After Class (Janet and Aaliyah)

Chapter 16

Acacia

"See! You are getting it!" I cheered as Aaliyah finished up the last problem of the chapter. I didn't know what it was, but tonight, we were focused and she was willing to struggle and learn. It felt so good.

She stuck her tongue out and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Man, I knew my parents shoulda had me skip 1st grade. I'm a genius, for real," she gloated.

  "Yeah, let's not get ahead of ourselves. But I'm proud of you. Not only are you understanding this, but you're focused and you're trying. And that's all I ask of you, ever. So thank you."

  "No, thank you for your patience. I know I haven't been doing the way I said I was gonna do, but, I just had to get my mind right, you know?" She shut her book with her scratch paper inside.

  "I understand. It takes some getting used to. But you're doing it, honey," I sang as big grins grew on both of our faces.

  "I'm doing it? For real?"

  "You're doing it."

She danced in her seat and snapped her fingers over her head, singing "I'm doing it" in a little tune. It was the cutest thing I got to witness all day. I just loved her energy.

  "That's it for today then, we got finished way earlier than yesterday." I checked the time. We worked from top to bottom without stopping for a total of 43 minutes. It wasn't even 9.

"So if you got other stuff to do, you wanna catch some z's, you're free to go, ma'am."

   "I wanna stay," she mumbled bashfully, biting her clear, glossy lip. They looked so appetizing.

  "Is that so?" I raised an eyebrow. We sat directly across from each other at the table, looking dead at her face in the soft glow of the light over my kitchen table. There wasn't a flaw to be found. "You wanna stay?"

  "Mhm." She nodded her head, sending her bangs to cover one of her light, almond-shaped eyes.

  "Are you asking me, or are you telling me?" I stood to my feet and crossed my arms over my chest, walking to her side of the table.

  "Whichever one you like better, I mean, I'll do either one."

   I chuckled. I liked where this was headed.

  "Now, I told you, don't you come up in here and start causing no problems," I wagged my finger at her, and she stood to face me square.

  "I thought I was behaving myself quite well, I'm sorry." Her voice was light and soft.

  "To tell the truth, I was hoping you'd be on your worst behavior," I stepped closer to her body, now a mere inches stood between our skin. "And so if I started acting up a little, the way I always seem to do around you, it wouldn't seem quite as bad."

  "You're the teacher, you make the rules, so if you wanna act up, teach, then... Be my guest." She looked me up and down in a way that made the hair on the nape of my neck stand on end. I chuckled.

  "What did I tell you about calling me that?"

  "Force of habit. I'm sorry, Acacia."

  "See, that sounds so much better."

  "If you say so."

I scrunched my nose up at her. "What, so you like calling me Teach, Aaliyah?"

  "I like the way it makes you mad." She tilted her head to the side in a challenging manner.

  "I must say, you're talking awfully smart this evening, no?"