The Intern Teacher

Chapter two

~Nancy pov ~

After about an hour lost in my little world of scrolling through my phone, I was suddenly jolted by a knock at the door.

“Knick! Knock!”

The sound was followed by a voice I instantly recognized, one of the teachers I had met the other day when I submitted my application for the internship.

“Wait a minute!” I called out, panicking as I hurriedly checked my phone screen to see if I looked presentable after dozing off for who knows how long. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and was immediately greeted by a handsome, smiling face. My heart skipped a beat, and I panicked even more. I wasn’t used to encountering such… faces up close.

After what felt like an eternity, probably only a minute, I realized why he was here. He had come to invite me to a teachers’ party to celebrate the beginning of a new month. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but somehow, I found myself accepting the invitation.

And now, here I was, standing in my apartment, wondering what on earth I should wear. I only had two party dresses: one I had bought for a homecoming two years ago, and another that Suzie had gifted me on my birthday last year.

Holding the dresses in my hands, I realized I needed advice. There was only one person I could turn to, Suzie, my ever-reliable savior. I dialed her number, and the moment she answered with her usual cheerful, “Yes, baby girl!” I couldn’t help but smile.

“I’ve been invited to a teachers’ party tonight, and I don’t know which dress to wear,” I explained.

“First, give me the details,” she said. “Who invited you? Is he handsome?”

I told her everything, and, of course, Suzie started teasing me mercilessly. She kept insisting I should use this opportunity to find myself a boyfriend since, apparently, I hadn’t managed that yet.

After enduring her endless teasing, I finally settled on dress number two, the one Suzie had bought. She even lamented that she would have picked me another if she were here. Knowing Suzie, I believed every word she said.

Suzie was one of a kind, the craziest, boldest friend I had ever had. She had been my bodyguard back in junior high. No one dared to tease me around her. Even though we were in different classes, she in sciences, me in arts, we still met during breaks, and she never failed to look out for me.

I remembered one time in Standard Five when a boy tried to trip me during class. Suzie had promptly smacked him, earning herself a two-day detention. She was never soft, but she had always been there for me after I lost my parents.

Another memory popped into my head, a party at her home when we were older. There was a boy I had been crushing on forever, and stubborn Suzie couldn’t resist teasing me.

She had revealed my feelings to him, and he, along with his friends, had laughed at me. I had been mortified, but that was just Suzie being Suzie. Fierce, protective, and unapologetically herself.