Not Your Average High School Experience

Finally opening up.

The end of the soccer game came along about an hour after they had arrived and Elizabeth was both sad that it was over yet happy at the same time. She was happy it was over because they had won and unknown to the kids, this game had placed them in the finals that would be happening the next weekend. She was sad that it was over because it meant that she had to leave these wonderful kids until next weekend.

Despite the fact that Elizabeth wanted to stay there at the field and spend some more time with the kids, she knew that she had a date to go through with later tonight and she wanted to spend some time with Elaine before they went to the event. Would it be considered a date? If so it would be Elizabeth's first date with someone that was older then her, as well as the first date she ever had with a teacher.

Blushing slightly at the thought of this date, Elizabeth started gathering the soccer balls that had been used for practice, putting them in the bag they had come from before gathering the cones up as well. When she had the cones in her hands and the bag over her shoulder, she smiled at Elaine who was looking beautiful just by standing on the far end of the coach's bench, a look of concentration on her face.

Elaine's hair was a little less neat as it had been this morning because she had taken it out of the bun it had been in, only to put it up again. Some of her hair was in her face and she was biting the top of the pen she had been given to write names down with. After a moment of watching her think, Elizabeth finally walked over and stood behind her, smiling softly as she leaned down to whisper in the woman's ear, wanting to see what she'd do.

"You know, Sammy scored the last goal. Just helping you out." Elizabeth whispered while smirking. The reaction that she got was enough to cause her to laugh. Elaine pulled the clipboard to her chest, moving the pen to point outward like a sword as she jumped up slightly and turned around to face a laughing Elizabeth. Elaine's cheeks were slightly flushed and she playfully hit Elizabeth on the arm with the clipboard, sticking out her tongue like a child.

"Don't scare me like that. I could have stabbed you." Elaine said while holding up the pen the way that she had held it when she had jumped. This only caused Elizabeth to laugh more. After a moment, Elizabeth got her laughing under control and she smiled happily while adjusting the bag that was over her shoulder and picking up the cones that she had dropped.

"Oh damn, she's got a pen." Elizabeth said while faking a horrified look as she backed away from Elaine, walking backwards towards the car. Elaine smiled when she saw this reaction and pointed the pen at Elizabeth again, walking towards the younger girl as if it was a sword and she was intimidating. Elizabeth laughed as she kept backing up, soon turning around and jogging towards the car as Elaine started getting a little closer.

Honestly, they were acting like little kids and Elizabeth couldn't stop laughing. Elizabeth had went so long without having anyone to be with that it felt really good to have someone around that was willing to spend time with her and it didn't seem like they were being forced to stay there with her. It had been so long since someone actually wanted to be around Elizabeth for longer then maybe 45 minutes and Elizabeth really liked the feeling. It was nice to have someone there.

When they both reached the car, they were both laughing and enjoying themselves as they got ready to get into the car and head off to do something else together. That was if Elizabeth could gain the courage to say something to Elaine about possibly spending a little more time together before they were off to the open mic night later on. Elizabeth walked to the back of the car and popped the trunk, placing her things in there before closing it, looking up to see that Elaine was standing almost right beside her with a wide smile on her face. Elizabeth took this as her chance to ask Elaine and see if she would be interested in doing something else while they were out and about.

"Elaine, can I ask you something?" Elizabeth questioned while moving a hand to rub the back of her neck a little nervously. Once she had gotten a response of sorts, which was a nod of the head, Elizabeth took a deep breath before continuing with what she had to say in the first place.

"Would you like to do something else? I-I have this little place that I go to after a game like today's and think that you may like it. It has great hot coffee and some killer sandwiches if you wanted to get something to drink and to eat while we are there. Of course, you don't have to come. I-I don't want to force you to do something." Elizabeth stammered, not able to help herself really. For some reason, she was actually worried that Elaine would say that she had somewhere else to be and that meant that she would be leaving. After a moment, Elaine smiled while nodding a little bit.

"I'd love to go to this little place with you as long as you promise me one thing. You have to tell me a little more about yourself. I want to get to know the Elizabeth outside of school." Elaine said while looking up at Elizabeth, a look on her face saying that she wasn't kidding about it. Elizabeth immediately nodded her head, agreeing to do whatever it took to get Elaine to come along with her for some coffee and sandwiches.

