I smiled as she sat down. Again I had that same feeling I'd had yesterday, that there was something special about her. She was just different from most of the girls at this school. In the two days I'd been there, I'd met the entire Senior class, and most of those girls seemed like carbon copies of each other. But that shouldn't surprise me. I mean, it's just as true for life outside of high school. I think what did surprise me was her reaction to me saying she didn't look like an academic. Most girls would take that as a compliment, like I was saying she was pretty. But Lexi took it as a slap in the face. Her grades must be important to her, I thought.
Standing next to her just now had been more difficult then I thought possible. I could smell her sweet perfume, and it was addicting. Also, when she bit her lip- something about that action seemed so cute, especially since Lexi was the one doing it. Usually, I have no problem reading my handwriting, sloppy as it might be. But being close to her, I just couldn't concentrate on my words. I was relieved she just assumed it was poor handwriting and not what it actually was. I realized something as I was sitting at my desk: I was just turned on by a high school student. And not just in the physical way. I mean there were tons of beautiful girls at this high school. But each and every one of them might as well be wearing shirts that said "jail bait" or "unemployment." But whatever was so special about Lexi... it just made me forget about everything else. And I couldn't do that. I'd worked way too hard to get the position I had, and I couldn't mess it up, especially not over a girl. I decided I'd have to treat her as any other student, even if that meant ignoring her completely. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but after today, I didn't see any other way around it. I couldn't risk my career over something like this.
I walked out of class on Friday still confused. When I got there early the past few days, Mr. Birnbaum hadn't been in the room. He didn't end up showing until right before the bell rang. I thought that had been strange, but the rest of the class was usually even worse. Even though I was sure he knew I'd done the homework, he kept overlooking my answers to the questions he asked. In addition to all this, he rarely looked up from what he was doing, and when he did he always seemed to have his back turned to me or be looking in an opposite direction. When it had first happened a few days ago, I'd just assumed it was a fluke or something, and that he'd get back to normal the next day. But now, almost a week later, he hadn't. Apparently this was the new normal. And this seemed to be the new treatment I was getting. It kind of hurt actually. That one-day we'd actually talked, I thought I might have found a teacher that I actually liked and respected, but I guess I must have been wrong. He'd been kind and seemed willing to listen to me. I'd decided yesterday that if today's class went as bad as the last couple had, that I would try and transfer out. Today had been just as awkward if not more so. As I walked into the hallway, I went down to the students' office to see if my counselor could get me out of it.
The past few days had been awful. Everyday that Lexi came into class, she looked more and more disappointed. I felt bad, but what else could I do? If I acted like someone she could talk to, I'd have to be awkward around her and hide that I was clearly attracted to her. But it seemed better then what I was doing right now, which was making me feel like a ten year old trying to hide from his "girlfriend." Even though every voice in my head was screaming at me not to, I'd look at her every once and a while. She always seemed to be so focused. She was just mature for her age. Like she was beyond all of the high school stuff already.
Running a hand through my hair, I went back to grading papers at my desk. With all the thinking I'd been doing lately, it'd been hard to concentrate in class, so I'd assigned a rather large essay about the American Business structure, which at least kept me from sounding stupid to the kids in the class, when I forgot what I was talking about in the middle of a lecture. All of a sudden I heard a knock at the door and looked up.
"Mr. Birnbaum?" The lady asked. I recognized her as the counselor's secretary.
"Uh..yes. Can I help you?" I asked, not entirely sure why she'd be here.
"Mr. Bryant would like to see you in your next available free period. He wanted to talk to you about something."
"Yes.. of course. I have 5th hour free."
"Alright I'll let him know to expect you."
She turned around and walked back down the hallway. I tried to figure out why I'd been called down. Aside from schedule stuff, the counselors helped with colleges, but I didn't see what that could have to do with me. The day went on rather quickly after that, but surely only because I was dreading this meeting. When the bell for 4th hour rang, I waited until the students had left my class, and shutting the door behind me, I headed down to the office. This was like high school all over again.
I stepped into the office knocking on the door as I entered.
"You wanted to see me Mr. Bryant?"
"Yes please come in---do you mind if I just call you Ben?
"Not at all."
"Alright. Well Ben I just got out of a meeting with one of your students looking to transfer out of the class. Alexis Green. She said she was having trouble in the class; struggling with assignments, stuff like that. This is just a routine we go through, when a student wishes to transfer out, I just like to talk to the teacher, get their feedback on the situation." He finished his speech watching me across the desk.
I coughed, a little uncomfortable. So she tried to transfer out? I guess I wasn't being too subtle with my ignoring plan.
"Well, Mr. Bryant I don't know if she is necessarily struggling in my class, but I did notice that she seemed to have a lot on her plate class wise, so it wouldn't be a problem if she felt the need to transfer out."
I tried to sound sure of myself, and at the same time not sound like I wanted her out of my class, even though right now it seemed like the best solution.
He leaned back in his chair, seeming to think this over. After a minute, he started to talk again.
"Ben, if this is true, then I'm going to have to ask you to do me a favor. Would you mind having a meeting with her one on one? Maybe the two of you can figure out what to do. I have no problem transferring her. Lexi Green is one of the best students in this school, so if she wants to switch, I'd assume it was for a perfectly logical reason."
