"You're all late." By a good 20 minutes.
"Sorry Ms. Reid, Andre was talking about our semester projects." Her students rolled in slowly, getting out textbooks and calculators.
"You mean Mr. Vierra." She corrected. God she hated him. The lack of respect he showed for the other teachers pissed her off. Andre Vierra was the new Art teacher who refused to live by the clock. She had tried to stay civil with him on the matter but he continued to disrespect her.
"He says we can call him Andre." Of course he does. He might as well be one of the teenagers.
"Well you can call him Mr. Vierra in my presence. Thank you." He was too casual with the high schoolers in her opinion. The teachers needed to demand respect or they would be walked all over. "Page 57 everyone. We have a lot to get through today and it looks like you'll have homework thanks to your friend Andre." The class let out a collective groan. Andre may not care if they are late but soon the students will start to care.
*
"Rena Reid. Finally venturing over to my side of the school." Andre continues washing paint brushes without even looking at her. "What can I do for you?"
"You realize that your class isn't the only one that matters right?" Rena stands at the threshold with her arms crossed.
"Excuse me?" Catching his full attention he spins around to see the scowl on her face.
"You keep your 3rd bell class late every day. And every day they are at least 15 minutes late for my class." She simply stated hoping he would just apologize.
"It's just math." He shrugged. Wrong answer.
"Just math? Just math!" Rena stomped her way into his classroom nearly knocking over 3 easels in the process.
"Relax, relax. I'm kidding." He spits out before she can do something crazy like stab him with a paintbrush. "They have a big project coming up and not much time to work on it."
"Have you ever heard of homework?"
"They don't have the supplies at home. Rena I'm sorry. We get caught up. I'll try to be more aware of the time."
"Please do. I don't want to have to come back in here. It smells." Rena rolls her eyes and quickly makes her way back to her own classroom.
"Rena, Rena." Andre just shakes his head. Ms. Reid had a reputation for being a bit of a hard ass. She taught the college prep classes and her students always passed their standardized tests with flying colors. She was a valuable asset to the district and pretty much everyone kissed her ass. He admired her. Her willingness to do anything to help a student learn. She was an exceptional teacher.
He's not sure when Rena started hating him. Hell, he doesn't know if she ever liked him. He just knows through gossip that Rena absolutely despised him. At first he was angry because how dare she have such strong, negative feelings about a person she doesn't even know. Especially considering the admiration and respect he has for her. But then he figured it was a good thing. It means she's noticed him, he's in her world now. So since discovering her hate he's been milking it. Everything about him pissed her off. Which is exactly why he smiled at her, brushed up against her, and kept her students late. Andre will admit it was childish but it was the only way she even talked to him. She thought she was better than the other teachers and truthfully she was, but it didn't give her the right to look past him like he didn't exist. So being a minor annoyance was a good way to get some face time with her. It's working.
*
"15 minutes late" She announces to her students as they drag themselves in the room.
"Talk to Mr. Vierra" One of them moans.
"Lot of good that will do." She mumbles.
*
Rena watches him pour his coffee looking calm and carefree. She hates his denim button down and khaki colored pants. She hates his scruff and the fact that the principle lets him dress however he pleases. She hates that the students praise him and look forward to his class. She wishes the real art teacher Mr. Ellis would come back. Andre was just a sub teacher while Mr. Ellis was out on a leave of absence with his wife and new baby. He's been gone for 3 months, seriously how much time do you need off? How much longer does she have to deal with this man?
His personality was too much for her. All smiles and charming stories at 7:30 in the morning. He's the type of guy who shouldn't be allowed to interact with the general public until after 10:30. Like when McDonalds stops serving breakfast he can come out of his room.
She sits in the teachers' lounge trying to ignore him talking about his weekend with the Language arts teacher Ms. Dunn. She hates that she now knows he went to the food festival and had some really good ramen.
"Good Morning" He jolts her out of her hateful thoughts.
"Morning Mr. Vierra" She says monotonously.
"How was your weekend?" He pulls a seat up next to her.
"On time." She stands and leaves the lounge.
*
Rena hates Field day. Hours outside in the hot sun with screaming teenagers. She'd do anything to be back in the classroom. Every year the entire school was gathered out on the football field for a day of games and the possibility of bragging rights. This was not something she participated in.
Andre on the other hand loved field day. He played every game and always won at least one ribbon. He was sure this year would be the same. First was the egg toss. With his favorite student Tyler as his partner of course they won. The other student teacher teams didn't stand a chance.
He was positive he would be winning the sack race too.
"You gonna root for me?" He's managed to place himself at Rena's side while a game of ultimate Frisbee finishes up.
"I wouldn't root for you if we were at your goddamn little league game." She whispers back.
"Language!" He knocks his body against hers coaxing a small frown out of her. He doesn't win the sack race. He blames it on Rena silently cursing him from the sidelines.
Up next was the three legged race for teachers.
"Rena." Andre steps closer with the intention of caressing her arms. He thinks she's starting to like him a little bit.
"Ms. Reid" She side steps him. Who the hell did he think he was? She hates how casual and friendly he is with everyone. How he feels the need to touch everyone and insert himself in their personal space. It was aggravating.
"We can win" He coos in her ear.
"I don't want to play" She shakes her head asserting her answer.
"Come on Ms. Reid, you can win it for the seniors." Tyler yells out drawing attention to her.
"Yeah Ms. Reid. Please, it will be fun." Melissa pleads. Pretty soon a good chunk of the senior class is begging her to participate. The peer pressure gets to her and she finally caves.
Her left leg is tied to Andres right and she already regrets this decision. "Put your arm around my waist." Andre tells her as he proceeds to wrap his own arm firmly around her waist. Rena ignores the warm feeling spreading throughout her body and tries to focus on getting this over with. When the horn sounds they get off to a rocky start. Uncoordinated and wobbly, they still manage to be ahead of the other teachers. When they finally manage to cross the finish line Rena's legs give out and she tumbles to the ground taking Andre with her. She smiles amused at his flustered face.
"Holy hell, you can smile?" Andre blurts out before he can stop himself.
"Ugh, get off of me" She rolls his body to the side remembering she hates him.
"Admit it. That was fun" He lays beside her with their legs still tied together. He's still dumbfounded at the smile she was beaming. He knew Rena was more fun than she lead on. They won a ribbon for the sack race.
*
"12 minutes"
"Andre- I mean Mr. Vierra says he's sorry." Melissa pats Ms. Reid on the back.
"I don't want apologies, I want you to be on time." Her student puts her hands up in surrender.
*
"You realize the kids get homework every time you do this right?" Rena sits on the chair closest to the door. She wants to give Mr. Vierra one last chance before she makes a formal complaint.
"They mentioned something about it" he takes a seat next to her.
