The substitute

Chapter 4

When I walk in the house I instantly take off my shoes. I'm about to go straight to bed when I see my mother. "Hey." I say "Hello Zooey how was your day?" She asks "fine... Hey can I ask you something?" I ask her "what is it?" She asks "so this morning Nate was driving me to school and he seemed a little weird and the last person he talked to beside me is you." I say "Zooey its not my problem you have to talk to him..." "I did though." I cut her off "but to answer your question he didn't tell me anything." she says.
I don't get it why he won't tell me? I remember when he looked at my face full of fear, he's probably cheating on you, my conscious tells me. No he would never do that right? I rid my thoughts of Nate. I set my alarm clock at 5:00am and go straight to bed.
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My alarm clock beeps and I jump out of bed and do my usual morning routine. I finally get dressed in a brown long sleeved button down shirt. I put on some jeans and wear my black converse. I go downstairs and I don't see Nate like I normally do everyday I sigh and ask my mom to take me to school she says okay and I know she's annoyed by the way she rolls her eyes at me. When I get to school I mentally slap myself. I should've told my mom to take me to the elementary school. I really don't want to see Nate today. I want to run back to my moms car and tell me to drive to the elementary school instead but I know she'll be even more annoyed.
I decide to just go to the elementary school right now but first I go to the main office and tell them I'm leaving early... Well earlier than usual the girl behind the desk says ok.It's almost the end of the year anyway and I am the smartest girl in the class, Nate is the smartest guy. When I leave the main office and head for the doors someone grabs my arm, I look behind me and see Nate. "Hey Zoe." he says "um hi." I say I really don't know what to do or say really, I remember how our relationship was so simple and now we have a hole there. There's something he's hiding and I will figure it out.
His face falls when he doesn't see a smile on my face "Zoe I need to tell you something." He sighs, finally! He's telling me! I try to keep my face neutral but can't help the smile creeping on my face. "But I'm going to tell you after your meeting with the chief executive of Hudson University." What? "What? Why?!" I half ask half yell, my face instantly falls why can't he just tell me now? "Because you don't have to worry about me right now you have to prepare for your meeting." He say answering my thoughts. "it's an interview." I correct him "ya that." He says "a meeting and an interview are two different things a meeting is way more important than an interview." I tell him he has to tell me "its still important." He says raising his voice a little "look Zoe I know your probably dying to know..." "I am." I say cutting him off it's my turn cutting people off "but I don't want to get in the way of your interview Zoe this is really important." He says
"You not telling me in the first place is getting in the way." I tell him. He sighs "I know I'm sorry and it's not that bad anyway..." He hesitates for a while like he's gathering words to say "in fact it's a surprise." He says " a surprise?" I ask "ya cause you know you made it to Hudson University so I was going to give you a gift." He says. I don't know if I should believe this or not but I decide to change the subject. "So can you drive me to Oakiville Elementary it's a long walk and I'm really tired." I remember last night how I came home walking and I was extremely tired. "Oh of course!" He says smiling.
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I finally make it to the school and when I enter the class room I see mrs.smith I knock on the door for her to notice me "oh hello come in!" She says surprised that I'm here. "Well you're here early." She says laughing "ya I'm sorry for that." I don't want to ruin any of her plans since I'm here early. "Oh don't be sorry honey I was just about to get some breakfast would you like to come?" She asks "ya sure. We get out of the school and into her car "where would you like to go Dunkin Donuts or IHOP?" She asks "anything is fine." I tell her I really don't care where we go she is the one who invited me she should be choosing. "Oh come on Zoe we're going to be working with each other anyway, might as well be friends too." She says and I smile at her "IHOP" I say and she smiles at me.
We finally arrive at IHOP and sit down the waitress takes our order. I ordered 3 pancakes with eggs and mrs.Smith orders two blueberry pancakes and a coffee. "So mrs.Smith..." "Courtney" she corrects me "Courtney" I say and she smiles "what are we going to do today?" I ask "Well I'm planning to give them a test today." She says "A test on their third day of school?" I say and mentally slap my self "its your third day here Zoe, It's the kids millionth day here" she says emphasizing on your. "Zoe schools almost over its June." She says laughing a little.
"So Zoe do you have a special someone." She changes the subject "ya I do actually his names Nate." I say smiling "ooooooh Nate" Courtney says giggling like a school girl, I finally break and start laughing with her. It's really weird to see her like this I know she's funny and can make kids go into hysterics but I thought she's just funny with kids but here I am laughing with her and having a great time. "Tell me about Nate how's he like?" She asks "well he's handsome, nice, sweet and really caring." I tell her. She opens her mouth like she wants to say something but then she closes it and smiles keeping her thoughts to herself. Our food finally arrives and I finish my plate and start to steel some bits of her pancakes she glares playfully at me when I steel her pancakes and I feel like I'm four again.
