As John pulled into his driveway he was surprised to see a second car parked in front of Stacy's car. Who did he know that drove a white Volkswagen?
"Ah." he remembered, putting the car in park. Stacy's friend from school, Annie. She drove that kind of car.
John had only met Annie a few times in person, but she and Stacy became pretty fast friends once Annie had moved into town over the summer. They had several classes together and both were on the cheer squad.
He thought Annie was a good influence for Stacy because she was quite mature for her age. She was responsible, well spoken, and had a curiosity about her that wasn't present in many 18 year olds. In short, she did not act like a high school girl. Though she was a senior in high school, you could be easily fooled into thinking she was a senior in college by the way she carried herself.
She really was a gorgeous girl too.
John stopped at the front door and closed his eyes as he put his hand on the bridge of his nose.
"Stop that John, she's literally old enough to be your daughter." he thought to himself. "You've been single for awhile now, but that's no excuse. Just try a dating app or masturbate if you're horny."
He shook his head and sighed a bit. He kicked the mud off of his shoes before he opened the door.
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John saw Stacy and Annie sitting at the kitchen counter with papers all over the place. "Hey you two." John said, "Annie to what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Hey!" they responded in unison. "You're home late dad."
"I had a long day. Got off work, helped Mr. Standon with his yard, and then picked up groceries. Are you avoiding my question?"
Stacy side eyed Annie.
"Annie is here to finish a project. We kinda were supposed to be working on it all year..." Stacy said hesitantly
John walked through the kitchen and started unloading the groceries he had brought from the car. "So you naturally waited until the last day to get started?" He said
"Well we didn't expect it to be this hard. We came straight home from cheer practice and didn't even change and we still have a ton left to do. It's still possible for us to finish tonight, Annie is just going to have to spend the night."
"Only if that's okay with you Mr. Collins. I know it's last minute." Annie chimed in a little sheepishly.
John smiled reassuringly, "I was a student once. I remember the late night cramming. Annie you're more than welcome to stay here. I'm gonna need you to clear out this kitchen so I can cook dinner. Maybe take it to the basement?"
Stacy gave him a thumbs up, "We can do that! Thanks dad."
John walked out of the kitchen saying, "No problem, but I expect at least a B."
"Yeah, like Annie's GPA could be hurt by one B" Stacy joked "I think it'd do you some good to get a D."
Annie gave her a light push.
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After dinner in the basement Stacy was on a roll. She had found a rhythm and was plowing through the project with ease.
Annie however was struggling to focus.
She kept thinking back to Mr. Collins coming into the kitchen. She had always had a little harmless crush on him, but the way he looked in those yard clothes really spoke to her. She had not felt like this before.