Teacher's Pet

"Jesus Christ Jadia, get out of bed!"

I groaned at the sound of my mother's increasingly frustrated voice. This being at least the third time she tried to wake me up, I figured I should probably get out of bed.

The first day of school was usually awful for me. Well maybe not awful, but certainly not fun. I was determined to make this year different. Summer was over, and I was starting my senior year today. Over the summer I had lost over 20 pounds. I was determined to shed my image of the shy, awkward chubby girl. This year I would make more friends, join activities and get a boyfriend. Senior year was going to be my year.

I stumbled downstairs in my pajamas. Mom and dad were already sitting at the table. Dad smiled at me. "Are you excited for your first day back, Princess?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. "Seriously dad, I'm almost 18. Aren't I a little too old to still be called Princess?" He smiled at me fondly. "No, you'll always be my princess."

I opened the refrigerator and grabbed a grapefruit. My dad wrinkled his nose. "How can you eat that? It's so bitter." I shrugged. "I can either eat this or I can be a fat loser, stuffing my fat face with bacon and shit."

"Jadia! Language!" My mom snapped while my dad chuckled.

"Honey, you were never fat," my dad assured me. "Just a little husky."

"Daddy, husky is a nice word for fat. I was fat."

My dad sighed. "Women," he muttered. Mom and I shared a smile. My dad glared at us teasingly. "Hurry up or you'll be late."

Along with losing 20 pounds, I also kind of took on a new image this summer. I tried to shed my "goth" look and go for a more cute, fashionable style. I didn't really have much chance of being popular with my huge wide leg pants and stringy black hair. Besides, shopping was much more fun now that my main goal wasn't to find clothes big enough to hide behind. I showered and put on a short pink skirt, black knee high boots and a white lacy tank. I studied my reflection. My stomach was flat but my hips were pretty curvy. Unfortunately, when I lost the weight my chest didn't go anywhere. I was still a D cup. At 5'4", they were kind of ridiculous. I put on a little bit of black eyeliner, silver eyeshadow and some black mascara. My green eyes (along with my lips) were already abnormally large, so I didn't want to put too much makeup on. Shaking away my self consciousness, I headed for the door.

"Uh, hold it just a minute young lady!"

I sighed. I knew I should have waited until my dad was upstairs to try to leave.

"What's up, dad?" I asked innocently.

"Where do you think you're going wearing that? That skirt is way too short."

"Come on dad, everybody is wearing skirts this length. I need to make a good impression today. Please?"

He sighed, and I knew I had him. My dad and I were very close, and nobody was happier than him to see me come out of my shell this summer. More than anything, he wanted me to be happy, and he knew how important it was to me to make a great impression on my first day back.

"Oh come on John, don't be such a prude. Don't you want Jadia to fit in?" Mom chimed in. I smiled at her gratefully.

"Fine," he grumbled. "But I don't like it." I walked over and gave my dad a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks dad." My mom winked at me over his head and I winked back. She was always on my side with things like this. It was nice having a mom who understood me. Dad tended to be pretty overprotective since I was his only daughter. I had never gone on an actual date before but hopefully would soon, and I prayed that he wouldn't have a heart attack when that time came.

"Bye guys. Love you!" I shouted as I ran out the door before my dad could change his mind. The other awesome thing that happened this summer is that I passed my driving test and got a new car. Well not "new" exactly, but to me, my 98 Nissan Sentra was just as good as a brand new BMW. Being able to drive myself back and forth gave me a huge sense of freedom and independence. Plus, I don't think I could handle riding the Loser Cruiser for another year.

I texted my best friend Carly and told her I was on my way. I didn't have a lot of friends, but Carly had been my best friend since 3rd grade. Physically, Carly was the opposite of me. She was tall and blond, fair skinned, and had an athletic body that I had always been jealous of. Of course, she was madly jealous of my chest.

