The Demons We Found

2.5 January 2, 2007

"Welcome back!" Mr. B said to his English class. I was settled comfortably in his chair at the back of the classroom, watching as he began his lecture. "What did everyone do over Winter break?"

"I went to New York to stay with my Aunt! I was so cold, there was snow everywhere."

I smiled at that answer. I've never seen snow myself, but I've always wanted to. It gets cold around here, but for people who live up North, they say it doesn't. I pulled my cardigan tighter around myself though, to fend off the chilling thoughts. My phone buzzed on Mr. B's desk. I glanced down at it. Jaime.

I bit my lip and opened the phone, pulling it down to my hip. I took your trash out and I'm headed to work now. ITM, love.

In the Middle. Always for him.

After talking last night and staying warm in his arms, even though the chilly January air, I was reminded of how bad this was going to end for me. I'm so in love with Jaime and he's so casual about all of it. The point of a rebound is to get un-stuck on someone, not to be sticky again and end up hurt twice. That's what I'm doing now, though.

"Very nice, Mr. Walters. Anyone else? Alright, let's get into our work for this semester." Mr. b moved along.

I looked back down at my phone, replying to Jaime. Thanks. Love you.

"Miss Guerra, will you come up here please?" Mr. B asked.

I balanced my phone on his office chair as I stood up, trying to be secretive about it, and went up to the front. I grabbed the dry-erase marker, assuming that I would be dictating for him, like usual. "Sure."

"How many of you like the days that Miss Guerra teaches? And be honest, we're not here to hurt her feelings, but having good feedback is going to help her."

There is one student, Jace, who reminds me a lot of Chris Preciado. He's crass, lewd and of course, the first to jump in, not even bothering to raise his hands. "I love it. I find her ass to be very distracting, and so I don't have to think about English."

I saw his girlfriend, a tiny little blonde sitting beside him, roll her eyes and glare at me. Thankfully another student jumped in, "I like it, but nit because of that. No offense. We do a lot of different stuff, and it helps me thing about what we're learning in a way that makes sense."

"Good, that's what I was hoping to hear. I will be teaching for the rest of this week, but Mariella will be taking over every Friday. She will be doing our Friday lessons as well as all test reviews. What do you guys think of that?" Mr. B made his proposal and the class agreed.

I wish he would have told me this before the start of class, because now I'm standing here like a fool. I had no idea that he wanted me to teach so much this semester. I mostly just sat in the back all last semester. He let me teach a total of five times in the whole class. Now I was going to be doing it every week. My mind was racing trying to re-plan my schedule for the semester. "Thank you, sir."

"Don't thank me. You earned it. The sections that you covered were a grade and a half higher than the others. You've got a gift, Mariella." Mr B squeezed my shoulder and sent me back to my corner.

I whipped out my phone as fast as I could and pulled my messages with Jaime. Guess who is teaching every week now?

Promotion!? I guess I should do something special for you this week. His answer came quickly, and I could just imagine the face he would be making. His face was always so animated. Anyone can read him like a book.

I smiled back at the screen, Just not Thursdays. I teach every Friday morning now.

I'll keep that in mind when we go out.