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Post by Belle Fitzgerald on Mar 17, 2017 20:48:53 GMT -5
Belle tilt her head as she was looking in the pastry case. Her headphones were in and she had the music blasting as loud as she possibly could. Ryan… ugh. She tapped her finger gently on the glass, debating. Was the buttery croissant worth the potential afternoon gut? Yes. Belle looked up, smiling at the young guy behind the counter. “Can I get one of these, too?” she asked, putting the headphone back in her ear. Belle took the plate, setting it on the table and waited for a moment before she went to get her latte. She chewed the inside of her cheek, watching the counter as she waited for her delicious wake me up to be finished. Her table was covered in history notes, because…well, lets be honest. They were covered in Lucy’s history notes. Lucy was supposed to meet her here today, but ended up getting an opportunity to do something at her mom’s line. Obviously she had to take the awesome opportunity. But she promised Belle to lend her the notes and then quiz her tonight. So for now… two history books and mass amounts of notes were on the table cornered next to her croissant. “Thanks,” Belle said, maybe a little too loudly becaue of the headphones in her ears. She turned, blowing air over the coffee before she ran into someone. Seriously? Belle closed her eyes and sighed, taking her headphones out “I am… such a klutz. I swear, this never happens. And now it’s happened twice, and look.. I’m so so sorry.” she said, leaning down to pick up her cup. She grabbed a napkin from the side and started to wipe the persons shirt down. “I mean I can write your work a note or I can give yo-…” she said, looking up at him as she stopped wiping his shirt for him. “ Or you could.. I…” she said pausing for a moment before realizing that she was still touching with both hands on his chest now. “Oh” she said, pulling her hands up and putting them up potentially too high to look normal.
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Post by David Julian Greyson on Mar 17, 2017 22:01:35 GMT -5
David had his usual Saturday morning routine, get up, run, shower, coffee and whatever treat was at the coffee shop that caught his eye. He wasn't sure why he spent money on expensive shop coffee when he could have coffee at home and just paying rent in this neighborhood was enough of a stress. But, after a long week trying to teach history to teenage students who, for the most part had too much money to care, getting this Saturday morning coffee was his treat to himself. Saturday morning's were time he spent to himself, usually reading something that wasn't related to his job. He had a book he planned to settle in with, he just needed to order his coffee and he'd be good to go. It would have been a flawless plan, until a young woman ran into him, spilling her coffee onto him. David jumped back slightly, pulling at his shirt to get it away from his body to save himself from the hot beverage, as the woman apologized, saying that this never happened, yet somehow this was the second time for her. David looked up at who was speaking, realizing immediately it was one of his students. Not just one of his students though, her. Belle. As the hot liquid cooled down a bit he replied back, "Apparently with the same person, it seems," he added, though she proceeded to try and help clean him off. The first time this happened, he had been taken aback by her beauty alone, debating about asking for her number. But she had been in a hurry and David the realized as she hurried off, that the uniform was a dead giveaway. He had been relieved he hadn't asked for her number. She was a student. It didn't change his delight at seeing her in his first period history class though. Even know, he was a little upset with himself for even thinking about; she was his student and it was majorly inappropriate to even think like that. Besides, the most he knew of her was that she didn't pay attention in class and by some odd chance he peaked her interest she magically joined class lectures with opinions and gusto. A classic case of a smart kid who didn't apply herself. She was offering to write his work a note, David trying to get her attention, "Ms. Fitzgerald..." but she was still wiping his shirt, just a little too close maybe. "Anabelle... Belle," he said finally as she stopped what she was doing, realizing she was in his personal space. "My shirt will live, no harm done," he smiled, "What's the deal with us and coffee, right?" he joked, thinking, wow that was a lame thing to say. he sounded like such a lame teacher. His students weren't THAT much younger than him.
