History Repeating Itself Ch. 01

"Well, that's it. We didn't find him for a day and a half. By the next night we were getting nervous because we had a flight back to Boston in the morning, and he just waltzed in, and said he didn't want to talk about it. And he never has, till this day, told us what happened to him," he said.

"What do you think happened?" I asked.

"I don't even want to know. All I can say is that, a few weeks later we were watching "The Crying Game" in our dorm and he got all freaked out, and refused to finish watching it," he said laughing.

I laughed into my cup of punch, hitting his arm,

"That's gross."

"What? I'm not saying anything," he smiled.

We spent the rest of the dance like that. Joking and telling each other stories. The more he made me laugh the easier it was forget to he was my boss.

After we'd cleaned up the last streamer and cleared away all the empty pizza boxes I found myself trying to start my car. The sound it was making, like the engine was gurgling barbed wire, made me cringe. Definitely not the battery.God damnit.

I paced outside my car, begging the gods for someone in my house to answer the phone. Instead, I kept getting my mother's over-enthused answering machine voice.

I felt a car pull up in the gravel next to me, as I hit the send button again.

"Do you need a ride," he asked, the lines of his forehead narrowing in concern.

"I'm calling my house, but no one's answering. It's fine someone will be able to get me," I said holding the phone away from my ear.

"That's dumb, just let me give you a ride. You'll be home before someone even answers," he said leaning over to open the passenger door.

"Are you sure?" I said closing the flip phone.

"No, I'm just holding the door open to tease you," he said smiling. I laughed and got my purse from my car.

"Thank you again," I said climbing into his Jeep.

"It's not a problem," he replied warmly.

"No, but I really feel bad, it's out of your way. I really appreciate it," I said, babbling.

"You're going to have to stop that," he said looking over at me.

"What?" I asked nervously, as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"Thanking me so profusely for this ride, when I offered partly based on selfish reasons," he said looking out at the road.

"How are you being selfish giving me a ride to the other side of town at 11 o'clock a night?" I asked, completely confused.

"Because it gives me an excuse to talk to you more," he said casually. He'd caught me completely off guard. And I never let that happen.

"Oh," I said dumbly. I had no witty repartee prepared for this.

"That was probably not the most tactful way of saying what I wanted to say," he said shaking his head.

"No, no," I said, looking back at him as we came to a red light, "I just didn't know you enjoyed my company as much as I've enjoyed yours lately," I smiled.

He took his eyes of the red light cast on the dashboard, "I like you, Charlotte," he said softly. We sat there in silence, and as I saw my street approaching I began to give him directions but he interrupted,

"Don't worry, I remember where you guys live," he said. We pulled to a stop in my driveway and I felt like my stomach was lined with rocks; my body felt too heavy to lift off the leather seat. I didn't want to leave.

"Thanks for hanging out with me tonight. You made a seedy high school dance a lot easier to take," he laughed quietly. I simply stared at him. I knew what I was about to do was just about the dumbest thing I could be doing at that point in my life. He'd turned his face down to his steering wheel, undoubtedly intimidated by my creepy staring. I clutched my purse to my side, seeing the edges of his book peeking out, and slowly stretched my body over the middle console moving towards him. He noticed me moving my head towards him and he brought his face close to mine. We were so close, hanging there, dangling between one normal moment and the next, which would definitively change everything. I kissed him softly, my upper lip clinging between his, resting there momentarily, then backing off, light as air. His eyes smiled into mine, and bringing his hands to cup my chin, he kissed me back, our lips touching softly with building pressure.

I scooched closer to him, and after a few small kisses felt his tongue against my lips, and soon mine was running against his. I gasped softly into his parted lips, my hands finding the nape of his neck, clinging to the tiny wispy hairs there. Through closed eyes the sounds of our lips coming together and our tiny moans in the tight space of the car seemed even louder. His other and began running down the side of my torso, lightly brushing against the material of my sweater. Not daring to touch my breasts, but teasing at the possibility. After a few more moments we pulled away, panting slightly.

"I like you too Luke," I said, smiling at him. I quickly pulled at my purse and opened the door, practically skipping to my front door like I was back in high school after my first date. It had really felt like a high school first kiss. Magical and innocent. I couldn't wait to see him Monday morning.

