Mentor Teacher

Sequel to Teaching, First Year

Part 1

...A few years after "Teaching, First Year"

It was first day of my fifth year of teaching. As usual, there was the beginning of the year meeting that dragged on just past forever. When it finally ended, we were to go get our rooms ready. I had met our new 5th grade teacher in the meeting, introduced myself and found out her name was Lyndsey. She was new to our school, but she had more than a decade of teaching experience.

Lyndsey, who told me to call her Lynn, is a pretty blonde with shoulder length hair and striking blue eyes. She is about 5 foot 7, and very thin. I'm 6 foot 4 and 202 pounds. Her new portable was placed 6 feet from mine, end to end. I helped her decorate her room, and naturally we talked while we worked. She was very nice. We laughed a bunch and had a lot of fun. I had come in the week before to get ready, and had nothing that I really needed to do.

Shortly after the school year started, we ended up working together every spare minute for weeks, collaborated on three new and unique strategies for teaching writing. (That was very exciting to teachers.)She is both very intelligent and imaginative, so brainstorming together was an absolute pleasure, it wasn't work at all. We were clicking together and we were made a great partners.

Her divorce had been final for months before school started. She seemed more relieved than anything. The only thing she said was he was abusive, mostly verbally. It was the typical "stay together almost 20 years for the children" story for both of them.

I only said I was divorced ten years and had a failed engagement four years ago. I didn't go into the details. I had been through a divorce after I found out my wife was cheating our whole marriage and even during our engagement. I was angry for months, but I was very bitter about any type of relationship for a couple of years or so. Even then I was unwilling to have any relationship more serious than friends with benefits.

Then I had fallen hard for a teacher in my first year teaching, and we got engaged. It seemed perfect, and then it wasn't. She walked in one day and, out of the blue to me, said we rushed into getting so serious. Things went downhill pretty fast. She said I had swept her off her feet, like that was a bad thing. Soon she said she needed time away. I know what that mean, So I said, "Yeah, no thanks." She was pissed that I just ended it. I guess she felt that it should be her dumping me. After a few weeks of glaring at me when passing in the halls, she transferred to another school, telling me she could not stand to see me every day. I ended up all the way back in the "Relationships Are Just Not Worth It" camp.

Lynn and I soon started spending a lot of time together out of school as well. We sometimes met up with other teachers for a night out and sometimes it was just us. It wasn't like dating, we just hung out as friends. We did things like shopping, going to community events, art shows, bowling,and walking the malls. It is hot in South Florida, and we could meet at a mall after work and have a nice long walk in the air conditioned malls. We went to several malls, but the Boca Mall was close to work, so went there a lot. We spent a lot of time together, just having fun.

On a really hot day, we had our kids out at recess and it was brutal hot. I said I was going to go home and jump in the pool. She said she was going to her house and do the same. That evening we were at a sports bar we like, and I said how refreshing it was getting in the pool. She said it was pretty good, but by 3:00 the water was pretty warm and there was zero breeze. I said, "At my condo, the pool is in the shade until after noon, so the water feels pretty cool. Being only a quarter mile from the ocean, there is always a breeze."

"Come on, you are only a few miles away, it can't make much difference."

"I'm telling you, I laid in the shade after getting out of the pool and it was too cool sitting in the shade and I got goosebumps."

You are kidding me. Did you think I'd believe that?"

Okay, come over right after school tomorrow and we will take a dip."

She brought her bathing suit and came straight from school. We went in my condo and changed into our suits, I have two bedrooms. I sat on the couch, and in a couple of minutes she came out. Her suit was not tiny, but she looked hot. A deep breath slipped out thru my almost pursed lips, making a quiet, "Whew!"

"Oh get out. It's a bathing suit." She laughed, but here was a lot more skin than I had ever seen, and my laugh was fake.

I tried to keep from looking at her body in a sexual way, I did not want to get turned and be a creepy friend. When we got to the pool, she dropped her towel on a lounge and walked towards the pool. I Couldn't help seeing her butt as she walked, of course, and I was afraid I would look at her like one doesn't look at a friend. I put it out of my mind and jumped in, "Cannonball!" splashing her on purpose.

