The rest of the week seemed to drag on as I sat waiting and waiting for Monday to come. I didn’t care about anything else. All that mattered was getting to spend time alone with Tori, helping her out. When that day finally came I decided I was going to look as nice as I could, without over going it of course. It’s not like I was going on a date and I didn’t want it to look like I thought I was.
As planned, I headed down to the band room right after school and waited for Tori to walk in. That day she seemed to have dressed up more than usual herself and I almost couldn’t help, but stare at the way it left her shoulders completely bare other than the two thin black straps of her bra.
“So, I have a stack of music to go through, and I don’t know how, but I ended up completely mixing it all up. Think you could sort it for me by title and instrument?”
I nodded and she handed me a rather large stack of music, which I started going through, but there was just so much of it, I didn’t think I was going to get done in an hour. We sat on the steps and laid everything out in piles as we got to work. Every now and then I looked over to see Tori sorting through her own stuff.
“Hey, I remember us playing this back in 8th grade,” I said as I pulled out a familiar piece and held it out for her to look at.
She looked up and smiled.
“Oh yes, I remember that too. It was once of my favorites actually.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, because I played it when I was your age too.”
“Wow, I didn’t realize it was that old.”
Tori laughed and shook her head and I didn’t realize why until I really thought about what I just said.
“Wow. Thanks Kels,” she said with a smile on her face still.
I could feel my own face turning completely red.
“Oh geez I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It’s okay. I realize I’m not exactly 18 years old anymore.”
I went back to sorting through music, unsure of what to say next. Actually, I decided it would just be better if I didn’t say anything at all. I called her old. How could I possibly do that? She wasn’t that old at all. She was only 32. Sure it was a 14 year age difference, I didn’t mind that.
I looked over at her again, just as she was leaning forward to pick something up. Earlier in the day she had held her shirt close to her as she leaned forward to talk to a student so they wouldn’t get to sneak a peek down her shirt. She didn’t do that now though, and it fell forward just enough for me to get a better look at that black bra of hers.
I quickly looked away just in case she noticed. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. How was I going to hide this...? Too late.
“Well, well. Just what are you thinking about over there?” she asked.
I looked over to see that she was looking at me with one of her eyebrows raised and a smirk on her face. I smiled and looked down at the ground, feeling completely embarrassed for being caught.
“Nothing. I was just… I remembered something from a while ago is all,” I lied.
“Must have really been something to make you blush like that.”
She went back to her stack of music and I just sat there, not really knowing what to do anymore. I just couldn’t bring myself to get back to working right away. Eventually Tori noticed and stopped what she was doing.
“Oh I’m sorry,” she said as she sat up straight and set the papers she was holding down. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No it’s fine. I guess I just feel stupid for sitting over here blushing like an idiot when I should be focusing more on my work.”
“Hey, it happens. I mean, you were still working, so I can’t really yell at you for it… not that I would have if you stopped.”
“I know that. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you yell at anybody. Ever.”
“I don’t like to. I don’t think it gets people to respect you. In my personal experience, because I have when I was younger, people want you to lose control, and when you resort to yelling, that’s exactly what you’re doing… giving them what they want.”
I thought about what she said for a minute.
“Kind of like Mitch gets a reaction out of me when I run off crying, or hide,” I told her without even thinking.
She didn’t say anything at first, which started to make me really nervous. That was a mistake. I shouldn’t have told her that just then. I could only imagine what she was going to say to that, or do for that matter. I held my breath as I waited for her response.
“So this boy’s name is Mitch?” she asked after a while.
I was shocked that that was all she said.
“Yeah.”
She stopped talking again. I wished I could read her mind. I desperately wanted to know what she was thinking. I also kind of wanted to know why she was listening to me when I told her not to do anything about it. I was making it sound like a big deal and I think just about any other teacher would have by now.
As more awkward silence continued I started realized I only had a short time left with her. I started to pick of the piles I had made and put them over by her.
“Done already?”
“No,” I said quietly. “My hours almost up.”
She sighed.
“Right. Okay. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then...” She paused and I started to turn around and walk away, but she stopped me. “And Kelsey…” I turned to face her. “Talk to me. I’m serious. I’m a great listener.” She smiled. “I just don’t want you to get hurt, and I don’t think you should deal with this Mitch kid on your own.”
“Thanks. I’ll be fine though. Really.”
I half smiled and walked out the door before I could possibly say anything more stupid. Here she was, the lady I had a huge crush on for so long, offering to talk to me and give me that chance to be alone, and I was starting to want to push her away. I liked being with her. I just wish she didn’t want to deal with Mitch. She couldn’t find out I liked her… it would ruin everything.
YOU ARE READING
Assisting Victoria
Fiksi RemajaKelsey is a senior in high school who's had a crush on her teacher for some time now. She loves that Tori is always asking HER for help and can't help but be sad about the fact that this is her last year to be with her. On the other hand, Tori seems...