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We arrive to Oakville and wait a couple of minutes when the kids finally arrive. "Zoe?" Courtney asks me "ya?" "I need you to be the teacher today." She tells me "what?" I say clearly surprised I'm supposed to take notes and supervise when she has to go to the bathroom."Ya I just found a lot of paperwork due tomorrow and I can't do it when I get home because I have to go to therapy and do some breathing exercises with my husband and other pointless stuff and I won't come home till nine." She says worry clear in her eyes "um ya sure what do I do?" I ask sure it looks easy when she does it but i really don't want to mess this up. "Easy just announce to them about the test hand it to them watch them just in case no one cheats and answer any questions from the kids." She tells me."Okay" I tell her a little nervous "thank you so much I don't know what I'd do without you." She tells me and I smile at her.
When I look at the kids they are all sitting in their seats talking to one another. "Okay everyone." I try to stop their conservations but they keep talking I look at Mrs.Smith for help but she's to focused on her work to even notice my struggle. I try again "hello!" I shout I get a few eyes but the rest are still talking. I give them the silent treatment and sit on mrs.Smith's desk, slowly the kids are shushing one another while I pretend not to be paying attention by picking my nails, finally the room goes quiet and I stand in the middle of the room.I glance at mrs.smith and she's giving me a smile. Finally! I got everyone to pay attention "ahem" mrs.smith says breaking me from my thought how long have I been standing here well this is awkward.
"Okay everyone we are going to take a test" I say all the kids start to whine and I mimic them. "How long is the test?" A girl named Kristen says "um well it depends Kristen maybe about 10 to 20 minutes." I say and she nods her head. "Okay ready?" I ask and all of the kids shake their heads 'no' and I giggle. "Why don't we make a deal here." I say and mrs.Smith looks at me I give her the 'please let me do this' look and she nods her head "if all of you pass this test you will get a free day where you just play games all day." I say, I glance at mrs.smith but she's doing her work so I'm guessing she's okay with it. "Really!" A boy named joe says "yes really!" I say "what if everyone passes except for one person?" A girl names Charlotte says "then no free day." I say sadly, the whole class gasps and I try not to laugh.
All the kids take the test and only a few students asks questions. At the end of class mrs.smith asks me to stay "are you sure a free day is okay?" She asks "they've earned it." Is all I can say "okay I'm trusting you on this." She says full of worry and I start to feel a little nervous "you won't regret this." I say hoping I keep my promise "okay." She says breaking into a smile and I feel a little relieved. "So did you finish your work?" I say changing the subject "ya all done thanks so much" she says hugging me "no thank you for letting me be in charge of the class today I think the kids are starting to like me." I say smiling and she gives me a warm smile back. "Well I gotta go." I tell mrs.Smith "bye honey see you Monday oh ya! You'll be off to your interview with the chief executive of Hudson University!" She tells me excitedly, wow that came fast I guess I was just so worried about Nate I totally forgot about the interview. "Ya" I say I go to leave when mrs.smith says something "oh Zoe" she says "ya?" I ask "happy Friday!" She says and I laugh "happy Friday" I say back to her and finally leave.
I call Nate to pick me up and he tells me he's on his way. When I leave the school I bump into a tall man "oh I'm sorry mam" he says "it's fine it was my fault anyway." I say and he smiles at me. The unknown man that I bumped into has tall brown hair brown eyes and dressed in a tuxedo he looks pretty old probably in his late thirties early forties. "Richard" he says handing me his hand for me to shake "Zoe" I say shaking his hand he looks handsome and seems pretty nice. "Well I gotta go pick up my kid." He says "oh really what's his name? I mean I don't mean to seem like a Creep or anything, but I'm a student teacher so I might have him in my class" I say "oh really student teacher? impressive my sons name is Emmet his teacher is mrs.smith do you have him?" "Yes I do have him he's a bit quiet but very bright" I tell him remembering when I looked at his test. " ya he's not really good at making friends he's really shy." He says "I'll break him." I tell him and he laughs "well I better go bye" "bye" I tell him.
When I finish talking to Richard I see Nate's car parked in front of the school. I rush into his car "are you ready for Monday?" He asks me "I hope so." I tell him and he smiles at me I smile back at him staring into his eyes. Nate kisses me on the cheek "I hope so too."