Jaime: So, you’re telling me Vic is there with you?
Naira: Yes, is there something wrong with that?
Jaime: Why him?
Naira: Because he offered to help me. I promise nothing is going on between us, I just needed one more person.
Jaime: Ok, I trust you. Now, go and have fun <3

Naira’s POV

I collected all the math worksheets from the kids and placed them on a neat pile on my desk. Before the parents came in to do their talk, we were doing math, but they had not been able to concentrate the last 10 minutes. I made the mistake of letting the parents and Vic in early, and all the attention was on them… or, well, the kids kept taking glances, wondering who Vic was and muttering to the children whose parents were there as well. Eventually, I just decided to give up and just start the career thing a bit earlier. Everybody was up for it, so why not?

Vic walked up to me with a smirk tugging at his lips. He took a quick glance at the paper I was putting away before folding his arms over his chest, “so, Ms. Belisle, you look fancy today.”

I rolled my eyes at him and straightened out my blazer. To be honest, I actually didn’t think I looked good enough compared to all the parents that brought their kids here everyday, but then again they actually had to money to buy designer clothes while I could only afford the cheap stuff. “They call me Ms. Naira, not by my last name, Mr. Fuentes.”

“I like the sound of that, ‘Mr. Fuentes’, it sounds very sophisticated,” Vic seemed to approve of the name I had retorted. I was trying to get him to be annoyed by it, not actually like it. “I bet Jaime loves it when you call him Mr. Preciado.”

“Vic!” I exclaimed with a gasp, hitting him lightly against the chest. The parents looked at me with a small glare, judging me from far away. I blushed and returned back to my work, really not wanting to make myself seem like a fool. Not looking at him anymore, I gritted my teeth, keeping my voice down, “you can’t say that! And I’ll have you know Jaime and I never did anything like that. So, please don’t.”

“Ok, fine,” he faked being hurt, but still gave me a grin, looking over at the other people who were here to talk about their jobs, “I guess I’ll go back to the group I really don’t feel like I belong with.”

“How do you think I feel?” I sighed, pushing a stray piece of hair that fell out of my ponytail, behind my ear. “I don’t have near the same status as them, and they are so much older. They’re around the age of 40!”

“Well, that means they are around 7 years older than me,” he chuckled.

I gave him a look, “and they’re around 17 years older that me. Do you see how I feel?”

“Hey, our age gap is ten years, this isn’t that much. I mean, you’re also friends with me, so it should be fine.”

“Vic,” I told him seriously, getting ready to get the kids to quiet down and start class again, “they graduated high school when I was just born, you were ten. I think there’s a big difference there.”

“Well, then, ok. I’m going to try to get them to look a bit less weirdly at me. Maybe casually mention how much money I earn, you know, to keep them a bit interested,” he laughed and looked at the man who was checking his Rolex watch.

“It isn’t about the money, Vic,” I flicked him against his arm.

He raised up his hands in defense, “for me it isn’t, for them it is.” And with that he left me to go converse with the people we had just been talking about. I knew he was joking about everything, but something seemed different about him… it was like he was actually trying to prove something, but I really didn’t know what it was. Maybe it was just the fact that this was a completely different crowd, but I didn’t know.

So, I just decided to start the class. I got up at the front, taking out my chair to put there for the person speaking to sit on. That way they would be at a better height for the kids who wouldn’t feel as intimidated anymore. But before the whole thing could start, I had to get the class to quiet down. I did the classic method of clapping a specific beat and having my students return it to me. It always seemed to work, and they actually enjoyed it. However, this time I was a bit distracted rather than the other way around. Vic was looking at me intently, giving me a small smile. It wasn’t like it was creeping me out slightly, but it made me wonder if I was doing something wrong.

I let one of the parents go first, the mother to be specific. She tried to explain her position in simple words, but it was pretty evident that this was quite difficult. But then again, the whole business world was complicated and difficult, there was no way a six to seven year old would understand it fully. Hell, even I got confused by it! Towards the end of her speech I realised all the children losing their focus and becoming distracted by other things and I could only pray that they wouldn’t be in this state for all the other people. That would really suck (donkey’s ass), especially for the others who still had to go.

Because of this, I decided it was best for Vic to go next. At least I hadn’t caught anybody falling asleep yet on their desk. I just really wanted this to be fun for Vic as well. He didn’t come here to talk to sleeping children, and I didn’t want this to be a waste of his time. There were so many other things he could be doing right now, yet he was here to help me. I couldn’t care less about the dad that was still waiting on his go, I actually was going to make him go last and have the painter go after Vic.

I introduced my only friend here as Mr. Fuentes, making a joke referencing to our conversation just minuted before. Vic shot me a quick wink before going up and taking his seat. While he was doing that, I took one of the smaller chairs available and decided to mark all the papers I had collected at the end of last class. It was just simple addition, so I would be done in no time, but I really hoped there wouldn’t be any stupid mistakes. If they understood the whole thing wrong, it would be my fault. But I couldn’t help but listen in on what Vic was telling everybody.