"What are you, twelve!" she laughed. "So much for not getting my hair wet, little boy! You were right, though, the water is much cooler than my pool."

After a few minutes of swimming, I said, "Let's go sit over in the shade."

I had just laid and got comfortable and closed my eyes, when she almost screamed, "Look!"

I was startled, and hopped out of the lounge, "What is it?" thinking snake in the bushes, or something. There was a harmless black racer that I'd see once in while, being Florida.

She held out her arm. "Look. Look, goosebumps!" I looked an they were there. Unfortunately? Fortunately? Her nipples were cold, too. I looked away and plopped down. "I thought you were full of it!"

She put suntan lotion on my back, and I did hers. I chatted inanely the whole time, afraid I'd get an erection and ruin our friendship. I hadn't had sex in a long time, and my dick got hard at the crack of dawn.

After we changed she raved some more and I said, "You are more than welcome to come over anytime."

"Careful, I might just do that."

"That's scary, a hot blond strutting around in a bikini."

Laughing, she said, "Shut up!"

Sure enough, that became another thing we did a lot.

One Friday, about three months or so after we started hanging out a lot, we were walking in the mall and she took my hand and held it. I didn't put a lot of thought into it, we had spent a lot of time together, but I was wondering what this meant. When we got to our cars, she gave me a soft kiss. She blushed and said, "Bye." and walked to her car and left. That was just as well, as I was conflicted.

I swore I would never date another co-worker. I had also said emphatically, no kids! She has two. I was also afraid that trying for romance or even just sex would ruin our friendship. Plus, I was still in the no relationship camp. She was a lot more reserved and conservative than me. I was in the infantry for four years, and I was a union pipefitter for years, I curse a bit, okay, a lot. She doesn't, but she is getting used to me. I tell dirty jokes, and she is always a bit shocked. I couldn't be shocked with a power line. She was pretty innocent. She married her first high school boyfriend. She never went on a date with anyone else, no less had sex, casual or otherwise. I wouldn't mind a sexual component, but I knew to her sex=love, so I had purposely tried to keep that out of my mind. I didn't see any way this could end well. I cared for her very much, maybe too much for a friend, but I had that sour view of relationships.

I wanted time to sort my feelings. I texted her Saturday morning and told her I was helping a friend with a surprise move to Daytona Beach and wouldn't be home until Sunday evening, if not night. Of course, that was a lie. I hated to, but I desperately needed time.

It went back and forth in my head all weekend. No matter how much I cared for her, we were just too different. It could never work and that would hurt a lot more than nipping it in the bud. I decided we had to only remain friends. I just didn't know if we could still be friends now. After some thought, I thought I knew exactly what to say, so I rehearsed it in my mind.

Monday morning came, and I took my laptop to the break room. Lynn came in and I said I had to get my grades ready for report cards. I always left that up until the last second, so I thought it was believable. I wanted any conversation to be after school, when we had plenty of time.

When the final bell rang I rehearsed in my mind how the conversation would go. I heard my ramp banging, so I knew someone was coming. I stayed at my desk, like I was grading papers. I thought that would stop any idea of a kiss. It was Lynn, and she walked right in. She didn't seem her usual happy self. Uh-oh. She walked up in front of my desk, "Why are you avoiding me? Did you think I'd buy the Orlando trip and you, laughably, working on your freaking grade book? I'm not an idiot. If I freaked you out with a little kiss, you could at least talk to me!" She was definitely pissed. The plan is already in trouble

"Lynn, you are a very close friend and I would hate more than anything to lose that. If we get, um, if we date, it might screw that up. Have you thought about that?"

"Of course I thought about it. You know me better than to even ask that."

The conversation was veering away from my planned talk. "Lynn, I would never want to hurt you, and I am worried that it could lead to heartache for us both. I think we both have had plenty of that."

"You mean you have."

"Ouch, that kind of puts a different spin on it"

"Tom, I didn't propose, I gave you a little kiss. Is this really freaking you out that much?"

"Truthfully? It scares me... No, I mean, I just can't." Her expression changed for a second when I said scares. "That was dumb, I'm not scared, I'm just not wanting a serious romantic relationship. Is this going to ruin our friendship?"

