Jane POV

An overly sweet scent in the air breezed through an open window, tickling my nose.

"Ah-choo!"

"Gesundheit," said a voice from in front of me.

I peeked up, tearing my gaze away from my fidgeting fingertips, discovering a boy staring at me; his dull brown eyes bored into mine.

"Th- Thank you," I blinked in surprise. I hadn't heard him enter the room.

I looked down at the golden Lane Bryant watch that sat upside down on my forearm. One o'clock, I thought, ten minutes. I shoved my wavy hair out of my face, linking it behind my plugs.

From my peripheral vision, I could see the boys' empty eyes widen and felt him staring, despite my attempt to ignore him.

I crisscrossed my legs again, pretending to be interested in the old, weathered looking paintings that sat proudly upon the wall.

Hope Lucas is okay. I sighed, the thought itself taking me back to last night.

After we had deserted my car on a backroad in the middle of the woods, we squished ourselves into Charlies' car and raced to Emergency Care.

After admitting Lucas into the ER, we were forced to wait. I hadn't noticed when we arrived at the hospital, but now, with nothing to do but anxiously stand by for answers, I realized it seemed quite late.

The windows I continuously paced by showed that it had gotten much darker out. The ER was relatively empty and silent aside from the occasional beeps from patients room accompanied by the soft piano music that filled the waiting area.

Nurses bustled about from room to room. Some at their desks, others following doctors in rushed paces; talking in hushed voices.

I noticed a nurse walking by.

"Excuse me." I jumped up from my chair, Loki jumping up as well and I glimpsed her startled expression.

"Sorry, I was just hoping you could tell me the time?" I asked, feeling sparks and embers of panic rising inside of me.

"Jane?" Lucy asked from behind us, her voice strained.

"Eleven. Eleven PM," the nurse said, looking me up and down.

Impossible. "Thank you," I replied to the surprised nurse.

I didn't understand. There was no way it could be eleven o'clock at night.

"Jane, what's going on?" Lucy asked, her distressed tone gaining everyone's attention.

I turned to them, still trying to figure it all out. "We left the cabin this morning around ... ten. The car accident was shortly after we left so, ten-thirty. Searching for Lucas took only two hours, so that would mean we got back to the cars around one ... Maybe two ... We got here by three at the latest ... No, there's no way it's eleven PM, we just got here," I muttered in disbelief.

My friends had stared at me, bewildered and terrorized. What the fuck is going on?

Moments later, a petite blonde in pink scrubs approached us. "Hi, I'm Dr. Miller, are you all here for Mr-" she looked down at her clipboard. "-Lucas Prescott?" she asked, her dark eyes assessing each of us.

"Yes, how is he?" I asked before anyone else could speak, pointing at the ground to command Loki to sit.

She stared down at him for a moment but finally pursed her lips. "He took quite a tumble. He told us he fell down a hill?"

We all nodded in agreement.

She narrowed her eyes but continued, "Okay, well, he's alright. He's going to be okay. He's lucky, it could have been much worse, he could have broken the ribs, but they were just-"

"Bruised." Lucy finished for her.

Dr. Miller cocked her head and crossed her tanned arms. "Yes," she said, "they are only bruised; however, his right ankle is sprained. He'll need to keep that up." Her eyes flicked momentarily to Loki again. "And, um-"

"Thank you so much, Dr. Miller, we really appreciate it," Charlie said, interrupting and shaking the doctors' hand.

She smiled warmly at him. "My pleasure, young man. I hope the very best for his recovery. He's awake, so you may go in to see him now."

With that, she spun on her heel and walked away. I rolled my eyes at Charlie, who grinned in response. I couldn't help but smile too; he was such a charmer.

I left to return Loki home but we stayed with Lucas that night.

It was silent, apart from the small flat screen TV that played an old rerun of Friends. Not even Penelope made a peep.

We were in no mood to talk. We just wanted to forget. Forget what happened, forget what we had seen; forget it all.

Morning came and I was surprised to see Lucas already awake.

"What time is it?" I asked, stretching and rubbing my eyes.

"Nine-thirty. Your interview is today." He smiled. His face was still sprinkled with scrapes and bruises, but they looked less like opened wounds and more like scabs.

I cupped his cheek in my palm. "Sorry about all this," I whispered, not wanting to wake the others. "And no, I'll have to reschedule. I have to-"

"No, you don't have to be here," he said, stealing the words straight from my mouth. "No apologies either. I know you, Jane, and this interview means a lot to you. I'm fine, and I will be fine. Go," he urged.

I sighed in defeat, too tired to put up a decent argument as I gathered my hoodie. "Are you sure?" I asked, looking down at him.

He smiled and nodded. "You even have time to stop at home and get all dolled up. Go get that job. I know you will. As long as I'm breathing, I'm fine."