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Post by Belle Fitzgerald on Mar 17, 2017 22:09:31 GMT -5
Belle held onto the numerous napkins in her hand as she nervously looked away from him. Well, this was unfortunate. It was lame enough that she had a crush on her teacher, but now she had gone and thrown coffee on him. Twice. She looked up at him and smiled as he made an attempt at a joke. "We must like it a latte" she said, making a face at herself. What was happening? If Belle knew how to do one thing, it was flirt. But maybe she didn't know how to flirt with someone you weren't really supposed to flirt with. She looked to the side, widening her eyes at her own stupidity, before stepping over to toss the napkins in the trash can. "Please.. let me get your coffee," she said, going to get her wallet. I mean.. her mom would get his coffee. Whatever. Belle pushed her hair behind her ears, offering her credit card out to the young boy again. "Could you get a few of those pastries for him as well?" she said, looking to David to see if he would decide which one he wanted. "I'm sure your girlfriend would appreciate a sweet treat," she said, looking up at him with slightly hopeful eyes. What was this? What would she even accomplish by flirting with him anyway? He was smart, foreign, cultured... he seemed like the type of guy who could talk about philosophy and politics. She was really interested in fashion. Screw their age difference, there was an IQ difference. And a big one. " You can just call me Belle.. by the way. Or Anabelle." she added quickly, realizing she liked the way Anabelle sounded when he said it. Though maybe if he called her Ms.Fitzgerald she would seem older to him. Anabelle felt like it would sound more personal though. Okay. She was thinking too much about this. She looked over at the cashier, taking her credit card back before sliding it into her Coach wallet. "Running into you is probably fate anyhow.. " she said, gesturing to the books on the table.
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Post by David Julian Greyson on Mar 17, 2017 22:27:12 GMT -5
David chuckled at her coffee joke, noting the awkward pause as they both seemed to lean toward the lame jokes this morning. Well, that was what was supposed to happen when you ran into each other off campus he supposed. It's supposed to be weird. She offered to get his coffee and honestly, it was a nice gesture and he didn't think arguing about it would change her mind. The cashier looked at him expectantly, David pointing into the case, "Oh, just those there please, if you would. Thank you," he added. She mentioned his girlfriend would like them as well, and he just shook his head, slightly embarrassed at admitting he was single, but smiled nonetheless, "I'm sure she would, were she existent." David grabbed the little bag of pastries from the cashier, as she told him he could call her by her first name. Maybe Ms. Fitzgerald was a bit proper, wasn't it? Though Belle also seemed a little too comfortable. Anabelle seemed like a safe compromise. Anabelle gestured to the table she had been sitting at and David noticed the piles of notes and the books propped open. He glanced at her with pleasant surprise before walking closer to see what she was working on, "Is this for my class?" he asked, smiling, "So she does study," he laughed. She had what he presumed were Lucy's notes, "Well, look at you, making an effort. I'm impressed. I had a feeling you were smarter than you let on." David shifted his coffee and his book in the other hand, finding it awkward to part ways now as he would just be across the room. "I um, usually get coffee on Saturdays, and read," he added holding his book up.
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Post by Belle Fitzgerald on Mar 17, 2017 22:33:40 GMT -5
Single. Interesting. Belle looked him over once before realizing that he had been speaking and looked up, forcing a smile and nodded as though she had been listening to what he had said. That felt familiar. "If you're reading I don't want to bother you..." she said, gesturing to his book. " I'm sorry, did you say that?" she said, making a confused face before she laughed. "I get very distracted when you speak," she admitted, slightly surprised at herself. "Because of..the accent," she said, lifting her hand up slightly to gesture to him. "I mean we don't hear the British accent a lot.. here. In New York. It's a.. you're." she said, puffing her cheeks out. "I'm a lot better at this." she said, but then made a face. " I don't even know what that means. Because I shouldn't be trying to flirt with my history teacher. Or I shouldn't be saying that so loudly in a coffee shop." she said laughing awkwardly. " Please don't fail me," she said as she sighed to herself, giving herself a small shake of her head. " I can... go. You can have the coffee shop and I'll go study somewhere else. I'm more hungry than I am thirsty anyway, and there's... I'm sure a food cart open somewhere with something fried. " she said, feeling that she was rambling. She couldn't help it, she rambled endlessly when she felt nervous or cornered. Belle picked up her jacket and books, making her way out of the coffee shop, before she turned on her heel, somewhat hopelessly as she closed her eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows together. "....Would you want to help me?" she asked, opening her eyes slightly. "I mean, no offense. It's just.. it's so boring." she said, biting the edge of her lip.
