's just a little bit screwed.

AN: helloooo it's me again :) this will be longer than foolish one and hopefully I can update more regularly lol. I have two weeks left of the semester and then I'm freeeee!!