This is a work of fiction. This story involves an innocent high school senior losing her virginity when she falls hard for one of her teachers. If any of that disturbs you, then you should stop reading now. Any similarity to real names or real people is coincidental. Constructive comments are always welcome, but please read the whole story to the end before you comment.
My philosophy is that a story should be like a woman's skirt. It should be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep it interesting. I try to do that in my stories. You may or may not agree with me as to where I should end a story, but know that I end each story where I think it should end.
Nobody in this story was under 18 when they had sex.
John Hernandez looked at the students coming into his crafts class. Many of the students in the past seemed to think that this class would be one of the easiest classes in the high school, and he assumed that this group of students would be no different. In fact, nothing much had changed in the twenty years that he had been teaching, other than the fact that there were many more Hispanic kids than when he first started teaching. This class was one where kids from all grades (9-12) and typically included both boys and girls. In his experience, the girls did better in this class than the boys.
At least half of these kids streaming into his class were from south of the border. He remembered a time when Immigration and the Border Patrol had actually looked for illegal aliens in the US, and several of his students in the early years had suddenly disappeared, caught by ICE and bound for return to their countries of origin.
Now, that had all changed, and he had just gotten used to having more and more of these kids in his classes. There was probably as much Spanish spoken in the school as English. In addition, a lot of schools had moved away from having industrial education classes in the last twenty years, thinking that all students should be headed to college, so he felt fortunate that this school had held out because there were so many students who struggled with the academic classes and needed alternatives.
The fact that this side of town was where most Hispanics settled helped to keep him teaching shop classes. While white students might think that college was the best answer for them, Hispanic kids knew that they would likely end up in the trades. Therefore, shop classes were essential to prepare them for trade schools. In the end, these students would probably do better financially than those who went to college anyway.
Many students were very surprised when, during the first class, he would lay out what the semester would include. Indeed, it was anything but an easy class. Each week, they would go through a different kind of craft, On Monday, he would give them an overview of that week's craft and present examples of projects they could do. They would have the rest of the week to complete a simple project and write a half-page report on the craft, telling about its history and place of origin. On Friday, all projects and reports had to be turned in, and under normal circumstances, late assignments wouldn't be accepted.
Mr. Hernandez had created this course to give students the opportunity to improve their English skills and to broaden their horizons. He knew that 1) most of his students struggled with English and 2) most had no idea what they wanted to do after high school. This course provided students with an introduction to a lot of different fields, and considering that most trades were just an extension of some craft, that was valuable.
Students who had been around for a while, and didn't want to do a lot of work, usually heard about this class from other students and avoided it. For that reason, he got a lot of new students who didn't speak English well and could use the practice. He knew, however, that some of the students would transfer out of his class as soon as they learned what was expected.
John Hernandez's family had also originated south of the border, but that was a few generations back. Still, he felt a certain bond with his Hispanic students and knew that, if they wanted to succeed in the US, they would need to at least somewhat master the English language. John understood and spoke Spanish, but he encouraged use of English in his class, and seldom ever spoke Spanish to students. He knew that if they learned English, and worked hard, they could do anything they wanted in life. If they stuck to Spanish, then their opportunities would be severely limited.
He always watched the students as they entered his class for the first time. He could usually tell from looking at them whether or not they would stick it out or go right to guidance for a transfer. On this day, he noticed two things. First of all, there were a lot of older students in the class. Second, most of the students were girls. These were good signs from his perspective, as seniors tended to be more serious (if they stayed), and girls tended to do better than boys in this class.
Mr. Hernandez introduced himself to the class, and then he had each student introduce themselves using a list that he had written on the board. That would tell him many things about each student. It turned out that he was right about them being older. This class was mostly made up of seniors. Most spoke decent English, and even those who didn't could speak a little, which was fortunate. Next, he handed out course outline sheets to all of the students and went through the coursework for the semester. The sheets told them everything they would need to know about the work required and deadlines. There was even time for questions before the bell rang at the end of class.
Mr. Hernandez told them about all of the resources they could use, and encouraged them to team up with another student to complete their assignments on-time. He had files of material on each craft they would cover, and they were free to use all of the information from there. There were also computers in the classroom that they could use to access information on various crafts on the internet. Essentially, the assignments were easy to complete, provided a student was willing to put in a little effort.
When the bell rang, he was fairly confident that most of these students would stick around. Several of them even came up to talk with him before leaving the room. One girl, in particular, hung back while students were leaving, and she was the last one to leave his classroom. She came up to his desk and said, "Mister Hernandez, I will try very hard to do well in your class, but I may need some help with the assignments. I don't write in English very well. Do you think you could help me after school?
"Of course," he replied. "What is your name again?"
"I'm so sorry," she replied. I'm Gina... Gina Martinez. My family came from Costa Rica last year, so I have been trying to learn English, but I'm not very good at it yet."
"You speak very well for only being here for a year," he said. "Yes, I will help you with whatever you need. Just ask whenever you need help, and I will either help you then or set up a time when I can. By the way, how old are you? You are a very pretty girl."
"I'm eighteen, Mister Hernandez," she replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Well," he said. "If we spend any time together after normal school hours, then it might be a problem if you weren't eighteen. I would rather not get into trouble with the law, but if you are eighteen, then there is no problem, and since this is the last class of the day, it is likely that we would be here after normal school hours if you do need help."
"There won't be a problem," she replied.
"OK," he said. "I will see you tomorrow in class. This week will be all about safety rules and machine familiarization in the shop, so you won't have to worry about assignments until next week, but there will be a quiz on Friday."
"I saw that on the sheet you handed out," she said. "Thank you for that. It makes it so much easier to keep up with what is going on each week. Not many teachers care that much."
He smiled. It wasn't often that a student thanked him for his efforts. "You're welcome."
The next day, Gina got to class early and grabbed a seat in the front row. Mr. Hernandez went over each of the safety rules with the students. Each student again received a sheet (this time that explained all of the safety rules). He told them to read them, and reminded them that there would be a quiz on Friday. There were fewer students in class the second day, but less students had fled than in previous years. He was hopeful that word had gotten around about the class, and that he would get more and more serious students every year.
Once more, Gina stayed behind after class to talk. He noticed that she had worn a skirt and blouse both days in his class. This was acceptable, but she would need to wear an apron if she was using machines. She was a very pretty girl, and John couldn't help but admire her body as well as her face. Like many Hispanic girls from Central America, she had a nice shape, with large breasts, a thin waist, rounded hips and well-defined legs.
"Thank you again, Mister Hernandez," she said when she approached his desk. "If you explain everything as well as you did today, this will be a very good semester."
"Call me John," he replied. "During class, you will need to call me Mr. Hernandez, but since you are eighteen, I would prefer that you call me John when we talk after school hours."