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Post by David Julian Greyson on Mar 18, 2017 19:03:28 GMT -5
David was a little surprised by her demeanor; Anabelle was usually very confident. She mentioned she got distracted when he spoke, because of his accent and David replied, "Oh, I thought maybe you would be used to it by now..." She seemed to be trying to get herself together, mentioning she was normally better at this. David was attempting to grasp what she meant, asking, "Better... at what?" Maybe he was just as confused as her. He nodded, hearing her come out with the big guns, she shouldn't be trying to flirt with him. "Ahh," he said, shifting his weight to his other foot. Well, at least she was honest. David laughed slightly when she pleaded with him not to fail her, "Not to worry, it's- I think we can just keep this between us." It was normal right, sort of common even? Young student has crush on her teacher. People wrote songs about things like that. She didn't need to know he had a bit of a little attraction likewise. She offered to leave, but he shook his head, "No please, I would be literally the worst teacher on earth if I ruined your study session." She was already halfway out the coffee shop, and he wanted to protest but maybe it was better to let her go. She turned back, asking if he might help with her studying. First thought was sure, it was harmless right? But was it? Should he be encouraging such a relationship outside of school if he knew he was suppressing an attraction to her? Was she even legal? It was probably better if he didn't know. Plus, was it fair? To help her outside of class more so than other students? he didn't suppose it was any different than any other student asking for help during free period. It was just a different location right? He hesitated, about ready to take the temptation away from himself, but heard himself saying, "Sure, it couldn't hurt, could it?" he smiled, gesturing back to the table that she should sit back down. David took a seat as well, saying, "You know, I happen to think it's all quite interesting, but I won't take offense." He took a sip of his coffee and set it down so he could take off his jacket, draping it over the back of his chair. "So which part is confusing you?" he asked gesturing to her studies that she spilled back over the table.
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Post by Belle Fitzgerald on Mar 18, 2017 19:26:04 GMT -5
Belle smiled as he agreed to help her study, feeling as though she had some slight victory in this relationship. "Great," she said, going back over to the table and setting every thing down. She put her jacket back on the back of the chair and gladly picked up the croissant that she had previously abandoned, taking a small bite. She quickly pushed some of her hair behind her ear and then looked up at him as he mentioned it being interesting. She smiled, " You are interesting," she noted before using both of her hands to pick up the coffee and take a sip. "Okay," she muttered, setting the coffee down and reaching over to some paperwork. "So yo were discussing the Spartans and Athenians, and then I get mixed up when you talk about the roles of women and men... and how it pertains to how they view sex. I mean... okay so Lucy said that gymnasiums at the time were actually used to teach young men how to make male babies.. by....other old male men. Like the old dudes would just get it on with these young men." she said, lifting her eyebrow with a shake of her head. "Which is super confusing to me because they knew that you need a woman, right? I mean.. did they understand that dudes couldn't get pregnant? Or were these just some sickos? Or did they think they could because they also believed in like... Titans and whatever Hercules was always off running around doing in those 12 tasks. The three headed dogs and the centaurs and shit...." she said, looking up at him. " Stuff. Sorry," she muttered, giving a quick laugh. "it just seems all specifically sex driven as a society," she said, taking in a breath before looking up at him and smiling slowly. "You'd think I'd have a better understanding of it,"
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Post by David Julian Greyson on Mar 18, 2017 19:54:44 GMT -5
Almost immediately that Belle had say back down and began explaining what parts she found confusing, David knew he was in deep trouble. Of all the topics she could be struggling with, she was struggling with this one? He was still reeling from her little comment that she found him interesting, which he was both trying to ignore but also made him feel quite nice. He struggled to find a response to her questions, without directly getting into a question about sex. He replied, "I think you have a pretty clear understanding of it actually," before back tracking, "About the course material, not- you know, anyways." Wow, that was rough. "Not that you wouldn't, I, well-that's not, I wouldn't know." David took a deliberate drink of his coffee just to stop talking. "I think what you're telling me, is you understand the material, but you are having a problem applying that knowledge when testing." Okay, that was normal. Some kids didn't test well.
