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“And this is the break room.” Ava says as she shows you around the school. You walk in and you see a few people in there. “Hey dorks, this is a new teacher, she’s teaching the fourth grade.” Ava says and points to you.
“Hello everyone, I’m Y/n Y/l/n.” You introduce yourself, your British accent very prominent.
“Woah, are you British?” A short female asks you and you nod.
“Born and raised in Yorkshire.” You tell her and you notice a ginger woman staring at you. You go up to the ginger woman who was sitting with another teacher and they look to be seasoned teachers. “Hi.” You tell them and then hold out your hand to shake. The ginger just continues to stare at you and the other one shakes your hand.
“Hello dear, I’m Barbara Howard.” She tells you and you nod before you both look at the ginger woman. You then see Barb nudge her and she snaps out of whatever was going on.
“What?” She asks Barb.
“Introduce yourself.” She tells her.
“Melissa.” She says and then turns to Barb who gives her a look and she continues. “I’m, I’m Melissa Schemmenti.” She stutters out and then shakes your hand. All of a sudden the short woman comes up to you as well as a guy and a very reluctantly other guy.
“Hi, I’m Janine Teagues, Melissa and I both teach second grade.” She tells you and you shake her hand.
“Hi.” You tell her.
“I’m Jacob Hill, I teach 8th grade history.” Jacob tells you and the other guy just nods at you.
“And who’s the bloke?” You ask as you look at the teacher who just nodded at you.
“Oh this is Gregory Eddie, he teaches first grade.” Janine tells you.
“Hello.” Gregory says and you shake his hand.
“So you teach fourth grade?” Janine asks you and you nod.
“Yep, I love teaching fourth graders.” You say.
“We gotta head to the gym for the start of year presentation, how about you sit with all of us?” Janine offers.
“Oh that’d be ace.” You say and they give you a confused look. “What?”
“Does ace mean good?” Jacob asks you.
“Oh, is that not something that’s said here?” You ask and they shake their heads. “Ah, well ya it means good or excellent.” You tell them.
You all head to gym and they take a few seats in the middle row at the very end. You notice that Melissa seems to be watching you and then her and Barb sit right behind you. Ava begins the presentation and you tilt your head when pictures of herself pop up. You then feel someone tap you on your shoulder and you look to the side of you to see Melissa there, an arm on Janine’s chair and she’s looking at you.
“So what made you want to come to Philly?” She asks you and she seems to get weird looks from everyone.
“Well a few of me mates live in Philly. I came to visit them and I guess fell in love with the city.” You explain to her and she stares at you the entire time.
“I really like your accent.” She blurts out and then it seems like her brain catches up to what she just said as her cheeks immediately turn pink. “Um, I-I mean, your accent, it’s…it’s nice.” She stutters through the entire sentence and leans back into her chair, embarrassed. You turn around in your chair and look at her.
“I don’t mind that you like my accent, I like your hair colour.” You tell her and her cheeks become a darker shade of pink, almost red.
“It’s-it’s natural.” She tells you with a shy smile.
“Is it? Well I think it’s beautiful.” You say to her and she smiles at you.
“Thank you.” She says and you nod before you turn back around and pay attention to the presentation.
A couple hours later the presentation ends and you’re looking through the binder of the teaching curriculum.
“So Y/n, do you know where your classroom is?” Janine asks you and you look up at her.
“I was shown but the place is still a bit of a maze to me.” You tell her.
“I can show you to your classroom.” Melissa says before anyone else can and you look at her.
“Really? Oh that’d be amazing, thank you.” You say. “Cheers.” You say to everyone else as you leave with Melissa after telling her your classroom number, and you notice that everyone was giving Melissa a weird look. “So how long have you been teaching here?” You ask her.
“A little over 15 years.” She tells you.
“What? You don’t look old enough to be teaching for 15 years.” You say and you see her eyes widen slightly and her jaw drops. She then gulps and clears her throat before she talks.
“How, how old do I look?” She asks you.
“Around 40.” You tell her and she chuckles.
“Well I’m 50.” She tells you.
“You don’t look it.” You say to her.
“How old are ya?” She asks you.
“29, turning 30 in a month.” You tell her and you reach your classroom. “Thank you, by the way, where’s the loo? I may need to use it soon.” You ask her and she tilts her head. “Oh right, I think it’s more known as the bathroom here.” You clarify.
“Ya it is, and the first floor one is just down the hall on the right.” She tells you as she points. “I’ll leave you to get started but if you need anything then just go past the bathroom and turn right at the hallway and my classroom is at the end on the right.” She explains.
