Don't Stand so Close to Me

Sighing and dropping his marker on the desk in front of him, Matt leaned back in the swivel chair he was sitting in and rubbed his eyes with his finger tops.

He had been grading tests his freshman students had taken for the past two hours, and he was starting to go crazy after sitting with his head down and his eyes glued to endless papers for so long. His neck was hurting and his head was starting to throb, so he had decided to take a much needed break.

The rain was lightly tapping against the windows of the staff room he was sitting in and the sky was completely grey, it didn't do much for his tired mood, but it was nicer to look at the empty school property outside than boring papers he had to grade. He thought about what he would do once he got home, he remembered that he had to do laundry and that he still hadn't returned his mother's call from two days ago, he made a mental note to make an effort to call and meet with his parents more often, a visit every three weeks was far too little when they lived in the same town, his mother had let him know on multiple occasions, and he guessed she was right.

He also remembered that he had to do some grocery shopping sometime in the next few days, his fridge was getting alarmingly empty, and that he needed to buy a gift for his niece's fourth birthday. He had no clue what to get her, so he needed to ask his sister what to buy...

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard three soft knocks on the door in to the staff room. He turned the chair around to see who it was that had knocked, and his breath caught in his throat seeing Olivia there, smiling sweetly from the doorway with her bag slung over her shoulder. He quickly sat straighter in the chair and fumbled for his pen on the desk as she walked closer to him until she came to a stop right in front of him.

"Not doing our work now, are we?"

He felt himself smile a little at her teasing smirk, and he gathered one of the stacks of papers on the desk in front of him to look busy. "I was just taking a little break, that's all. It gets kinda boring after awhile," he stared up at her.

She laughed and nodded, before she sat herself down on the edge of the desk. Matt's eyes went directly to the skin that had previously been covered when her short skirt was pushed up and made even shorter in the process when she sat down, he quickly looked away, briefly meeting Olivia's gaze before averting his eyes back to the papers in his hands, feeling his cheeks start to heat up feeling her eyes on him. He fumbled with the papers nervously until he remembered that he didn't know why she was here.

"What are you doing here, miss Daniels?"

Other teachers could walk in any second, and he didn't want to risk anything, even if he knew that technically they weren't doing anything out of the ordinary or anything inappropriate.

Olivia smirked down at him, that smirk told him that she knew what he was thinking, but he didn't let that get to him, so he held her gaze and tried not to blink too much.

"I was just wondering if you could unlock the girls locker room, I think I forgot my phone there. Mrs Jackson said that you were here instead of in your office, so I thought I'd check with you before I went home."

"Oh," Matt nodded his head slowly as she spoke. He didn't know what he had expected her to say, but this wasn't so bad. "I guess I can help you with that."

He stood up and gathered all the papers he had spread out on the desk and took his marker, he figured he could just finish grading at home, he didn't have many left to grade. He lifted his backpack up from the floor where it had been stood against the desk and put his things down before zipping it up and hanging it over his shoulder. He saw Olivia stand up in his peripheral vision as he walked towards the door, and he waited for her to step outside the room until he closed the door and locked it.

Not wanting the entire walk to the locker room to be filled with awkward silence, he figured he could hold some light conversation with her, he didn't see any harm in that.

"How's your ankle, by the way?" He could see that she didn't walk with a limp, so she probably hadn't hurt it too bad, but he still asked.

"It's all good now," she smiled up at him, and he returned it with one of his own dimpled smiles, before greeting his fellow co-worker mr Baldinger as they passed him in the hallway on their way out of the building. "Your hands can perform miracles, mr Sanders."

Hearing her last sentence, Matt snapped his head to look down at her with wide, panicked eyes. He knew that to anyone else, it was just a nice compliment that wasn't much more than just a compliment, but her tone of voice made it sound like a sexual innuendo. She was smirking at him again, and he just knew that she had made the sentence sound like that on purpose. He coughed and cleared his throat even if it was far too late to cover what she had said, and hoped mr Baldinger hadn't heard it the way he had.

"Thank you, Olivia," he thanked her awkwardly, briefly looking at her, as he pushed open the big door that would lead them outside.

The rain had picked up so they rushed their way over to the gym building, and Matt clumsily hurried to unlock the door before they could get it. His hair, hoodie and his basketball shorts-clad thighs managed to get pretty soaked during the short amount of time they were outside, he looked over at Olivia to see her hair, jacket and skirt in the same condition, as Olivia led the way to the girls locker room. He didn't follow her inside this time and instead waited for her outside in the little hallway. She soon appeared next to him again, smiling brightly and holding her phone up in her hand.

"Found it!"

He found her toothy grin infectious and couldn't help but smile at her again. "Good," he nodded.

He watched her press a button and then swipe over the touchscreen on her phone, before she looked up at him with a small frown on her pretty features. "I have to go, I have a bus to catch."

Matt nodded again, and let her lead the way out again. She rushed her thank you and goodbye as she hurried away to catch her bus, and he watched her for a few moments before he realized that he was standing in the pouring rain. He locked the door again and then rushed through the rain to the teachers parking lot, and was happy that he didn't have to search for his car, there were only five cars left in the parking lot. He got into his car and threw his bag on the passenger seat, before he started the car and put on his seatbelt to start his drive home.

He hadn't even reached the third block on his way home until he saw Olivia walking hurriedly on the sidewalk to his right, completely soaked from the rain. He felt guilt wash over him, he knew she was heading the same way he was, but had still let her fight through the cold rain. He was driving slowly on the street, but he was catching up on her, and he debated whether he should be a good guy and let her ride with him or not. He had learned that she lived just ten minutes away from him, and he always passed her block on his way to and from work every day...

Checking in his rearview mirror to make sure no vehicle was behind him, he pulled over to the sidewalk and drove in a walking speed as he reached Olivia. He pressed a button and the window of the passenger door started to go, just as Olivia noticed the car next to her. They were right in front of the bus stop, but he didn't see any bus nearby, so she would have to wait for awhile until it arrived, and he didn't want her catching a cold or worse just because he had been a dickhead and not let her ride with him when she lived literally on his way home.

"Get in, Olivia, I don't want you to catch a cold," he shouted out over the rain, while keeping his eyes on the road in front of him, briefly checking in his rearview mirror and looking at her.

He didn't have to tell her twice, and he momentarily stopped so she could get inside his warm car. He lifted his backpack off the passenger seat and put it away in the backseat instead, and Olivia quickly took its place next to him before he pulled out and started driving again.

"Th-thanking you so much, Matt," she stuttered, her teeth chattering as she put on her seatbelt and set her bag down between her sandal-clad feet.

"Don't worry," was all he said, keeping his eyes on the road.

The car was silent the entire ride to Olivia's house, all that could be heard was the windshield wipers and the rain, and her teeth that were still chattering from the cold rain. Matt slowed to a stop when they reached her house, and he watched her take her bag before she looked over at him with a small, appreciative smile.

"Thank you again, I owe you."

Matt chuckled a little, and shook his head. "Don't worry. I'll see you in school."

She nodded and opened the door, waving goodbye before slamming it shut again and running towards her front door. Matt waited to see if she got in safely, and when she did, he began his drive back home again, his thoughts filled with Olivia Daniels.