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Post by Belle Fitzgerald on Mar 18, 2017 19:59:31 GMT -5
Belle looked up at him as he spoke, well..stammered. She smiled slowly as she watched, twirling her pen just as slowly in his hands. "Yeah I do better with oral performances," she said, smirking slightly as she looked at him. What the actual hell was she doing? It was like he had given her an inch and she decided just to take a mile. Was she seriously going to think it was okay to flirt with him like this? "You could know," she said pointedly to his earlier remark before looking down at the material. She waited a moment, taking out her old test. "So since you know what I meant by afternoon delight on my exam question, are you willing to give me some of those points back?' she asked, holding it out toward him. She leaned forward, placing her hand gently on his knee. "I'd be forever grateful," she said softly before sitting back up and taking her hand back with her. She took a sip of coffee, looking over some of the other material. "Okay, then I'm having a hard time with the mythology component. I mean I get that they use it as a means to describe their physical world.." she said, looking between all of them, "Do I really need to know the story of Hades and Demeter? Do any adults walking these streets know that aside from history majors?" she asked, looking in his direction. "Again. No offense." she said, scrunching her nose. "Here, I have a fun idea. Let's share something personal about ourselves while we study. I find I perform better if I know who is teaching me on a personal level, helps humanize the content," she said, smirking at herself.
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Post by David Julian Greyson on Mar 18, 2017 20:45:15 GMT -5
David was struggling. She was giving him all the opportunities to either take back his offer based on being inappropriate, or if he wasn't careful, to feed into her antics. Of course she was better at oral, was he supposed to pretend he didn't know she was hitting on him? He sighed, smiling briefly. He was onto her. Also into her. He just wasn't sure he was all that upset about it. Maybe he should leave. She was asking if she could have some points back, placing her hand on his knee and he knew she was being a bit too forward. He should tell her to knock it off. Instead he offered her extra credit. "I uh, suppose I could give you some extra credit to earn come points back. To show you understand the material." She had removed her hand from where it rested and he was relieved. he didn't want to have to scold her or something. Like she was a child, was he really that daft? She was practically grown up, she didn't need a lecture. He wasn't that much older. He was trying to decide how he should proceed with this, laughing a little when she asked if anyone else even knew this stuff, "No, not really," She wanted to get to know him, which was getting into slightly dangerous territory. David had to keep some line between his work and personal life. "Alright," he said, deciding it wouldn't hurt. He didn't think anything he did at this point would deter her. "Well," he started, figuring he could share at least a little about himself, "Before this teaching position, I traveled quite a bit. I was doing research at the Colosseum because new texts had been discovered. It was my job, among some other historians, to document and decipher the texts, what was written, what was really going on back then. There's still a lot we don't know about the emperors of that time." he shrugged, "I returned here on break to visit a colleague that teaches at NYU, I sometimes sit in on his lectures. He had recommended me for the teaching position. They offered me a convincing salary, I thought I could plant some roots for a while." He paused, wondering what she might say about herself. David was a history teaching, to learn he had previous done historical work wasn't all that surprising. He was a little surprised though at how intently she paid attention when he spoke, even if his accent sometimes distracted her.
