Falling for the Teacher Is Never a Good Idea

By the time Thursday came I had become even more infatuated with Mr. Novak which even fueled how well I paid attention in class. When he spoke and when he taught he had been nervous at first but seemed to roll with it after a while. By his fourth day he seemed comfortable being at the head of the class.

I walked into class early. Not only was I early considering I'm the guy whose always late, but I was also early considering the fact that class didn't even start for another four minutes. Mr. Novak was the only person in the room apart from a kid sitting in the back.

He was shuffling through papers behind Mrs. Mills' desk and looked up as I entered the room.
He smiled brightly at me and said "good afternoon!" before turning back to whatever it was he was doing.

His voice was kind of scratchy and sleek but it made me feel warmer inside for some reason that I couldn't explain. Everything about him seemed to kind of pierce my senses, the way you feel when you get your first crush in elementary school.

That was what it was, I told myself, just a crush on the teacher, which happened to be stronger than usual. It was probably just because he was this bubbly guy who seemed so content with what he was doing.

I got lost in gazing at him that I didn't notice Charlie walk in and feverishly slap me out of my reverie.
I'd been staring, and it was a bit more noticeable than I had though because Dick, who was sitting in the desk directly next to my left, had been watching me watch him.
'Shit!' I thought thinking the worst. What if Dick was figuring out what I was doing?

I slouched down at my book bag looking for any excuse as to not make eye contact with anyone and prolonged the time it took to grab a pencil and notebook.

Absent mindedly I sat through the first twenty minutes of class refusing to even look up from my notebook, which meant that I had inevitably scribbled all over the back of it. By the time that Mrs. Mills announced we'd have work time to complete the assignment she'd just given, I had written my name dozens of times in various fonts just to distract myself.

I wasn't enthusiastic about the homework but it wasn't that hard so I told myself to finish it up before class ended, and got to work.
Inconspicuously Charlie slipped a note on my desk when she went to sharpen her pencil, so I grabbed the crumpled wad of paper and read it.

"If you keep drooling over our teacher you're not going to have a secret to hide. You might want to invest in a squeegee to mop up your slobber," I turned to her at the back of the classroom and flicked her off nonchalantly.

"Mr. Winchester, I'd thank you kindly not to do that in my classroom," Mrs. Mills said making me blush and turn back in my seat to see Mr. Novak staring directly at me, hiding a grin.
I hid myself blushing and concentrated on the assignment. The class steadily grew from hushed conversations, to a low rumble, to just blatant talking, so it became hard to focus on anything.

Dick's voice, in all its shrillness and arrogance came from next to me as I heard him talking to his friend.

"No it's true!" Dick said gushing about something, "I just googled him and found his Facebook. He's got pictures of his boyfriend and shit. Gayer than the love-child of Libarace and Richard Simmons. Castiel Novak: the perverted man lover."

My eyes widened. Dick was trash talking Mr. Novak, but the other thing that struck me was that he was gay. That could easily be a lie but the tone of Dick's voice was triumphant and didn't hint that he was being dishonest.

His friend, whose name I'd never cared to learn replied, "That's sick. Letting him teach. They shouldn't let people like him into schools in the first place."

I knew how stupid what I was about to do was, but that statement had struck a chord in me and I lost my cool like I never had before, so I whipped around and looked at Dick and his friend furiously.

"You shouldn't say that. You're being jerks."

"Why do you care?" Dick asked smirking at me.

"I just don't like it when… uh people judge others for things they…" I couldn't form words, too petrified I'd give something away.

"So you're a fag lover?" Dick replied.

"Don't say that. That's an awful word."

"Shut up, no one cares what you have to say," Dick's friend said.

"That's an awfully cavalier statement coming from someone who likes dick," I replied smoothly.
Charlie turned at this and threw a pencil at me as a warning, even though she was grinning at the comment.

"You're just a homo lover and a douchebag," Dick replied.

"No, I just believe in rights. You know I'm starting to understand why so many people call you Dick, and it's not because of your name tag."

"Funny, like I haven't heard that before," Dick responded evilly.

"Quiet down!" Mrs. Mills shouted, "Dick return to your seat. Dean and Charlie turn around, got it?"

I didn't say another word but I knew I was going to regret what I'd just said to Dick.

With only five minutes left of class I busily finished up my homework, and looked up. I hadn't realized that Mr. Novak was standing right in front of me helping Charlie with her work and that made me realize that his ass was sort of in my face.

I looked down nervously and put my head in my hands so as not to tempt myself, when I heard someone whistle right next to my ear like a cat call.

I lurched up to see where the sound came from and found that Dick was looking smug in his seat so I knew precisely who whistled, unfortunately I was probably the only one who did.

"Mr. Winchester!" Mrs. Mills said looking shocked and angry.

My heart fell as I realized what'd happened. Everyone in the room was looking at me including Mr.
Novak and Charlie, both looking dumbfounded. By whistling in my ear, Dick had made it seem like I was the one whistling at Mr. Novak which was a pretty convincing accusation, because I was the troublemaker.

"That wasn't me!" I pleaded, knowing that she wouldn't believe me.

"I'd like to see you after class," she said.

"I didn't do anything!"

She interrupted, "that wasn't a question."

I huffed, closing my eyes and put my head in my hands. I knew I'd regret ticking Dick off.

I waited a year per minute as they draw by agonizingly slowly, until the bell rang and I reluctantly headed to the front of the room, and waited for everyone to leave.

When everyone was gone apart from Mrs. Mills and Mr. Novak she started, "why did you feel it was appropriate to whistle at your student teacher?"

"I didn't! I swear. I can't even whistle!" I said truthfully than displayed my lack of skill by blowing my lips silently.

"Dean, I'm really disappointed in you. I'd like you not to lie to me."

"I'm not lying," I exasperated, "I didn't do anything."

She frowned and I knew she didn't believe me and in the corner of my eye I saw Mr. Novak standing awkwardly like he wanted to be there less than I did.

"Mr. Winchester I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I'm warning you: next time its detention."

I sighed, as she frowned once more and walked out of the room leaving me standing awkwardly next to Mr. Novak.

"I swear I didn't do that," I said to him with embarrassment, my cheeks flushed red, "I'm sorry that it happened though."

He looked up at me and shrugged, "I believe you, I'm not mad."

I thought about telling him I had defended him but before I could, my will crumbled and I turned around to grab my book bag from my desk.

When I got there though, I didn't see my book bag at all.

"Damn it. Where did I put my book bag…" I trailed off, than told myself I must have just left in my locker and forgotten.

I exited through the door avoiding eye contact with Mr. Novak and headed to my locker. My book bag wasn't their either. I slammed my head against the locker door, and sighed.

At least it was the Thursday before break, and I didn't have and homework. I slouched and told myself I'd look for it in the lost and found tomorrow.