"It might for you. I just feel very close to you, you treat me like more than a friend and I wondered if there might be more. I understand now how you feel and I see you aren't ready..." She Paused. "or don't feel that way. That's okay, nothing has really changed. Don't make it all weird." That was the last time we brought it up.

For a while I was afraid she was was going to act like there was more, or she would want more, between us. Things were a bit awkward, (for me), for a few days, because I was watching so close for the wrong signs. However, she was acting no different than before. She seemed to mean it when she said it was okay with her to just be friends. Things went back to normal. In a couple of weeks the feeling that that day was important had passed.

We hung out all year. We were as close as friends can be. Often I would worry my feelings were getting too serious. I lost a lot of sleep on the nights I worried about that. It's hell, because you care for someone, but at the same time you don't want a relationship. Relationships, I thought, are like dogs. Great to have and full of love... then it dies.

Pretty soon it was summer. We spent a lot of time together. We had a lot of fun. Early on she found some deal that was too good to pass up on a cruise. She told me about it and that she reserved a nice balcony suite with two full sized beds. If we wanted to go, or she could cancel with no penalty. Both of us had talked on occasion about how fun the cruises look. I guess I got a look on my face when she said one suite- two beds, and she said, "Don't flatter yourself!" and laughed. "We're friends, don't make it weird."

We went on the cruise and it was pretty great. There was more to do than you could ever do in the time you have. We got dressed in our laughably tiny bathroom, which was hilarious, picture yourself dressing in a toilet stall at a store. After one day and night I felt stupid for being afraid for a second it would be weird. I should have trusted her instincts.

A day or so after we got back, we were complaining about the heat. I asked if she wanted to come over for a swim. She came over at noon the next day,and brought sandwiches. She had a semi-sheer bathing suit cover over her bathing suit, same as she had on the cruise. I had to admit she looked terrific, even if I shouldn't look or think that.

We had a lot of fun in the pool throwing around a squishy ball pool toy, then laid out in the sun. We put on our own sunscreen. She said, "Is my back all covered?" It pretty much was, as women are used to reaching behind their backs, I guess. I put some on the spots she missed. "Let me see yours." I am no where near being flexible, closer to a statue than a gymnast. I turned and she laughed, "Did you even try? Only the very edges have any sunscreen. Are you going for the turtle look tan?"

"You're hilarious." But we were both laughing. The turtle thing actually was hilarious. She put sunblock on my back. We spent hours hanging at the pool, going upstairs to get a cold drink, or use the bathroom, and cool off for a while. We were down at the pool, I said, "I am thinking Cheesy Chicken OMG Casserole, (my favorite dish). You up for it?"

"Are you kidding? It's Oh My God, I am always up for that! I just have to get something out of my car."

She came back with a small bag. "I brought some clothes so I don't have to freeze thru dinner, just in case. I know you love cooking for me."

"Well, it's weird if I tell myself how great the meal is." She giggled.

We both changed, her in my spare bedroom and me in mine. She helped dice the celery and water chestnuts. I diced the cooked chicken I had prepared in the morning. I dumped the sour cream, mayo, cheese, and the diced stuff into my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. She watched, "You know, I only know a couple of women who own a 5 qt, five hundred dollar go-to-heck mixer. I never met a man who owned one."

"I'm sorry you have had to deal with inferior men all your life."

"You are impossible. Did you want to be a chef?"

"No, I just enjoy cooking. I never said I was good at it."

"Yeah, because I haven't gone wild about everything you have ever made me. Are you fishing for a compliment?" Then she poked me in the side, making me jump, I'm ticklish.

When the dinner was ready we sat down and ate. She said, "No wonder this is called OMG, it is delicious."

"Please note, for the record, I did not fish for that compliment."

She rolled her eyes so hard they clicked.

She insisted in helping me clear the table and do the dishes. I try not to let her, but she has her own mind. We sat on the sofa watching some Hallmark movie she swore was good. Amazingly, it was. It was pretty funny and had the Fonz in it. I swore her to secrecy that I watched a Hallmark movie.

We went to a free concert in the park that Friday. People act like cattle, trying to rush in and get a good seat. I took her hand so we wouldn't get separated. She looked at me, eyes wide, with her other hand palm out in front of her mouth. "Oh no! We're holding hands! Is that okay or are you going to run away screaming?" We both laughed.