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Post by Belle Fitzgerald on Mar 18, 2017 20:52:42 GMT -5
Belle looked up as he spoke, unaware of the fact that while he had been speaking she found herself with her hand underneath her chin, just completely hooked on every word that he said. She smiled as he spoke, nodding at the idea of him staying in New York and planting roots for a while. He should plant some roots here. This was a good place for him to stay, or at least she thought. "Wow," she said quietly, lifting her eyebrows before she sat up and tried to decide what to share with him.Hey, I murdered someone. Belle narrowed her eyebrows, looking at him and sort of leaned in quietly. "I've done something in my life that I can't ever atone for. It was a mistake and an accident, and Lucy she..." she started, stopping as she licked her lips and then bit down on the corner. She sighed, looking at David. "Last year I had to leave. I went to rehab,' she said, giving a slight nod. "I mean I get that sounds cliche. Snobby rich white upper east side girl lands herself in rehab. I had a hard time processing some things that happened. Even if it isn't your...fault.. it still controls you. And at the end of the day, I'm not..." she said, narrowing her eyebrows. "I'm not who people want to think I am. Lucy is so lucky... I'm so envious of her. People take her seriously. I'm sort of an afterthought or a joke that no one takes seriously." she said, smiling slightly. "I mean Lucy has deserved it. I did it to myself. But I am trying to be a better person.. I want to be a better person than what my history says of me.... I have a problem with all history. It's not just your course," she said, laughing nervously. "I mean I guess what I'm saying is that life isn't perfect. And I am really trying... Lucy gets very protective." she said appreciatively, smiling as she thought of Lucy. "You're the expert... does history define a person?" she asked, slightly raising her eyebrows.
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Post by David Julian Greyson on Mar 18, 2017 21:31:33 GMT -5
David leaned in, raising his eyebrows when she started by saying she'd done something pretty regrettable and he realized she was really going to open up and tell him a little more about her life. "That sounds serious," he added as she continued. No maybe it wasn't surprising that she'd been admitted to a rehab facility; when he'd gotten his teaching job the headmistress had explained that with privileged kids came bigger problems, and the solutions were always much more hush hush. More than once David had overheard little snippets of gossip in class, directed at her specifically. She was right about one thing, at least she had one good ally because David commonly found himself unsure if he should discipline Lucy for her defensive quips or applaud her for her loyalty to her friend. He laughed with her when she mentioned his history class wasn't her only history problem, ans wasn't that the truth for some people. David thought for a moment, "No, I'm not sure I believe history defines a person. I think what defines a person is the way they rise up in times of adversity. To show resilience defines your strength." David placed his forearms on the table, crossed in front of himself, and looked at her pointedly, "To admit you've reached bottom, to see it clearly for yourself, and to climb your way out; if you make that genuine effort, that's admirable."
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Post by Belle Fitzgerald on Mar 18, 2017 21:41:30 GMT -5
Belle had all but abandoned her croissant, finding herself just transfixed into this conversation. He was so much more casual outside of class. It was almost easy to forget he was her teacher, and instead see him as this incredibly attractive, wise, only slightly older guy in her life. She looked up at him as he spoke about whether or not history defined a person. She considered herself a monster for what she had done. She didn't deserve Lucy's loyalty and pit bull attack mode in defense of her. If people could see her for the things that she had done, instead of the way she looked... she knew they would agree. But as he spoke, she couldn't help but finding herself look for some sort of signal that she might not be the worst person in the world in his eyes, even if he didn't know the complete truth. Admirable? She looked up at him, letting her hair fall slightly over her eyes before she smiled. "If you knew what I had done.. you wouldn't think me trying to be a better person was admirable. You would think it was the only thing keeping me human," she said, smiling sort of sadly before looking down at her fingers which were folding at the corners of pages in the book. "Some things make the Greeks seem tame," she said, trying to somewhat lighten the mood. Though to be fair, murder was in the background of almost all of their stories as well. She swallowed hard, looking down at the book and tried to find something else that she was struggling with. "Why would this Triumvirate sort of attack Cleopatra.. I mean like 2/3 of them were sleeping with her? And why is she sexualized as the ruler of Egypt for having more than one sexual partner, when the male pharaohs are rewarded for it? I think it places a cruel perspective on her leadership powers. She united an entire nation, but because she took ownership of her sexuality, that's all she is known for," she said, puffing out her cheeks slightly in confusion before looking up at him, and smiled, deciding