I pulled into Carly's driveway and beeped my horn. Within seconds she came sprinting out the door, wearing a short black skirt that would have made me jealous 6 months ago. "Ooh, I'm so excited!" She squealed. Unlike me, Carly loved the first day of school. Actually, she loved every day of school. Along with being gorgeous she was super smart. Where I had to struggle and study all night to pull a B, she pulled an A without even trying.

"I'm so excited that your parents got you this car! I don't think I'd be able to handle another year of the bus." I laughed at her stealing my thoughts exactly. She saw my outfit and gasped. "Oh my god Jadia, you look amazing! Nobody is going to believe their eyes when they see you!" I smiled. I knew there was a reason I loved her so much.

"Thanks Carly. Honestly I'm a little nervous. I'm not used to wearing stuff like this."

She rolled her eyes. "Well yeah, you're used to hiding your body behind those huge pants and baggy shirts. You look amazing, Jay. I can't believe the warden let you out of the house wearing that." I laughed at her nickname for my dad. Sure, my dad was strict, but I knew it was just because he loved me so much. Carly likes to make fun of me, but I can tell by the look in her eyes that she wishes she had the kind of relationship with her parents that I have with mine. Not that they don't love her. They do, but they're always busy. Carly is lucky if she sees her mom or dad for 5 minutes a day, and rarely ever sees them together.

"Honestly, he was going to make me change, but my mom was able to calm him down." We pulled up to the school and I parked in my newly assigned spot. "Although now I kind of wish he had won that battle. I'm so nervous." I smoothed my hair and my skirt. Carly rolled her eyes again. "Relax, Jay. Its just high school. You look amazing, so come on." Easy for her to say. She loved to be the center of attention. For me it was never even a choice. People just naturally passed me by. Especially if I was standing next to Carly.

We got out of the car and walked toward the school. As nervous as I was, I made sure I walked with my head up and looked straight ahead. I didn't come this far to go back to being the girl who walked with her head down and refused to make eye contact. I noticed a few students look at me and do a double take.

Easy, Jadia. Just keep your head up.

We found our lockers, which were luckily only 3 apart. "What's your first period?" Carly asked me. I scanned my schedule. "English," I replied. "What's yours?"

"Ugh. Gym," she scoffed. "How the hell can they make us get all nasty and sweaty first period? There should be a law against first period gym."

Carly went on about how if she had won the school presidential election, things would be different. I had stopped paying attention. Coming down the hall was Alex Lipton. AKA the hottest guy in school. AKA my biggest crush. He looked even better this year than he did last year. He had cut his light brown hair to a short, spiky style. It looked amazing with his strong jaw line. His bright blue eyes sparkled mischievously. Not only was he adorable, he was a genuinely nice guy. And right now he was walking straight toward Carly and I. I looked away, embarrassed that he had caught me staring.

"Hey Carly," he said, but he was staring at me. "Who's your friend?"

Great. He didn't even know who I was. I was always used to being the girl who was ignored, but with Alex it stung.

Carly looked between us. "Alex, you know Jadia Galvin. She's only been going to school with us for 6 years."

A flash of recognition went off in Alex's eyes. "Oh shit Jadia, I didn't even recognize you. You look great!"

I smiled shyly. "Thanks." I was trying not to shake. Alex Lipton had been my biggest crush since I first saw him in 6th grade. I'd had millions of fantasies about him being my boyfriend, and he had just told me that I looked great. I made a mental note to thank my mom again for letting me wear this skirt today.

Alex would not stop looking at me, and I couldn’t stop looking at him. He was just so hot. Carly cleared her throat. Alex jumped and smiled at me. "So Jadia, do you have a boyfriend?" He asked. I almost gasped. This could not be happening to me. Taking a deep breath and trying to act as casual as possible, I replied "Nah, not right now."

"Oh," he said, a slow smile spreading across his face. "So, can I maybe call you sometime? We can hang out."

"Oh, uh, sure, yeah!" I replied.

