"You're still seeing Lyle?" asked Mr. Cartier at lunch the next day. "I saw he was walking you home." "I'm not seeing him! That guy pisses me off! He won't leave me alone!" I snapped. "I see. So..." "Jesus! Just because he's attractive he think he can get any girl! But there's no way I'm gonna fall for him! Even if he is... attractive..." I said blushing. "So you think he's attractive? You said it twice..." "What?! Hahaha! Well he is! I mean you are too! Hahaha! Um... well..." "You think I'm attractive?" My face grew hot and my face went noticeably red. I laughed and then I looked at him. "No." "Oh? So I'm not attractive?" he asked. "That's not what I meant! Well I mean... um... Geez! Stop teasing me!" I shouted throwing a grape at him. "You're so fun to tease though!" he laughed. "Shut up! You're an asshole!" "I love you." Mr.Cartier stopped smiling and I whipped my head around. Lyle stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest and he was grinning. "I realized I love you and I want to marry you." "Please leave, Lyle. You shouldn't even be here!" "You're wrong Rafe!" hesaid waving a visitor tag in front of his face. "The secretary was very nice in letting me say 'hi'" "What? You seduced her too?" "What do you mean 'too'?" asked Lyle, somewhat annoyed. "You're an ass... you know perfectly well what the hell I mean!" "Are you still upset about Laura? Come on... you like Katherine now... don't you?" "What?!" "So you do. It's obvious." "No!!" "Then you won't mind if she marries me?" asked Lyle playfully before he grabbed me and kissed me. "You little shit!!" shouted Mr.Cartier as he ran at Lyle and tackled him to the ground.
"Mr.Cartier!" I shouted prying him off Lyle. "You dirty creep! Stay the hell away from Katherine or I will seriously kill you! I swear to God! You do anything as touch her and I will hurt you so bad that..." I touched Mr.Cartier's arm. "It's okay. It's fine. Please stop... See?" I said trying to smile. "I... I'm fine," I said bursting into sobs. "You're so blind," said Lyle to Mr.Cartier before he walked torques the exit. "Just tell her before you lose her forever." "Shut up," said Mr.Cartier as he helped me to a desk. He brushed the hair out of my face. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for you to see me like that. It wasn't very teacher-like... so I'm sorry." "It's really fine. It means you care about me, right?" "Right. Here," he said suddenly putting his arms around me. "You can cry all you want. I'm here. I'm here for you Katherine." I wanted nothing more than to reach out an kiss him but I didn't. Being this close to him was already enough. I loved this man. And whether he loved me back, I didn't know. But I loved him and would continue to love him. "You understand... don't you?" I asked. "What is that?" "You know. My feelings..." He sighed. "Yes I know. And I'm sorry... I can't feel that way about you. You're a wonderful girl, and I like you very much as your teacher... but I can't love you. Besides you deserve someone better than me," he said gently kissing my forehead. "You're my favorite student." "And you're my favorite teacher," I said wiping my tears away and smiling up at him. "You're the best!"