A Beauty and The Beast

Chapter 3: I Could Punch This Kid

I'm gathering my things just as the bell rang, signaling the end of the last period of the day and, thankfully, the start of the weekend. I stand from my desk and am on my way to the door to head home when Ms. James calls my name.

"Jane," she stands from her desk and rushes over to me, "I was hoping to catch you before you left today, I wanted to talk to you about your essay," she looks at me questioningly, "do you have a minute?"

"Yeah sure, I have time," I nod and she leads me to her desk. I'm worried about what she's going to say, hoping it's not anything bad. She clearly senses my nervousness because she smiles at me kindly.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble or anything!" She gives me a little wave of her hand and shuffles through the many papers scattered around on her desk, "It's good actually. I wanted to tell you how great your essay was, really, you did a fantastic job. The best in the class," She grins and finally finds my paper, holding it up triumphantly and placing it on the top of the huge pile of things that cover her desk. Ms. James is a great teacher, my favorite actually, but she isn't exactly the neatest.

"Wow, thank you," I grin, "that means a lot."

"Of course sweetie, you're an outstanding writer, and this is your best paper yet. Which is why I'm wondering if it would be okay with you if I submitted it to the towns writing competition? Have you heard of it?" She asks, but doesn't pause long enough for me to answer that I haven't, "It's this thing that city hall is putting on, the mayor and a couple of other people in town are judging. I happen to be on the town hall committee so I'd be happy to submit it for you, that is of course if you want me too? I just know how passionate you are about writing and I think this would be really good for you, especially if you want to go on to study writing or English in college," Ms. James smiles and gives me a sort of puppy dog eyed look.

"Yeah, Ms. James, that sounds great," I smile and oblige, despite the fact I don't really want that many people reading my writing, I can tell she really wants me too and I don't want to disappoint her. She's right about the fact it was a passion of mine, but I'd never really been one for much attention, "I'd appreciate that."

"Great!" She exclaims excitedly. "Wow, I'm so glad you agreed, I really think you have a shot at this," She smiles at my essay and then back up at me. "I'll submit it for you tonight."

"Thanks Ms. James," I wave goodbye and head out of the classroom, thankful for the weekend.

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"Hello!" I call as I step through the front door, immediately smelling the wonderful scent of garlic bread and spaghetti sauce. I'm about to kick my shoes off in the foyer where we usually do when I realize that none of the normal clutter is there meaning mom is probably having clients over for dinner.

"Hey sweetie!" My mom calls back from the kitchen. "How was school?" She asks as she bustles from counter to counter making dinner.

"Good, I got an 'A' on that big English test," I answer and sit down at the marble bar.

"Oh honey, that's great! But I'm not surprised," My mom looks up from the pot on the stove and smiles at me before going back to her work. "Not to discredit your good work, because that's great, but one of my clients is coming over for dinner tonight with his family. They'll be here at 5, so you only have about an half an hour to get ready, okay? It's quite important that it goes well so I would love it if you could dress up a little fancy, alright?" My mom explains and I know she's hinting at the fact I'm wearing leggings and a baggy white long sleeve.

"Sure, no problem," I grab my purse and head up to my room, finally kicking my shoes off in my closet. I strip out of my outfit from the day and hop in the shower to rinse off. I tie my hair into a bun so that it doesn't get wet, because I definitely don't have time to dry it(nor did I want to put in the effort). I slip into a plain silver dress and a pair of dark grey velvet flats, that honestly feel more like slippers than shoes, but they look fancy enough. I put on a couple of rings and a pair of dangly earrings before pulling half of my hair up and twisting it around either side of my face. I've just brushed on a tad of light pink lipstick when I hear the doorbell ring and rush downstairs so my mom doesn't get mad at me for missing introductions.