Class, Interrupted

Toby slowly sneaked out of the girls' restroom and back into the main highway of students, all rushing to and from their lockers in an effort to reach their next class. Toby had no such thoughts as his mind was filled with a whirlwind of information, mostly pertaining to the new revelation that Jessica would hear his wishes wherever he was, so he had no problem simply making as many wishes as he pleased. Furthermore, Jessica wouldn't be hurt if he made too many now, thanks to his wish.

So now he had zero intentions of going to his next class, since he had Math next with Mrs. Chen. And he'd rather get chased by a swarm of bees than try and learn Math, or be in Mrs. Chen's class, so the double whammy just sealed the coffin.

It wasn't that Mrs. Chen was a bad teacher, more the fact that she was an old Chinese woman try to teach a bunch of uncaring teenagers how to divide the participle by the catalyst to find the square root of pie. Toby didn't even like pie!

So Toby decided, pulling his backpack closer over his shoulder, to simply cut class and hang out somewhere more interesting, like the library.

The library had the peace and quiet that Toby was looking for as he tried to sort through everything, mentally reorganizing it. That alone was a plus to him, but it wasn't the only reason to go hang out in the library for an entire class period. He also liked to read, so having access to a large amount of books was a nice plus. Although he doubted the school had gotten any new books in the middle of the year, he may be able to find a new series that would capture his fancy.

He also like talking about some of the latest books with the librarian, Ms. Aubrey.

Ms. Aubrey fell into the small category of females that Toby found both pretty, yet unattractive. It wasn't that she had a bad attitude, since she was usually sweet to everyone and let large groups of students hang out in the library so long as they tried to keep the volume down. Or even her looks, she had dyed blonde hair with a few dark streaks running through it, and a pair of grayish eyes that lit up with mirth. No, what separated her out of the category of hot teacher was the fact that she was a fitness nut, contrasting her bookish nature and preference to sit in a silent room all day talking to students who would probably break out into a sweat when looking at a dumbbell.

Not that he didn't appreciate a good workout once in a while, but Toby method of choice was swimming, being more concerned with having fun rather than getting a workout in. That and a life of assisting at his cousin's house tending to her garden had left Toby with a small bit of muscle, which generally surprised people since no ever saw him so much as walk in the direction of the Gym outside of class.

Ms. Aubrey however was built like a bodybuilder, with pronounced biceps, and calves, and more than once she showed off her six pack abs to a querying student who looked slightly frightened upon realizing that the school librarian looked like she should be one of the coaches.

Having said all of that, it just wasn't Toby's cup of tea, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it turned a lot of guys on since Ms. Aubrey used to be married a few years back before her husband had caught her having sex with one of the husbands of another teacher. From the rumors Toby had heard, the affair had been going on quite some time. The whole thing had ended in a messy divorce which was talked about all over town, but the other teacher and her husband did decide to work things out, albeit far away as she'd immediately turned in her notice and left very soon after.

Ms. Aubrey's husband likewise left, leaving the school librarian to raise two young children all by herself, although Toby didn't know how true that was since he'd caught one of the coaches blatantly staring at Ms. Aubrey's ass on multiple occasions, a fact that she'd reciprocated more than once.

So as Toby walked into the library, not even stopping by his Math class, he wasn't surprised to find her sitting behind her desk, with her legs propped up on the desktop, seemingly relaxing, although Toby judged the way she was wearing a pair of jeggings that ended just below her knee, revealing her toned calves to anyone looking.

"Good morning Ms. Aubrey, read any good books lately?" Toby asked as he dropped his backpack to the floor. The dull thud it made on impact made Toby appreciate the fact that when Jessica had magicked it over from his house, the contents had came along too.

"Mm, not really. The one I'm reading now has peaked my interest, but the good bits are too far apart for me to really enjoy it," she replied, holding up the book in her hands. All Toby could make out on the cover was the word 'Mountain'.

