![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
guavejuice
Banner by Vonnie
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
yvonnereidAuthor:
guavejuicePairing:Brian/Justin
Beta:Kim
predec2 I can't thank you enough!A/N:This is NOT a WIP
Click HERE for previous chapters.
Disclaimer:I own nothing but this story
Comments are love.
Part 4
-A week later…Baldwin High School-
"So nice of you to join us this morning, Ms. Chanders," Brian greets Jennifer sarcastically as he notices the slip of a girl with the distinctive, full head of brown curly hair settling at the back of the class. "I'd like to have a word with you after school," he continues with authority, his tone of voice leaving no room for argument.
The girl nods glumly in resignation, pulling the hood of her green sweatshirt down over her forehead, leaving a thick blanket of curls covering her eyes and part of her small face. She mouths an angry 'fuck' in response to her teacher’s mandate that doesn’t escape Brian's trained eyes, despite all her efforts to hide it.
"Is there something you want to share with the rest of the class before we begin, Ms. Chanders?" Brian asks.
Her face flushes when she notices everyone’s eyes on her as she squirms in her seat uncomfortably. Rolling her eyes defiantly, she pulls out her chemistry book in silent response.
"Okay, then…" Brian continues, figuring that would probably be her reaction. He smirks at the rest of his class as he informs them, "Time to have some fun with the wonderful world of science, people."
_ _ _ _ _
-A few hours later-
"Are you heading home early today, Brian?" Justin asks his partner during lunch break as they sit in Brian's office.
"I was planning to," Brian answers. He pauses before explaining, "But I think it's important for me to stay at least for a while after school. I have a meeting with that student."
"Which student?" Justin asks.
"The one that keeps skipping school. I can’t believe you don’t remember her. She’s the one we talked about before," Brian reminds him with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, her… what's her name again?" Justin replies sheepishly as he takes a bite of his sandwich.
Before Brian gets a chance to answer, there's a quick rap on the door as one of Brian's fellow science teachers walks in.
"Am I interrupting?" she asks, not all that surprised to find Brian’s husband eating lunch with him. They frequently enjoyed having lunch together in private.
"No, not at all," Brian answers with a reassuring nod. "Come in, Linda. I wanted to get some ideas from you for the regional science project fair.” He turns to his husband as he sees him rising from his seat. “Justin, you don’t have to run off,” he tells him quickly. “This should just take a minute or two.”
"It’s okay; I was just leaving anyway," Justin responds. He doesn’t know why he always feels a little self-conscious about other colleagues finding them together at lunch time. It’s not like they were imbibing in some other type of lunch during their half-hour, although the thought does have a certain appeal. He smiles at Brian to let him know he isn’t upset. “I’ll catch up you with you later.”
"Later," Brian answers back with a nod, a little dismayed that their lunch time was cut short. He sighs inwardly. It was going to be a long day, he thinks.
_ _ _ _ _
-Late afternoon, Brian's office-
Brian stares at his wristwatch as he starts to pick up his stuff, ready to leave. He feels disappointed and agitated, but he can't quite figure out why. Is it because the girl – Jennifer – didn't show up at his office as he'd asked her to earlier this morning? Is it because of what Jennifer's mom Daphne told him and Lindsay the other day during their house call? Is it because his partner doesn't seem to be interested in what Brian seemingly wants to share? Is it because it feels like déjà vu to his own twisted, hellish, early childhood and teenage years, living in a dysfunctional family with a drunk, abusive father and a cold-hearted, emotionally crippled mother? Is it because this whole encounter with this girl Jennifer Chanders evokes all those hidden demons in him, things he'd hoped he could forget?
He grabs his jacket and brief case and walks towards the door, suddenly wishing he could swallow down a shot of Jim Beam. But he can't. He would have too much to lose. He's been sober for so many years now. He can't fall back into it.
He walks back to his desk, grabs his water bottle, and takes one huge gulp instead. As he puts the bottle back on the table, there's a hesitant knock on his door. “Come in,” he commands, as he peers over at his visitor.
"Why, it’s Ms. Chanders. “What brings you here to my humble establishment?" he says. So… she made it after all.
"You said you wanted to speak to me," she replies a little nervously, fiddling with the white cord that travels down from her ears to her neck.
"You might want to take those off first," Brian tells her, pointing at her bright pink earphones.
"Fuck, you're SUCH a geezer," she blurts out in a huff. But she does as she's asked. "I don't even know what I'm doing here," she mutters, pulling her green hoodie up over her face.
"I was getting to that, Ms. Chanders," Brian answers with a stern look. He knows he must not allow such rude behavior or profanity from students – even though he readily admits to himself that he certainly uses it often enough in private – but deep down he feels he can't avoid a bit of sympathy towards this rebellious, lost kid. It takes one to know one, as he’s always told Melanie.
"S… sorry," she mumbles self-consciously. An apology? That's a step forward, Brian thinks.
Brian sighs. This isn’t getting them anywhere in particular. Perhaps it was time to take a different approach. "Okay, Look. It's been a long day, so I’ll get right to the point. I was thinking about our discussion out in the courtyard before, and I have an idea. Despite your attendance issue, it’s obvious – at least when you commit to your schoolwork – that you are an intelligent and creative student. So I’m going to offer you a chance to participate in a couple of events coming up here at school.”
Jennifer begins to open her mouth to reply, but finds she doesn’t have to ask the question on her lips when her teacher explains, “But there is one condition.”