“Alright, thanks love.” You tell her and walk in your classroom, not noticing the massive blush that spreads across Melissa’s face at you calling her love. Melissa leaves before you turn around and passes by Barb who sees her work wife’s smile and red face.
“Oh, she has a crush, well that explains her behaviour.” Barb mutters before she goes to get some things from her car.
A couple hours later you hear a knock at your door and see Barb and Melissa there.
“Hello dear, we were wondering if you wanted to join us for lunch? We were going to get some hoagies.” Barb tells you.
“Oh, I would love that but I actually wanted to see if there was a local chippy and get something there.” You tell them.
“What’s a chippy?” Melissa asks.
“A chip shop, where they sell fried food.” You explain and you see Melissa smile.
“Well I know a few places, I can bring you to one right now.” She offers and Barb tries not to smile.
“Well how about you two go there but I am really craving an Italian hoagie right now. See you later Melissa.” Barb says and leaves a flustered Melissa.
“You know you can go get a hoagie with her, whatever that is.” You tell her and she smiles.
“It’s like a sub, but better.” She explains. “When exactly did you move here?” She asks.
“4 months ago.” You say and she nods with a smile. “I guess there’s a lot I need to know about the Philly culture and slangs.” You say.
“Well how about I teach you Philly slang and you teach me Yorkshire slang.” She offers.
“Well it’s more British slang as a whole. I mean there are certain words that certain places in Britain use but it’s more slang words that the entire country uses.” You explain.
“Is that a yes or no on the offer?” She asks and you freeze as you just explained something you didn’t need to and didn’t accept or deny her offer.
“It’s a yes, I would love to learn about Philly.” You tell her.
“Come on, let’s go find a, what did you call it? A local chippy?” She asks and you nod.
“They have them in Britain all over and it’s what most people call them.” You explain as you both start walking to the exit.
“I think it’s cute, a chippy.” She says and you chuckle.
You both walk about 5 minutes until you step in a place and the smell of fried food reaches your nose immediately.
“Melissa! How nice to see you again.” You hear and look to see a guy standing behind the counter, looking at Melissa with a smile.
“Hey Tony.” She says. “Still working here I see?” She asks.
“Of course, why would I leave? I see you brought someone with you, this your girlfriend?” He asks and she shakes her head.
“Coworker.” She corrects him.
“Ah, my mistake. But new girl, watch out, Melissa here is a huge charmer.” He tells you and you nod.
“Well thank you for the warning.” You tell him with a smile.
“You're British?” He asks and you nod. He then looks at Melissa with a smirk and you furrow your eyebrows. You both order some food and receive it a few minutes later.
“Thank you.” You tell him and then you and Melissa walk back to the school. “I have a question.” You tell her and she looks at you. “Everybody has been giving you weird looks whenever you interact with me. Are you acting differently around me than you usually do?” You ask her.
“I don’t usually talk to newbies.” She tells you.
“So why are you talking to me?” You ask her and you see her blush as she looks ahead of both of you.
“Because, I don’t know, it feels different with you.” She says and you smile.
You both get back to the school together and you join Barb and Melissa at their table. You begin answering Barb’s questions and you see Melissa staring at you. What you don’t notice is the few times that Melissa licks her lips and squirming in her seat.
When there was 10 minutes left in the day, you walk over to her classroom and see that she’s humming and hanging things up.
“Hello mate.” You say and Melissa turns around quickly and accidentally hits one of the desks. “Blimey, you alright there Melissa?” You ask her and she puts the posters down.
“I’m fine.” She tells you. “What are you doing here?” She asks with a smile.
“Well I was wondering if you know of any places to grab a bite?” You ask and she thinks about it.
“You don’t want to cook anything?” She asks you and you shake your head.
“I’m a bit knackered and thought about grabbing some food quickly and then taking a small kip when I get home.” You explain and she looks at you confused.
“A what?” She asks.
“A kip, a nap.” You tell her.
“Oh. I really have a lot of British slang to learn.” She says and you smile. “Also…” She begins and starts picking at a desk. “If you want, I could make you some dinner.” She suggests and you tilt your head. “I know how to cook really good, ask anyone.”
“You’re offering to make me food?” You ask her and she nods. “Why?”
“I just would like to make you something.” She says.
“Alright, well I would love to.” You tell her and she smiles.
You walk inside her house as you followed her to her house and you look around. You smile at the look of her house and let out a breath.
