Nathan Hensleigh aka. History Teacher a la deliciousness
"There's going to be a private?" The words caused the young, handsome teacher to crack a half-smile, mostly because of the tone with which theyād been said. Ness was such a confusing woman sometimes, and in this situation it was sort of getting on his nerves. One second she was mad, then careful, then passionate, then playful. Such a huge bundle of moods to go through in such short time, and though he wanted not to, he couldnāt help but want to leave her thereā¦ high and dry, not answer her question, not care about this whole situation. As it was, however, he desperately wanted to
not hurt her, and really, how hard could that be? Right now he just had trouble figuring out what he wanted from her. I reality, he should probably dismiss her. Get things over with and stop this entire ordeal while he still could. Problem was, kissing her had opened all the wrong doors, and he could almost feel the hope shining in her eyes. Such desperate, innocent hope that heād feel about her like she did about him.
Nate wanted to tell Ness something thatād make her happy, something that wouldnāt hurt, but he wouldnāt lie to her either. He couldnāt tell her what he felt was as deep and loving as what she did, and he hated himself for it. But facts whre facts. Thing was, on top of it, he didnāt want her hating him; he didnāt want to lose her again. Not now, now that he had her back in his life.
Youāre such a dick, he almost screamed at himself in frustration. But he kept his mouth shut, until he spoke to her. āWellā¦ I guess, sometimes? It canāt really be avoided, can it? Besides, weāve got quite a lot of catching up to do, donāt we?ā He was being very careful with his words, though he didnāt let his inner turmoil show in any way. If Ness found out he was trying to avoid letting her know that he wasnāt in love with her, sheād justā¦ well, the Ness heād known way back, wouldāve broken. And now, looking at her, he could almost sense that she still would. Heād done this to her; heād inspired hope, relit the flame, made her
feel again. And he was probably going to break her because of it, no matter how much he didnāt want to.
Her next words almost caused him to puke it guts out. Not because he was disgusted with her, but because he was with himself. What the hell was he doing here? Why was he doing this to her? As it was, however, he could feel his stomach constricting and had to fight hard merely so smile vaguely at her. He couldnāt hide the fact that he was really unsure of what to do, and he didnāt want to either. Ness needed to see that he was just as troubled as she was right now, albeit for different reason. And oh, that hope in her eyesā¦ it was killing him, to be frank. So instead of looking at her, he averted his gaze, sighing softly as he looked out the windows. She wanted so badly for more to sprout between them, and he justā¦ he had no idea what to think right now, so instead, choosing to give himself some time to think things over, he merely said, āI really donāt know, Nessā¦ I just, I need to think things through. Things are much more difficult this time around. Iām a teacher, and youāre my goddamned student. I just got here, and I have enough of a bad reputation with women, I donāt need a student-relationship on top of it.ā
He sighed once more, before his eyes once more found her pretty face, āso, umā¦ weāll figure it out. I promise. I just really need to think, okay?ā he finished, before softly brushing his lips against her forehead. Then he grabbed his papers, leaving the essay assignment on the table. He put Julietteās note with songs in his pocket and smiled gently and Ness, before remembering he had a job too. āOh, and Iāll need you to do the first assignment. Canāt treat you differently than the others, right?ā He wasnāt even kidding this time as he handed her another piece of paper, this one with the first assignment. He always had extra copies. His head was just too full of thoughts and ponderings. He needed to get away from Ness right now, yet he had stuff to do at the grand hall what with the ball, and he knew she would be there too. So he did something he hated himself for in the same instant the words left his lips, āIāll need the first assignment before the ball. I know you have a couple of periods off right now, so you should be able to squeeze it in.ā He left the room, briefcase in hand, before she even had the time to respond.
Nate didnāt look back at Ness, he didnāt want to, he
couldnāt. If he did, his guilt would only intensify. What kind of bullshit person was he? Giving her a couple of hours to do an assignment heād given the others a week to do. Heād been desperate, thoughā¦ desperate for some time without her beautiful, hopeful gaze to make his heart ache. Didnāt make him despise himself any less, however. The teacher sighed once he was a couple of feet away from the history-room. Heād have to return in an hour to teach his next class, but he needed to sort out music with Juliette. Ah, Julietteā¦ there was a girl who would drive him crazy if she had the chance. Had she not been his student, he would have been all over that girl. As it was, however, Nathan was fighting instinct on this one. It wouldnāt take much for him to break, however. She was infuriating, sarcastic and absolutely awful to deal with, but he loved it, and god did she know how to spark his interest.
She was incrediblyā¦ well, honestly he thought her
so sexy. There was just something about her, though he was 6 years her senior, that made his blood heat. And she was Nessā best friends to make matters worse. As though his attraction to her in the first place wasnāt entirely inappropriate. He made a face as he took the list of songs out of his pocket, looking it over. He doubted there would be any problems; Juliette was a daughter of Apollo after all, and they had great taste in music. Hs lips curved into a wry smile going over it. It was a nice mix of up-beat and slow songs, appropriate for a dance like tonight. Not that he was surprised. Spotting the song ācheck yes, Julietā, the teacher almost laughed out loud but managed to only chuckle softly. Clever chick. He shook his head, smiling again, feeling more like himself. Ness had brought him out of his comfort zone, but Juliette would bring him right back in. Making his way to the great hall, Nathan felt his mood improve gradually, closing distance in step with it.
