Leslie looked like a zombie nearly all day, and I was surprised no one seemed to notice that something was wrong with her. She was completely different from her usual self.

"You should really go home, Leslie," I told her as she leaned against the locker next to mine, dark circles under her eyes as she struggled to keep them open. "I have to go retake a test for Mr. Meyers, so there's no point in waiting for me."

"I'm never drinking ever again," she grumbled, as if she hadn't even heard me. "This feeling is just plain evil."

I would have laughed if I didn't feel so bad for her. She looked so sick that I thought she could have passed out right then and there.

"Go home," I repeated, not nudging her because I was afraid she'd fall over if I touched her. "Go and get some sleep. You need it considering the fact you've been up all night acting like an idiot with Derrick."

"I can't believe I actually let him get to me," she sighed, grabbing onto my locker so help her stay standing. "I should have known it wouldn't make him like he more. I'm suffering now because of the stupid decision that I made."

"Just don't do it again." I shrugged, not having anything else to say. "Everyone makes mistakes, Leslie. You made a mistake. Derrick offered you a drink, and you took it because you thought that he would like you if you did it. Derrick isn't the kind of guy that likes girls, Leslie."

Her eyebrows furrowed at me in confusion. "He's gay?"

"No!" I nearly shrieked, shaking my head frantically. "He isn't gay. He just doesn't like girls like a normal guy should. He sees them as objects and not human beings."

Leslie made a face. "Oh."

"Go home, Leslie," I said again, this time grabbing onto her shoulder and turning her away from me. "You really just need to get some rest. You had a long day... and night."

"Right. Sleep..." she nodded, starting off away from me and toward the front exit of the school. "I've just got to get some sleep..."

I loved that girl to death, and I really hoped she wouldn't have to go through something ike this ever again.

"We should hang out today," Cassie said, suddenly coming up to me as I searched through my locker for one of my textbooks. "We could go to the mall, or just hang out at my house. We could go meet up and Derrick and Sean later, too. I invited Leslie, but she said that she wasn't feeling well."

I wasn't about to tell Cassie the real reason Leslie wasn't feeling well. I'd probably never hear the end of it from her, even if she'd been drunk countless times before.

"Sorry, but I've got to make up that test for Mr. Meyers," I informed her truthfully, finally finding the textbook before closing my locker. "I totally bombed it."

Cassie's face fell. "Oh. Well, I guess I could just hang out with Sean and Derrick on my own..."

I highly doubted she was really unhappy about that.

I shrugged, as if I was upset that I wouldn't get to see Sean and Derrick. "I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun without me."

Cassie and I said our goodbyes after that and I hurried off to Mr. Meyer's classroom. But before I could get inside, someone at their locker caught my attention.

"Hey!" I smiled, leaning against the locker next to his so he would see me. His music was blaring, but I was expecting as much. "So this is where your locker is." 

Blake smiled at me. "Yeah. It's been my locker all year."

Blake's stutter was slowly starting to go away with every day that passed. I couldn't wait to hear how his voice sounded when he didn't stammer.

I glanced over at the door to Mr. Meyers's classroom. I really didn't want to have to retake this test.

"So, do you still have to retake that test for Mr. Meyers?" Blake asked, removing his backpack from its resting spot in his locker as he slung it over his right shoulder. "I know we made plans to hang out tomorrow, but I'm free today..."

I wanted nothing more than to drop everything else and say yes, but I knew that I couldn't. I was failing the class because of this test, so I had to fix it. 

"Oh, Burk," a new voice now said, cutting me off before I could even say anything. "You're already here. Sorry if I kept you waiting."

"It's okay," I assured my teacher, glancing toward Blake, whose face had fallen. "You didn't keep me waiting. I just got here and I was talking with Blake, so... yeah. You didn't keep me waiting."

Mr. Meyers glanced over at Blake, and then nodded. "I'll be inside when you're ready."

He walked inside his classroom, closing the door behind him. I turned toward Blake.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Blake finally uttered, saving me from having to say anything. "Good luck on your test."

He turned away from me, but I grabbed onto his shoulder before he could go anywhere. He turned toward me in surprise, and I had no idea what I was doing. I hadn't even meant to grab him.

"Um... I just realized that, uh..." I gulped, sounding like a complete idiot. It made me glad that he couldn't hear me, even if he could read how stupid I was being. "I just realized that you stopped stuttering."