She rolls her eyes. “Of course there is. Meaning?”
Brian shakes his head in frustration. “Can you please just lose the attitude for one minute? I think you know what I’m about to say anyway, but listen anyway.” He pauses as Jennifer crosses her arms over her chest defiantly, but remains silent. “You will be allowed to submit a work for the Fall Art Exhibit Show for Parents’ Night, or for the Regional Science Fair…provided you do NOT miss any more time from school before then.”
She appears torn as she stammers, "I… I dunno… I… can't." She bites her lower lip anxiously. “I don’t think I can do it.”
“Well, I think you can. But it’s your choice,” Brian tells her flatly. “No excuses. Either you take advantage of what could turn out to be a great opportunity to showcase your talent…or you fu…screw it up. It’s up to you. But if you’re the smart kid that I think you are, you won’t pass up this chance. I hope you decide not to throw it away.”
Jennifer juts her lower lip out. “I am NOT a kid,” she insists. Brian finds it difficult to suppress his smirk over that statement. “And no matter what you say, I don’t think most of the teachers here give a flying fuck about me,” she tells him, her eyes flashing in rebellion.
Brian takes a deep breath. It’s been a long day, and it’s apparently far from over. He pushes aside his temptation to just fuck it all and head home – home to his husband, who no doubt is waiting for him. “I’m sure none of your teachers are avoiding you.” For the moment, he ignores her use once more of the “F” word, deciding, instead, to concentrate on what is bothering her.
“Oh, yeah, there is. My art teacher, Mr. Taylor, doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
Brian is stunned. There is NO way Justin would do that. He cares about every student in his classes, no matter how large they might be at times. He might forget their names from time to time, but he never ignores or disrespects them. “I find that hard to believe,” he tells her in Justin’s defense. “Why do you say he’s ignoring you? I remember you told me that his class is one of your favorites.”
“Well…he doesn’t ignore me,” she clarifies. “But he keeps nagging me.”
“Well, I’m sure what you call nagging is more like caring about you doing your very best,” Brian replies in rebuttal.
She shakes her head. “No…it’s nagging,” she maintains.
“How?” he asks, curious.
“He keeps telling me to take my hoodie off. That’s none of his business!” she growls, her voice rising. "I HATE school uniforms! I feel comfortable with my hoodie on. Even you understand that, Mr. Kinney,” she points out. “So why can't he?" she asks.
Brian had to admit she had a point. Despite the school rules, he WAS rather lax on enforcing the dress code. But he also knew that it was important to be consistent, especially when his husband’s character was concerned.
"We do have a dress code here,” he reminded her quietly. “You can't wear the hoodie over your face. I allow you to wear it on in my class,” he admits, “…but we need to be sure you are wearing your school uniform." Interestingly enough, Justin himself mentioned absently the other night that he didn't even remember this girl's face in class, which usually isn't like him. A memory creeps into his mind as he tries to keep focused on the defiant, young woman facing him.
In his mind's eye, he keeps seeing a certain beautiful, young blond man, dressed in a white T shirt, faded blue jeans, and a red hoodie, staring at him teasingly with an amazing set of blazing blue eyes from across the room at Woody's many moons ago. Justin was not a teenager when he and Brian first met that night, but he certainly looked like he could have been. He was 22, and in his second year at the Pittsburgh Institute of Fine Arts, but despite his boyish figure – and Brian's vow never to get emotionally attached to another person – he knew right from the start, especially after they spent their very first night having mind-blowing sex until the early hours of the morning in Brian's bed, that Justin was going to be the exception to his rule. And it turned out that he had been right; it didn’t take long for him to steal his heart as well.
"Tell you what," Brian decided as he returned to the present. "I'll speak with Ms. Marcus and Mr. Taylor about perhaps making an exception to allow you to keep your hoodie on in class a while longer…but only until you feel comfortable enough to take it off. And if they agree, you have to promise to follow their instructions…and not ditch any more class, or the invitation I just extended to you will be revoked. Is that understood?”
She ponders what he says for a few moments before she nods solemnly.
"Good. Now I’m going to think positively, and assume you will not miss any more school between now and the time the art show and science fair take place. In the meantime, you can start thinking about what you might want to show as your entry.”
Despite her earlier bravado, Jennifer appears hesitant now as she replies, “I don’t know, Mr. Kinney. I’m just not good enough. I’ll suck big time,” she frets.
“No, you won’t,” he assures her softly, feeling the need to reassure this girl. “I’ve seen what you can do when you apply yourself. Now you have to believe in yourself.” Nodding at her, he stands up and heads for the door. He turns around before leaving to add, “Think about it. You are the one who controls your future.” She stares back at him silently as he slips through the door and disappears.
TBC...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2015-10-26 10:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-26 12:43 pm (UTC)Your super supportive feedback means a lot to me. I'm thrilled to know you're enjoying this story :)
More to come...
no subject
Date: 2015-10-26 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-27 04:18 am (UTC)More to come...
no subject
Date: 2015-10-29 05:11 pm (UTC)Great chapter!
no subject
Date: 2015-10-29 06:02 pm (UTC)Hugs
no subject
Date: 2015-10-29 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-30 04:47 am (UTC)More to come...
no subject
Date: 2015-11-03 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-03 04:37 am (UTC)More to come...
♥
Date: 2016-07-28 02:00 am (UTC)Re: ♥
Date: 2016-07-28 04:42 am (UTC)