I sighed again, massaging my temples in hope of relieving an oncoming migraine ...

"Do I know you?" asked a voice, interrupting my thoughts and pulling me back into reality.

I snapped my head up, narrowing my eyes and staring straight into his lifeless ones. You look like you're seventeen, maybe eighteen. Unlikely...

I smirked. "No, don't think so," I replied as sweetly as I could muster.

He flipped his bangs out of his eyes and I stifled a snicker. Definitely seventeen.

"Well, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a shithole like this?" asked the Justin Beiber lookalike.

I raised my eyebrows in amusement at this stranger and gazed around the offices waiting room.

I was sitting on a maroon leather sofa and had been drinking complimentary green tea from a glass top table that sat neatly placed in the back right corner of the room.

Soft classical music spilled out from a speaker that sat perched on the wall and I smiled to myself. Chopin, hm, someone has great taste.

The sun filtered in through a multitude of windows; bouncing rays of light splashing against the cream colored walls. It warmed the room pleasantly, but never got too hot.

I returned my gaze to his gawk. "This is your definition of a shithole?" I paused, considering my words, but finally said, "I'm here for an interview, actually." I tossed my brunette waves over my shoulders, standing as I saw Principal Oplibk.

The boys gaze followed me, his eyes focusing too long on my bare legs. "An interview, huh?"

"Mind your business, Connor. Why are you even in my office again?" asked the voice of Principal Oplibk.

Connor grinned, tilting back on the legs of his chair. "Ms. Espinoza believes I'm a distraction to her class," he replied proudly.

Principal Oplibk narrowed his eyes and sighed. "I'll deal with you after my meeting."

He tsked and turned back to me. "Ms. Baudelaire," he said, "If you will please just follow me." He pivoted on his heel and walked swiftly back into his office.

I accompanied him, tugging on the hem of my soft plum colored skirt.

I felt eyes on my back as I shadowed Mr. Oplibk, turning to see Connor staring unblinkingly at my bum. A shiver crept up my spine just as Oplibk clicked his office door shut behind me.

"Please excuse my nuisance of a son." He rolled his eyes. "Please, sit." He motioned towards the plush maroon leather seats. I smirked. Matching colors.

He walked behind his desk, huffing as he sunk into his own brown leather chair. He reached into a drawer, extracting a manilla envelope with my name written across the tab.

He cleared his throat. "So ... how long have you been teaching?" he asked, peering over his black-rimmed glasses at me.

"Almost two years now." I ran my fingers through the tiny knots in my hair, biting my glossed bottom lip.

"Right, okay. So tell me, Miss. Baudelaire, why do you want to work here? Why should I give you a chance to be a teacher here?"

He flipped open my file, shuffling the contents until he found my resume.

I straightened my posture, dark ringlets tumbled over my shoulders, framing my face. I had been rehearsing this line for the past few weeks, I knew exactly what to say; it was the perfect hook, line, and sinker.

"Well sir," I said, "Ever since I can remember, education has been such a big part of my life. My mother hounded me endlessly to get straight A's and do my best in school. Even today, I yearn to learn more, about anything and everything." I paused, considering my next choice of words.

"She inspired me to reach for the stars and not to give up and I wish to pass that on to students as well," I continued with a smile. "I feel as though I'd be a great asset to the school."

He dipped his head, nodded and "hmmed," still leafing through the small stack of my papers. "Well, your resume is flawless," he said, a slight hint of surprise in his voice. His eyes still raced through the information I had provided.

I crossed and uncrossed my legs anxiously, taking deep breaths to try and calm myself.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but something felt off. I felt off. I had prepared for this interview for weeks, it didn't make sense that I lacked the confidence I worked so hard to earn.

I glanced around his office; awards and certificates decorated the dark beige wall behind him. Tall, rich brown wooden shelves stood on either side of his desk, lined with alphabetized books.

An open window sat to the left of me and I sighed, grateful to have something to look at besides Principal Oplibk's bald head as he shuffled through my paperwork.

A warm breeze swirled in, and I noticed something caught in the wind, flapping in the air.

It was quite long and black as a moonless night. I squinted my eyes in attempts to get a better look. Is that...

"You want to deal with kids like him?" Principal Oplibk asked, startling me from my thoughts. He finally raised his piebald eyes to mine and nodded his head in the direction of Connor, the boy sitting outside his office.

I stared at him, dumbfounded, for a moment. My attention was torn between his question and what I had seen.

"I ..."

I was silent for a moment, gathering and organizing my thoughts to perfection before finally saying, "I've come to find that positive vibes and encouraging words can truly motivate a young person's mind. Of course, there will be the ones you have to dig a little deeper with, but everyone has something they want to do, and if not, that's where we step in to inspire them."

His lips pulled back into a smile, the creases on his face deepening. "I do believe there's room for you here, Ms. Baudelaire. We need more teachers with your outlook and mindset. Welcome aboard!"

