Chapter 6: Boiling Point
Wednesday mornings were early days for me since I spent time with Father Garrett before class. Midterms were approaching, and I had an entire page of questions for him. He greeted me with a smile when I met him outside the teacher’s lounge.
“I almost expected to see Noah with you,” he said as we walked down the hall together.
“Yeah, he’s a bit clingy. He’s a fun guy, though.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Be sure to set boundaries with him if he’s making you uncomfortable. Teenage boys need guidance sometimes, and when I say sometimes, I mean all of the time.”
I chuckled at his comment as we entered the classroom and took our seats on opposite sides of his desk.
“By the way, I love your office. Why don’t you grade papers there?”
He looked at me in surprise for a moment. Then he glanced out the window and smiled.
“That’s why.”
I followed his gaze and spotted a family of deer in the meadow. Two fawns were bouncing around their mother as she munched on a patch of clovers.
“Wow, this has to be the best view on campus.”
“Yeah, it is. It has great company too.”
“Ditto,” I smiled.
I proceeded to yank my notebook out of my backpack, and a few packets of contraceptive vaginal rings came flying out with it. One of them almost fell into Father Garrett’s coffee.
“Zoe, you keep them in your backpack?” he asked in alarm.
“Crap, sorry. I totally forgot they were in there,” I said and scrambled to pick them up.
In the same instant, the classroom door flew open. Noah stepped into the room, wearing a bright smile. I heard Father Garrett swear under his breath as he grabbed the vaginal ring off his desk and shoved it in his robe pocket. I quickly grabbed the ones off the floor and tossed them into my backpack.
“Good morning, Zoe, Father Garrett,” Noah announced. “I hope you don’t mind my company. Zoe said she studies with you on Wednesday mornings. I figured I would sit in on one of your sessions. Maybe I’ll learn something.”
“Uh, I don’t mind. Take a seat,” Father Garrett said as he gave me an annoyed glance.
I blushed and sank lower in my chair, feeling like a moron. I should have never told Noah about our Wednesday morning meetings. I didn’t realize he would party crash. I didn’t have time to sulk. I got the study session moving with my list of midterm questions. Father Garrett graciously explained what I should study to prepare for the exam. Noah stayed quiet and listened for once. He even took notes. When more students began to arrive, Noah and I retreated to the back of the room to take our seats. Noah didn’t have a favorite seat since it was his first day in Father Garrett’s literature class, so he grabbed an extra desk and set it right behind me. I glanced at Father Garrett and caught him rolling his eyes at Noah. I almost burst out laughing at that point.
Father Garrett kept his cool and started class like he usually did. When his back was turned, Noah would use his pencil to play with the back of my hair. I chuckled when I felt him twirling strands around the pencil like it was a curling iron. Father Garrett turned and scowled at us when he heard me laughing. I bit my lip to keep my expression natural. Noah cursed at getting caught and quickly leaned back, dropping his pencil in the process. Everyone around us chuckled as it clattered to the floor. Father Garrett rolled his eyes again and continued writing on the blackboard. Trinity graciously returned Noah’s pencil to him. A few minutes later, I felt Noah’s fingers sliding down the center of my back between my shoulder blades. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. He found my bra strap and started tugging at it. I wasn’t sure what he was up to. Without warning, he pulled it far away from my back and released it like a slingshot. It snapped across my skin with a loud “POP,” but my “OWE!” was louder. The whole class turned to look at us as I grimaced in pain.