Serenity nodded, "Its just I'm the only girl in my family so my parents are really over protective. And plus Mr. Patting, they might not trust you but..I do Sir. I mean this is the second year I've been in your class, and to be honest your my..favourite teacher" she said softly as she looked down at the ground and blushed. Her dark violet hair fell in her eyes, she brushed it away gently she avoiding his eyes. She felt like he would see how she felt.

Serenity nodded, "I..if you don't mind can we start at your house? I already told my mom that I'm going to be late today and she said shes fine with it" when he sighed she looked up. Did he even want to do this? She wondered if by asking him she had forced him into it, she could feel tears creeping into her eyes Serenity felt stupid now. "Sir, if you don't want to do it today..I mean if your busy with your personal life. I understand" her voice was small as she said this, she looked down so he wouldn't see her face she ran her hands over her eyes and pretended as if she was busy packing up still. She knew Yumiko was waiting outside for her dying to know what had happened.

"Are you crazy? I'd love to do it today," he said earnestly as he then walked over to her. "Umm...Serenity? Are you okay?" he asked as he placed a hand on her soldier. He could tell through her curtain of violet hair that she was close to tears. So close that a few more words would bring tears to her eyes.

Serenity nodded, "Alright" she said softly again. By now the tears that had escaped her eyes had dried up and just left traces, her breath was taken away when he placed his warm hand onto her previously trembling shoulder. "Yeah Mr.Patting, I..I'm fine" she said looking up and trying her best to smile.

"I'm just..kind of sad its my last here you know. I'm going to miss this school, the teachers..every one in it!" 'Especially your Mr. Patting' she thought sadly as she told him smoothly lying. Though it was partially true so she wasn't lying about the whole situation. "Where should I meet you after school..?" Serenity was quick to change the topic like always, she had decided that she would tell him how she felt at the end of the year so that way, even if he didn't like her she would have time to get over her heart break over the summer.

"Oh," Derrik said as he cleared his throat. "Umm, just meet me here after school when you can," he told her. "Now you should go. The warning bell's about to ring.

..::Later::..

Derrik sighed as he sat back in his desk chair and stared up at the ceiling. What was he getting himself into? Privately tutoring her when she didn't need to be tutored at his house...? He was just scared that when they were alone and out of sight of anyone that knew them, he would loose his control and force-kiss her. But he vowed to himself that if that does happen, he wouldn't go further or he'll never forgive himself for ever do that.

Serenity nodded and she bound off. Just as the warning bell rang she stepped inside her boring science class, she sighed. Finally it was the last period of the day! She was sitting and pretending to solve some math problem, her heart was racing. Finally! The stupid math class was over! Serenity was the first one out of the room, she ran to the English room.

Serenity was outside the room when she stopped, she pulled out her little compact mirror and fixed her hair rather quickly. She knocked shyly and waited for him to give her permission to come in. While she waited she took several deep breaths and texted Yumiko about her plans.

The rest of the school day went by in a slow blur. Derrik couldn't stop glancing up at the clock throughout talking, and that might have made the time seem more slow that what it really should have seemed.

After a long day of school, Derrik sat back in his desk chair and glanced up at the ceiling, letting out a long sigh, waiting for Serenity to come. He ran his hands through his hair

He nearly jumped out of his chair like a ninja when he heard a knock on his opened door. He glanced over and saw Serenity standing there with that cute smile on her face.

Derrik smiled. "Hey, come on in," he said as he got up and put everything away quickly so he could grab his keys and jacket and head to his house for the 'tutoring'.

Serenity smiled as she walked in gracefully, her long violet hair was tied up into a pony tail with a few pieces of loose hair straying here and there. She watched Mr. Patting as he got everything together, he was so tall...and handsome, she sighed quietly with a small blush creeping on her face.

Serenity was standing beside his desk waiting for him to be done packing, she had a big smile on her face the whole time she watched him. She would work extra hard to make him proud of her, she couldn't wait! With his help she would be better than she already was.