"Sorry to hear that. It sucks when you get into a book and discover it's just not your kind of book," Toby said, already walking away as he began perusing the shelves. He generally preferred the fantasy books about magic and medieval sword duels. His favorite was Homer's 'The Iliad' but he had a personal copy at his house that could be considered a family heirloom since it was his grandfather's, and had been passed down to his dad and then to him.

Toby heard Ms. Aubrey's voice echo from behind a bookshelf, "So have you thought about what you want to do after you graduate?"

"Not really," He answered, pulling out a book to look at the title ('The Colossus Rises') and read the synopsis before replacing it. It only had one book in the series on the shelves as far as he could see, and that broke the second rule he'd made about reading.

Even if I enjoyed it, I'd be stuck either waiting for the school to get the next book in the series, or having to go out and buy it myself.

"I just don't know what interests me. I don't really like physical labor, but the idea of sitting in a cubicle bores me to ****," he added moments later as Ms. Aubrey 'hmm'ed.

"I know what you mean. That's why I picked a job that I could enjoy that also left me with enough free time to pursue my other interests," Ms. Aubrey supplied as she came over, replacing the book she'd been reading before strolling down the aisle and stopping in front of a section that Toby tried to avoid.

"Yeah, but how exactly does someone find a job like that?" he muttered as he pulled another book from the shelves, glancing over the cover before opening to the first page to read the synopsis of this one. Pausing for a moment, he turned to face Ms. Aubrey, gesturing to the book, "This one any good?"

"Hmm, 'A Throne of Glass'... yes, I believe I heard good things about that one, although you may want something else in case it doesn't capture you." Ms. Aubrey answered. Toby nodded before grabbing another book off the shelf, one he'd already read before but he liked it enough to read again.

"And what about you, have you found something to your liking?" Toby inquired as Ms. Aubrey finally pulled a book free as she began walking back to her desk.

"Yes, I believe I'll read a nice pallet cleanser before I dive into another book," she replied as she sat down, "But what is it that you enjoy doing? Gardening, drawing, writing?"

Toby shook his head at each one, then looked down and forlornly said, "Not really. I generally enjoy reading and playing video games, but outside of that I don't really enjoy a lot of other things."

Ms. Aubrey reached across the desk to him, lightly patting his hand as she took the two books from him before lifting one, "I suppose the world would be easier if it was like in Percy Jackson. You hit puberty, and a glowing symbol shows up over your head telling you what you're good at. You're good at medicine, you're good at charming people, and you're good at hunting." Ms. Aubrey said, using her 'teacher' voice as she pretended to give out talents to young students.

"Artemis doesn't have any children," Toby felt the need to interject, making Ms. Aubrey smile at him.

"Regardless, life would be much easier that way. But life isn't like that." Ms. Aubrey said, putting the book back down as Toby stared forlornly at it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but I wish it was," he said as he prepared to leave, only to pause as he caught sight of Ms. Aubrey's book as she leaned back, cracking it open.

"Really, you're going to read that? You already know how it ends, they fall in love, and then one of them dies. Literally every one of those books follows the same plot line!" Toby said exasperatedly .

"No they don't. See in this one, a pirate kidnaps the young heiress intending to hold her for ransom, only to realize he really loves her fiery attitude," Ms. Aubrey argued lightly, although Toby could tell there was no heat in her words, "It's so romantic."

"How is **** someone romantic? I can guarantee you that no girl would fall in love with some guy that kidnapped them that was missing most of his teeth, didn't practice basic hygiene, is missing an eye, and probably wears a peg leg," Toby deadpanned, "In fact, I would bet that if I walked up to any girl, and grabbed her arm and tried to pull her away, she'd either pepper spray me or call her beefcake boyfriend to turn me into a paste."

"Aww, don't worry Toby. One day you'll find your love, and it'll be just like one of these romance novels, I promise," Ms. Aubrey said almost mockingly, although with a gentle smile.

"I wish," He muttered as he turned to leave, only to be inches away from a young girl as he opened to door.