Worse Than Nicotine

To say that Hayley was excited for music class would be an understatement. She practically dragged Holly the whole way there. The redhead bounced into the classroom and sat down on one of the couches, her best friend following in suit. As soon as Holly was inside, she looked around the room. It was different than last year. There were no more desks―except for a few to the side―and everything was replaced by couches and chairs, with instruments strewn in the back closet.

Holly was woken from her trance by a male clearing his throat. “Miss Wolfe?” He called, his eyes right on her. “I advise you to take a seat somewhere.”

Now, there’s a difference between calling someone cute, and to call someone hot. As Holly made her way to the spot next to Hayley, she noticed she couldn’t take her eyes off the new teacher. This man was definitely hot, and not in the “you’re so hot that I’d love to watch you play soccer shirtless” hot. He was more like the “you’re so hot that I would graciously let you fuck me senseless all night long” hot. And as he ran a hand through his dark fringe of a hair, Holly definitely decided he was the latter.

“Hey, guys. I’m Mr. Gaskarth.” He threw them all a small grin.

Holly smiled at his husky voice. It was low and his words seemed to flow out of his mouth like a chocolate fountain. His mouth, she pondered while propping her head on her hand, I wonder what it tastes like …

“Holly,” Hayley whispered beside her and nudged, “you’re drooling.”

Holly looked around to see if anyone noticed as she rubbed the small bit of drool off her mouth. Way to go, Holl, her conscious seethed.

Mr. Gaskarth was continuing with his speech. “I want my class to be a safe environment for students. You can do whatever you please as long as it relates to music. I grade you on your activity and if you’re participating.” He talked with his hands a lot, which Holly enjoyed. “I mean, there’s really nothing else I can grade you on because, come on, it’s music class.”

Holly chuckled softly at his joke and his eyes fell on her as she did. He smiled a little as he saw hers, making the girl to immediately look down at her chipping red nail polish. “So, go at it!” He exclaimed, clapping his hands together and sitting down at his desk.

Hayley instantly ran to the back closet and grabbed an acoustic guitar, taking her seat next to Holly on the purple couch. “Whoa, calm down, tiger,” Holly laughed as her friend began digging through her backpack for something.

“Here it is!” The redhead beamed while pulling out her beat-up blue notebook. Holly knew this book well: it was her song book. “I’ve been working on something and I need your help with it.”

Holly gestured for her to play and with a clearing of her throat, she started:

“Tell me where our time went
And if it was time well spent
Just don't let me fall asleep
Feeling empty again

“Cause I fear I might break
And I fear I can't take it
Tonight I’ll lie awake feeling empty

“I can feel the pressure
It’s getting closer now
We’re better off without you
I can feel the pressure
It’s getting closer now
We’re better off without you”

Holly smiled big. “That was amazing, Hayles!”

“Really?” The redhead lifted her brow and looked down at her notebook. “I feel like the chorus needs something. It just seems too―”

“I think it’s amazing.”

The two girls looked up to Mr. Gaskarth, and Holly felt her eyes widen at the man being so close to them. Hayley offered him a huge smile, saying, “Thank you.” Holly’s mouth was agape this whole time and when Hayley snapped her fingers in front her, the blonde instantly shut it.

Mr. Gaskarth laughed a little, making Holly’s cheeks turn a flush red, before turning back to Hayley. “You shouldn’t make any changes to the chorus. It’s perfect. Maybe speed up the chords a little when you reach the first note of the chorus, but besides that, it may be the best I’ve heard from someone as young as you.”

Just as Hayley was about to thank him again, Holly started, “I’ll have you know that we are not so young.” Holly hated herself when she did this, because she could talk for hours without stopping. “As you heard Hayley’s amazing lyrics, you can probably guess we’re pretty mature.” The blonde mentally slapped herself. Why couldn’t she have just left her mouth shut so she didn’t embarrass herself even more?

But Mr. Gaskarth cocked a brow in an intrigued way. “I wouldn’t doubt that for a second, Miss Wolfe.” He clicked his tongue and laughed. “I bet you know some things that even I wouldn’t know.”

Hayley’s widened eyes slid to Holly, who was in a state of shock. God damn, the blonde thought, does he have a way with words.

Holly could sense Mr. Gaskarth feeling awkward as he hit hands at his sides. “By the way,” he mentioned, pointing to Holly’s Ramones tee, “I like your shirt.”

The blonde paid close attention to the way Mr. Gaskarth swiveled his hips when he walked away, leaving her smirking. “Ain’t he the total package?” She mused.

“Uh, Holly? Earth to Holly?” Hayley snapped her fingers in front of her friend again.

Holly shook her head. “Right, sorry. I’m focused.”

“Try not to forget about me with the new teacher!” Brendon’s words from that morning echoed in her head.

She wasn’t very good at keeping promises.

Notes

Okay, maybe I'm a bit too excited for this ^w^ But at least my bad mood is gone and it's replaced by excitement!
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Rock on \m/