Prodigal Son (Jensen Family #1) (18 page)

“I’m sorry,” he turned to
face her “I didn’t know how much trouble you could get in. I won’t ask you to
do this again and I’ll behave in class.”

“Thank you.” She stood,
pleased that her legs seemed to have found their strength, his dejected
expression squeezed at her heart but she wouldn’t allow him to have any kind of
hold over her anymore. She made her way out of the trees and to her car.

Paul made every effort to
turn himself into the epitome of the perfect student, he worked hard and was
polite and made sure to hand in his homework on time but for all this, his
attitude outside of school had suffered, he had had a few arguments with Matt
and Tessa resulting in violent clashes with his father and a very large black
eye which Carmen eyed suspiciously in class. He threw himself into his
gardening business and was even lucky enough to be in the right place at the
right time in the local hardware store where another local gardener was loudly
complaining that some kid was taking all his business and he was thinking of
letting some men go. Paul stepped forward and introduced himself, recognising
the need to maximise the potential of his own business, he offered a generous
partnership to the older man and within a few days and with a substantial loan
from his grandparents, Paul was the proud owner of two companies as well as
five full time staff and vans thus leaving him free to concentrate on the
larger gardens of his prestige clients.

After the meeting in the park
with Paul, Carmen had rushed home and settled into a steaming hot bath washing
every last vestige of his scent from her, she had put the clothes she was
wearing in a bin bag and threw them away. As she soaked, she analysed the way
he made her feel, the things he made her feel and even through her guilt, she
knew there was something special about this boy. When the water cooled, she
wrapped herself in her huge purple bath robe, curled up on the sofa with a bar
of chocolate and a chic flick, picked up the phone and called Helen, her
closest friend, holding the receiver away from her ear when she shrieked down
the line as Carmen revealed the age of the boy who had her world in turmoil.

When Paul passed her at
school, he would politely acknowledge her but wouldn’t look her in the eye,
instead turning his attention to the nearest available female to distract him
but she was constantly in his thoughts and she was a regular feature in his
dreams.

“Morning Miss.” He mumbled as
she walked by, his eyes to the floor, hands in pockets

“Good morning Paul, Matt” She
greeted both brothers as she passed through the door to her classroom.

“What’s going on with you and
her?” Matt asked
,
they were swapping books over at
their lockers.

“She ended it.” Paul replied
“Said it was too risky.”

“Well, you can see her point
of view.” Matt reasoned.

“Yeah, doesn’t mean I have to
agree with it.”

“Ah, so that’s why you’ve
been a miserable git at home.” Matt grinned “Come on Paul, it’s not like you
can’t get some any time you want.”

Paul slammed his locker shut
and glared at his brother. “That’s hardly the point though is it? How would you
feel if Hayley suddenly cut you off and wouldn’t have anything to do with you?”

“Gutted.”
Matt admitted.

“Bingo.” Paul replied and
steeled himself to sit through double science. A warm hand slipped into his as
he neared the classroom and he looked down to see the adorable red head he’d
had a few encounters with, he smiled.

“Hey Paul,
what you up to at lunch?”
She
asked as they entered the classroom, stopping by her assigned seat.

“Nothing.”
He replied.

“Wanna hang?” She beamed.

“Yeah, ok, meet you out
front?” He asked and received a nod in response. He
prised
his hand from hers and went to his seat, slouching comfortably in the corner as
Miss Scott began the lesson.

Carmen headed to the staff
room after her lesson, she was handed a cup of coffee and grabbed her sandwich
from the fridge, eating it quickly as she had playground duty that lunchtime, a
hated chore but one made bearable by the maths teacher who joined her as they
strolled around the tarmac grounds, pausing now and then to exchange a few
words with students or to kick a stray ball back to its owner.

“Hey Miss.” Paul smiled as he
walked by on his way to the main playground, jumping down the steps and into
the arms of Melanie, a nubile blond with a reputation for being easy.

Carmen and maths teacher
Julia watched as he dropped his bag and enveloped the girl in a hug, inclining
his head as their mouths met and Carmen could swear she saw his tongue slide
into the girls open mouth.

“Shouldn’t we stop that?” she
asked Julia.

“We could try, but in my
experience, he’ll only do it again just to wind us up, he knows we can’t touch
him, all we can do is shout at him which, I guarantee will just make him smile
at us, he’s far too cocksure of himself that one.” Julia replied.

“Hmm” Carmen agreed “That
isn’t the girl he said he’d meet during my class.” She commented.

“Is he still getting himself
dates during lessons?”

“Oh no, this was just before
the lesson started, do you know, it’s because of him that I had to re-arrange
my seating plan, it was a nightmare trying to stop him from turning around and
talking to the girls.”

“Tell me about it, does your
seating plan work?”

“Not really. I’ve put him and
his brother at the back of the class where I have to admit, they do behave but
now I have the girls turning around to talk to them, I give up.”

“I have the pair of them
surrounded by boys in my class, it seems to be the only way I can get them to
work, I’ve moved them away from each other too,
they
work better that way. Don’t be fooled by Matt Jensen, he may not be as obvious
as his brother but he’s every bit as much of a ladies’ man as Paul is.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him. Uh
oh.” she finished as the red head from her science class appeared, the girl
grabbed Paul by the arm and dragged him away from the blond, slapping her
soundly across the face before turning to Paul, scowling at him before wrapping
her arms around his neck.

“Dear God, when will these
girls realise that he’s the rat in all this and not the other girl?” Julia
asked “This, we will have to stop.”

