After Class (Janet and Aaliyah)

Chapter 27

Acacia

Getting to school and seeing that Aaliyah's desk was empty put me in a bad mood. Why didn't she come? Why was she acting so strange this morning? I felt out of her world after getting so far in it just the night before. When I asked Jazmine and she said she didn't know, I tried not to worry. But something happened between last night and this morning.

And to think how special last night was...

She was so good to me. She opened up. She made me feel heaven-bound. Now I had no idea where she was or what she was thinking and if it was because of me. I shouldn't have been worried. I didn't do anything to her. So I tried to relax a little, and make a mental note to myself not to get angry once I did find out where she was. I had some trust issues for sure, but could you blame me?

The first half of the day dragged without her. First period was a snooze fest and I felt so distant from the class and the lessons I was supposed to be teaching. But everyone seemed uninterested, so I guess we were even. When class was over, I sat at my desk and pulled out the drawings she'd given me. I thought about the one of the man and the woman that she drew on my board. She was so talented. She was everything that I wanted, yet circumstances just wouldn't allow us to happen in a way that was ideal.

If she weren't my student, I'd have taken her on a real date by now. I would have told my closest friends about her from the start, before it was official, because the fact that I was even interested in her was something I found hard to keep to myself sometimes. They didn't know how great she was. No one knew. Not like me.

But today she skipped, and that bothered me. Why couldn't she just want better for herself? That was yet another lesson she was behind, another something I'd have to tutor her on on the side, when we could have been doing anything else together. I would tell her so the next time I saw her, which was hopefully tomorrow.

My door opened up slightly as Matt peeked his head In. "Can I come in?" He asked. I sighed, folding up the drawings and pushing them underneath another stack of papers. What did he want now?

"What's up?"

"I just need a head count for Friday night, will you be in attendance?" He asked. My first inclination was to say no, but I stopped myself. He was the only teacher in the school that I really had gotten to know, so maybe this would be the opportunity to find some more friends, and maybe, we could stay out of each other's way then. I couldn't let our altercation leave a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the staff.

"Yeah, I'll be there. What should I bring?" I flipped open my planner and added it to the calendar.

"Anything, I think right now, we're lacking side dishes. So whatever you feel so inclined to bring...speaking of which, will you have a plus one?"

"Y....yes, I will." I responded hesitantly.

Matthew raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, clearly amused. "Oh?"

I was annoyed at the way he was antagonizing me. "Yeah, is that all you came in here for? I've got all these homework assignments to get through." I slid the stack in front of me.

"Yes, I supposed that is all. I will... see you on Friday."

"Okay."

I put my reading glasses on and didn't say another word to him as he left my classroom, closing the door back the way it was. How was it only 10 in the morning?

Aaliyah

I quickly hopped in the shower, awaiting Pac's arrival. I wasn't sure what I was gonna say to him yet, but I knew I had to say something. Because he could NOT be infiltrating my dreams and shit, not one more time. I had a girl. And she was more than enough for me, or so I thought. Whatever he and I had going on, needed to stop. Today.