"Sure, I think that I can open up a little and let you get to know a little more about me." Elizabeth said while nodding, now starting to walk towards Elaine's side of the car. When Elaine saw that Elizabeth was walking she followed and was once again met with her door being opened for her. Elaine spoke a soft thank you before getting inside the car and starting to buckle up as Elizabeth closed her door and walked around the front of her car so that she herself could get in. When Elizabeth opened the door and got in, she smiled at Elaine before pulling her door closed and buckling up as well. Elizabeth started the car and soon backed out of the little make shift parking lot before heading off towards the road that they had come to the fields on.

After a few moments of riding on that road, Elaine shifted herself in her seat slightly before looking over at Elizabeth with a curious look on her face as she thought of what she could ask Elizabeth first. She didn't want to dig too deep but she did want to know more about the girl that she was developing feelings for. It didn't take long for Elaine to come up with a question as she remembered something that Elizabeth had said before the soccer game had started.

"Elizabeth, I want to know what you meant by something you said earlier before the game started. It was right before Dom walked up to you, I had asked you what had made you think of teaching the kids soccer and you said that you didn't want them to turn out like you. What did you mean by that?" Elaine asked, having been curious to find out the answer to that question from the moment that she had thought of it, which had been about 30 seconds after she had heard Elizabeth asked that. Elizabeth sat there for a moment in silence, thinking to herself about how she was going to answer that question. Was it okay for Elizabeth to say she wanted to save them because she couldn't save herself? Elizabeth took a deep breath before finally knowing how she was going to answer that question.

"You know how I am at school. I don't really give a damn. I'm always in trouble, starting fights and getting suspended for the stupidest reasons all because I let some bad things in life affect how I lived. One huge bad thing in my life turned it around completely and I started not caring about anything really. That's why my grades started slipping and my record started getting longer and longer. Well, every one of those kids on that team is or was battling something great in their life that was starting to make them slip like I did." Elizabeth said while still looking forward. Elaine just sat there for a moment while thinking about how someone that was getting into trouble themselves was willing to save others from getting into trouble but make no effort to change their self. Elizabeth was willing to help kids but not herself.

"What are some of the kids facing? I...I don't mean to pry, I just want to see what you're helping them through." Elaine asked while starting to play with the sleeves of the hoodie she was wearing for the second or third time today.

"Various things. Some are closet gays that don't know how to come out to their families and it's tearing them apart, while others are trying to get over their parents splitting. Some are having a rough time at school with other kids while there are some others that are having trouble at home and I just want them to know that there is someone out there for them even when they think that have no one. Take Dom for example. He's known for a while that he's gay but he's always been too scared to talk to his parents about it. The worry of telling them was starting to cause him to allow grades to slip until I came across him. He opened up to me about what was going on and I gave him suggestions on how to come out to his family and he did." Elizabeth said while shrugging her shoulders slightly as if what she had just said was nothing really big, despite the fact that it was huge.

"Elizabeth...that's amazing. Do you realize what you're doing for these kids? How did you come across them in the first place?" Elaine asked, the first part of her sentence filled with nothing but amazement at what Elizabeth was doing for the kids. Elizabeth once again just shrugged slightly, not really seeing it as that big of a deal she was just determined to be there for kids that needed someone because when she needed someone, she had absolutely no one, and it was something that she wouldn't wish on her worst enemy.

"I visit the middle schools every other week to attend this little group for the kids that aren't doing to best in school. Teachers pick up on student's behavior and send them to the group after school and I meet with them. Eventually I get them to open up to me and then am able to help them." Elizabeth explained while stopping the car at a red light. Since the car was stopped completely, Elizabeth took this time to look over at Elaine to see how she was raking the answers that she was given. The moment Elizabeth saw Elaine's face, she could see a few emotions that she recognized. Amazement as well as wonder and one more that she wasn't sure she was really seeing. Love? The thought caused Elizabeth cheeks to flush before she looked back at the road once the light changed to green. The faint blush remained on her cheeks as she started driving once again.

"God, you're like an saint to these kids. Why do you do all of this for them when you yourself are clearly still going through hell at school? And don't try to tell me that school is fine for you because I can see from the was Allison treats you that it's not." Elaine said while looking at Elizabeth seriously. Elizabeth thought for a moment, not knowing if she should answer the question or not, though after a moment she decided that she was going to and she answered it with a single sentence. Nothing more or nothing less.

"Because when I needed someone the most, absolutely no one was there for me and the feeling of being all alone is something that I wouldn't wish on even Allison."