No guts, no glory!

Am I really doing this? Mason thought to himself. I shouldn’t do this.

And yet his feet kept moving. His mouth was dry and his fists were clenched so tight his knuckles lost all their color. But the steady tapping of his sneakers on the cheap tiles continued to echo down the empty hallway. Bringing him closer and closer to the almost empty classroom.

The tall nerd tried to stay logical. That had always been his go-to in high-stress situations. And it proved helpful again. After all, Ms. Bailey had said that she would be willing to do this for the right guy. And the app all but confirmed he was (at least close to being) that guy. The most likely answer is that she would say to come back after he had graduated. And even if she just told him no outright, the brainy, blonde probably wouldn’t make a big production out of it. It’s not like her hands were totally clean after all, she couldn’t really blame him for just misreading the signals. If that happened Mason would just apologize and accept defeat.

And hope his You Rapscallion trait would give him a second chance. Eventually.

Of course, he still had no idea what he was actually going to say. Unfortunately, Mason wasn’t sure where to look up helpful tips for asking your teacher to join your harem. Well, he could ask Lilith, but he shuddered to think about what his infernal confidant would suggest.

The blond’s phone buzzed in his pocket.

Lilith: Say what you want, it would have worked! ;D Good Luck, Mr. Boring!

Despite the butterflies in his stomach, Mason smiled. The pink pervert was incorrigible. He wished he had her confidence.

The door was already open, and Ms. Bailey was sitting behind her desk grading quizzes for another class. She was so utterly focused on her work she didn’t even realize her student was standing in the threshold. At least until he lightly knocked on the frame.

Her blue eyes snapped up to him. Ms. Bailey’s face flicked between a dozen emotions too fast for Mason to name them, but her voice came out as calm and friendly as ever.

“Hello, Mason,” She said.

“Hi Ms. Bailey,” He said back, parched throat turning his voice into a raspy ghost of its usual tone. “Can… Can we talk?”

“Yes I think we should,” Ms. Bailey said, sliding the quizzes into a yellow folder. “Could you shut the door, please?”

That seemed prudent, so he gently shut the door. Mason was ready to walk over to his teacher’s desk. But instead, Ms. Bailey led him to the same spot the two had hugged yesterday. The teen blushed at the memory but did his best to remain calm. As she walked he couldn’t help but be struck by her beauty. Especially the way her slacks hugged her curvy rump. But the tall teen didn’t let himself stare at the mouth-watering sight.

“So-“ The two said in unison before stopping. They awkwardly smiled at each other.

“Please go ahead Mason,” Ms. Bailey said.

“I… I just wanted to say that I’m sorry,” Mason said. It just sort of came out without any input from his brain. “About yesterday.”

His blonde teacher looked a little taken aback, her blue eyes widening ever so slightly. But then her face slowly warmed into a subdued smile. She looked touched. Or maybe proud.

“Mason,” Ms. Bailey said, an almost playful lilt in her voice. “I told you yesterday you didn’t need to feel bad about something you can’t control. And I meant it. I’m just sorry if I made you… uncomfortable.”

“I wasn’t uncomfortable,” Mason said softly. It seemed his brain was on a mission to make this as awkward as possible. He felt the blush creep up his cheeks and saw a matching pair of red patches on her face. His teacher swallowed hard before she spoke again.

“I guess embarrassed is a better word,” Ms. Bailey said. There was a long moment of silence. He fiddled with the straps on his backpack. She plucked at the hem of her sweater.

“Why?” Mason asked. The teen wasn’t sure if there was a specific question he was asking. Why did she hug him? Why didn’t she stop when she felt him get hard? Why was she still willing to talk about this? A strangely detached part of himself wondered which she would answer.

“Mason,” Ms. Bailey eventually said. “I feel like we should be honest with each other.”

The giant teen gave a small nod. He would be honest with her. (Save a few lies of omission about Luxuria. One life-altering conversation at a time.)

“Then let me say you are honestly one of my smartest students,” The gorgeous blonde said in a somber tone. “Smart enough to know what I’ll say. And why I can’t say it. Especially not here.”

Mason had always wondered what a program crashing felt like from a computer's perspective. To go from working perfectly well one second to being so overloaded with illogical data that you simply stop functioning. But now he suspected it felt something like this. Because there was simply no way his teacher had just said that. That Ms. Bailey, of all the women in the world, had just admitted that she was attracted to him. Well, at least that’s what he assumed she had just admitted. But the more he thought about it, the less sure he was. But what else could it be?

But before he could spiral too far down his own mind, his teacher pulled him out.

“And if we’re being honest,” Ms. Bailey said, her voice riding on a deep, anxious sigh. “Then there’s no point in beating around the bush. You didn’t come here to apologize.”

“I…” This would be the moment of truth. At least it was until she spoke again.

“Sorry. That was a little aggressive,” The blonde woman said. “I’m sure you came to apologize too. And I appreciate it. But I just… want to rip the band-aid off.”

The teen gave a nod and a weak smile. Despite his nerves, he was reminded why he wanted to do this. So he ripped the band-aid off.

“Yesterday Yumi and I talked,” Mason said. He didn’t think he needed to specify what about. “She explained exactly what she wanted. And I said I would try and make it happen.”

A small smile spread across the teenager’s face. Thinking about that moment the two had shared.

“When I said I would try and make it happen, she looked so happy. Happy as I’ve ever seen her,” He explained, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “And after we talked about what, we started talking about who.”

To her credit, Ms. Bailey didn’t look away. She didn’t interrupt him. Or even look all that worried. There was a glimmer of some energy in her blue eyes, but that was it. Even as the air grew thicker and thicker around them.

“And yesterday, I remembered you saying that you would go something like this for the right guy.” Mason’s voice grew weaker with each passing word. He felt nowhere near as calm as she looked. But he would press on. Someone would have to be the first. “And I’m wondering if that’s me?”

The beautiful woman didn’t have an answer for him. She just stared at him, her sapphire eyes gazing through his own. Could she read his mind? Mason would have thought that insane a few days ago. But now he couldn’t discount the way he could practically feel him digging through his thoughts.

“Mason, you know what you’re asking, right? You know how crazy this is?” A pale delicate hand wandered to her face. Her palm covered her face, but a single eye peered between her fingers. As Ms. Bailey spoke, it remained fixed on his face. “I shouldn't even be having this conversation. I shouldn’t have hugged you like that yesterday. I shouldn’t…”

Mason had never seen his teacher this flustered. This distressed. He folded like a cheap suit.

“You’re right! I’m sorry!” Mason said hurriedly. His face was on fire. He had never felt so stupid. “Just.. Just say no and I promise I’ll never bring it up again! You don’t ever have to talk to me again! I’ll just, uh…”

“Mason. Stop.” Ms. Bailey’s words were blunt, almost emotionless. But a warm smile was revealed when she lowered her hands. It faded quickly though. She crossed her arms (just under her expanded breasts) and closed her eyes. Her blonde head was dipped in thought for a long while. Mason was left as an idle spectator. But he honestly had no idea what to say and was at this point well past trusting his mouth to wing it.

Then as suddenly as it had lowered, her head lifted.

“Stay after class this afternoon,” Ms. Bailey said, her voice barely above a whisper. “And tell Yumi to do the same. I’ll have your answer then.”

“Take all the time you need,” Mason said instantly.

Ms. Bailey gave him a rueful smile and shook her head.

“Alright. Now go eat lunch. I can’t have your stomach growling all through class.”

They shared a laugh, though not a particularly deep one. And Mason made his leave, offering a shy wave. But he honestly wasn’t sure his stomach could handle food with how full of butterflies it was.