“It’s really homey here, and love all the family pictures.” You say.
“Thank you, I worked hard on making this place my home.” She tells you. “Do you like chicken parm?” She then asks.
“I don’t even know what that is.” You say and her jaw drops.
“You never had chicken parm?” She asks and you shake your head. “Well you’re going to try some now.” She says sternly. “You can come with me if you want or you can relax.” She tells you before she goes to the kitchen.
You end up following her into the kitchen and she gives you a glass of red wine as she makes dinner. You watch as she moves around the kitchen with ease and you smile.
“Do you cook often?” You ask her and she nods.
“All the time.” She tells you. “My family is Italian and I was taught how to cook since I was 5.” She explains.
“I wasn’t really taught how to, just how to make some basic things.”
“Your parents didn’t really cook for ya?” She asks and you shake your head.
“Just the basic stuff that didn’t require a lot of work.” You say.
“Well you’ll love this then.” She tells you with a smile. “Here, try a taste.” She says as she holds up a spoon. You wrap your mouth around the spoon and taste the sauce.
“Oh blimey, that’s delicious!” You exclaim and you see her blush.
You both sit down to eat when she finished and you both begin a conversation. You tell her all about how you grew up and why you decided on teaching. In exchange, she tells you about her childhood and some of her favourite moments at Abbott.
You end up going home after and Melissa gave you a container of chicken parm, since you told her it was the best meal you ever had. You get home and you smile as you think about Melissa. You lay down on the couch with a giddy smile as you already developed a crush on her.
The next morning Melissa and Barb walk across the parking lot and walk up the steps when she hears her name. She turns around to see you walking across the parking lot as Barb opens the door. You wave at her and she waves back with a smile. You catch up to them as you run over and enter the school. Melissa turns around and accidentally walks right into the other door as she was too distracted by you to pay attention.
“Ow.” She says and you turn around and try not to laugh.
“You alright Mate?” You ask her and she rubs her forehead before nodding as she enters the school.
Two hours later you enter the gym for a meeting that was taking place and you look around. Melissa was sitting next to Barb, in front of the trio as Jacob was talking. She sees you and tries to wave you over but you don’t see her. She moves forward on her chair and covers Jacob’s mouth to shut him out before calling out your name. You hear her and then see her waving and walk over to them with a smile.
“Hey.” You tell her.
“Hey, saved you a seat, hon.”
“Thanks love.” You say and Melissa smiles as she stares at you. She got caught up in her staring that she didn’t notice she was slipping off her chair. She falls off and falls on her butt and you help her up. “Not having the best of luck today?” You ask her and she nods with a pout.
For most of the meeting she talks to you instead of paying attention to anything Ava was saying. The rest of the crew notices Melissa’s interest in you and they all smile knowingly.
In her classroom before lunch Barb makes her way to Melissa’s classroom. She knocks on the door and Melissa turns around.
“Hey Barb, what’s up?” She asks as she hangs a couple of decorations up.
“Just wanted to ask what’s going on with you and our new British friend.” Barb says and Melissa freezes.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Melissa tells her and Barb quirks an eyebrow.
“Uh huh.” Barb says, totally unconvinced. “Melissa, I’ve known you for years and you never talk to anyone that’s new and you seem to take an interest in her. So what’s up?” Barb asks and Melissa sighs.
“I don’t know what it is, but as soon as she started talking, I was locked in.” Melissa explains.
“Seems like you’ve got a thing for her accent.” Barb tells her.
“I guess so. And now I’m getting to know her and she’s an interesting person.” Melissa says with a smile as she thinks about you. She then leans backwards on her desk and crosses her arms as she looks at Barb. Before anyone can say anything else, you knock on her door and they both look at you.
“Hiya mate.” You tell her with a smile and she slips off the desk and falls to the ground as she was distracted by your smile. “Woah Melissa.” You say as you help her up. “You’re not plastered, right?” You ask her.
“Plastered?” She asks.
“Drunk.” You explain and she shakes her head. “Just dodgy or shite luck then?” You ask and she nods. Barb looks between the two of you and notices that her friend always blushes when you’re near. She thinks that it might be more than just attraction and that Melissa might have developed a crush on you very quickly.
At lunch, Melissa invites you to sit at her table and sit down. Ava then comes in and sees you and smiles at you.
“Hey Britain, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out. I think I could make you famous, especially since people will be all over you with that accent of yours.” Ava tells you.
“I’ll pass.” You say and Ava furrows her eyebrows.
