Talk in private

Jenny was surprised and so were Max and Elizabeth. Jenny got up and followed the homeroom teacher out of the classroom. They walked through the halls without saying a single word and they stopped when they reached his office. Mr. Johnson opened the door and gestured for her to get in. Jenny still had no idea what was going on and what he wanted from her, but she followed his instructions regardless and walked inside his office. He closed the door and walked over to his desk. "Please, take a seat." Jenny walks over to the chair sits down across from him.

"Sir, can I ask what this is about? We just saw each other. Is there something urgent that you interrupted your class and came to take me from mine?" The teacher cleared his throat and said, "Well, don't worry about that. I asked one of the other teachers to cover for me, because...Well, it was brought to my attention that you are the daughter-in-law of the principal which means that you are the fiance of Mr. Westwood. I assure you that I was unaware of your identity when I picked you and when I told you that there are no exceptions. I am very sorry for my reaction during class. Surely you know that those rules don't apply to you and if you still want to back out, I will find a way for you to be replaced as the class representative. If I had known that the someone you had been referring to was Mr. Westwood, I would have done the job myself rather than make you take on that responsibility."

Jenny saw how nervous the teacher was. He was sweating, stammering, fidgeting. She started to feel bad for him. He had simply done his job and had the best intentions for his students. This reaction was exactly the reason she didn't want to reveal her identity. She was simply lucky that for the most part she didn't have the same teachers as last year, which gave her a chance to create a new image for herself. But her cover was blown before she even had the chance to create one. Jenny sighs as she hears Elizabeth and Jason's words in her head as she once again prepares herself to do the "right" thing. "Don't worry about it sir. I will figure something out and make this work. You treated me like I was any other student and that is what I wanted. All I ask is that you continue to treat me like you did before you found out about this and that you keep it a secret from the other teachers and students."

"Of course. My lips are sealed. But are you sure about this?" Jenny nodded and got up to leave. "If that was all, then I will be returning to class if you don't mind. I don't want to miss too much so early on in the year." The teacher was flabbergasted. "Yes. Of course. Please do." He had been so worried about what he had done. Who he thought he had offended. He thought he had lost his job, but he got off without losing anything other than a promise. His face relaxed and he started to smile. He thought to himself "She might not be so bad after all. She could have had an easy escape, but she didn't take it. And to think I was annoyed by her at first."

Jenny got to attend the last ten minutes of class, when the bell rang and the break had started. She took a deep breath and walked over to Jason's class. She was the first to leave and she didn't wait for Elizabeth nor Max who both called out to her multiple times. When she reached his classroom, Jason had just walked out and was surprised to find her there. "Hey, how come you are here so soon? I thought I was supposed to come pick you up. Did you miss me that much?" Jason said with a cheerful smile. Jenny started to feel a knot in her stomach, because she had to break that kind smile of his. "Yeah, I did and I need to talk to you about something. Can we go somewhere where we can talk in private?" Jason's expression turned more serious and he said, "Yeah sure. Let's go to the roof. The others can stay downstairs for the short break." Jason looked back at George and Nick who were right behind him and they nodded to let him know they understood and would inform the others.

Jenny and Jason headed to the roof, while Jenny tried to fill the silence with small talk by asking him how his first two classes were. Once they reached the roof Jason stopped her, "Okay enough with the small talk. What's wrong? Why did you want to talk to me in private? I though you said that everything was fine." "Yeah, well...I didn't know how to tell you this. I still don't actually. So, I will just come out with it. We got assigned seats today and I was seated next to a guy as well as all the other girls. Our teacher thinks it is better for our concentration." Jason's expression turned dark, but he could tell that this was not all. So, with a clenched jaw he said, "And..?". Jenny swallowed and said, "And we got appointed class representatives. So, I will have to stay after class everyday to prepare for the next day and write in the journal. I also have to help with the preparation of all school events and might be asked to help during lunch sometimes. Which means that I can't keep our promise of maximizing the time outside of class to hang out."

"Are you freaking kidding me Jenny?! You knew how hard it was for me to accept you wanting to be in a different class, but you said it will be fine. You made me all kinds of promises to change my mind and now it hasn't even been one day and you are already breaking one of your promises. Why did you not say that you couldn't do it? You should have told that teacher to pick someone else. Who does he think he is to force my fiance to be his lackey. He can think whatever he wants, but he is not involving you in his stupid plans. We will go over to him right now and request for him to choose someone else or have you partnered up with someone else at the very least." Jenny sighed and took Jason's hand. "Jace, listen to me. We can't do that. I already said that I would do it and my deskmate agreed as well. It is not fair to the other students if I shove this responsibility on them. I got chosen and that is my bad luck. I don't want you to get involved in this. Can you do that?" Jason pulled his hand out and walked away as he said "Whatever".