“Stella?”
I blinked myself awake. Oh damn, I’d been dozing again. Why was it now of all times I had trouble sleeping? It just had to be close to first semester finals.
“Yes? Sorry, could you repeat the question, Mr. Donnals?”
Gerard flashed me an amused look, but behind the amusement I could see concern. “Could you point out the last mistake in this sentence? Your classmates are stumped.”
I surveyed the sentence on the whiteboard and answered almost immediately. “The comma is supposed to be a semicolon.”
The rest of the class groaned, some in frustration, others in annoyance. Because of my unbeatable grammar skills, I wasn’t the most popular person in class. Well, maybe my classmates didn’t hate me because of the grammar skills specifically, but that definitely played a role in my unpopularity.
Gerard didn’t call on me for the rest of class, which was a relief. However, he did hold me back after the bell rang. I was getting increasingly nervous.
“Are you okay, Stella? You seemed a little distant in class today. Both periods,” he said, in a partly professional, partly worried-boyfriend voice.
“I’m fine. I’m just dealing with some stuff,” I told him, waving it off.
“Did your dad come back last night?” he guessed.
“No, nothing like that. It’s just… Jace and Tori dropped some unexpected news this weekend, and I’m still wondering why they didn’t tell me earlier. Their parents divorced. Apparently that’s why they moved back here. It kind of hurts to know that they don’t trust me, you know?” I shrugged and fiddled with my sweater sleeve.
“Don’t think like that, Stella,” my teacher advised me. “They trust you. They’re probably trying not to think about it themselves. It’s like you and your father. You try to avoid thinking about it, right? And talking about it makes you think about it.”
“Good point,” I confessed.
“Think of it as avoidance. It doesn’t reflect on you as a friend, or on their feelings for you. It is purely their decision. And now that you know, maybe they’ll open up about it.” Gerard smiled encouragingly at me. “It’s all a matter of perspective. You need to stop thinking so negatively about yourself.”
“I’ll stop being insecure the day pigs fly,” I joked.
“You don’t need to be insecure, Stella. You’re a wonderful person.”
I smirked at him. “You’re good at this. You should’ve gone into psychiatry or something. You’d be a great counselor.”
Gerard shrugged. “I took a couple classes in college. Now open the door for the next class. I’ll write you a pass.”
YOU ARE READING
Hooked ~A Student/Teacher Love Story~
Teen FictionAmaranthine Stella Lawson is just a book-loving outcast in her junior year. She doesn't like sports and she's not involved in any after school activities. In fact, Stella has no desire to have any sort of excitement in her life whatsoever. That i...
