Before you Go 3

3

“Hello.” He said as he looked at her though she was able to cover her shock at him sitting there in front of her. Though she knew she had never seen him before, he was exactly what she pictured in her head that she wanted. He reached out a hand to her and smiled. Larissa instinctively took and shook. She was glad she lived in a professional world where she had learned to do that without thoughts. She would have her mouth open and in shock if she had not been able to hide her own feelings and expressions.

“Larissa Walker.” She said as she looked at the woman who was grinning.

“Doctor Larissa Walker,” Judy said, correcting her.

“Aren’t you a little young to be a doctor?” the man in front of her said. He looked her over and probably thought she was a newly graduated student or something to that effect. She knew people saw her as younger than she was when they looked at her.

“Yes. But there are some differences about me.” Larissa said as she laughed.  She looked up to Judy, who was watching with an interest in her little eyes. She was looking between the two people there very closely. Larissa didn’t miss the looks the older woman was giving them. “Now, where is this paperwork I need to fill out?”

“About that.” Judy said as she pulled out a folder and handed to it the woman, “Since you are here, I thought you could jump right in. I have some work to do with Mr. Danner here to get him ready to take a class by himself.”

“Judy, I think if he is a teacher, he probably knows how to do that already,” Larissa said, and the man shook his head at her. It was like he didn’t want her to get the older woman started again. Though he did appreciate the thoughts. Judy took a look at the two again.

“Maybe you should sit in on one of his classes then.” The woman said, “He lets them listen to music and play games.”

“Well, some kids learn differently. Not everyone is like me.” Larissa countered. “I mean, are you sure that you really need to go through all of this just because you don’t like the way he teaches?”

“Larissa, my dear, I know that you like to help some people, but this is not one of those times, okay?” Judy said as she sighed and then walked out of her own office for a moment.

“Please don’t help.” He said as he stood up, and Larissa felt like she was even more dwarfed by him. He was very tall. Though she was used to dealing with men that often were more than a foot taller than her, this man was taller than them. Though he was shaking his head, it only ruffled his own hair as he did. He was gorgeous, and he was probably the type who knew it as well. “She took an instant dislike to me, and that was that. It was like hate at first sight.”

“She will warm up. Trust me on that. She did the same to me and now look at us.” Larissa laughed as she also walked out of the office into the hallway and then back into the classroom, looking for the older woman who was no where to be found. Larissa took out her pen and started to fill out the forms in front of her. She was at the front of the class, where Judy was normally found with the larger table in front of her that could double as a lab stand. Larissa had memories of being there up in front of the class with the older woman when it came to doing the lab for her class. Those were some of the best memories of going to the high school in general for the young woman.

“What do you do?” The man asked as he walked around the partition, also looking for the older woman. She had not heard him walking around. That almost surprised her. He didn’t seem the type to walk silently.

“I am the local pathologist for the hospital and one of the medical examiners for the county,” Larissa said as she didn’t look up to him. She continued on doing the paperwork in front of her. Just the thought of looking at him made her head hurt. She had not been this aware of a man in a very long time. “Did you always want to be a teacher?”

“Yes.” He replied, “My girlfriend also works here in the building, so it seemed like a good idea, but everyone here seems to have a problem with me. I have gotten used to it pretty much at this point. I understand that I am young, but they all have issues with me.”

“Don’t worry about it. They will have a problem with the best person for the job if you are an outsider.” Larissa said, and then Judy and her brother Drew walked in.

“Look who I found,” Judy said as she looked at Larissa with a smile.

“I already found him,” Larissa said to the older woman who knew how she felt about the members of her family. She was not happy with the idea that her brother would be close as well as other members of her family who worked at the school. This was one of those times she wondered why she had settled in this area, to begin with. She didn’t; have any contact with her family.  “What do you want me to do after this?”

“Prepare for the class.” The older woman said. “Simple anatomy and physiology chapter two, section five,”  Judy said, and the younger woman laughed.

“Yes, cardiology and the anatomy of the heart is simple and not at all confusing,” Larissa said as she continued to laugh. The two men looked at her for a moment. The fact that Larissa could remember the title of the chapter wasn’t surprising to the older woman, who had often thought about the fact the younger woman had a photographic memory. The men, however, were lost.

“Drew here will take you to go get your badges.” She said as she waved them off.

“So you’re going to be working here?” he asked.

“Looks that way for a month or so,” Larissa said.

“Good, it will be great to see you some more.” He said, and the other man just looked between the two.

“Sure it will be.” Larissa said, “Don’t get any ideas, Drew. I don’t want to have anything to do with the rest of them either. The less we have to do with each other, the better off we all will be. It isn’t like I am doing this to get to know any of you.”

“Why not?” he asked, puzzled as he looked at her. His younger sister was there in front of him, basically saying she wanted nothing to do with those of them that worked at the school or lived in the area. Larissa had never really liked being around them or being compared with them as well. There was no comparison in her mind, and it had nothing to do with the fact she was brilliant either. They were not the same types of people.

“Because I don’t want to deal with them.” She said, and then she looked at the man who was still there with a very confused look on his face, and she started to laugh. She looked up to him and smiled, “We are siblings.”

“Oh.” The other man said as he looked at her. Though Gabe had overheard the entire conversation, it was not like that he could understand the dynamic between the two with just that. She normally didn’t feel like explaining how they all were related because she was never with them in the first place by her own choice.

“We don’t get along.” She said as well. “I don’t think we ever have, really.”

“She doesn’t like us now that she is all fancy with her degrees and everything,” Drew said. His voice got deeper and more snide as he spoke. She knew it was going to turn that way when he finally realized that she wasn’t going to play his game and be the sweet little sister that he thought she should be.

“Go away, Drew. I know where to go.” She said as she looked at him with a glare. “Go run and tell mom I am being mean to you like you always do. I don’t need your help to walk to the office.”

“Larissa, come on. Let’s at least be civil to each other.” Drew said.

“Thanks, but I would prefer not to do even that. Being civil gives you the chance to think you have some importance in my life.” Larissa said. “And I just want to get my id so I can move on with my day. I just got off shift, and to be honest, this was the last thing I wanted to do.”

“Then why are you?” Drew asked snobbishly. He never understood the idea of helping other people. He was the type of person who was only in it for himself. He had no idea how to be nice to others without wanting something for himself as well to be at the end of things.

“Because unlike you, I know where I should be grateful and whom I owe a lot too,” Larissa said as she started to walk out of the room and go back to the office. She hoped that Mrs. Libby had indeed already gone there to get her the id she would need. Though she chose the wrong time, and soon the hallway was flooded with students, and she blended in with them. She knew it would only last five minutes, but it was like being in a sea of much younger but taller people.

Soon she finally arrived back at the office and walked in to find the same principal there looking her over. She went up to the counter and told them what she was doing and what she needed, and it seemed that everyone already knew who she was and why she was there. The task seemed to be streamlined, and then as she was heading out of the office, the older man she never liked looked her over again. Larissa opened the door and quashed the idea to shiver with revolt. She knew she had walked into a certain portion of hell again before all of this, but now it seemed that her worst nightmare was coming true. Though she would never regret helping her old teacher out.