Esther, Be Tender With My Love

Ten

Esther

Third hour couldn't come any sooner. I felt awful for Robin. I'm sure he felt awkward sitting next to me as I tried not to cry all hour. Honestly, I should be used to this kind of drama at school. It happens all the time. Mrs. Johnson has had it out for me all year and I have absolutely no idea why. Mr. Daniels on the other hand, I'd heard that he was probably a pedophile but I never expected him to try and come after me, especially in the middle of the hallway during passing period. After the bell finally rang, I turned to robin to apologize.

"Sorry about that Robin. It's just been a rough morning."

"It's alright. I was just worried about you. This teacher is a major bitch." Robin whispered in my ear making me laugh.

"She's had it out for me ever since I joined her class. I don't know why."

We parted ways and I set towards Mr. Irving's history class. History has always been my favorite subject. As stated before, I've always been intrigued by the past and I guess my grandpa is the reason for that.

Upon entering the classroom, I noticed that Maurice had not yet gotten here. Only a few seats were filled by mostly juniors. I sat in my usual spot in the back. Waiting on class to start, I pulled out my phone and sent a quick snapchat to Atticus for streaks. Almost immediately he sent back a selfie with Barry. They were both making weird faces with their tongues sticking out and I couldn't help but laugh and screenshot the picture.

"What are you laughing at?" I looked up to see the gorgeous face of none other than Maurice smiling at me. I showed him the picture to which he laughed too. "Wow. Seems like they're getting along great."

"Yeah. I'm glad they are, especially since Atticus you all are my best friends. It makes me happy when my friends get along with my other friends."

"You consider us your best friends?" He asked, serious. His question and the face he made scared me. Was it crazy to consider them my best friends after just three days of knowing each other?

"Yeah. I mean, I feel like I've personally known you guys for years. It's crazy for me to think that you've only been around for a few days." Maurice smiled wide.

"I feel like I've known you for forever too! It's going to be weird going back home and not having you around." He looked sad as those words came out of his mouth. It pained me to think of life next week without him and his brothers around.

"Good morning class!" Mr. Irving yelled as he danced around the room with sunglasses on. "Today we are going to be doing nothing because I'm hungover." He plopped himself into his cushioned desk chair and propped his feet up onto his desk, getting comfortable for what I assumed was a nap. Maurice opened his mouth in shock. I guess he wasn't used to the absurd behavior of 2020.

"He does this about once a month." I explained to Maurice.

"Your generation is so messed up." He joked.

"I know!"

The rest of the hour was spent goofing off with Maurice. We told jokes and I showed him funny memes on my phone. We sat on the floor at the back of the room leaning against the wall. We were so close sitting next to each other that my arm was practically on top of his. I don't think he minded the close contact though because he sprawled his legs out on top of mine.

"Look, Esssie. I know I'm probably insane for doing this since I'm going to be leaving soon, but I really like you." Maurice said out of the blue. My stomach rumbled with butterflies.

"I really like you too Maurice and I'm forever thankful that you and your brothers randomly appeared in my bedroom that one night." Maurice laughed and brought our hands up to his mouth, kissing my knuckles.

Our perfect moment was ruined by the bell. We separated our hands to pick up our stuff.

"I'll see you at lunch?" He asked, hopeful.

"Yeah, I'll see you then, Mo." I waved goodbye as we went our separate ways. I felt on top of the world. Maurice just confessed his feelings for me.

--

Robin sat across the classroom from me in the next class which was English with Mr. Daniels. All throughout the class, Mr. Daniels kept eyeing me up and down, making me uncomfortable.

As soon as the dismissal bell rang, I tried to get out of there as fast as I could but was stopped once again.

"Ms. Ryan. Don't forget about that 'test.'" He reminded with a wink. I simply glared at him and stormed out to find Robin, resisting the urge to throw him the bird.

Robin was in the hall talking to Barry. I tried to clear my head of Mr. Daniels and smiled at the two brothers as I approached them.

"Hey guys." I greeted.

"Es, what did Mr. Daniels want?" Robin asked. Do I tell them the truth or make up a lie? What's the point in lying if they're only going to be here for another week? I quickly pulled them away from the classroom and to a partially secluded area down the hall.

"Okay, please promise me you guys won't tell anyone this because it's not something that I can't handle." I paused to stare the boys down to make sure they'd keep their mouths shut. They nodded their heads and motioned for me to continue. "So, after first hour, Mr. Daniels stopped me in the hall and told me I scored low on a test, which I really don't think I did because I actually studied for that test and am confident I did pretty good on it. Anyways, he wants me to come in for 'extra credit' if you know what I mean." Robin and Barry both twisted their faces in disgust.

"He's a teacher. Surely that's highly illegal here." Barry said.

"It is. That guy is such a creep and it doesn't stop him from doing it with students. He makes me so mad. He kept checking me out in class and I just wanted to smack him so hard." I said, actually getting fired up just talking about it. Barry placed his hand gently on my shoulder.

"Calm down. It'll be okay. We won't let him do anything to you." He assured. Together, the three of us walked down to the cafeteria to find Maurice.