French Kiss The TC

March 2003: I turned 17

August 2003: My senior year begins

August 2003: Bob and I meet; my life changed

March 2004: I turned 18

May 2004: I graduate high school

Thanks for asking!

Between 2004 and 2007, we didn’t see each other much. When we did, it was a very casual and friendly relationship.

After 2007 we saw each other more, and it was something more than casual, but not quite romantic. There was a lot of sexual tension (on my end) that never went anywhere. There were times when we were talking without actually saying anything. Then there were times where we’d hardly say anything and yet everything was being said. I felt close to him in those times, yet at the same time, disconnected.

It was like once I walked out of those doors as a student for the last time, our little bubble that we’d built had burst. Our safety net of our consistent schedules was shattered post graduation. I believe that we wanted to make time for each other outside the walls of our school, but fear kept us inactive. I know that our age difference weighed heavily on him. It meant nothing to me, but I never could change his mind.

Last night, I had the strangest dream about Bob.

I’m walking into my old high school. I’m on FaceTime with someone. As I’m walking, I keep telling my friend that I have to end the call soon because I’m going to be late to class. As I reach my locker, we end the call. I’m frantically digging in my locker for all the things I need. In my rush, my glasses get damaged. They are snapped in two at the nose bridge. At this point, the bell has already rang, and I’m late to first period. I’m very upset that my glasses are broken. I walk down to Bobs classroom and peek inside the door to get his attention. He steps out into the hallway to talk to me. I ask him if he has a hot glue gun or any superglue. He starts yelling at me that it’s rude to interrupt his class. He tells me that yes he does have that stuff, but I can’t have it because it could make him lose his job if we’re seen.

Now that I’m awake……WTF?

1. Bob would never talk to me like that in real life.

2. How would letting someone borrow glue cost you your job?

3. In the dream Bob was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. Bob would never show up to school in something so casual. 😂

BLOGMAS Day 2

OUR WANDS

Last night, I was mucking about and doing research for a Harry Potter fanfiction that I’m currently writing. It got me thinking about wands and wand woods. That train of thought took me down the rabbit hole of wondering what kind of wands Bob and I would have if we existed within the Harry Potter universe.

I wholeheartedly believe that my Bob would have a wand made out of Elm.

ELM: Prefers dignified owners and is known for producing refined charms and spells with few accidents or errors.

There has never been a more dignified man than my darling Bob. The man was refinement and sophistication itself.

I on the other hand definitely see myself with a Walnut wand wood.

Walnut: Commonly pairs well with owners of superior intelligence; makes for a dangerous weapon if the owner lacks morals.

Is there a Ravenclaw more arrogant about her intellectual prowess than this girl?

BLOGMAS Day 1

PRECIOUS TIME

For the love of all that is holy, WHY do you guys keep saying that your tc is not conventionally attractive?

I need you to understand how disrespectful that is!

If I have to read one more post about how “this teacher isn’t conventionally hot, but gosh golly they’re good enough for me,” I just might vomit on my phone.

If you truly feel like that, do them a favor and walk away.

WHAT’S IN A NAME

I just realized that I haven’t ever bothered to give Bob a fake last name for this blog. I might change it later, but for the purposes of this post, let’s pretend that Bob’s last name is French. Get it? Because he taught French. I’m so creative. 😏

Anyhoo.

Back in April of this year, a new romance came into my life in a very unexpected way. The honeymoon period for us burned hot and bright. We fell in love and it was wonderful.

As time went on, we realized that while we love each other, it’s not an everlasting love. It’s not a love strong enough to sustain a marriage. We decided to be friends. That suits me just fine. This person is so near and dear to my heart. We’re actually great pals!

In the beginning, I had hearts in my eyes, and I wondered what it would be like if I were married to this person.

Like everything else, this thought process brought me around to thinking about Bob.

While New Person and I aren’t destined to be wed, God willing I’ll get married one day!

When I do get married, it’s going to be weird trying to rid myself of Bob’s name. It’s been such a large part of my life for so long.

When Bob was alive, I used his name to get myself out of uncomfortable situations.

Overly flirty guy was demanding my last name? Hello. I’m Fleurette French!

Obviously Bob’s last name has nothing to do with my real legal name, so I felt no guilt telling people I was Ms. French when I felt unsafe or wanted to get out of a situation.

After the world lost Bob, I internalized his identity.

I’m facing a difficult situation. His name became part of my pep talk. “Come on, French; you can do it!”

I’m having a clumsy moment and I just dropped what I was holding. I sarcastically scold myself in my inner monologue. “Good job, French!”