As the young teacher reached the hall, he was back to smiling his usual charming smile. Upon hearing music he deducted that Juliette was there, so he opened the door, spotting her spazzing about in the next instant. He chuckled, calling out to her, āwell, arenāt you the queen of grace, Juliette? I hope you donāt plan on dancing like that at the ball.ā He said playfully, glint in his eyes. He was teasing her, flirting softly, even though he knew he shouldnāt. Right now he just couldnāt help it. He needed the easy conversations he led with Julietteā¦ he needed the air, and the playfulness. The serene, guilty mood with Ness had nearly killed him. The last thing he wanted was to think of that right now. Hell, if he could just eradicate Ness from his mind completely for the moment, heād be pretty content.
Redā¦ red was all there was. Why was everything so red?! The little girlsā eyes went wide, realizing her alarmclock was beeping like there was no tomorrow. Sheād thought she was still dreaming, what with red covering her eyes. In the next instant she giggled, her confusion evaporating, finally noticing that she could
feel the read stuff. Right, hairā¦ hair again. She brought up both her hands to brush the hair aside, blowing air at it too, though it didnāt much help. The girl sat up, looking around now that her eyes were clear. She didnāt sleep very calmlyā¦ at all. Her duvet had ended up on the floor along with her pillow. āOh!ā she exclaimed, laughing. āWhatāre you doing down there, Mr. Bumble?ā She asked the big, brown teddy bear lying on the duvet. She bent down to pick it up, smiling at it. āWhy do you insist on sleeping on the floor? Such a silly thing to do.ā She said, voice holding all its usual chipper cuteness, even though sheād just awoken and the alarm was still making noise. As she realized that, she almost jumped, thinking that she might accidently wake someone else with the noise, moving to shut it off instantly. Sheād hate herself if she caused someone to miss any sleep they couldāve otherwise gotten.
Her beautiful eyes brightened as she put down Mr. Bumble, knowing she had to get up, another lovely day awaiting. She couldnāt wait to see everyone again! It had been so many hours, and the sun was already shining through her white curtains. Her smile widened as she got up, wearing her usual little, pink nightgown. Phoebe went to open the curtains, gazing up at the sun. It was only like 8 am, but the sun rose early in the summer. She loved summers especially for that. However, she had to put some clothes on and get to class; biology more specifically, which meant Gabey. She hadnāt seen Gabe since yesterday morning and she missed him so much. She got a little mother-sick sometimes. Yeah, Gabe was practically her mother. Much more so than Iris, and she loved him more than any other. He had always, always, always been there for her, and it had taken absolutely no time for them to establish a sort of mother/daughter relationship. Gabe even took her shopping sometimes, and he always baked cookies.
Thinking of cookies, the redhead realized she needed to get some breakfast. If she didn get any, Gabe would nag her about it. He was such a caring man! Hopping around her room, the little girl managed to dress herself in
this (without the hat), brushed her teeth and skipped along, making her way out the door to reach the cafeteria where she grabbed an apple and an orange, waving at the everyone there āhi guys!ā she exclaimed, all happy and adorable, smile on her lips. She recieved several greetings back. After all, who could really dislike little Pheebs? Then she realized Zeke and Everlie were there. Two amazing, lovely people. She didnāt have time for a big greeting, unfortunately, because she really, really wanted to see Gabe, but she did manage to give Everlie a little peck on the cheek, saying āMorning you two!ā with a bright smile, before hurrying along. She started munching on her apple, half running, half jumping to reach her favorite room in the entire school quickly.
Turning the corner, the little redhead spotted Cale in the doorway, talking. Probably to Gabe, which meant Gabe was there. Not that she hadnāt expect him to be, but still. She giggled to herself, throwing her apple-core in a nearby trashcan. She put the orange in her bag and advanced into full running mode. āGabeeeeeyy!ā she almost shouted happily as she jumped him, arms winding around her absolute favorite friend and teacher. She laughed joyfully, looking up at him with big eyes before she turned her head to smile brightly at Cale. āMorning Cale! Sleep well?ā She asked him, always trying to have the guy open up. He was such a cute one! She was still holding onto Gabe, having missed him. Her heart warmed at his smile, so she couldnāt help babbling more, āGabey, my special friend fell onto the floor again, and my duvetā¦ and my pillow. They all just left me, but itās okay really. I swearā¦ I picked him up! And later Iāll have a serious talk with him about leaving me in the night. I donāt think he was gone long, though.ā
Around people who werenāt Gabe, Chloe or Chance, and a few others, Phoebe talked of Mr. Bumble as her āspecial someoneā. She wasnāt embarrassed really, she just didnāt want everyone to know. They might steal him for fun, and not realize that it wasnāt fun. Itās not like she thought theyād ever steal him to be mean, but stillā¦