He actually seemed very comfortable and wasn’t afraid to engage the students, “Ms. Naira told me that you guys don’t call her by her last name, so I also don’t want you to do that to me. All my friends call me Vic, so you can call me that as well. So, you guys might be wondering what I do, and I can tell you it is not what most people do. I sing and travel all around the world to sing in front of hundreds of people.”

“Somebody like Beyoncé?” One of the kids asked seriously. I couldn’t help but let out a small giggle while Vic chuckled as well.

“No, not exactly. I’m not as famous as her, but there’s people all over the world that do know about me. I actually play in a band with three other people. My brother, Mike, plays the drums, my best friend, Tony, plays the guitar, just like I do as well, and my other friend, Jaime, plays the bass guitar. Together we write our own music, record it, and play it in front of a lot of people.”

“Can we hear it?” somebody else asked out loud.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. But how about we try to make our own band right now? Who here can sing?”

A couple of the girls shot up their hands, and instead of choosing only one of them, he chose all of them to come stand at the front with him. He placed the chair at the ‘front’ of the stage for the place where the microphone would go. The five girls surrounded it, excited for what was going to come next.

“Anybody here who can play the drums?” Vic asked next. Only one kid put their hand up, and that was Keegan. She was the girl that I had first met when I came here to do the interview. You could say she was a bit different than everybody else, but not in a bad way. She just didn’t get along well with the others, although she tried to be friends with them.

“Well, that’s good,” Vic smiled at her, letting her come up as well, “we can’t have more than one person that plays the drums, it will get everybody confused and it will sound terrible if one person is faster than the other.” She smiled back brightly at him, happy that she had gotten such an important job.

“Hmm… and what about bass players?” Was the next question. Vic was being smart by not mentioning the guitar first. Everybody would put their hand up for that and then Jaime’s poor position wouldn’t be filled anymore. Guitar was always the ‘coolest’ to play.

Four more kids joined the stage, and then Vic asked the most anticipated question, “and who here can play air guitar amazingly?”

All the remaining ten hands were raised. Instead of anybody sitting on their chairs listening to the visitor, everybody was now joining in. It was amazing how Vic was able to make something like this interactive. The parents were probably going to look differently at him from now. Whenever they met someone who got along well with their kids, they were always pretty content. Vic really was doing well.

“So, Ms. Naira,” Vic turned to me and clapped his hands, “would you like to request a song for our super amazing awesome band to play?”

“I don’t know,” I giggled, putting my hands up in defense. Instead, I looked at the children I taught five days a week and decided to ask them, “what do you guys suggest?”

“The noun song!” One of the louder boys shouted out, getting a cheer that sounded like the rest were agreeing.

I often used songs to help them memorize things. Sometimes it was something simple like numbers, other times something more difficult, such as simple punctuation, but their favourite one was the one that helped them remember what a noun was. There were way too many kids that didn’t know the difference. Even some adults didn’t! I was just very glad that these kids might have a bit more hope.

So, Vic watched with amusement as the group started singing the words to the song, some of the guys swinging around their air guitars while Keegan was happily banging away on her imaginary drums. It really was a fantastic sight. This was exactly the reason why I didn’t just want business people coming in to talk, it was obvious kids this age weren’t interested in that.

After finishing the song, Vic praised them all, joking about them having to start an actual band and maybe replace the one he was in. After that he talked a bit about some tour stories from all over the world. Everybody seemed so intrigued, even I was interested! I had heard many of the stories already, but they always amazed me nonetheless.

It was definitely the highlight of the day for most of these kids, since they weren’t as interested when listening to the painter or to the father who came at the end. But it was pretty amazing to see they were more curious about being a painter than having to sit at a desk and do paperwork the entire day, every week.

In no time, the bell already went, signifying us all that it was now time for lunch. Vic had told me he would get us some lunch (I had forgotten to bring something with me that day) and used it as a good excuse to leave early while the dad was talking. All the kids rushed out of the classroom to quickly finish their food so they could play outside. I, however, always stayed inside unless I was on lunch duty. It was just so much easier and I could always finish off things if I had to.

Vic returned five minutes after the start of the break with a large box of pizza. He gave me a goofy grin while entering through the doorway, balancing the box on one hand while making his way over to me. It nearly fell over just two steps before my desk, and he quickly stumbled to grab it with two hands. I couldn’t help but laugh at his clumsiness while I cleared my desk to give him some space.

“I just got us a simple large margherita pizza, I’m not sure what you like and dislike. I figured I couldn’t go wrong with this choice,” Vic opened the cardboard box, letting the air be consumed by the appetizing smell, before grabbing a chair to sit across from me.

“You don’t know me well enough, then,” I giggled and looked at the pizza with delighted and hungry eyes, “but normal pizza is fine. A whole lot better than fine, actually. Normally I just have a lame sandwich.”

“I guess I did something right, then,” he grabbed a slice and started chewing on it.