I might always refer to myself as “Fleurette French” no matter what my legal name is.

I kinda hope not, though. It feels disrespectful to fall in love with someone new and possibly take their last name, only to forever and always be French in my heart.

The principal of my high school had worked for the district in various roles for 50 years! He retired a few years ago.

Today our city had a major public event. Mr. Principal was seen sitting in a rocking chair in a patch of grass just enjoying the show. Someone even took a photograph.

It was so heartwarming to see him again; even if it was only in photographic form.

CINNAMON GUM

Earlier today I took a brief nap. I was treated to a dream about my darling Bob.

We’re in his office. I ask him if he has any chewing gum I can have. On his way to his desk, I reached out and touched his hand briefly. He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a packet of cinnamon gum. I grabbed a piece. Then we went left his office and walked into his classroom so he could start the class. I sat down at my desk and he began teaching. As he’s putting slides on the projector, I’m frantically rummaging through my things trying to find a pen and some blank paper so I can take notes.

Jeez. This dream was a damn mess. I don’t feel that anything that happened could have happened in real life.

For starters, there’s the fact that I asked for gum. I don’t chew gum. I don’t find it soothing or relaxing. If I need fresh breath, I just brush my teeth or reach for a breath mint. To the best of my memories, Bob never chewed gum either.

Then there was the fact that I touched him. As a student, I never would have had the nerve to grab his hand like that.

Next there’s the fact that I was one of his students sitting through a lecture. I was never one of his students. On those occasions where he wrote me a note to get me out of my class, he sat and talked to me. I never actually got to sit through one of his classes.

Then there was the notion that Bob would ever use a projector and transparency sheets during a presentation. It wouldn’t have happened. Chalkboard, yes. Projector, no.

Finally there’s the absurd notion that I would ever go to class that disorganized. I always knew where my materials were. I can’t conceptualize the concept of disrupting the class by making so much noise. Wouldn’t happen.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT PICTURE

Every year my school has a carnival about a month after the beginning of the school year. It’s always so much fun. They always bring in this giant inflatable slide and these bouncy houses. There’s all kinds of candy. All of the clubs get to set up a booth if they want to and try to make money. There’s fun attractions like a face painting station, and make your own cotton candy. For one day every year, the entire senior parking lot is cleared out and the whole school parties heartedly.

Since the beginning of my freshmen year, I’ve been enrolled in several clubs. That usually meant that instead of roaming around care free, I had to be at the booths of certain clubs at certain times and work my shift. No big deal. The shifts weren’t that long. I still got to have a good time.

Senior year carnival day was a little different. For starters Bob didn’t want to have a booth for the French Club. Well, I wasn’t going to fight him on it.😋 When I went to volunteer for my shift for the Drama Club, I was told that all the slots were filled. Cool. This was my first year that I could do my own thing on my own time.

I remember that day. Fall was really starting to settle in. There was a slight chill in the air. It was windy. I remember that I chose to leave my hair down that morning, and the wind kept whipping my hair all around my face.

Bob and I walked around together for a good portion of the day. I was happy.

At one point, Bob pulled out a camera and asked if he could take a picture of me. I went full on girly girl at that moment. I was whining. I said, “Oh my God, my hair looks so bad!”

I wish you guys could have seen the look that he gave me. It was like, 😏 “Stop being ridiculous.” His face was so expressive.

In that moment, I decided to stop fighting. I guess I just knew by instinct how important this was to him. Bob never asked me for anything. Even though we were surrounded by a group of people, he wanted MY picture. So I stopped and I looked at him and smiled. Then he snapped the picture.

Now you have to remember that this took place in 2003. Smartphones didn’t exist yet. Bob had one of those cameras where you have to take the film to a photo center and have it developed. I never did see how the photo turned out.

SURPRISE VISIT

Before Bob came to our school, I took two years of French. We’re going to call her Mrs. French Teacher.

She and her husband moved at the end of my junior year. That’s how we got Bob.

One day, she came back for a visit. It was a complete surprise to me. I was shocked when I ran into her in the hallway. She and I always had a fantastic relataionship. She’s an incredible human being. At one point, I had a little crush on her too, but it didn’t last long.

When I ran into her in the hall, we spent a moment catching up. We were always close. After a moment she said, “Take me to your French teacher.”

Ok. Gladly. I know where Bob hangs. She followed me down to his office. The three of us stood in front of his office and talked for a while.

It was fun. I always enjoyed having conversations with each of them. Now here they were, together.

