Guilty Pleasures

Naomi was a nervous wreck sitting in Gerard's class, watching as he went
through his regular method of teaching…and never once making eye contact
with her.

‘He regrets it,’ Naomi thought. ‘It was a mistake, and he must have realized
that last night.’

She sat through an hour that was both agonizingly long and excruciatingly
short. When the bell finally rang, Naomi slowly gathered her books, wanting
to speak to him but not sure how to broach the subject. She was pretty
sure that, ‘Hey, remember who I am? I’m the girl you fucked yesterday’
wasn’t going to cut it.

“Hey, Naomi, do you still have that book you borrowed last week?”

Naomi tore her gaze away from Gerard to look at her best friend. “Yeah,
Jo. It’s in my locker.”

“Could we get it? I kind of need it today.”

“Sure,” Naomi replied, shooting another nervous glance to Gerard and
suppressing a sigh when he appeared to be engrossed in some papers on his
desk. “Let’s go.”

Gerard looked up to see Naomi and her friend walking out of the classroom.
He tried to ignore the incessant voice in his head telling him to go after
her. He hadn’t even been able to look at her in class for fear of everyone
seeing through his carefully crafted façade.

* * * * *

Ten minutes later, Naomi stood in the empty hallway, worrying her bottom
lip. She was at a crossroads…literally. To her left was the exit, the
logical choice that she should take, but it wasn’t nearly as appealing as
what was to the right…Gerard.

Naomi looked at the hallway that led to his classroom. Even if he did want
to give her the brush-off, she had to know. Taking a deep breath, Naomi
walked toward his classroom, turning to walk in and stopping in her tracks.

She stood watching Gerard and the computer teacher Ms. Cuts blatantly
flirting with each other. Naomi felt her heart drop into her stomach as
Gerard gave Eliza a dazzling smile. A smile that Naomi had never been on the
receiving end of..

Gerard looked over Eliza's shoulder, his smile slowly fading as he saw Naomi
standing in the doorway, one hand braced on the frame as she watched the
interaction in front of her. He expected a typical teenage response of an
angry glare before turning and storming down the hallway. What he didn’t
expect was Naomi's soft smile of understanding before she turned and walked
away.

Gerard could still hear Eliza talking about something that had happened in
one of her classes, but his mind was on the girl that had just walked away. He suppressed his jaw
clenching and the urge to squeeze his eyes shut as her words from the day before came
back to haunt him.

*It’s me. I’m not…he didn’t want me.*

He felt his heart seize, guilt flooding through him as he tried to think of
a way to excuse himself from Ms. Cuts and go after the younger girl.