Chapter Two

"Jude Harrison." The pair of infinite blue eyes said. He placed his papers on the desk nearest to him and shook my hand, smiling cordially at me. "My name is Tom Quincy. Call me Mr. Quincy or Tom anything you are comfortable with."

I smiled and nodded taking in his broad shoulders, high cheek bones, styled hair and most of all his eyes and smile.

"Now I'm sorry to say," he began grabbing his papers and transferring them over to his desk. "I am one of those teachers that make new students introduce themselves to the class." He said with a touch of guilt in his voice as he saw my eyes close with discomfort. "So say three interesting or not interesting," He said grinning. "Things about yourself, just give us a feel for who you are." He said gently sitting on his desk facing me.

I looked out at the sea of my faceless classmates, feeling my inside slowly degenerating. "Okay so my name is Jude," I began. "I moved here from Toronto. My favorite color is purple and…" I trailed off thinking of a last one. "And music is my life."

"Okay, okay." Mr. Quincy said nodding his head. "Extremely vague, no incite on your life." He said smiling at me, his eyes locked with mine. "Now it's our turn."

He turned to the class. "Now anyone who has questions, raise their hand." A few people obliged.

The first he called on was a shockingly pretty girl with chocolate brown eyes and hair to match. "Why did you move all the way from Toronto?"

I was silent for a moment. "Family stuff." I answered quietly.

A few people's hand went down, I felt Mr. Quincy staring at me.

The next hand went up was the boy in the back. "Are you single?" He asked me.

Some laughed but most of the girl's scoffed at his questions.

"Yeah." I said rolling my eyes, smiling slightly.

"Wow same here." He said stretching back, showing off his protruding muscles. "Fancy that." He said winking at me.

On the corner of my eye I could see Mr. Quincy shaking his head out of disbelief. "Anymore questions?" He asked. The guy in the back raised his hand again. "None?" He questioned ignoring his hand, smiling faintly. "Okay now I get to ask one question." He said turning his attention on to me.

I turned my body to face him. "So this is Advanced Literature, not Advanced English as it says on your schedule." His voice dropped to a low whisper. "The joys of public schooling." He looked at me. "Are you taking this class to get a higher GPA or are you here to learn?" He asked.

"I love writing," I began. "It's not about my GPA or college it's about," I was silent for a moment, pondering. "It's about the sake of writing." I answered my eyes locked on his.

He did not smile instantly, his eyes searching mine. His smile broke out into a genuine smile that lightly touched his eyes.

"Good answer." He breathed. I smiled and felt a light color rise to my cheek. "You are worthy," he began with a hint mockery in his voice. "To sit in my classroom."

I laughed. "Well thank God for that." I muttered slightly, taking the only empty seat by the guy in the back. At least he is cute. I sat down, placing my oversized purse by my feet.

The guy leaned over his desk, towards me. "I'm Luke." He said extending his hand and I shook it.

"Hey." I responded smiling.

"My favorite color is purple too." He said grinning.

"Fancy that." I said winking at him turning my attention on to Mr. Quincy whose eyes were on me.

"Done flirting Mr. Jacobs?" He asked, a smile playing on his face.

"Not even close." Luke responded grinning widely at me.

Mr. Quincy shook his head, laughing to himself. "Okay class, now that Mr. Jacobs has fully made a fool of himself, let's get started."

When Mr. Quincy was done with his lecture he called me up to his desk. He handed me the agenda and list of things I needed to catch up on.

"Your school before," He began, his eyes locked with mine. "Really is at the same level as this school just a little behind."

I nodded quietly.

"So," He said taking out a slip of paper and began writing times. "These are all the times I am free," I took the paper. "Before school, after school, at lunch." He shrugged. "Whatever is good for you and I highly recommend it." He said studying me. "You are smart, I can see that." I felt myself smile. "So I don't want you to struggle unnecessarily."

"Okay." I said softly and then smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem." He replied, I began to turn around. "Jude there is one more thing," He began as the bell went off. "If you do not mind waiting." He added quickly.

"No not at all." I said with a smile, facing him.

"I really hope," He began "I am not crossing any boundaries." His eyes searching mine, my hand self-consciously began playing with my mother's ring. He stopped momentarily. "That is a beautiful ring." He said quietly.

"It was my mother's." I said dropping it, as it fell against my sensitive skin.

His eyes met mine, warmth filling them. "As I was saying," He said standing up and leaning against his desk causing me to look up at him. He looked like he was trying to find the right words. "I want to level with you." He said leaning against his desk even more. "About ten years ago something happened in my family." His eyes were searching my face. "It was hard." He said frankly. "It's hard for me to even think about it, let alone talk about it." His unwilling eyes met mine. "There was a look in your eyes when I first saw you and even at this moment that I haven't seen," He was silent for a moment. "Since the last time I looked in the mirror."

I immediately looked down at my hands, unable to handle his stare.

He tilted his head, trying to catch my eyes. "I'm not saying," He said, "that I have any idea what you are going through, I'm not." I still refused to look at him. "But ten years ago no one reached out to me, no one took the extra step." I finally looked at him, so much pain was in his eyes. "I felt alone." He said shaking his head. "I just don't want anyone to feel that way," He was silent for a moment, "especially you." He raised his eyes to mine.

I nodded weakly. "Thank you." I said softly.

He smiled at me. "So that door," He said gesturing in that direction. "Is open, everyday, every hour, every minute, every second."

I nodded, tears pricking the side of my eyes.

He saw this and sighed as he took out a box of tissues and handed it to me.

"Thank you." I said embarrassingly as I dabbed at my eyes.

"You know it's not bad to cry." He commented.

"I just do not want people to know." I explained.

"The least they can do is care." He said quietly.

I did not respond, my eyes focused on my hand.

"I care." He said causing me to look at him.

"Why though?" I asked him.

He smiled, straightening up. "You will have to find that out for yourself Miss Harrison." He took out a stack of papers. "Here I'll write you a pass. Who is your fourth period teacher?" He asked me

I looked at my scheldule. "Mr. Willis." I answered.

He made a face. "Have fun."

I raised my eyebrow.

"He's a total dick." He explained.

"Nice language." I said with a laugh.

"You haven't seen the half of it." He said with a wink.

He handed me the slip and didn't let go of the paper. "Don't forget what I said." He said softly. "I meant every last word."

I nodded. "Thank you." I said sincerely.

I began to leave and as I opened the door he called out. "I'll see you in class tomorrow Miss Harrison."

I felt myself smile. Thank God for people like Mr. Tom Quincy.