Teachers Pet

2: Shit List

         "Uh... yeah?" He laughed and slowed his walk a bit. I slowed my walk as well. "What's so funny?" He straightened himself up as he tried to not laugh.

       "I'm sorry. It's just- " I narrowed my eyes as he started to laugh again.

       "Just what?" Now I was suspicious. What had this boy heard about me? It couldn't have been bad. Well, it might not be very good either. When he could control himself he shook his head at the ground.

       "I heard a lot about you. You're the girl who turned in the spaghetti on paper, right?" I pursed my lips as I considered snapping at him. No one was going to let me forget this, were they?...

       "It was macaroni, and yes. That was me." I thought this whole macaroni fiasco would be over by now. Leave it to Mr. Banks to use my failed final as an example to exploit my failure.

       "Can I ask why?" Why I turned in macaroni art? I didn't need to explain myself to him. I didn't even think Mr. Banks would understand, but it had been worth the shot.

       "For last years final, we needed to create something that had a message. It needed to mean something to us. Something that really hits home. What I turned in was a real home run in my opinion." I sighed, feeling exasperated. "If Mr. Banks would've just listened... I'm more than certain my final would have gotten an 'A'." My final had been something I put a lot of thought into. I get how it looked and I understand that Mr. Banks thinks I turned in crap, but I know I did exactly what he told us to do. That final was a representation of who I was and what I've been through.

       I looked to him to see if he thought I was crazy, but the look on his face was odd. He eyed me curiously with a smile that was almost a smirk. I wasn't sure what he thought of me, but it didn't matter.

        "Well, this is it," I told him, a bit nervously. I felt my cheeks go hot again as he kept his eyes on me. He chuckled to himself about something I wasn't aware of. His lips parted as if to speak, but instead he opened the door to let me in. I cleared my throat as I passed through the threshold and felt my stomach turn at the close proximity between us. He smelled nice, though I couldn't really describe his scent.

       "Miss Harper. You've finally decided to join us for class." Even though I tried to enter through the other door in the back of class instead of the main one, Mr. Banks still managed to make me the center of attention. He rose from his desk with a grunt. I could see his big stomach peaking out from under his shirt. I'd rather stare at that then everyone else being nosy.

       "I figured I kept you waiting long enough," I replied. Maybe with a little too much ease. I bit my tongue, trying to remember that I was going to behave this year. I tried to not acknowledge the quiet laughs. Mr. Banks was so use to my mouthing back, he didn't even respond to my comment.

       "And what trouble did you manage to get yourself into now?" Trouble? Why would he assume that I was in trouble?

       "I'm not in trouble," I retorted. Accusations always made me upset. Mr. Banks just shook his head and turned his beady eyes to... what was his name again? Did he even tell me his name?

       "Did you catch her trying to ditch? I wouldn't be surprised." The boy next to me tried to keep a smile from forming it seemed as he shook his head. I couldn't ignore the amused look on his face either.

       "Not at all. Miss Harper was just showing me the way to class. I guess we're both late." Miss Harper?

       "Yes, that's nothing new for this one." I bit my tongue as I made my way to an open seat. The boy I walked with headed to the front of class, placing his messenger bag atop Mr. Banks desk. Mr. Banks didn't seem to think anything of it. Instead, he handed the boy a thick beige folder. I've occasionally seen Mr. Banks take it out and aggressively write stuff down. No one seemed to know what was in it. Taking a seat next to a girl I knew named Cassie, I tried not to think about the weird exchanges happening between Mr. Banks and the transfer kid. Cassie looked up from her phone and jutted her chin at me.