He shrugged, as if it was no big deal. "I've been talking for a while. I'm used to it now, kind of. I still feel uncomfortable when I have to talk to people that aren't you."

I felt myself blush for some reason. "It's nice to hear your voice without all that stuttering," I told him honestly. "Though it was cute with the stutter."

Blake smiled and flicked a piece of my hair out of my face. "Go take your test."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Fine."

He turned away from me again, and I waved at him after he had started down the hall. After I couldn't see him any longer, I let out a sigh and turned toward Mr. Meyers's room.

I stepped inside, and Mr. Meyers was at his desk like I thought he would be. I walked toward him, taking the test that he was holding out for me.

"It's just as long as the original test, but the questions are a little different and out of order. It shouldn't be as hard as the original," Mr. Meyers explained, and I wrinkled my nose just a little bit. "It shouldn't take you very long. Probably a half an hour at the most."

My mother wasn't going to be happy about me getting home later than usual, but I couldn't worry about her right then. So I pushed her from my mind and sat down at my desk, not used to not seeing Blake right in front of me.

It was only Mr. Meyers and me in this silent room, and I couldn't help but feel a little awkward. He wasn't looking at me, but it was still weird. I expected there to be more kids in the classroom, because there had to have been more kids that failed the test, but there was no one at all. It was only the two of us.

I felt the urge to tap my pencil against my desk, but I remembered when I had done that during the original test. During that time, we had Blake's music to drown out the sound out. Now it was completely silent around us...

Shaking off the awkward feeling, I finished my test with ease. It hadn't been as hard as the original test, just like Mr. Meyers had said, but that was probably because I studied like crazy during the week Mr. Meyers had given me. 

"I need to go get something from the teachers' room," Mr. Meyers informed me suddenly, breaking the silence just as I was on the last question. "If you finish before I get back, just put the test on my desk and you can go."

I nodded at my teacher. "Okay."

The second he had stepped out the door, I stood up from my seat to go put my test on his desk. The sooner I got home, the less angry my mother would be. If I was gone for too long, she'd think I was lying about what I had been doing.

When I got to Mr. Meyers's desk, I stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw. Staring up at me were many papers, but two caught my eye.

I looked down at the papers in front of me, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. On his desk was my original test, along with the key to it. As I looked closer, I could see that every question on the first page of my test matched with the key... but more than half of them were marked wrong.

I flipped through the rest of my original test and its key to see that I had only missed one answer in the entire thing, yet more than eighty percent was marked wrong. Either Mr. Meyers was drunk when he graded my test, or...

When the door opened and closed, I turned to face Mr. Meyers. Something wasn't right. I hadn't failed the original test; I got an A. I was right when I thought that I had done well on the test, yet Mr. Meyers had marked correct questions wrong, and told me that I had to come in after school to retake it. Now I was in a classroom, all alone with him...

I didn't think that it was a good idea to be here anymore. Something was wrong, and it wasn't the answers on my test.

"Um, I think I'll go now," I excused quickly, knowing that I had to get out of there. "I left my retake on your desk, like you told me to. I should get home before my parents worry."

My eyes darted to my desk, where my backpack was. I quickly headed back over, grabbing and shouldering it before turning toward the door, where Mr. Meyers was still standing. I bit my tongue, almost swearing.

I said nothing as I headed toward the door, where he was still standing. I tried to get around him, but he wouldn't let me by. He wouldn't even move at all. His face was blank, and all I could do was stare up at him as I tried to think of what to do.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good! If I didn't get out of here, I didn't know what might happen.

My stomach twisted and turned, and I gulped to try to calm it down. Every scene like this in a book or movie never ended well, and I was afraid that this was going to end in the exact same way.

"Leah, I need to talk to you," he said, but I didn't feel like talking. Something in my gut was telling me to leave, but I couldn't get by him. I didn't think he could tell that I was terrified. "Just for a minute, okay?"

No, it wasn't okay. This wasn't okay. I didn't even know what this was, but I knew that it wasn't good. I knew that I had to get away.

"Okay," I nodded, even though my brain was telling me to run.

Mr. Meyers sighed, removing himself from his spot in front of the door. I could have run, I could have gotten out of there, but my muscles felt like cement. I waited for Mr. Meyers to speak.

