Abby had only joined drama class because she thought it would be fun. With the current drama teacher, however, it proved to be anything but. He was pompous, arrogant, and no matter how hard Abby tried, she couldn't improve her marks. This was due only to the fact that the man had his favorites, and even though they couldn't act, he always gave them the top spots.
Abby didn't care too much about her marks; she just wished the old coot could make it a little more fun. She got her wish when he decided to take another job, thus giving Abby's class a new teacher.
Brett Reid noticed Abby right away, although she sat at the back of the class, keeping her eyes on him but not trying to get his attention like the girls who had been the previous teacher's favorites. She sat demurely at the back of the class, her long dark brown hair pulled away from her face in a messy bun, small gold hoops dangling from her tiny, soft earlobes. She was a small girl, only about 5 ft tall with petite features. Her eyes were a mysterious shade of greyish green and seemed to be trying to pierce through Brett's soul, to try to gauge what kind of teacher he would be.
Abby was thinking of dropping drama, but when she learnt they would have a new teacher in this, her final year, of high school, she decided to see what kind of person he was. Would he make it more interesting and teach them things the old teacher never bothered to teach them? Only time would tell. For the meantime, Abby occupied her time by taking in Mr Reid's appearance and the way he held himself. He was 31, with wavy brown hair and sparkling blue eyes that did nothing to betray the somewhat childish mischievousness he was sometimes prone to.
Abby refused to make a fool of herself the way the other girls in the class were. They were all trying to guess whether or not he was married. He wasn't wearing a ring, but that didn't always mean anything. They busied themselves flirting with him, flicking their hair and batting their eyelids in a pathetic attempt to ensure they retained the top spot in the class. Abby rolled her eyes and smirked. As she looked up she noticed Mr Reid's eyes on her and he returned the smirk. She nodded her head in assent as she realised that this class might not be so bad this year.
The year passed by and Abby and Mr Reid became fast friends. They had a chemistry to be reckoned with and Abby would lay awake at nights wondering if he felt what she felt, that there might be something more behind those hugs and play fights they had in class. But nothing came of it that year.
After she graduated Abby gave Mr Reid her number and email address so they could keep in touch. It took her a little while to get used to, but he insisted she call her Brett, since school protocol no longer applied and after all, he would say, they were friends.
Abby opened her email one day, not long after she had turned eighteen, to find an invitation from Brett to the races. He and his friends went every year and he wanted her to come along. He told her it would be a fun day and to bring a few friends. Abby had never been to the races before, being newly the legal drinking age, so she consented to go. She did ask a few friends but one by one, as the day approached, they all somehow discovered they either had something else to do, or else were to ill to go. Abby decided she'd go anyway, if she felt uncomfortable or bored, she could always leave.
She dressed carefully, taking more time than usual to look nice. She wore a black and white strapless dress and black heels, with her hair out, falling softly in waves around her face and neck. She applied a small amount of makeup, making her look classic and natural. She was never much for too much show.
Abby arrived at the races and began looking for Brett. She spotted him right near the fences, dressed immaculately in a black suit, blue tie and dark sunglasses. He looked delicious. Abby had never seen him dressed up before and he scrubbed up very well. Brett had not failed to notice Abby's appearance either. She gracefully glided toward him, her eyes locked on his and gave him a tight hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Hey” she said casually.
“Wow.” Was all he could manage in answer. He opened his mouth to say something else, but she merely winked at him and said “thanks”. Brett introduced her to his friends. They were all between 30 and 40. Brett was now 32. They looked from Abby to Brett in amazement. Amazement that Brett was friends with such a lusciously young girl as Abby, and also that they would get to be drinking with this pretty young thing.