Dammit, Jadia. Way to be smooth.

Alex didn't seem to notice my awkwardness or inexperience though. He just smiled even wider.

"Give me your phone. I'll put my number in."

I eagerly (while trying not to look too eager) handed it over and he put his number in. He gave it back to me. "Awesome. I'll call you later. Bye, Carly. Bye Jadia." I watched him walk away and tried to contain my excitement. I had only been here for 5 minutes, and already my biggest crush was going to ask me out. Yep, senior year was going to be great.

===========================

For some reason, Carly didn't seem that happy for me that Alex asked me out. When I asked her why she just shrugged. "He's a player. You're my best friend and I don't want you to get hurt. He's got a reputation for getting around." I smiled at her concern. "Carly, I can handle myself. I know not to put myself in a position to get hurt. I just want to hang out with him and see if there's any spark." I tried to play down my excitement so I didn't look like a loser, but I couldn't help feeling giddy. This was what I had wanted since 6th grade.

Unfortunately, Carly didn't have any classes with me until after lunch. As I walked to first period English, the self consciousness that had smothered me before had all but disappeared. I felt like a new person.

I walked into English and nearly gasped. Standing at the board was quite possibly the sexiest man I have ever laid eyes on. Maybe even sexier than Alex. He was tall with dark brown shaggy hair. He caught my stare and gave me a smile. Gleaming white teeth, and dark, mysterious brown eyes. And style. His fitted suit looked so hot. I stood there smiling stupidly at him until somebody bumped into me. Embarrassed, I turned around to apologize. Standing behind me was Amber Lewis, one of the most popular (and sluttiest) girls in our school. Amber had never been very nice to me. She always looked at me as though I was beneath her and ignored me the few times I tried to interact with her. Before I could open my mouth, she gasped. "Oh my God, Jadia?? You look amazing! I didn't even recognize you!"

I felt my face turning bright red as she went on. I glanced at the hot teacher, who was now smiling at me as if we were sharing a secret. Clearly he could see how fake Amber was being. I cleared my throat and coolly said, "Thanks Amber. You look good too," and walked away to find a seat. One of my other Senior Year Resolutions was to not get caught up in the popularity game. Sure, I wanted to be popular, but not at the cost of my happiness. Amber was a fake bitch, end of story.

I sat in the middle of the room, trying not to look like a slacker sitting in the back or a kiss ass sitting in the front. Charlotte Mills, a girl who was really nerdy but nice sat next to me. "Hi Jadia. You look great," she said in her slightly nasal voice. I smiled at her. "Thanks Charlotte. How was your summer?" She shrugged. "It was ok. Pretty boring."

I could see how summer would be boring for someone like Charlotte, who didn't have very many friends. I didn't have a good response so I was grateful when she said, "Did you see the teacher? Oh my God. He is soooo hot!" She giggled. I looked up again and saw Hot Teacher staring at me. My face turned bright red when I realized that he must have heard Charlotte. He gave me a small smile and looked away.

After Hot Teacher (whose name happened to be Mr. Hayes) took attendance, he went over the curriculum for the semester. English had never been one of my best subjects, so I knew this class would be a struggle for me. I never understood why teachers insisted that every sentence in every book had a double meaning. The first book we were supposed to read was The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Amber raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss…" Mr. Hayes said.

"Amber. Amber Lewis," she said importantly. I stifled a giggle.

"Yes, Miss Lewis. What can I do for you?"

Amber said, gave him her flirtiest look, "Are you going to be available for extra help after school?"

I almost choked. Did this girl have no shame? He was a teacher for god sakes. I suddenly felt a lot better about my decision to snub Amber. After a careful pause, Mr. Hayes said "Well, if the time comes that you need extra help, I'm sure we can get a study session together after school." Amber seemed mildly disappointed. What a slut.

The bell rang and I gathered my stuff.

"Miss Galvin, can I see you for a moment?"