"I think I will be okay. I'm only a little terrified."

We sat there chatting until the concert started. When it did I thought for a minute how easy it was to talk to her. I'm usually not a chatter. But I was very comfortable with her around. After the concert ended, we sat as the crowd rushed the exit like a stampede. I'm sure they all had emergencies to go to at 11:00 at night. I am not exactly wild about crowds. When the crowd thinned to just horrible, we started walking and I took her hand. I didn't really think about it first. We were very comfortable together.

We went to a movie one afternoon when summer was almost over. I picked her up at her house. We went into the theater and grabbed an outrageously priced snack. You can't see a movie without popcorn, I'm pretty sure it's the law. The theater was almost empty.

We went in and Lynn suggested a double seat that was more like a love seat with recliners. She said it looked more comfortable for my long legs. My legs are usually a little cramped at movie theaters. We silenced our phones and chatted until the previews started. We whispered about each one, saying which ones looked worth seeing and which weren't. We had a tub of popcorn and sodas. The movie started after what had to be a dozen very loud previews.

Before the popcorn ran out, dinosaurs had started killing people. A tub was way too much popcorn. She set the popcorn tub on the floor in front of the next seat. We were fully reclined in this great seat. I want one for my house, I could sleep in it. A gory scene came up and Lynn turned and buried her face in my arm.

The movie got really intense. She pulled my arm up and leaned her head against me. "Is this okay?"

"Of course." There were a lot of intense scenes, and I had my arm out and up, holding the top of the seat to hold my arm up. I ended up putting my arm sort of around her. Her body was turned a little towards me, and my arm ended up was along her side. I held her a bit when she was scared or hiding from gory parts, so I ended up hugging her sometimes.

She stayed like that thru rest of the movie. When it ended she sat her chair up, "I love this seat! I would have fallen asleep if the movie wasn't scaring me to death. I even had a handy chest to bury my face in when the horrible parts were on. Thanks." She gave me a peck on the cheek.

"I understand, this seat is more comfortable than my bed. I held you a bit during the really intense or scary parts, you know, just so YOU weren't too scared."

"Seriously? I could hear your heartbeat and when you'd gasp and hold your breath. It was as much for you as me!"

"Pfft! I just did that to make you feel better."

"Really? Hmm, did anyone ever tell you you're full of poop?"

"Poop? No. Other words, maybe."

When we got to her house afterwards, she said she had an early dinner on. I didn't know how she could have dinner on when we were gone for almost three hours. Sure enough, she had some chicken in a crock-pot. She called it drunken chicken. The table was set, and she told me to just sit. She brought out the food and it was delicious. I told her so. She had poured us each a glass of wine that went well with dinner. We moved over to the sofa and had another glass of wine. Neither of us are big drinkers, so we only had a couple. I'm a cheap date, I can feel it after only two. I don't know what happened to the guy who swilled beer in the army.

There was an moldy oldie on TV, "North by Northwest." She just put in on as background noise, but it sucked us in. It was really good, very suspenseful. There were some scary scenes and she slipped under my arm and kind of snuggled tight when the really intense scenes were on, so my arm ended up around her again.. For some reason I was feeling really close to her in other ways. I laughed, "Two movies in one day? Does that mean we are officially couch potatoes?"

"Shut up and watch the movie!"

When it ended I kind of hugged her for a second. "That was fun and dinner was delicious, thank you."

She walked me to the door. I don't know if it was the wine or what, but I hugged her and gave her a short kiss on the lips.

As I drove off, it hit me. "What did I just do?" For some reason it didn't keep me up all night.

The next day I drove her up to Uno's Pizza, about two hours away in Melbourne. I told her I wanted to take an afternoon drive. She talked a lot about missing Chicago pizza every time we had pizza, so I was going to be a surprise her. It was just spur of the moment.

When we were a couple of blocks away, I said, "Close your eyes for a couple of minutes, no peeking!"

She looked wary. "You promise this isn't a prank?"

"I promise. Cover them!" When we got to the restaurant, I said, "I'm going to come open your door. No peeking!' I went around and opened her door. I took her hand and she got out. I took her arms, and made sure she didn't hit her head or anything. I turned her towards the door, "Okay, open them!"