He sat back down at his desk, and for some reason, I moved closer to him. He said nothing, and I was now standing in front of his desk, just waiting. He made whatever he was about to say seem important.

"This is really tough to say, Leah," he admitted, and my eyes went completely wide as I stared at him. That was probably the first time he had ever said my name since the first day of school. "I really like you. I know it's really weird... and wrong... for me to say this, but it's the truth. I like you a lot. I know I sound like a stupid teenage boy, but I just wanted you to know."

I didn't know what I was supposed to say at first. Anything that could have happened between the two of us would have been wrong, since I was a student and he was a teacher. So why was he saying this to me?

"M—Mr. Meyers," I stammered, taking a step back away from him. "I..."

I had no idea what I was supposed to say to him. I didn't think that anyone would know what to say! Had anyone ever been in this kind of situation before?

"I don't expect you to say anything," Mr. Meyers sighed, pushing himself up from his desk and taking a step toward me. I wanted to take a step back, but my body wouldn't let me. "I'm sure it's a big shock."

Yeah, it was. This was definitely the last thing I expected to ever come out of Mr. Meyers's mouth. I would have expected him to suddenly confess his undying love for my mom more than how much he liked me.

I swallowed, trying to find my voice. My body was stiff, and my throat was tight. I was in complete and total shock and I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

Mr. Meyers was in front of me now. He was so tall; I went up to his chest. I only went up to Blake's shoulders, and it was the same with Derrick and Sean. Mr. Meyers was taller and older...

He smelled like cologne, but it smelled good. He was wearing a tie and a button up shirt, like he usually did, but he pulled it off well. I would have been crazy not to think that Mr. Meyers wasn't hot, but he was a teacher.

When I felt his hands on either side of my face, I jumped just a little. I stared up at him, my eyes wide as I stared into his blue ones. His face was getting closer and closer to mine until our lips touched.

I didn't move a muscle at all. I felt my entire body shut down. His eyes were closed, but mine were wide open. I wasn't breathing; I wasn't even thinking. I had no idea what to do as he continued to kiss me.

He pulled away from me after about five seconds, his hands still cupping my cheek. I stood there, completely dumbfounded, not believing that my teacher had just kissed me.

My teacher had just kissed me.

I really thought that I was going to faint. Out of everything that had ever happened to me, this was probably the worst. My teacher liked me!

"I have to go," I excused, quickly breaking away from Mr. Meyers and turning on my heel and bursting through the door before he could stop me. I ran all the way through the halls, not even looking where I was going. Before I even knew what was happening, I was ramming right into someone and falling backwards onto the ground.

I looked up at the person I had run into to see a concerned looking Mrs. Sparks staring down at me, coffee from the teachers' room in her hand. She had somehow managed to stay upright from our collision, and she hadn't spilled her coffee at all.

I stayed on the ground, not saying anything. I was breathing heavily, and I didn't know if it was because I had been running or because of what had just happened with Mr. Meyers. 

"Leah, are you alright?" Mrs. Sparks asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "You look like you're going to cry. Are you hurt?"

Honestly, the crash hadn't hurt at all. That wasn't the reason why I was crying. I knew the real reason, but it wasn't like I was about to tell Mrs. Sparks or anyone about it.

"I'm okay," I choked, quickly scrambling up off the ground and wiping at my eyes. "I just wasn't expecting it, that's all."

Mrs. Sparks nodded, looking like she believed me. I didn't know why she would, considering I was about to start sobbing. I tried to think of something to say that would get me away from her without being rude, but I couldn't think of a single thing. 

"You should head home, Leah," Mrs. Sparks said after a few moments of silence. "You wouldn't want to worry your parents, right?"

I nodded, knowing that this was my chance for escape. I quickly hurried off toward the exit of the school, just wanting to leave everything that had happened that day behind. But it was only Wednesday. I was going to have to go back the next day and deal with everything that had happened.

I had to do something, but I didn't know what. I didn't know if I should confront Mr. Meyers or totally ignore it. All I knew for sure was that it was going to be really awkward and uncomfortable during class the next day. Especially with Blake there.

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Leah seems to be really popular with the boys... Though it's not obvious at all who Leah's going to end up with... (Sarcasm, anyone?)

Please COMMENT, VOTE, SHARE, and FAN! <3