****

The next morning I dragged my sweaty ass off the treadmill and looked down at my watch. Already 1:45 and I had about 48 assignments to grade. I heard kids playing and banging balls off the floor of the gym adjacent to the workout room. I grabbed a towel, dabbing at the beads of sweat on my forehead and headed through the double doors of the gym on my way back to the women's locker room. Of course he would be standing there with a whistle in his mouth.

He froze when he saw me, but quickly recovered, smiling and waving at me. I waved back, embarrassed, and quickly ducked into the locker room. I ran to the mirror to see how badly I must've scared him. My blonde hair clung to the sides of my face in a sweaty mess, and my gray tank top had darkened with sweat along my lower back. I pulled a hoodie over my shoulders, and inspected myself in the full-length mirror. My spandex pants left little to the imagination.Not necessarily a good thing, but I'll take it. I brushed my hair out quickly, and readjusted it at the top of my head in a messy bun. I grabbed my gym bag and was about to head back out the door, when I saw my lip gloss in my purse, and quickly applied a small dab.

This is ridiculous. He's your boss. I walked out, heading towards him, reassuring myself that I had to go that way in order to be nearer to my car (actually my mom's car, pathetic, I know), but I really just wanted to see him.

"Well, hello there," he said quickly sweeping his eyes over me.

"Hello yourself," I said. His hair looked like it was still damp from a shower, and his legs looked great in his black NIKE shorts. He had a lacrosse sweatshirt on and a stick in his hands, as the little boys around us ran in star formations passing the yellow balls back in forth.

"So, you're a youth coach too?" I asked, jumping quickly as a ball whizzed by us.

He laughed watching the rogue ball's thrower run after it. "Well not really. I just run a skills camp on Saturdays for the younger kids. It's just so that the town's program will get stronger," he said.

"Hm, I see. Is there anything you don't do? Read to the blind? Save stranded cats from trees? See through walls?" I asked, stretching out my calf.

"Well, I save that for Sundays," he said laughing. He went to say something, and stopped laughing at himself.

"What?" I asked lightly.

"Nothing, I just can't stop thinking about last night," he said, "and how you mauled me in my car," he laughed.

"Mauled you?" I shrieked. "I'm sorry, but I think you were the one who kissedme."

"Oh, I must have it wrong," he smiled, "but I clearly remember you kissing me first."

"Well," I said, sighing, " I may have leaned in. But youkissed me. And you know it," I said coyly.

"I know," he said, looking at me coolly, "and I plan on doing it again." I wanted to jump him right there. With the kids watching and everything. I didn't give a shit. I wanted him.

He blew his whistle suddenly, scaring me a tiny bit.

"Alright guys, now I want you all to try your best to do the same drill with your weak side. Try to keep going as long as you can, and if you feel comfortable start switching back and forth," he instructed, momentarily demonstrating with his stick.

I watched the little boys giggling and squealing as the balls started flying everywhere.

"They're adorable," I sighed.

"Yeah, they are pretty cute," he said smiling, "There are a couple trouble makers though," he said whispering to me.

"Oh really?" I asked playfully.

"Yeah, like that one over there," he said motioning to a little boy in the center star, his curly brown hair flopping around him as he screamed and chased after a ball.

"He's so cute," I said in a disagreeing tone, but he shook his head. "Well, I guess I can see a little bit of the devil in him," I said smirking. He chuckled, cocking his head back.

"You think so, huh?"

"Well, yeah," I said, not knowing why it had made him laugh so hard. He blew his whistle again.

"Alright guys five minute water break, then we'll work on some defense," he said loudly. They came running towards us like a stampede, each one tearing through the black and red duffle bags until they came upon their own. The little terror Luke had been talking about came over to us, and said something that just about knocked me off my feet.

"Dad, I forgot my water, can I have a dollar for a PowerAde," he said out of breath. Luke nonchalantly reached into his pocket for a dollar, and looked up at me and back at the boy.

"Dylan, I want you to meet my friend Charlotte. She teaches history at the high school too," he said looking at me. I'd already plastered a tranquil smile on my face.

"Charlotte, this is my son Dylan."Yes, think I got that when he called you "Dad."

Did I mention this was going to be a good semester?