to offer something less gruesome for her next secret. "Lucy and I... her mother is a fashion designer. My family is in medicine. We often go to the children's ward. And Lucy is fantastic, she helps design these little dresses. And then we bring in tiaras, bows, little wands.. We let them be princesses. And the boys we bring in swords and armor,.. I wore a dragon suit one time so they could slay me..." she said, scrunching her nose. "That's the stuff I get really excited about. I know that this sounds privileged, but I'm already in a place in the world where I can make a difference without school. It's hard to find a point or interest in it. Well.. it was.." she said, looking at him pointedly. "But there's so much other stuff we could just be out there...doing.. People go to school to get to a life of privilege. We already have it. And I feel useless sitting in a classroom, when really a degree or a diploma isn't going to make a difference in my personal life for what I want to achieve,"
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Post by David Julian Greyson on Mar 18, 2017 22:55:32 GMT -5
From what David could tell, this girl was really hard on herself. She didn't think she was that smart, which was not true and unfair to herself, and whatever awful thing she claimed to have done she seemed to have completely stolen from herself the idea that people could be forgiven for their mistakes. He tilted his head a little to get a better look at her where she was hiding behind her waterfall of golden hair, "Well, we're all just human, aren't we? I think that's quite natural, to fight for your own humanity." Actually the way she talked about Cleopatra was if she were drawing a parallel line with her own life and actually, it was quite frustrating. She was a very thoughtful, deductive person, and yet why was she barely passing his class? They would need to work on that. Hearing her talk about her extra curricular's that didn't involve boys in the backseats of cars was nice; there was obviously other sides to her, and even if she didn't see it, she had goals. She was just not attuned to them yet, but it would click for her eventually. "Maybe this is just me being a teacher talking," he rolled his eyes, laughing slightly, "But is it really about a useless piece of paper? School is like an opportunity to sit and put your undivided attention into expanding your knowledge. Yes, some of it you may not utilize later in life. But you can't spend life walking around without knowledge of the things around you and how things are, how they were, how were need them to be in the future. You will find some topic that interests you, and you'll dive into that and you won't feel like you're stuck in class learning a bunch of bullshit. It will have meaning. You just have to explore a bit more and figure out what it is you want to expand your knowledge on. You'll figure out your focus." he drank some of his coffee, "I don't doubt you'll figure things out for yourself, but you're very hard on yourself. Don't be so quick to put yourself down." he paused, "When I first went to university, I wanted to be a rugby player," he laughed, "I was so convinced. I played growing up and I thought that was the direction I was headed."
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Post by Belle Fitzgerald on Mar 18, 2017 23:07:03 GMT -5
Belle could feel the blush on her cheeks as he spoke to her. It wasn't even that he was complimenting her, because he wasn't necessarily. But in a roundabout way he was telling her that she was more than what she saw herself as. But she couldn't help but be curious as to how he saw her, the same as all of his other students? She did enjoy though his insight on how she should approach school. It didn't necessarily make it any less boring. I mean History had started to gain her attention, or more specifically she paid more attention in History class... just not to the History. "I am finding school more appealing these days," she said, smiling as she looked into his eyes. But when he shared that he wanted to be a rugby player, she couldn't help but chuckle. I mean he had a great physique, but some of the rugby players she had seen on tv looked like professional weight lifters. "Your physique is nice but... rugby?" she said, smiling as she questioned him. "Would be a shame to mess up that pretty face," she mentioned, waving it off as she took a sip of her coffee. He hadn't really responded to her about Cleopatra so instead she shut the book, pushing it to the side so that she could focus her attention back on him. "I want to know more about you," she said definitively, looking up at him as she took a breath. "I know where my focus is at right now," she said quietly, looking back down at her cup of coffee. She didn't even want to sleep with him. I mean, she did. But it was different. She wanted to know about him, his hopes and dreams, what his past had been like, what kept him awake at night. "Okay um... my favorite vacation was to Paris," she said smiling. "My friend and I were actually able just to escape to ourselves and we just did whatever we wanted.. no schedule, no responsibilities. I ate a lot of bread. Drank a lot of wine. Which is legal, cause I'm 18.." she said, lifting her eyebrow at him. "Um.." she started, licking her lips nervously. "I ran into you with coffee.. on my first day back," she said, looking up at him to see if he would remember the moment. "An hour later I was wishing you weren't a teacher,"
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