“You sure?” She asks and you nod. “Well that’s a shame, I probably could have gotten you a hot date as well.”
“Oh I’m absolutely gutted.” You say sarcastically and Ava walks out. You then turn back to Melissa and smile at her. “What a plonker.” You say about Ava.
“You don’t want a date with anyone?” Melissa asks.
“Most people would usually set me up with a man when that’s not what I’m interested in. I’m interested in women only.” You say as you look down at your food to grab a bite. You then look up as Melissa starts coughing and Barb pats her back. Melissa was caught off guard by hearing that you’re interested in women that she started choking on a bite of food.
“You’re into women?” She asks and you nod. “Any certain type of women?” She then asks and you think about it.
“Well I like humour, dark or not, and women with a bit of fire to them so they’re not boring.” You tell her, unknowingly describing Melissa. “Also sarcasm. My family is fluent in sarcasm so I’d like that in a woman.” You add and Melissa blushes and widens her eyes.
After lunch, Melissa is sitting at her desk as she rests her head on her hand. She’s thinking about you and what you said about your type of woman. You unknowingly described her as your type and she’s wondering if she should take the chance. She then thinks that maybe you’re not into her as there’s an age gap between you two. She then puts her head on the desk with a groan.
She then leans back in her chair and starts spinning around. The chair then stops and she’s face to face with you. She’s a bit dizzy and her head is lulling a bit. You cup her cheeks to stabilise her and her breath hitched.
“Why were you spinning in a chair?” You ask. “If you were doing that for fun then you are bonkers.” You say as you let go of her cheeks.
“Just getting my mind off of something.”
“You’re a mystery, do you know that?” You ask her.
“Do you like mysterious women?” She then asks and you tilt your head.
“Why are you so interested in my type of women today?”
“Oh-um, because…” She stutters but doesn’t know what to say. She then looks down with a blush and you quirk an eyebrow.
“Because why?” You ask her and she looks up and you see the massive blush on her cheeks. “Why are you blushing so much?”
“No reason.” She immediately says and you cross your arms.
“I do like mysterious women, it makes me want to get to know them even more.” You tell her and she freezes.
“Do-do you want to get to know me more?” She asks after a moment.
“Yes.” You say without any hesitation and Melissa looks into your eyes. “Melissa, do you fancy me?” You ask her.
“That depends on what fancy means.” She says.
“It means to like, a crush.” You tell her and you see her gulp. “If it helps, I definitely fancy you.” You add and her jaw drops.
“I- I do, um, I do fancy you.” She says and you smile.
You hold out your hands for her and she takes them. You pull her up and then pull her to you and kiss her. She does a yelp of surprise and then melts into the kiss. She wraps her arms around your neck and continues to kiss you. Janine happens to be walking by with Gregory when she sees you both kissing. Melissa hears the gasp of surprise and opens her eyes to see Janine and Gregory looking at you both in surprise. Melissa then pulls back and you look at her in shock before you follow her line of sight. Janine goes to walk to you both but Gregory pulls her away and goes down the hall to one of their classrooms.
“You’re a really good kisser.” She tells and you smile. “And I’d like to do it again.” She adds. You then walk forward, causing her to back up and she falls in her chair and looks up at you in shock.
“I hope you actually do like me, cause I’m not just someone to snog or a quick shag.” You say and tap her chest when you say snog and shag.
“Don’t understand half of that sentence.” She says innocently and you grab the arm rests of her chair and bend down.
“I’m saying that you better be serious about this because I don’t just make out or sleep with someone casually.” You explain to her sternly.
“I’m serious about this. But I do have to admit that you’re cute when you’re trying to be stern with me.” She tells you with a smirk and you quirk an eyebrow.
“You seem very confident right now.”
“I thought you like confident women.” She says and you tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and her breath hitches.
“I do, but you don’t seem confident around me.”
“That’s because you’re very distracting, and that accent makes you even more distracting than you already are.” She tells you and you smile.
“Like my accent?” You ask her and she nods. “Well how about we go out and talk and you can listen to my accent all you want.” You suggest and Melissa smiles.
“Is this you asking me out?” Melissa asks and you nod.
“I’ve been out of the game for a moment so my skills aren’t what they used to be.” You tell her and she leans forward.
“I think your awkwardness is adorable, and I’d love to go out with you.” Melissa says and then kisses you.
“You know you’re very cheeky.” You say.
“No idea what that means but you’re probably right.” She tells you and then kisses you again.