“Trust me, Vic,” I rolled my eyes and started to eat as well, “you’ve done nothing less than only good things today. You practically saved my life, actually made this whole thing bearable, and you got me food!”

“This pizza is really good though,” he groaned in satisfaction as he finished his first slice and started his next.

About halfway through our lunch, somebody else decided to join us as well. Keegan, who I had told you guys about before, often came in here to eat lunch with me. We would sometimes have nice conversations, other times she would do homework and I would help or do my own work, and sometimes we would just enjoy each other’s company. I was just glad I was able to be there for her instead of let her be all alone the entire time.

“Hi, Keegan,” I greeted her with a smile while she grabbed her own chair for her to sit on. She first put her lunch box down on my desk before getting on the chair and looking at us like nothing had happened. I had a secret pact with Keegan that she could always sit with me and that she didn’t have to ask. “Would you also like a slice of pizza?”

She shook her head innocently and took a bite of her own sandwich instead, “I have my own food, but thank you.”

Vic shot me a confused look, not understanding why I had one of my students here eating with us without me questioning her. I decided to clear it up slightly for him, “Vic, this is Keegan, my lunch buddy.”

Keegan nodded her head in agreement to my statement, “Ms. Naira and I always eat lunch together.”

“Oh,” Vic recognized in understanding, “I’m sorry from stealing her from you today.”

“‘s ok,” she mumbled back, focusing fully on her food again. Keegan was always either the kid that was very hyper and excited about everything, or she would be calmed and reserved. There was no in between, however.

We all continued to eat in silence for a couple of minutes, all enjoying our food. The only sound in the room was our munching and the big clock ticking. That gigantic mechanism was going to annoy the shit out of me one day. It was was too loud and once you realised it was there, the clicking noise would drive you insane.

“Are you guys married?” Keegan suddenly blurted out, looking up at me and Vic. She seemed honestly interested and not like it was a mistake that she asked.

“Umm, no,” Vic told her, giving her a small smile, “Naira has a boyfriend who is one of my friends, though. Naira and I are just friends.”

“Oh. My mum and dad are married, although they always said they were only friends,” she wondered out loud. I wasn’t very sure what the deal was with her parents, but it seemed like they got married when they found out about Keegan.

“You know, maybe one day Naira and I will get married,” he told her just to make her smile. Afterwards, he shot me a quick wink, shaking his head with a small chuckle.

“I’d like that,” Keegan told us honestly, “you are both two of my favourite people. It would be awesome!”

----

Vic was kind enough to drive me home after I finished for the day. I didn’t know why he did it, since he could have decided to leave aged before, but he insisted on doing it. To be honest, i would have been fine with walking home. It was what I did every day. The weather also wasn’t a reason to bring me home, as it was still sunny and cloudless outside. I also felt like he had done enough for me already, but he said he wanted to do it. There was no winning for me in this one.

When we turned into the street Maya’s house was on, I could already see what was happening at the front door. Maya was letting Jaime out. They said their goodbyes with loving gazes, before letting their lips meet in a soft kiss. My stomach dropped and I could feel all the blood draining from my face. The beating of my heart sped up, not wanting to believe what I had just witnessed. How could I have been so stupid! Of course nobody would just go for me like that! And of course Maya had to be involved!

Jaime got in his car and drove away. I quickly glanced at Vic, but he didn’t seem to notice it. He was still tapping along with the beat of the song while looking at the road. I didn’t understand how he couldn’t have seen the car leave the driveway just meters away from us, but he was looking at all the scenery around us. He wasn’t focused on the same area I was.

Just seconds later, he pulled over at the side of the road, turning to look at me. However, the small smirk he was wearing turned into a frown and a concerned look, “are you ok? You look pale.”

I nodded, just wanting to get inside of the house already. My confusion was slowly turning into anger, but I was nowhere close to reaching the sadness yet, “yeah, just feel a bit dizzy. It’s fine, though.”

“Let me walk you inside,” he offered already pulling his keys out of the ignition.

“No, it’s fine, really,” I told him, really not wanting him to know what was going on right now. It was much better if he stayed out of it. “Maya’s probably inside. I’ll be fine.”

“Ok, if you say so,” he said, but it sounded a bit like a question. It was like he was doubting me, but also recognized the fact that I didn’t want him to come with me.

“Well, thanks for everything, Vic, I really appreciate it,” I thanked him by giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, rushing out of the car. Maybe that wasn’t the best way I could have expressed gratitude, but I just wanted to get inside already. Slowly but surely the anger was building up, ready to explode at any moment.

Before opening the door, I sent my friend a quick wave. I didn’t want him following me, so I did everything to fool him into thinking I was completely ok. However, when I closed the front door behind me, I was immediately met by the one person I had had enough of.

“What the fuck!” I screamed as loudly as possible to Maya who was standing in the hallway with a stupid foolish grin on her face.

Notes

Guess what's going to happen next ;)

- aweirdkindofyellow