Chapter Three

Fifteen Years Ago: Riversville High School

“You're late, Mr. Mathews.”

I peeked over the top of my book to see Jacob Mathews saunter into Mr. Elway's classroom. He had on a black leather jacket, tight jeans, and a careless grin.

“So, add it on to my time,” he replied nonchalantly, spinning a chair to sit backwards at one of the classroom tables.

Mr. Elway sighed. “You have no idea how much I'm bending the rules for you. I don't allow students to retake the exams, but your parents...”

“Yeah, yeah. My parents.” Jacob rolled his eyes. “My mom is on city council and my dad's the police chief. They get what they want.”

“Yes.” Mr. Elway adjusted his tie. He always wore a dress shirt and tie to teach class. No other teacher dressed up like he did. They didn't need to in a small town, but Mr. Elway wanted the best for his students. “Your parents have convinced me to make a special case for you.”

Jacob shrugged and looked bored. My book lowered slightly as I tried to get a good look at him. As the nerdy goody-two-shoes, we weren't exactly going to the same social parties. We technically had gym class together, but Jacob almost never came. He almost never came to any of his classes, where I went religiously to everyone and as many academic activities as I could fit.

I was fairly sure that he didn't even know I existed. He was gorgeous. I was plain. My hair was cut too short and it frizzed terribly any time there was a hint of humidity. With summer only a month away, my hair was full on Bozo the clown.

I tugged on my shirt, wishing I hadn't had that extra cookie with lunch. I was terrible at sports, so marching band was the only physical activity I really had and the season had ended in November. It was May. As a result, I was on the chubby side. My mother promised me that I'd grow out of it, but I'd been hearing that promise for the past four years. I was beginning to doubt it.

“So what do you want me to do?” Jacob asked with a shrug. “You are the only teacher that isn't passing me.”

“I pass those that do the work,” Mr. Elway replied. “The others may let you off, but I see greatness in you. You're smarter than you let on.”

“If you say so, professor.” Jacob managed a cool shrug, but for a moment I thought I saw something cross his face at what Mr. Elway had said. I wasn't sure if it was fear or pride. “You still haven't told me what I'm doing here.”

“The work,” Mr. Elway replied. He motioned to a table at the end of the classroom. I'd spent the last twenty minutes setting it up as Mr. Elway's classroom assistant. There was a microscope and slides as well as some plant spores to look at. “You'll make up every lab and every test if you want to pass the class.”

Jacob looked at the microscope and looked completely unimpressed. “I didn't learn it the first time. What makes you think I'll learn it this time?”

“You didn't bother to show up the first time. And this time, Miss O'leary will be teaching you,” Mr. Elway informed him. “She'll be making sure you pass.”

My eyes went wide and I dropped my book with a thud.

This was supposed to be my free-study hour. I was Mr. Elway's classroom assistant, not a teacher. I was supposed to help him grade papers and set up labs for the upcoming classes, not show the hottest bad boy in school how to use a microscope.

Jacob turned and looked at me, the full weight of his blue eyes hitting mine. He was so damn handsome it wasn't fair. I blushed hard and wished I could just sink beneath the desk and die.

“Hannah, you set up the lab. You know how it works.” Mr. Elway motioned to the microscope. “I have a meeting. I want a full report when I get back.”

“Wait, you're not going to be here?” I squeaked. I wasn't prepared for this. If I had known, I would have worn a totally different outfit. I would have attempted to do something with my hair. I would have been violently ill and missed the day entirely.

Mr. Elway picked up his suit jacket from the back of his chair and smiled at me. “You can do this. If anyone can, it's you.”

He gave me a warm smile and left the room.

I was alone in the biology classroom with Jacob Mathews. This was something that I'd dreamed of but never dared even think it might actually happen. He was the hot bad boy. I was the geeky good girl.

I took a deep breath and tried to steady my nerves. I stood up and walked over to the lab table, frantically trying to remember exactly what was in this lab. Five minutes ago I knew, but that was before I had to explain it to Jacob.

“Okay. Um, I guess we should get started. We'll start with orienting you to the microscope,” I said, hoping that I sounded more confident than I felt.

“What makes you qualified?” Jacob asked, his blue eyes looking me up and down. I felt exposed and far too big for the room when he looked at me.

“Other than Mr. Elway putting me in charge?” I asked, crossing my arms. “I passed this class two years ago. I passed AP Bio last year. I've spent the past semester helping teach this course to sophomores. You're a senior. How come you have to take bio?”

He watched me for a moment, his expression blank as he evaluated me. Then he shrugged. “I need one more science class to graduate. Mr. Elway didn't pass me, so I have to retake it.”

I nodded. “Okay. That makes sense.”

“Can you just pass me? Tell Elway that I did an okay job?” He put his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. “I'll pay you if you want.”

I frowned. “You can't buy me. You're gonna learn this.”

His eyebrows raised. “And you're gonna teach me?”

“Yeah. It's not like Brock the Jock is gonna walk in here and teach you about mitochondria.”

