Chapter Text
You made your way to the staff lounge of Grover Cleveland Middle School, heels clicking softly against the linoleum flooring. School was starting in just a week, and you had spent your day sweating over your classroom trying to get it just right. As stereotypical it was for a teacher your age, you covered your classroom in fairy lights and inspirational posters of cats saying, “hang in there!!”. You also had a mini fridge and a “cozy corner” for students to sit in while studying.
Okay yes, it was most definitely corny.. But your students loved it! In the 6 years you’ve spent teaching here, you’ve never gone a day with your classroom empty at lunch. Despite wishing for a bit of peace and quiet somedays, you appreciated the love and attention from your students that filled the days of your, for lack of a better word, lackluster life. In college you struggled to make friends, which led you to be quite the partier, despite never really indulging or fitting in. After shaking that bad crowd after college, you dropped your east coast life to teach here. But, you were left relatively lonely. You had your fair share of friends, and a few co-workers you could talk to here and there, but no one you truly and completely connected with. Maybe you just needed to meet the right person, or maybe this was just all that was meant for you.
The lounge was quiet, as most teachers had already made their way home. You waved at your friend Kathy as she sat at the table revising her lesson plan for the following week, and you made a quick mental note to do the same. There was only one other person in the room standing by the coffee machine, the new-hire-of-the-year. Great. Now you’d have to awkwardly wait for him to finish; and even make small talk. What was his name again? Oh yeah,
“Hey, Dr. Grace, right?” You spoke softly next to the man waiting for his coffee to pour.
He sort of jumped at the sound of your voice and gave you a startled expression as if he wasn’t expecting anyone to pay any mind to him.
“Oh gosh, you don’t have to call me that, Mr. Grace is fine! Or Grace! … Or Ryland? It doesn’t really matter.. Yeah that's me.” His blue eyes met yours, and your stomach did a flip as he stumbled out his words in a flustered manner.
You weren’t really sure what to say next so you decided that a polite conversation about work was the best option.
“You teach Science right?” you asked.
“Wow, yeah I do! Well, I will…What about you?” He wasn’t sure why he asked that since he already knew. He had noticed you in the halls around campus and took note of what department you belonged to.
"English Lit, Eighth grade! Definitely a hate/love kind of class to teach, but mainly love, I promise.” You answered.
He proceeded to sheepishly ask your name, and you introduced yourself to him with a bit more confidence than he had done previously.
“Are you ready for your first day of work?” You asked, reaching for a mug to replace his under the coffee machine.
“I sure hope so.. I’ve never been a teacher before so I don’t really know how to prepare.” He replies.
You chuckle, “Don’t stress about it too much, okay? It’s not as scary as it seems. Just don’t let the kids see you weak, that's when they strike.”
You looked over to see him laugh at your poor attempt at a joke, clearly appreciating some friendliness in this new environment. You watched him pour a hazard-ly amount of sugar into his black coffee, as you thought back to what one of your co-workers said. Apparently he used to work in the Academics before being fired for yelling at someone during a conference. That had to be some rumor spread out of jealousy or something, there’s no way this shy man next to you could ever yell at someone.
“Thanks..” He muttered smiling, and began to walk back to his stuff laid out on the table next to Kathy.
A weird feeling spreads across your face for some reason. We’re they friends? It didn’t matter, why were you dwelling on this?
You turned your attention back to the coffee that finished pouring in front of you. Shuffling filled the room behind you as Kathy packed up to leave, calling out to you, “See you tomorrow night!”.
That's right. Stratt, your Principal, had invited the staff to bond at a karaoke bar this Saturday. Which frankly, felt a bit unprofessional to you, but who were you to say no?
You mixed fancy creamers and sugars into your mug and turned to see Grace typing on his computer. He had silly stickers on it of everything nerdy under the sun posted on it, Star Wars, Doctor Who, NASA, Marvel, and even a Dead Man's Bone’s sticker too. You made a promise to yourself to ask him his favorite song off their album one of these days.
It surprised you how nerdy he was because to be honest, he was extremely charming to look at. Like model handsome.
His dirty blonde hair stuck up in different directions, but somehow it still managed to look intentional instead of unbrushed. His eyes were bluer than you’d ever seen before, and stubble lined his jaw. He was definitely a few years older than you, but not a crazy gap. Despite his celebrity-esque looks, he managed to still appear dorky. But, maybe the glasses hanging down his chin and the I Wear This Shirt Periodically t-shirt weren’t helping his case.
You leaned against the doorway before you left and asked, “I’ll see you tomorrow, right? For the work party, I mean..” You winced at your awkward attempt to hide your interest in the doctor before you.
He stopped typing and displayed a seemingly forced nervous smile, “Oh, I wasn’t planning on going. Not really my scene.”
“Bummer, I was really hoping to spend some time getting to know you,” You replied, sounding more genuine than you meant to. “We all are, I mean,” You said in an attempt to cover up your confession.
Grace opened his mouth to speak, blush creeping its way up his face but you were already out the door. He was surprised to find himself actually considering going tomorrow night. I mean, his gorgeous co-worker just blatantly admitted to wanting him there, who could resist? Then he remembered this was him we were talking about. You were most definitely being polite, and there was no need for him to indulge himself anymore with the idea of anyone like you showing an interest in him, let alone a co-worker he just met. But maybe going couldn’t hurt, I mean what's one night spent out with “friends” instead of alone with his dog? He’d have to think about it.
…………………………………………………………………………
You knew Grace already said he wouldn’t be here tonight, but you still found yourself getting ready almost two hours early for a work event. You most definitely felt a little silly. Okay, a lot silly.
You took a look in the mirror and realized how completely unprofessional you looked. Your hair was curled into a blowout to pair with your dark smoky eye. You re-adjusted the purple halter-top and pulled your jean skirt down lower to cover more of your legs. Yep, you were definitely over dressed and under-clothed. You started to really hope Grace was genuine about not wanting to come, you didn’t want him to get the wrong idea and think you were the type of person to go out like this often. Looking at your phone you noticed the time.
7:15
You should start heading over soon, no use in changing. You slipped on a pair of boots and headed to your car. Halfway to the bar you realized you had forgotten a jacket. Great, lets just hope summer had a little bit of heat left in her tonight.