Lesson Learned {Student Teacher Romance}

Chapter 23

"You got your grandparents to agree to watch your mom?" Keri's mouth hung open in disbelief.

Actually, I promised that my mom would help my grandparents out around the house while I was at work. Basically, they had a lot of chores that required an able body and my mom had plenty of time on her idle hands, so I was pawning her off as free labor. 

As far as I was concerned, it was a good exchange. My mom wasn't very happy about the arrangement, and my grandparents were on the fence about the whole thing, but we'd run out of options. 

"Mom!" Joey stabs a chubby finger at the picture on his menu. "I want a hotdog!"

"Are you sure buddy?" Keri asks. "Because this morning you said you wanted grilled cheese."

"I'm sure," Joey shakes his mop top of brown hair. "I want a hotdog."

Keri rolls her eyes up at me hovering over the counter with my notepad poised and ready. 

"He'll have a hotdog," she tells me. 

"You got it, dude!" I give them a thumb's up. "What about you Keri?"

"Turkey sandwich, no mayo, please," Keri rattles off her usual.

"Hey, Mike!" I hoot over my shoulder.

"Yeah?" He appears in the kitchen window to wink playfully at Joey.

"This one wants a sleepy-bird sandwich, high and dry," I call out. "And this one's having a bun puppy with fried potatoes."

"Comin' right up!" Mike lumbers away while Keri and Joey giggle at our little routine.

"Hey, can I use your laptop tomorrow?" I ask when their laughter dies down. "My teacher emailed me some information I need to download and print out." 

"You mean, Will?" Keri wags her eyebrows suggestively. 

"I meant, Mr. Benedict," I nod. "So, yes."

"Oh, come on, Moira!" Keri scowls and sticks out her tongue. "Hotty-Mc-Hotpants is emailing you, and asking you to call him by his first name, and you're still not hot for teacher?"

"That's right," I grab the coffee pot to walk around the mostly-empty diner.

I rarely hid anything from Keri, but this felt different. 

She knew all about my arrangement with Mr. Benedict so that I could finish school (not to mention, Keri knew all about my mom's ongoing sobriety struggles), but for whatever reason, I wanted to protect my budding friendship with Mr. Benedict. 

"How are classes going for you, Keri?" I ask when I return to my station behind the counter and return the empty coffee carafe to the machine.  

"No hot teachers, sadly," she shrugs despondently from her stool. "But I got an A-minus on my last math test." 

"What?" I squawk and rush around the counter to give her the biggest hug. "That's amazing! Congratulations!" 

"Thanks for helping me study," Keri snuggles into my embrace as Joey jumps into our happy pile. "Oof! And Joey is going to start Karate classes with Markus after Thanksgiving." 

"Wow!" I squeak when we almost topple over. "That's great buddy!" 

"Order up!" Mike shouts and smiles at our mess of legs and arms through the window in the kitchen. 

I untangle myself and go back to work with the biggest smile. 

It's been hard to get time with Keri since I started watching my mom like a hawk, so these little catchup sessions at the diner are the best we can do for now.