Delighted, he stood and shook my hand. I felt my cheeks pull into a wide grin while my eyes still wandered over to the window and what lay beyond.

I was ecstatic. Truly on the inside, I was, but my mind was so overtaken by the mysterious but familiar object flowing on the breeze.

"Now, the afternoon custodian will clean out Mr. Parker's old office and it will look good as new for you next week," he said, interrupting my thoughts yet again, sounding quite chipper as he led me out of his suite.

I smiled at him, tugging my eyes away from the window. "Thank you so much, sir. I do greatly appreciate it," I said, regaining my sanity and refocusing on him.

"My pleasure entirely, Ms. Baudelaire! Have a wonderful rest of your afternoon and please remember to be here at least a half an hour before your first period," he said before finally closing his office door.

I stood there for a moment, my grin widening as I felt the excitement coursing through me and charging every fiber, every cell of my being with overjoyed energy.

"Got the job, yeah?" a voice chimed in, disturbing my elated thoughts.

I looked down next to me. Connor, Oplibks' son, looked up at me, still sitting in his metal chair. He grinned and shrugged. "Just an educated guess." He chuckled.

I blushed before regaining my composure. "Yes, I did," I said.

He grinned. "Word, can't wait."

I smirked and raised my eyebrows before making my way towards the exit.

I passed Principal Oplibk's secretary-- a girl I graduated with, sitting at her desk, her glasses resting on the bridge of her abnormally large nose. She stared intently at her computer screen, typing furiously.

"Have a good day, Bridget," I said breezily, giving a small wave as I exited the school's front doors.

The warm day greeted me, my black blouse blowing in the breeze. I used my hand to shield my eyes from the sun and searched the parking lot for my little blue buggy.

"Fuck!" I had totally forgotten about my car in my excitement. "Fuck," I grumbled again, kicking at the ground.

I looked ahead of me, my apartment wasn't too far from the school, I could walk. However, I really wanted to get back to the hospital, check on Lucas.

I groaned and was headed in the direction of my apartment when a sleek Mercedes flew up next to me. I raised my eyebrows as the passenger window rolled down.

"Charlie, hey," I cooed with a smile.

"Hi," he replied as he got out, his voice husky and mellow. He opened my door for me, and I could feel his eyes on my back as I slipped into the leather seat. He shut my door, rushing back to the driver side.

I breathed in his fresh linen scent as he put the car in drive and zoomed out onto the street. "Hospital I'm assuming?"

I nodded, eyeing him and taking the time to appreciate his messy black hair. "Thanks so much. How'd you know I was at the school?"

"Lucas told me about your interview, figured I'd pick you up." He paused as he turned a corner. "So how'd it go?" he asked, fixing the cuff of his white button up.

I swallowed, suddenly self-conscious in such an enclosed and intimate space. I watched his arms flex as he steered and I bit my lip. Mmm

"So ... The interview? What happened?" he asked, oblivious to my lusting.

"I got the job," I said, my smile slowly creeping back onto my lips. The earlier excitement I felt was slithering back through my veins again.

"That's fucking awesome!" he exclaimed, stopping for a red light. "I'm so happy for you, Jane!"

He snaked his hand up to the back of my neck, leaning in to kiss me. His warm, wet lips met mine for only a moment but I knew I wanted more.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, breaking apart as the light turned green. "I'm just ... Really happy for you, that's all." He smiled his adorable guilty smile and I saw we were pulling into the hospitals' Visitors parking lot.

"Please don't apologize," I said quickly as he parked. I hopped out, walking around to stand beside him. Damn, he looks great.

"And thanks, I'm really excited about this opportunity too," I told him, my eyes trailing over his smooth collarbones that peeked out from under the pressed linen.

He smiled again before pulling me in and giving me a tight, warm hug. "I'm happy for you, J," he said, burying his face in my hair.

I looked up at him, meeting his gaze through my lashes. I felt the corners of my lips pull into a small smile before I reached up on my tiptoes, kissing him again.

Our lips connected and I could feel him smiling against my mouth. He slinked his hand up my neck, knotting into my hair. His other hand sliding down to my waist.

I leaned into him, pressing my body to his, inhaling his fresh smell. He kissed me harder, his hands at the small of my back as he pulled me closer.

After a good moment, we broke apart, huffing as we struggled for breath.

I laughed for a minute but, of course, every satisfying moment has to be balanced out by a not-so-happy-moment and suddenly, I remembered what I had seen outside the window during my interview.

"Charlie," I started, "There's something I need to tell you." I bit my lip, feeling my eyes beginning to tear up. "I saw something earlier..."

***
Authors Note

A bit of a "filler" chapter I suppose,
But it sets up more of the story,
so it is technically needed. 👻

Hope you enjoyed 😇
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