Page 26 of Our Bender

Miss Josie looked flustered. Her jaw set firmly, and she pointed a finger to the door. “Out! Wait for me in the hallright now, Mr. Jettersen,” she snapped.

It was my instinct to argue back, to yell that it wasn’t my fault, to throw the booger kid under the bus, but I knew it’d be better to listen to her in front of the kids. I was in the wrong, and I swallowed down my temptation to argue against authority. And even if I did argue my way out of the situation… What would I win? The chance to readmore?Yeah, no. Fuck that. This was a lose-lose situation. I needed to take the L.

My shoulders slumped as I slid off the reading stool. I put the book down with shaky fingers and avoided looking at my teammates. I muttered an apology to the kids before walking quietly to the hall.

Closing the heavy wooden door behind me, I stared up at the tiled ceiling and shook my head.

Last night, I was sure my flubbed breakaway marked the worst moment of this year. Now I realized it was nothing compared to this level of embarrassment, and honestly, I was afraid of what would happen the rest of the days of this stupid year… All because of that fucking fortune cookie. What did it say?Strange changes were coming? Bad luck til the new year?Well, I was now counting down the fuck–, scratch that, thefreakingdays.

I looked both ways down the hall. Sitting here and waiting for a punishment made me feel like I was shrinking on the spot. Did I really have to stay here? I was a grown ass man, not a student. I rubbed my eyes. I had my car here. I could drive away before anyone even knew I left.

But the way she looked so upset… I had to stay and apologize to her…

Seconds later, Miss Josie pushed the door open, bumping right into my chest.

I touched the small of her back, steadying her, and those wide hazel eyes stared up at me for a beat. The closeness between us felt so undeniably natural. I’d only once before felt this level of comfort around someone. I almost smiled, but the look on her face stopped me dead in my tracks.

She pursed her lips and quickly pushed me away, breaking our connection.

I backed a full foot away from her, knowing that I was about to get chewed apart. My nose flared with a deep breath as I prepared myself for the lecture.

She pinned me with those piercing eyes of hers. Little pieces of hair were falling out of her bun, and she looked tired as all hell as she sighed. “Mr. Jettersen… What were you thinking?”

I gave her my best flirty smirk. “Let me guess, you’re not mad, just disappointed,” I tried to joke.

Her eyes widened. “Oh, no,” she shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked me up and down. “I am fully pissed off at you. Do you realize that all their parents will have to be notified about this? If you said this to high schoolers, whatever, but you slipped in front ofsecond graders.”She threw her arms up. “They’re babies!”

She continued on her tirade, but I kind of tuned out her voice– it was a habit I developed a long time ago to deal with coaches and teachers. Instead of focusing on her words, I focused on her… The little faded freckles under her eyes, the way little wispy hairs were falling out of her bun, her full, pink lips, and that angular chin… The fact that all I wanted to do was tilt it right up and claim her mouth with mine.

“Tyler!” She practically stomped her foot, shaking me out of my daydream. “Are you even listening to me? Why are you grinning?” Her forehead creased with annoyance.

Shit.I cringed and scratched my cheek, feeling like a total asshole.

“What do you have to say for yourself, young man?!” she practically shouted in a teacher-voice.

“Uh… young man?” I struggled to keep a straight face. I hadn’t been called that in a while, and never by someone who was probably the same age as me.

Her face remained stern. She arched an unimpressed eyebrow at me, waiting for my response.

I tucked my hands in my pockets and leaned back on my heels. “I was just all flustered because that snot-rocket. I don’t do well with that kind of…” I waved a hand erratically in front of us, “thing. I am very sorry. Seriously.”

She stared at me for a beat, then, in a move that absolutely shocked me, she covered her face with her dainty hands and let out a high-pitched, frustrated screech. I’d never before seen a teacher break composure like that, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do about it.

“Uh…” I moved forward but was scared to touch her.

“I hate the day before breaks,” she grumbled miserably more to herself than me. Her shoulders slumped, making her look defeated. She let out a sigh and that little sound instantly tempted me to pull her into a hug. It’d be perfect. She’d fit right under my chin. If this were under any other circumstance, I’d love to… to comfort her. To kiss her.

Fuck, no. Focus, Tyler. She’smadat you. She’s having a rough day andyoumade it worse,I mentally chastised myself.

“I’m sorry I acted like such an ass-”

She cut me off with a pretty intimidating glare. “Don’t you dare finish that word,” she threatened.

I put my hands up in innocence, taken aback by how scary she looked. “Very sorry,” I mumbled. In an effort to lighten the mood, I said, “So is this the part you give me detention?”

She cut her eyes to mine and her jaw set. “No, Mr. Jettersen. But I am going to give you homework. I want you to reflect on this experience. Kids look up to you. You could have a real impact on them. Do you really want that to be negative? Choose your words wisely. And you don’t need to apologize to me, you have to apologize to them.”

Jeez. I let her words wash over me for a second. She was right. I needed to take more responsibility when it came to speaking with kids, and fans in general. But I wasn’t the irresponsible jerk she clearly chalked me up to be. I donated a shit load of money to Griff’s charity every year, and I always donated my time for fundraisers.

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