He rolled his eyes. “This is so stupid.”

“It is not,” I replied. He looked up surprised at the force in my voice. I was rather passionate about biology and learning. I loved biology. “It's not stupid.”

“Says you.”

“Biology is basically the study of sex,” I told him, remembering something I'd read online. I had no idea where I was getting the courage to be sassy from, but I wasn't going to back down now. “I thought you'd be better at it than that.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Jacob held up his hands. “The nerd has some fire.”

I crossed my arms and glared at him.”I'm not going to lie to Mr. Elway.”

He leaned back in his seat. “You said it was about sex? How is a microscope like sex?”

I was just glad he didn't ask me how someone like me would know about sex.

“How about you look in it and find out,” I replied. “This lab is all about plant spores. You get to watch plant sex.”

“You into that voyeurism, nerd?” Jacob asked. My face heated. I was sure that I was going to be a vibrant shade of red for the rest of my life.

“Just look in the microscope,” I replied.

He chuckled and rose gracefully from his chair and sauntered over to the lab area. “Show me what to do.”

He flashed me a wink that somehow made me turn even more red, but I wasn't about to let him get the best of me.

“You have to say that to women a lot?” I asked, plugging in the microscope and handing him the first slide.

Jacob laughed, the sound making my heart flutter. Good lord, how was I going to survive teaching him everyday?

“I like you, nerd,” he said. “Show me your sex stuff.”

I grinned, finally feeling like I might actually be okay with this arrangement. There was no way he would ever be my friend, our social circles were far too different, but for this hour, I thought we might get along.

I glanced a quick look at him, taking in the slim build of his shoulders in the leather jacket and felt my newly discovered interest in guys start to flare. If nothing else, I was going to have a hell of a story to tell my friends. I was tutoring Jacob Mathews.

***

I smiled as I remember that first day together. I'd tutored him the rest of the month. He was so smart. Once he got the core concepts, he flew through the material. He was actually really good at it, which surprised me given his attitude.

What surprised me even more was that we'd become friends. He laughed at my nerdy jokes. We talked a lot during those lessons, and not just about biology. He'd told me how he hated the control his parent's had in his life. They had forced him to take extra classes, so he'd failed them on purpose. His parents had just paid off the teachers.

I'd told him how I wanted out of this town. I was getting ready for college and leaving Riversville behind. I wanted to go to nursing school and see the world. He told me he had similar plans, but wasn't sure on the college side. I remembered blushing when I told him that he was definitely smart enough for it.

He'd kissed me at graduation. It was behind the bleachers after the ceremony once our parents had grown tired of pictures. He'd pulled me back there and kissed me without saying a word. One small kiss on the lips that set my entire body aflame. I'd never been kissed before that.

“Bye, Hannah.” That was all he said after that. He left the next day and I hadn't seen him since. I'd thought he'd forgotten about me entirely. I followed him from a distance, checking in on him through social media and the gossip around town when I came home for the holidays.

Apparently, he'd gone to college and gotten a degree. He'd found himself once outside of his parents' reach. And then he went to medical school. He'd completed his residency in Denver before returning to Iowa to take over the town practice.

He'd been back in town much longer than me. Despite the fact that it was a small town and everybody knew everything about everyone, no one knew much about Dr. Matthews' personal life. He'd managed to keep things quiet so far.

What I did know, were the things I'd heard through my mother and the Ladies' Bridge Club grapevine. He'd supposedly met a woman in medical school and had fallen in love. The story I heard, though, was that in the same week he'd planned on proposing to her, he also found out that she had been cheating on him. A broken heart was what had led him to move back to our hometown.

Regardless of the stories and the gossip, I still couldn't be certain whether or not he was officially single at this point in time. My mother seemed to think that he was going to marry Katie Jones. She was certainly beautiful and wonderful enough for him. She ran the bakery in town, and was the Ladies' Bridge Club's favorite single lady. I hadn't actually seen them together, but that didn't mean they weren't an item. Even though I'd come a long way from my ugly duckling stage in high school, he was still out of my league.

Whatever, though, I thought. It's not like it matters. Nothing could ever work out between us either way. A doctor dating his nurse? No way. It wouldn't end well.

Besides, he'd never tried to contact me after graduation. My friend invites had gone ignored. He wasn't interested in me. He was the rock star of the town now, and everyone expected him to marry Katie. I wasn't even on his radar.

I finished doing my hair and makeup, then went to my closet and pulled down some of my favorite outfits. The weather was supposed to be gorgeous today, so I decided to wear my favorite white summer dress. It had images of red and yellow flowers embroidered on it and it also happened to fit better than any of my other dresses.

After slipping it on, I faced the floor-to-ceiling mirror that hung on the back of my bedroom door. As expected, I was satisfied by the way it looked. It clung nicely to my hips and made my cleavage look good. It wasn't too revealing, but enough to make me feel sexy.

I wanted to look my best in case Dr. Matthews decided to take me up on my invitation to the BBQ. It was a fifteen year crush, but I couldn't put it behind me.