The blond, having recovered
from her slap, proceeded to lay into the red head with vigour; hair pulling and
nail scratching ensued amidst lots of screaming. Paul stepped back and let them
continue, he circled away as he saw the teachers coming towards them, wanting
no part of the blame for this.

He still found himself
outside the principal’s office though not for himself. Matt had been caught
smoking behind the equipment shed and was waiting his turn to see the head of
the school.

“Mum’s been called.” Paul told
his brother as he stood in front of him “Makes a change you being here instead
of me.” He grinned.

“Yeah, first time for
everything.” Matt smiled in return “Look, take these for me, if I haven’t got
them on me, they can’t prove they caught me.” Matt handed Paul his cigarettes
and lighter. Paul quickly stuffed them into his pocket.

“I’d better go before Mum
gets here.” He told his brother then stopped as the two girls he’d been with at
lunch were marched down the corridor accompanied by Carmen and Julia

“Bollocks,” he groaned
“They’ve blocked my exit route.”

“Matthew, come in please,”
the head called from his office door “Paul, why are you here?”

“Sorry Sir, I was just
keeping Matt
company
.” He shuffled uncomfortably under
the man’s gaze.

“You can go now.” The
Principle stood aside to let Matt into his office “Ladies, take a seat, I’ll be
with you shortly. Miss Scott, Miss
Meacher
, you can
return to your playground duty.”

Julia
Meacher
gestured to Paul to move on down the corridor before resuming her conversation
with Carmen not noticing that her colleague was a little distracted.

“I’m having my lawn re
turfed
at the weekend.” Julia gabbled
,
this was information Paul already knew as two of his workforce had been hired
for the job “It’ll be so nice to have the garden done in time for summer.” She
continued.

“My garden’s a mess.” Carmen
admitted
,
she was watching the teenager saunter ahead
of them, noticing for the first time how his white school shirt strained across
his broad shoulders “I really ought to do something about it but I hate
gardening and hiring someone can prove to be expensive.”

“The guys I have aren’t bad,
granted they aren’t the cheapest but they have an excellent reputation and they
guarantee their work, I’ve had them do a few repairs around the house too.”

Paul had heard enough, he
side stepped into the boys’ toilets, a plan of how to get back into his
favourite teachers affections forming in his head.

The rest of the week proved
uneventful and somewhat boring as Matt had been put on a two week suspension
despite Monica and the Principle being unable to find his cigarettes, he’d
reeked of smoke and that was enough to suspend him. Monica had also grounded
Matt indefinitely and had even refused to let him accompany Paul on jobs
leaving the younger boy to work alone and pass a very quiet weekend.

Paul daydreamed his way
through Monday morning assembly, silently lamenting that school was terribly
boring without his brother even though he was surrounded by friends, no one got
him quite like Matt did and also, the two girls who had been fighting over him
had been suspended leaving him little to look forward to at lunch time. He was
jolted back to the present when the Principle announced in front of the whole
school that he was to make his way directly to the office after assembly.

“What did you do?” Jake
asked.

“Nothing” Paul frowned; he
shrugged at his friend and headed to the principal’s office “Mum? What are you
doing here?”

“I was hoping you would tell
me that.” Monica replied.

“I haven’t done anything,” he
told her “I definitely haven’t been in any trouble.”

“Do you have any work that’s
overdue?”

“No, I’m up to date with
everything.”

“Mrs Jensen, Paul, come in,
take a seat.” Principle Williams called them into his office; he waited for
mother and son to be comfortably seated before he began to explain about the
cat fight that had happened the previous week.

“I don’t understand what this
has to do with Paul.” Monica said at the end of the explanation.

“Both girls have said that
they were fighting over Paul.”

“Yes, yes, I understand that
but as Paul wasn’t actually involved, I fail to see why we are here.”

“Mrs Jensen, I would just
like to say that I am impressed with the way Paul has applied himself to his
studies, however, he is very mature for his years and is causing somewhat of a
distraction among the female students. I’m not sure if this distraction is
intentional or not but I am not able to let it continue particularly this close
to exam time. I have discussed this rather unique situation with the school
governors and we agree that it would be best for all concerned if Paul is
released on study leave.”

“You’re suspending him?”

“No, not at
all.
Paul is not in any sort of
trouble and he is more than prepared for his exams, I just feel it would be
advantageous for him to be out of the school environment, away from
distractions.”

“Sir, I’d rather remain in
school and the distractions you are referring to have been suspended so I don’t
see a problem.” Paul spoke

“I’m sorry Paul, the decision
has been made. You can remain in school today, I have arranged for your
teachers to put together study packs for you. You only need to come in when you
have an exam, you won’t be required to wear uniform for that.”

“I can’t believe I’m being
punished because a couple of girls can’t keep their hormones in check.”

“Be quiet.” Monica said
sharply to her son, instantly stilling his tongue. “Although I am inclined to
agree with my son, I do see your point and as he is up to date with his
studies, I see no reason why he shouldn’t remain at home.”

“Please don’t view this as a
punishment.” the principle smiled.

“Oh come on. Only the trouble
makers get put on study leave. I admit that in the past I probably deserved it
but not now, this is totally out of order.” Paul folded his arms across his
chest.

“That’s quite enough from
you.” Monica turned to her son “Go back to your lessons while I iron out a few
final details here.” She told him.

Paul quite enjoyed not having
to get up for school; it was even better as Matt was still home and therefore
also not getting up early and disturbing him. Monica was enjoying having both
boys at home as well and while Matt was on strict punishment when his father
was home, the rules where relaxed when Michael was at the office and the boys
would spend some of their time kicking a ball around the garden or playing
video games until she insisted that they get some school work done.