Derrik felt her eyes on him and his face was beginning to get red. When he cooled it off just as he closed one more file, he stopped and looked up at her with a smile and his eyebrows pushed together. "What?" he asked her, confused at why she was smiling at him.

Serenity looked at him with a slightly dazed expression on her face and her mouth slightly open. She giggled, "Nothing sir, I was just thinking about University and how much better I'll be at English thanks to you! And maybe you can help me learn a few things about majoring in English, seeing as you're a great English teacher" she said softly, all the things she had said were true, except she hadn't told him how much she would miss being in his interesting classes every day.

Derrik blushed at her compliment as he placed some highlighters in his drawer. "I am? You flatter me, Serenity," he pointed out as he then locked his drawers and grabbed his jacket and keys, motioning for her to follow him.

"I wouldn't say I'm the best," he told her in a voice that was just above a whisper as they left the room and he closed his door and locked it. "There are plenty of teachers in this school who are far more experienced than I'm sure I'll ever be," he assured her.

Serenity giggled and nodded, "I flatter you? I don't think so! What I said is only the truth! Ask any one of the seniors, they'll all say the say, your funny, and kind and you have patience too!" she said softly 'Not to mention good looks' she added after in her head.

"They might be more experienced, but you actually make class worth coming too and not skipping. The things you say are so helpful to everyone" Serenity told him blushing as they made their way to his car, her side bag kept making a little thump sound by bouncing off of her leg every now and then.

Derrik blushed all the more as he unlocked his blue jeep. "Thank you...that means a lot," he said softly once they were both in his car.

Once they got to his house, Derrik pulled in the driveway of a small fancy one floor house with a nice garage. After he parked and closed his garage, he unlocked the door that led into his house.

"I don't usually let people in my house," he told her softly as they entered into the kitchen. "Uh...want anything to eat?" he asked her. "I have ice cream...oreos and milk...I can order pizza...," he trailed off.

"No problem Mr. Patting." she giggled when he blushed, he looked attractive like that. She sighed, he was perfect! Mr. Tall, dark (not really dark) and handsome. She strapped herself in as they rode to his house.

Serenity was in awe when she saw his house, "Wow, its so pretty! And definetly well kept." she said with a small smile. "Well then, I guess I have to feel special now" she said with a little giggle. She took off her shoes and placed them beside the door, careful to not get the floor dirty.

She realized that taking care of a house took work, and suddenly it hit her...he might have a wife! She hadn't even thought about that before. Being the bold girl Serenity was she looked at Mr. Patting, "Hey, Mr. Patting...are you...married?" she asked raising an eyebrow. If he was...well...lets just say she would need to use his bathroom, for a very long time with the tap running.

She looked at him when he asked her if she wanted anything to eat. "Ice cream sounds pretty good" she said with a small weak smile still awaiting his answer.

"Hmm? Oh, no. I've never been married before," he told her as he reached into his freezer and took out two Ben and Jerrie's chocolate chunk for them. He sat one down on the island, motioning for her to sit down as he got out a spoon for her.

He then sat down next to her and began to eat his ice cream. "Why do you ask?" he then asked.

Serenity was so thankful he had given her that answer. Her face slightly lit up again, she sat down and thanked him for the ice cream. She put the creamy, chocolaty ice cream in her mouth and gave a small "mmm", her taste buds appeared to be alive and covered in chocolaty heaven!

Serenity blushed and stuttered, "O..oh..no reason..I mean your house..was so well kept that I thought you know. You must have a wife or girlfriend or someone, because well...guys..no offence they tend to be messy but your house. Every thing is in place and definetly gorgeous designing for a guy" she said giggling nervously. He was so close to her, she could have brushed her hands against his if she had wanted too.

Derrik chuckled. "I don't have a girlfriend either," he assured her. Not yet.... "I do the cleaning myself," he then told her.

Then a black and white cat jumped onto the island.