PEP RALLY

Ever since my freshman year, it had become well established that your girl Fleurette HATED pep rallies. Unless it was mandatory, I never attended them. There were a few teachers that never attended them either. Over the years, I rotated among them while the rest of the school was at the pep rally. It was great. It was me, and like 5 other students having a quiet study hall! I loved it.

Then my senior year rolled around. I hadn’t acquired any additional school spirit. I did however acquire a Bob. 😍

One afternoon a pep rally was scheduled to take place during 6th period. It was my last class of the day, and also Mrs. Drama Teachers class.

After the bell rang, she asked the class if there was anyone that wasn’t going to the pep rally. I was the only one that raised my hand. She acknowledged it but didn’t say anything else.

Since they were going to be dismissing the school to the gym at any minute, everyone started talking.

I took advantage of the chaos and walked up to Mrs. Drama Teacher. I asked her where I should go. I usually get sent to one of the English teachers. I expected for her to say that I should go to my current English teachers room. That’s usually how it went. Not this time.

She said, “Why don’t you go to Mr. Bob?”

You guys should have seen my face. I lit up like a Christmas tree. I stood there smiling and said in this really chipper voice, “OK!”

I recognize how dangerous this was for me to do. I’ve already explained that Mrs. Drama Teacher is not a good person. She’d already noticed how much time Bob and I were spending together. She actually asked him about it. He played it cool from my understanding.

But here she was, clearly sending me to him. Was it a test? Was she trying to gauge my reaction? It seems like the kind of crap she’d do. Was it innocent? Was she just being nice? I don’t know.

THE FLU

I can’t remember exactly when the events in this story took place. I’m almost certain it was sometime in 2003, but I can’t be sure. If I ever unearth evidence that gives me the exact date, I’ll let you know.

My senior year of high school, the entire country was hit by an aggressive strain of the flu. Even people who received flu shots were still contracting the flu because a strain hit that wasn’t anticipated.

I was one of the unfortunates that had the flu shot, but still got the flu anyways. I had a miserable time of it. The first day that I felt bad, I tried to suck it up, because I didn’t want to be away from Bob. However, our school district had a strict rule that if you have a fever you can’t be in school. As soon as I got a fever, I drove myself to the doctor.

I ended up missing an entire week of school! I missed Bob terribly.

There were so many students absent during this flu outbreak that they considered closing all schools in the district and disinfecting all surfaces! We were all miserable. All absences were excused too. I didn’t even have to make up my work. Things were bad. There was even coverage on the news about this flu. The whole country was down for the count.

Anywho…After a week of languishing in bed, I finally felt better. I finally felt like going back to school.

I walked up to Bob immediately after entering the building. He looked…..relieved to see me. He said that if I’d missed one more day of school that he was going to call me to see if I was OK. My heart melted. 😍

This moment reaffirmed my belief that we were friends and that I wasn’t an annoyance to him. My absence was noticed. He cared.

While I was home alone, in bed, suffering, I considered calling him. I wanted to say hi. I wanted to hear his voice, but I feared I’d be an annoyance. As it turns out, he was considering calling me. He wanted to talk to me, and I wanted to talk to him, but neither of us reached out. I regret that now.

Name something about them that reminds you of the spring season.

Are they more of an indoor or an outdoor person?

If they were a flower, what would they be?

What’s your favorite memory of them this year?

Name something you’re looking forward to before the school year ends. Will this be something you two will experience together?

Describe something you learned from them this year. Was it academic or personal?

Are they an early bird or a night owl?

Do they use a chalkboard, a dry erase board, or modern technology during their lessons?

Name a TV show you’d like to binge watch with them.

Do their political values align with your own?

If their political/religious views differ from yours, do you consider this to be a deal breaker?

If you could buy them something that was spring themed, what would it be?

If the two of you could enter a novel together and become two of the characters, what novel would you enter?

If you could spend a day alone with them exploring a city in your country, which city would you choose?

If you could spend a day alone with them exploring a foreign city, where would you travel to?

Describe your favorite outfit of theirs.

Are they more of a coffee or a tea drinker?

Have you ever made a recommendation to them that they ended up falling in love with?

Do they have a favorite outfit of yours?

Do you know their favorite singer/band?

Do you know their favorite author?

If they weren’t a teacher, what profession do you see them having?

Name a fashion trend you’d like to see them try.

What’s their favorite animal? Is it possible for them to have it as a pet?

Have you ever given them a gift? What was the occasion?

Are you going to get them an end of school year gift?

What social media platform do you think they spend the most time on?

Do you know their favorite restaurant?

If you could help them achieve a life goal, which one would it be?

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