Hi, I am happy to be writing again. I hope you enjoyed the first part of this story, now sit back and enjoy the next part.
I want to thank the following people who helped me create this fantasy: LaRascasse, my editor, Kalamazoo707, for being willing to keep me on track, Donalde, for simply being there, Mostera1 for encouraging me to stay on task, and finally, Mokkelke for being the best beta reader ever,
Any mistakes found throughout this story are my own, and not a reflection on any of the people who help me with this.
At this point she had made it to her house. She got out of her car and went inside thinking about the handsome man at her job.
That night she decided to give Bryce a chance. She would arrive at work early so she could talk to him the next morning and let him know about her decision.
The next day at work, Bryce had made a complete one eighty degree turn around. He decided to stop his romantic pursuit of Dianna, giving her the space she demanded, and treat her as he would any other colleague.
Dianna arrived at school early to set up for her students. Today the classes would rotate in two hour blocks and she would meet the other children she was responsible for teaching. She was unsure what to expect from the students.
Even though day one with her homeroom class had went well, she was meeting the other students for the first time today. Even though, she tried to ignore negative remarks, a few filtered through concerning some of the older students.
When Bryce arrived at work, Dianna walked to his room. The first thing she wanted to do was apologize for running out, and then she needed his advice on how to approach the upcoming day.
Dianna made it to Bryce's door and knocked.
"Come in." Bryce called. His heartbeat accelerated when he looked up and saw her enter the room, but his face remained impassive.
"Good morning Bryce, I wanted to-" Bryce stopped her abruptly.
In an emotionless, cold voice he stated, "Good morning Ms. Bouvier, you stated that we should maintain a professional relationship and I agree. I will no longer attempt to approach you or converse with you in any way that can be deemed inappropriate.
While we are at school we will address each other with our surnames and strive to work together and keep any personal feeling about each other under wraps. I apologize for coming on too strong to you yesterday, and I assure you it will not happen again."
Dianna was shocked. She felt as if someone had ripped her heart from her chest and stomped on it. His word cut her to the quick. She'd just built up the nerve to tell this guy, she'd like to give him a chance and he cut her off at the knees. She was hurt, but hid it behind an angry outburst.
"Well, it seems you are capable of comprehending simple directives. I am glad you finally get it. I would have hated to take a complaint of harassment to the principal which I had considered doing. Since you seem to get it now, I will try my best to not allow my dislike of you to cloud my time here at Armstrong.
Have a nice day, Mr. Yearly. I will see you this afternoon when we meet to discuss my students." Dianna then turned and marched stoically out if his room.
Bryce watched her walk away and it felt as if his world had ended. He knew he had just made a fatal mistake. He heard her angry words, but he also heard the pain she was struggling to hide behind them. He saw the tears as they gathered in her eyes. He never meant to hurt her and he'd find a way to earn her forgiveness.
Dianna had to get away from him for a moment. She walked into the teacher's lounge where she spoke to a couple of people that she passed and marched quickly into a restroom stall, locking the door behind her. It was then that she allowed the tears she'd been holding back to fall.
He hurt her. Bryce Yearly, hurt her and he didn't even realize it. She never should have allowed herself to begin to care about him.
I can't believe this, I finally, ... Well..... Forget it. Momma is right.
She wiped away her tears and went to the mirror to fix her makeup.
Mrs. Towers came in. She could tell something was wrong. "Ms. Bouvier, what's wrong?" She queried.
"Nothing," Dianna answered, "Just being reminded of a lesson my Momma taught me. I'm fine." She smiled at Mrs. Towers. "Now let's go face these new students today."
The two women exited the lounge and walked back to their classrooms.
Mrs. Towers had been at Armstrong for many years, and she knew a falsehood when she heard it. She felt that Dianna could handle whatever it was that upset her and decided not to press. But she was curious as to what upset the young woman.
Dianna made it to her classroom door and prepared to greet her students: Summer, also stood in her door, as well as Mrs. Towers and Bryce. A part of
Dianna wanted to look at Bryce and see if his expression or demeanor had changed, but refused to acknowledge his presence. She did give in and sneak a peek at his door, and saw him staring back at her.
Mrs. Towers noticed the subtle exchange and finally realized part of the puzzle as to why Dianna was crying early in the morning.
Dianna continued working that day and not allowing the thoughts of a certain man dominate her brain. She would find herself glancing towards his door hoping to catch a glimpse of him
Sitting at her desk, Dianna began to questions herself,
What is wrong with me? I'm gone over some man. I know he's fine, but he's not worth all this stress. I'll just have to stop thinking about him.
Another class was lined up and ready to enter Dianna's room. These students were Mrs. Thyme homeroom class, and Ms. Thyme had already told her about two of the boys in her class.
The class entered her room quickly and quietly, all except the last two boys.
As soon as the boys arrived at her door, she stopped them. "Excuse me, gentleman," Dianna said standing in front of the young men.
"Are you serious? Do you really think I am going to allow you in my classroom behaving the way you are?" Dianna asked the young men sternly.
"Dang! Shorty, calm down." Marcus replied. "What's got you all hot and bothered? I can help cool you off." He added winking at Dianna lewdly grabbing his crotch area.
Dianna was annoyed. Even though she had been warned about their outrageous behavior, she didn't think little boys would really be that bold.
Keamon thought that his buddy was hilarious and fell over from laughing so hard.
Giving both boys a stern look and saying in her most serious voice, she let it be known that such lewd and lascivious behavior would not be tolerated in her class.
Keamon calmed down immediately; however, the Marcus became belligerent and aggressive as he angrily approached the teacher.
Bryce heard a commotion in the hall and came to his door, immediately. As soon as one of the boys became overly aggressive, Bryce interceded and called for security.
Taking out his phone, Bryce called for the resource officer. At this point Mrs. Towers and Ms. Thyme had stepped out to investigate the disturbance.
