I woke up this morning to the familiar sound of my iPhone's alarm clock. Groggy, I swung my legs over my bed and slowly walked out of my bedroom. Before I reached the stairs to go into the kitchen, I poked my head into my little brother's room.
In the mix of dark and light, I saw Mikey, sprawled out on his bed, snoring, with his right arm and left leg hanging off the side. His pajama pants were riding up his legs and his mouth was wide open. I silently laughed to myself, and closed the door as quietly as possible, and made my way downstairs.
I pushed the button on the coffee brewer, and ran back upstairs and into my bathroom, where I flipped on the light switch. As soon as the room lit up, I turned and faced the large mirror.
I pushed my black hair out of my eyes and admired the way it looked. Messy, down, and out of place. I look younger this way. 23 years old, and when I go to my job I might as well say I'm 35.

My situation is lucky. College for four years, get a job as a substitute, and just my luck, the board loved me so much they offered me a full on teaching job. In need of the money, and a solid career, I accepted. My mother let Mikey chose who he wanted to live with, and since we've always been close, he chose to come move in with me. The only problem with this is that he has his friends over all of the time. Don't get me wrong, his friends are like my other little brothers to me, but sometimes it's nice to have just me and Mikes so we can watch TV and order pizzas while I grill him with questions on how life is going for him.

I quickly undress, and get in the shower. I scrub my long hair and five minutes later the water is off, and my body is being patted down by my towel.

I walk into my connecting room, and go into my closet and pick out a nicer outfit. Black pants, a white dress shirt, a black vest, and a black tie. In the back of my mind I know the real reason why I'm making an effort, but I give myself a bullshit lie, because the truth is not right.
Not right at all.
No matter how hard I try, and no matter how many times I try and think about someone else, the thought of this girl just keeps on coming back.

If I wasn't her teacher, I would have asked her to dinner by now. But, unfortunately I have to wait the rest of the school year for her to graduate. If she's even the slightest bit into me, that is.

---

Mikey and I get into my car and I start to drive over to the school.

---

Before I know it, it's lunch one. There's three lunch times a day, and every student is assigned to one. Luckily for Mikey, him and all of his friends are assigned lunch one, and they sit together at the same table every day. I walk into the lunchroom, and scan the teen-filled room for my brother and his friends. I keep walking, until I reach where you actually get food, and I get a bagel with cream cheese. I slowly walk into the teacher's pay line, and look over at Mikey's table. I feel my heart freeze and my stomach drop as soon as I see her sitting with them.
They're friends? Why didn't anyone tell me?
I guess I never asked..
Wait. Why is Mikey looking at her like that?
That's the "I like you but I'm trying to hide it" look. I can see it in his eyes.
Michael no.
Thoughts race through my mind as a wave of jealousy crashes over me and drowns me.
I look at Frank and see him flirting with her.
Oh no. Not him too.
I know Frank. I've known him since he was little and I know, that when he wants a girl, he gets the girl.
I bite my lip hard, and close my eyes. I quickly pay for my food and rush out of the lunch room before anything else upsetting gets to me.

---

I sat down in my desk in my classroom, and lightly closed my eyes. I took a few deep breaths, and turned on some music. I decided on "I miss you" by Blink-182. Taking small bites of salad, eating alone, wishing I had someone to love me and for me to love back. This is how lunch is spent for me.

Before long the bell rings and my class starts barging in through the door. With a sigh, I toss my garbage in the bin and open up my laptop to respond to some emails and to check when I have meetings and what time.

The bell is about to ring, and Mikey and Natalie still aren't here.
Where the hell is-
"Natalie.." I accidentally say out loud. She walked in the room. Immediately my face goes red , and my eyes drift around the room to see if anyone caught me. Thankfully no. My head turns to her, to make sure she didn't hear me, but she has her earphones in blasting. I hear her listening to "I miss you"
Wasn't I just listening to that?
Yes, yes I was.
I watch as she takes a seat in the back of the class and I feel my legs standing me up and start walking towards her.
Biting my lip, I stop at her desk and she slowly looks up at me, her eyes meeting mine. I see her smile fade, and her eyes widen, and her cheeks flush pink.
What does that mean..?
She hesitated, and took one of her earbuds out, and gave me a small smile.
I'm speechless. What do I say? Why did I even come over by her in the first place.
I swallow."Your music's pretty loud..Natalie..right?" dumbass. Of course her name is Natalie. You know that. You've called on her in class god dammit!
Her cheeks get even redder "Yeah. Sorry about my music i didn't realize-"
Perfect! There's my excuse! Her music being loud!
"Don't worry about it.. I just would hate to see you go deaf.." I say as smooth as possible.
She started to smile and my god it was the most beautiful thing.
"I know.." She said shyly.
I just stare at her for a second, smiling, until I realize how creepy I must look. I get up and turn away, but immediately stop and say, "By the way, you have a great music taste." Out the corner of my eye, I catch her go red, and start smiling to herself. Satisfied, I keep walking and sit down at my desk, ready to start class.
I couldn't help but sneak glances at her the whole time.
I did happen to catch her staring too, but to keep her from embarrassment, I acted like I didn't see a thing.

GERARD. STOP. IT CAN NEVER AND WILL NEVER WORK OUT.

Or maybe it will..

Notes

I'm baaaaaccckkk :) Also I think I'll be updating again in a couple of hours :)