The English Teacher

Chapter 10. Part 2.

Chapter 10. Part 2.

"As we walked through the large crowd of people, I just couldn't stop thinking about how Mr. Calloway had defended me from Brad's teasing. He actually defended me! sure Mel has done it so many times back in Grade school, even Alex too, but my own teacher? it was so...genuine like he protected me, just like how a soldier protected his fellow comrade from certain dangers when on the Battlefield. In a way, it was very sweet, and caring of him-It was making me fall for him even more than necessary."

George raised an eyebrow in confusion as he soon asked Jake if he was alright who soon quickly came back down to Earth after his mental monologue blushing slightly. "Hey, why don't we head over to the game section and play some games for a little bit? I bet I can beat at some of them." Giving out a little wink in return as well as hearing the elder chuckle, they soon walked over seeing families, friends, and couple's trying their hand out at some of the activities that they were either playing for fun or trying a competition for a change.

Seeing the large sign that read out Ring Toss, the males soon made their way towards the stand which was being ran by a portly man who soon put down his newspaper seeing the teen boy and adult man; his bored expression now changed to an excited one instantly with Jake mentally assuming that he finally had some customers whom he could explain the rules to.

"You both know the drill, you have 5 tries to get the rings around the bottles and if you win, you can have any prize you want." He explained as Jake picked up the plastic round object furrowing his eyebrows in deep concentration. Just as he was about to throw, a shout of his name rang through his ears; soon turning around and smiling in the process, was Harry running towards his big brother with Mel and Didi close behind. Seeing that it was Mr. Calloway as well as remembering who he was, the little 5-year-old grinned widely and waved happily as George smiled warmly knowing that the young newly kindergartener recognized him instantly.

"Hey guys, did you all know about the jamboree too?" Asked Jake while Mel only shook her head.

"Not at first, but a couple of girls were telling us about it while we were feeding some ducks over at the pond. And of course, I can assume you two knew about it too perhaps?"

"Heard about it as well while we were at the Mall; so far, this has been fun; we were about to play some games right now but you all can join us if you want."

"Hey, how can we say no to that? Give me that ring." And with all her strength, Mel threw the ring with all her might and pretty soon, it went around the bottle.

"My there Miss Wetterling, that was a very good throw." George complimented as the ebony toned girl only shrugged clearly nonchalant about the praise.

"Eh, no big deal, me and my family have been coming to jamborees, fairs, and carnivals since I was 5, so I guess you can say it's been like a tradition to us; especially when this little one here loves adventures." Didi smiled knowing that her big sister wanted to experience as much places as possible that way, she would have all of the fun and excitement that would be unforgettable.

"Well, that is good to know. Tell me sweetheart, what is your name?" George asked kindly as the little girl spoke proudly.

"I'm Didi, and I'm five. Me and Harry go to the same school."

"That is great news indeed, and it is very nice to meet you as well. Tell you what, how about I win you a toy where you can have another friend? does that sound good to you?"

Didi's eyes soon lit up and nodded as George soon asked for the rest of the rings. Concentrating very hard, he then threw the four onto the bottle as the balding man smiled. "We have a winner!"

Getting a plush size doll of Minnie Mouse, Didi soon thanked the elder man. Jake looked on fully amazed at how well the guy never missed one bit; it would take him many tries just to get at least one hoop around that bottle to the point he would already run out of money.

More games were soon played as the gang either challenged each-other or just played for fun. Jacob was skilled at the balloon popping game where he had popped more than ten balloons that were on the board as he won a Sonic the hedgehog plush size doll for Harry who was indeed a fan of both the cartoons and the comic books. Mel tried her hand at archery to see who would shoot the arrow directly within the bullseye and sure enough, she was the winner. The dunk tank was one of Mr. Calloway's long time favorites. With just the throw of the baseball, it flew towards the bullseye causing for a man to land right into the water as well as the claps and cheers from both teenagers and young kids.

Finally, a big concert was being held as everyone gathered around the stage to watch the band perform. The group soon found their way through the ever growing crowd of people as they soon found a big enough spot to witness the fun of singing and dancing. The band, known as U2, started to play as everyone held up their hands and started to swing them back and forth getting in tuned with the music. George smiled and hummed a soft tune causing Jake to witness him slightly swaying which made him smile as well. How could someone especially a teacher, could be so loving, friendly, playful, and most importantly perfect? God must have really worked hard to create such a beautiful human being such as him, that it made him give out a mental thanks to the Holy Father above.

Later that Evening, as Mr. Calloway soon dropped off Mel and Didi back home, he then gave the boys a ride back to their apartment. Seeing that Harry was fast asleep, and was about to pick him up, George soon beat him to doing the job as he held him so lovingly, that the long haired boy mentally sighed dreamily seeing that it was so obvious that he was pretty great with kids. The Sonic doll was then picked up from the back seat of the car as Jake fished out the front door key out of his pocket thus turning it into the lock for them to go inside as George looked around nodding in approval seeing how nice the place was.

"You can just put him down on the sofa, he'll be alright." Nodding and doing what he was told, he laid him down gently while the teen make placed the large doll right next to him where the little one instantly held it tight. "Would you like something to drink or a snack to eat?" George shook his head gently.

"That's alright Jacob, I will be heading home anyway. I just wanted to make sure that you both had gotten back here safely." Jake looked the other way obviously feeling a little bashful as he twirled a lock of hair around his finger.

"Oh, well, thanks. And thanks for the day, it was...fun..."

"No, thank you for the day out, I can't remember the last time I had this much fun. We should really do it again sometime."

"Yeah, we should." Jake smiled as they stared at each-other for the next couple of minutes until George cleared his throat slightly blushing.

"Well, I should be going now, enjoy the rest of your evening Jacob and I will see you in school on Monday."

"Yeah, see you." And he soon showed him towards the door as he stayed on the balcony watching the adult man get into his car but not without honking his horn and waved with Jake doing the same thing until he became a distant dot in the distance.

"Today has been an awesome day indeed and he is really fun to be around with, but I wonder at the end of the day, how he really is deep down inside...

George soon found himself driving into his driveway as he sighed a deep sigh and opened his car door thus locking it as well, as he walked towards his front door and got out his key out of his jeans pocket.

"Does he ever get lonely?"

The lights were soon turned along with the tv which was on some Lifetime movie that he wasn't really paying attention to as he went within himself feeling that something was missing.

"Does he ever feel sad despite having friends in his own age group to hang out with?"

He opened up a can of soup along with getting some ingredients to make a BLT sandwich as he started up the frying pan staring into space as he sighed some more.

"Does he ever stay in contact with his family? does he visit them or they visit him?"

He ate silently as his elbow was on the table. Once everything had been washed, dried, and packed away, he then went into his room and stared out through the window looking up at the night sky that was littered with stars twinkling like little diamonds.

"At times I wonder if he puts on this facade to hide his true feelings from people who try to at least get close to him."

He turned around from the window seeing a picture frame that stood on his bedside table soon picking it up and surveying the familiar faces closing his eyes.

"I wish I could tell you all the truth...would you still love me? for who I am?"

"Jacob..."