| Secret Admirer I don't know how it all began or why. Being an Elementary school teacher, I have dealt with my share of crushes during any given school year. But none were as special, as…romantic…as this one. Let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Michelle Radnick and I'm thirty-six years old. I have cherry-red hair and emerald green eyes. I'm in pretty good shape, 38C-24-36. I work hard to keep my figure looking good, too. Going to the gym three times a week. Anyway, it all started weeks ago, right after the school year began. I teach fourth grade math and enjoy my work a lot. One day, I went into my classroom and there, sitting right in the center of my desk was the most perfect apple I had ever seen. Someone went to great lengths to polish it up and make it shine brightly. I looked up and down the hallway, then around the room. There was no sign of anyone anywhere. I walked to my desk, set my satchel to one side of my chair, on the floor, and picked up the apple, admiring it's sheen as the light reflected a sparkle from it's unblemished surface. I turned the apple around and caught a vague reflection of my smile on it's bright red skin. Setting the apple back down on my desk, I noticed a small note that had been placed under the apple. Picking up the note, I noticed a faint scent of mimosa, fresh violets, and crisp amber. I recognized the fragrance from my many trips to the local mall. The name of the perfume only added to my curiosity and my confusion. It's called 'Always Belong' by Celine Dion. Still smiling, I lifted the note up without opening it and slowly inhaled it, my eyes closed as I savored the aroma. Slowly, I open the note and realized that it could have been sent by anyone since it was obviously written on a computer and printed out. Reading it brought me no closer to the author and gift-giver. It was a short poem: Hair of crimson That was it. Simple and mysterious. I glanced around the room again but I was still alone. Sniffing the note once again, I smiled inwardly wondering which of the boys in my class could be crushing on me this year. I was brought back to reality as the sounds of students arriving broke me from my pleasant reverie. I carefully refolded the note and placed it in my center desk drawer, picked up my satchel and began wetting things up for the day's classes. I made a mental note to try to figure out who my secret admirer was as the day progressed. I carried on with my daily classes as if nothing happened all the while discretely surveying the boys in the class for any signs of who might have sent me the lovely poem and the still uneaten apple. None of them stood out to me. All during the day, I kept my eyes open to the potential of finding my secret admirer. I was so heart-broken as I drove home after school. The next day, I went to work, as usual and entered my classroom, hoping to find another poem awaiting me on my desk. Unfortunately, there was none. Disheartened, I prepared for the morning classes and awaited my students to arrive. The whole morning went off without a hitch as I dismissed my last class for lunch. Going into the teacher's lounge where I had placed my lunch, which was in a paper sack with my name on it. You'd be amazed at how many teachers would swipe an unlabeled sack of food. Pulling out my turkey and Swiss on whole wheat, carrot sticks and herbal tea in a small thermos, I found another note, folded the same as the first, and the same scent as well. This one had a nice necklace taped to outside of the paper. It was one that opened up to allow someone to place a picture on each side of the hinge. One side already sported picture of me. One taken during our last yearbook sessions. This brought a smile to my face. Taking the necklace off of the paper carefully, I eagerly opened the note and read the next poem from my secret admirer. The sight of you I softly gasped and felt myself blushing just a bit as the smile on my face returned, bigger than before. I wasn't able to enjoy my moment as Mr. Hardass…errr…Mr. Harding, the English teacher, showed up in his usual grumpy mood. "Damned kids," he mumbled under his breath before he realized I was there. "Excuse me, Mr. Harding?" I asked, with just a hint of an edge. "Oh, I'm sorry Ms. Radnick," he attempted to apologize." "That's no way for a teacher to talk, Mr. Harding." I growled as I gathered up my lunch and headed for the cafeteria. I found a nice quiet spot in the back part of the cafeteria where I could eat alone while still trying to locate my secret admirer, both inside and out on the patio area. Everyone had their own little groups the congregated in around the lunch period. There were the would-be jocks, the geeks, the gossips and then were the Goths. Across the room at another empty table sat the shy girl in school. Her name is Beth and she just moved into our quaint little town of Lakeview. She was one of my best students, but had not been very open with anyone since the beginning of the school year. I had heard that her father was killed in the 9-11 plane that had hit the Pentagon and that they had moved here to get away from all the attention that had occurred afterwards. I really felt for her and wished that she would come out of her shell and make some friends. Beth was a really cute ten year old that was bout 4'3" and about ninety pounds, if that. Her hair is a honey-blonde and her eyes are a sea-blue. She had a cute little pug nose and roundish face. When she smiles, which is rare, it's so sweet, just a hint of her pearly white teeth. Beth looked up and around the room, nibbling on her food. Her eyes caught mine and she shyly blushed and smiled softly before averting her eyes and looking back down at he tray. I started to go over and offer her some company when there was a loud crash in the serving line. I quickly looked over to see what all the commotion was. "You idiot," Brad, the school bully shouted at a smaller boy in the line. "You bumped into me on purpose." "I did not, Brad." Jason retorted, standing his ground as best he could. "You bumped into me." Just before things came to blows, Mr. Johnson, the gym couch, was there between them, breaking it up and escorting the two boys out of the cafeteria and to the principles office. With the crisis averted, I looked back to Beth's table and she was gone. Not surprising since she always ran off in the presence of violence or confrontation. I shrugged and cleaned up my table, then left to get ready for the next class. Only three more before I could go home and soak in the tube. The next day, I arrived at work early in hopes of discovering who my secret admirer was…hoping to catch them in the act of placing yet another poem somewhere for me to find. As with the previous days, There was no sign of them, the poem or any new gifts. I again took my lunch to the cafeteria, but could hardly eat as butterfiles seemed to be dancing an aerial ballet in my stomach, all the while I surveyed every face on and outside of the cafetria for some tell-tale sign of who would have a cruch on me. As wuth the previous days, I had no luck identifying them. When I returned to my classroom, I found a small box of chocolates with a pink ribbon tied in a perfect bow. Not surprisingly, it was accompanied by yet another poem. The time will come I nearly dropped the note as my heart began to race. Was my secret admirer going to show themselves to me at last? I managed to finally collect myself as the next class began to file into the room. All through the last classes, I could hardly focus. After going over the last poem in my head during a study time in my last class, I started to believe the author was an adult, but I was at a total loss as to which teacher it was. When class concluded, I packed all my stuff up in my satchel and headed out to my car where someone had placed a freshly cut long-stemmed rose and another poem secured under one of my wiper blades. I quickly snatched it up before anyone could see and surveyed the parking lot. There were students all getting on their buses and teachers all making their way to their cars…but no sign of the mysterious secret admirer. I quickly got into my car, my heart racing as I felt an anxiousness I hadn't felt since I was on school as I took one more quick look around to see if anyone was watching me. Nervously, I opened the final poem and gasped as I read it softly, out loud. The time is now "Oh, my God!" I panted as I felt a stirring build deep inside me as the realization that I would finally find out who this lovely person was. I fumbled with my keys and my seatbelt, my heart pounding in my chest and in my ears as I started up the car and drove out of the parking lot and away from the school. Destination: Destiny at the Lakeview Mall. More to come… |