Chapter 2: His name is Jonathan

"Are you okay?" Jess asked me when she noticed how edgy I was after leaving Mr. Garner's class.

"Uhm...yeah.. I just..." I tried to reply, but the words just wouldn't come out.

"Oh my God! You so like him!" Jess squealed.

"No." I retorted. "I don't like him, he's my teacher for God's sake." I replied calmly, trying to convince myself rather than Jessica.

"You so do. I can see it in your eyes." Jess kept teasing and I just looked at her passively. Not wanting to make it obvious that I did find him attractive. "Just admit it. He's hot, right?" Jess continued nagging me.

I ignored her and kept a straight face, focusing on where I was going.

"Why won't you just admit it?" She kept taunting. She was relentless. This girl could be pretty annoying.

Agitated, I stopped walking and turned around to face her, "Fine, he's hot. Satisfied?" I replied unaware that my voice was loud.

I noticed Jess looking behind me, a bit amused, and I turned to see what she was looking at that was so funny.

There stood Mr. Garner, smirking. Then he turned and walked away.

Holy Shit.

I was mortified. But there was no way he knew we were talking about him, right?

"You knew that he was right behind us when you made me say those things."I asked her, making it sound more like a statement than a question. She shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. Sneaky little thing was Jessica. She and I were gonna get along just fine.

I grabbed her by the hand, dragging her to our next class. "No, but did you see his smile when he heard you say that?" I just rolled my eyes at her, not wanting to talk about Mr. Garner any further. I convinced myself that there was no way he could've known we were talking about him and even if he knew. It's not like he doesn't hear it that often, so it didn't matter.

*********

The rest of the classes with Jess were uneventful. Now, I had my last class without her. As much as I enjoyed her company, I really could use some space. We had agreed to meet after school at the parking lot because she had offered me a ride home.

Jess showed me to my English class, even making sure that I was seated, before she also took off to her class.

I looked around nervously, noticing some students were staring at me. Awkward.

"Hi, I'm Lucas." A guy I was sitting next to offered me his hand. I looked at it for a moment then shook it.

"I'm Charlie." I smiled at him lightly. He returned the smile and unlike some, he wasn't looking at me like I was a freaky stranger.

The teacher arrived and the rest of the lesson was spent with Lucas giving me small smiles every now and then.

Hmm, he doesn't seem so bad.

The bell rang, signaling the end of our class and the end of the day. I waved goodbye at Lucas, as I hurriedly left to go find with Jessica.

"So, how was class?" Jess asked as we got into her car.

I just shrugged and mumbled,"Okay, I don't like the teacher." Jess laughed at me and started the car.

"So do you know a guy named Lucas?" I asked as we pulled out of the school gates. Jess turned to look at me with a huge smile on her face. I guess that answers my question.

The rest of the ride, I had to listen to her telling me about Lucas and how perfect he is for me. I had to admit, he wasn't all that bad, but he was not my type.

"Bye, see you tomorrow." I waved to Jess as she dropped me in front of my house and drove off.

I walked into my empty house, grabbing a Coke from the fridge, and walked upstairs to my room. I took off my shoes and switched on the television.

I grabbed my bag and took out my books to do my homework. I noticed a Chemistry textbook and wondered if we had homework. I grabbed my phone, thinking of asking Jess, when I realised that I didn't take her number.

Groaning, I fell back on my bed starting to think about my old life. I miss my old life. Canada wasn't bad, but it wasn't home. I missed my friends back at the states. But mostly, I missed my dad. Tears started in my eyes.

Why did he have to die?

Trying not to think about it anymore, my thoughts drifted to Mr. Garner and what I discovered from the incident in his class. My mom had told me how she and my dad discovered that they were mates from their first encounter. I felt exactly like she said I would. But my mate cannot be my teacher. There's got to be some sort of a mistake.

I heard the front door opening and I assumed it was my mom. But why would she be so back early? I walked downstairs and opened the door. There, in all his glory, stood Mr. Garner.

What the fuck is he doing here?