James jumped up. "Jasmine, you know better than to be on the island," he told the cat as he set his spoon back in the ice cream container and picked the cat up and placed her back down on the ground. "Sorry about that," he apologized.

Serenity smiled to herself, 'This is going great! I'm finding things out about him and he thinks I'm just being an inquisitive teen! I love this!' she thought happily to herself. "Wow, its just every time I imagine a guys house..I think clothes every where and dirty...I guess my brothers rooms have been quite an influence on me" she said with a small giggle.

Serenity jumped a little when a cat jumped up, "you have pets?! Lucky! My parents would never let me keep animals..they don't think that I'm responsible enough" she said with a small shake of her head.

She held her bowl firmly in one hand and stroked Jasmine's fur with the other. "Oh no don't worry! I absolutely adore animals! Shes very pretty" Serenity told him meeting his dark eyes for the first time in a long time, only to instantly blush and look away.

"I'm pretty sure you're responsible enough. You're a teenager...not a child," he told her as he ate another bite of his ice cream.

"I've had Jasmine since she was a kitten. She was a stray, meowing at back door. I felt so bad for her so I took her in and fed her some tuna. Since then, we've kept each other company," he told her with a chuckle and when he met her eyes, he looked away as a blush formed on his cheeks.

Serenity laughed, "Try telling my parents that Mr. Patting, gosh you are so cool. I wish I would never have to leave your company." she said shyly, he made her happy and that was the truth no denying it what so ever.

She withdrew her hand from Jasmine and got up, walking abruptly to the sink to wash her hands and then back beside her gorgeous teacher again. Serenity gave him a little "Awww!" as she giggled, "That was so nice of you" she coughed innocently when he blushed. "Umm..should we get started Mr. Patting?" she asked him raising an eyebrow as she finished the last of the scrumptious ice cream.

"I had another stray, but she was so old that within a year of taking her in, she had to be put down," he said, a soft sadness swimming through his eyes, visible to Serenity.

"Uh, yeah," he said as he closed what was left of his ice cream and put it back in the freezer. "You can take yours home," he told her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry" she said softly. She saw the sadness in his eyes, she almost wanted to reach out and hug him, tell him that everything was going to be okay and that she was hear for him. But then again...it would make her sound stupid, she was 17 and well..be was well over that. He was mature, where as she still laughed in health class.

She smiled and shook her head, "trust me..if I take that home it'll be like Hitler and the Jews all over again. My mom will end up giving me this huge lecture on how its not safe to take things from strangers, even though you aren't a stranger my mom will never buy it." she said rolling her eyes. She didn't want to think about how embarrassing it would be when he came over to her house.

Derrik laughed. "I'm sorry to hear that," he told her earnestly. "But I understand," he said as his laugh died away.

"So, what shall we do first?" he then asked her with a smile.

She smiled, "I'm glad someone understands! My friends just laugh at me" she said blushing. "Oh, umm...I don't really know..what do you need to do in order to be a Major in English, I mean. What kind of skills do you need?" she asked him raising an eyebrow, she honestly didn't know the first thing to do.

"I'm glad I understand you," he said with a big and cute smile. "Well, you need all different types of experience. You need to find what genre you're more comfortable with writing, are you interested in writing in first, second, third, or fourth person, you need to extend your grammar knowledge as far as you can, you need to learn to be patient and continue with your writing. Cause honestly, it's so hard to be patient to finish a book," he told her. "And so much more," he added.

If she could right now, she would be on the floor rolling around making girly squeaking noises. His smile had just blown her breath away! She was tempted to say 'DANG' but instead she ducked her head and blushed before looking up and giving him an equally cute smile (or atleast she hoped she had).

Serenity listened to him patiently, "well, I like romance, and mystery with a bit of magic thrown in" she looked up at the ceiling with a finger on her chin as she pondered and ripped through her thoughts to find something. Serenity giggled, "I guess I need to work on my patience" she looked up at Mr. Patting with a huge smile lighting her face.