Dianna Ch. 01

"Jamarkius, this is another one of my coworkers, Bryce Yearly, and his friend..." Dianna paused so that Bryce could introduce his friend.

"Oh, this is Brian. Brian meet Dianna Bouvier and her friend Jamerkson" Bryce stated.

"My name is Jamarkius, son, don't play with me." He said in a low tone.

The two men glared at each other for a moment until, Dianna and Summer broke them apart.

"Bryce, let's dance." Said Summer grabbing Bryce's hand and leading him to the dance floor.

Dianna was annoyed by the familiar way Summer grabbed on to him, but worked hard to keep her feelings hidden

After talking with Glen, Brian, and Chad for a few minutes more, the three young men left their table leaving Dianna alone with Jamarkius.

Frowning, Jamarkius said, "So, that guy is the reason you wanted to go out with me tonight, right? Don't deny it, girl. I saw the way he looked at you and calling me the wrong name, pssshh, I'm not stupid."

"Jamarkius, I am not involved with nor do I plan to become involved with Bryce Yearly. After the stunt his dad pulled, I want nothing to do with him." Dianna fumed.

"Girl, that's what your lips are saying, but your eyes are telling a different story." Jamarkius whispered in a low tone causing Dianna to stiffen slightly.

Then she stood and grabbed Jamarkius' hand and dragged him to the dance floor. The band was playing a popular song with a fast beat.

Bryce and Dianna watched each from other across the dance floor. Bryce decided that despite her little lecture on being professional, he would definitely let one Ms. Dianna Bouvier know that he was interested. Summer seemed to lose interest in Bryce and moved on to his friend Brian. Glenn and Chad wandered off to find new ladies to entertain them.

The evening progressed slowly and everyone was having fun. Unfortunately, Jamarkius had to leave because he got called in to work. The small group stayed together a little longer until Glenn and Chad left leaving Brian, Bryce, Summer, and Dianna.

It was obvious to anyone that could see that Brian and Summer were into each other. They left and Bryce and Dianna were alone. Dianna stood and gathered her purse, so she could head home.

"Wait, I'll take you." Bryce said.

"Really, Mr. Yearly, that's not necessary." Dianna tried to explain.

"Seriously, Dianna." Bryce exasperatedly stated. "We are not at school. Call me Bryce. Besides why are you leaving, the night is still young?"

Damn,she thought, What is he up to?

"Bryce, I am going to go home now-" Dianna started to state as he cut her off.

"You are so beautiful. I thought you were three years ago when I saw you for the first time and was too afraid to approach you." Bryce whispered.

Bryce caught her hand and kissed it gently. "Stay and talk to me for a while. I really want to get to know you."

Mesmerized by the sound of his voice and the passion she saw burning in his deep brown eyes, Dianna's heart rate accelerated. She could hardly breathe. For the first time in his presence Dianna Bouvier was speechless.

Dianna sat back down at the table. Bryce looked her in the eye and gently caressed her cheek. Dianna closed her eyes and grasped the hand that caressed her cheek so gently. Leaning ever so slightly, she closed her eyes and inhaled his scent.

For a second the two got lost looking into each other's eyes. Then Dianna remembered where she was and who she was sitting with.

Standing quickly, "I have to go. Good night Bryce." Dianna hastily headed for the exit.

Bryce sat stunned as the only woman he dreamed of rushed out of the door.

The rest of the weekend flew by quickly. Monday morning arrived all sunny and clear. It was the first day of school for the students at Armstrong.

Bryce arrived early hoping to get a chance to speak to Dianna before the day began. Everyone was excited. Teachers were at school early. The janitorial staff made sure the campus was clean and spotless. Even some of the kids were on campus before seven o'clock that morning. Bryce headed to his halls in hopes of catching Dianna before the morning assembly.

"Bryce, Oh, um Mr. Yearly" Summer called as Bryce rushed by her door.

Bryce stopped and turned, "Good morning, Miss Thyme, please remember to use surnames at school. We must maintain a professional air."

Summer blushed, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to say Good Morning." Then she turned to go back to her room.

"Miss Thyme, wait!" Bryce called. "I was a bit harsh. It's alright to use my first name after hours, but not in front of the students. Some of them have no respect for boundaries which you will soon learn, so try and stay in your role as teacher at all times. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings and I apologize if I did."

Smiling Summer said, "It's alright. You've told me more than once. I need to listen. Thanks Mr. Yearly" and she returned to her classroom.

Bryce walked on to Dianna's room and saw her setting up for her students. He leaned against the doorjamb and watched her for a few minutes.

Dianna looked up and saw him standing there, "Good morning, Mr. Yearly. How are you this morning?" She greeted him politely.

"Good morning, Ms. Bouvier, I am fine this morning. Happy to be here, and you?" Bryce asked smiling in return.

"I am fine, are you ready to go to the auditorium?" Dianna asked. "We could walk out together."

"Certainly, I'm ready when you are." Bryce replied. He was happy to accompany her to the auditorium.

Dianna smiled, "Great, can you see if Mrs. Towers and Ms. Thyme are ready as well. Thanks." She turned to make sure her purse was locked in the file cabinet.

Then all four teachers headed to the auditorium together to greet their students.

A couple of hours later each adult returned to their classroom with their students in tow. Each class consisted of eighteen to twenty preteen students. Dianna's class was an uneven mix. She had twelve boys and six girls in her class.

Looking at her students, she could tell that a few of the boys were bigger than normal sixth graders. This caused her some concern. She was willing to work with kids whose ages arranged from eleven to twelve years olds. Thirteen years and older was a completely different ballgame.

She had a mentoring meeting with Mr. Yearly later that week, she'd mention her concerns then.

She wondered how Ms. Thyme was doing, as they were lining up their classed, she notice that Ms. Thyme had quite a few students that appeared to be over-aged as well.

When Dianna made it to her classroom door, she explained to her students how to line up beside the door and went over expectations when standing in the hall. She also gave the students instructions when they entered the classroom.

Her students entered the room quietly and quickly found their seats. Dianna introduced herself to the class and they started the day by completing some get-to-know me activities.

Most of the students were polite and participated except for one young man. Dianna gave the students a writing assignment and decided to try and engage the young man in a brief conversation.

Having read through her students cumulative records, she was already aware of most of their strengths and weaknesses.

This young man's name was DeShaun Moore. He was thirteen years old. He'd repeated two grades during his school career, second and sixth. Noted in his file was information on his academic performance as well as disciplinary incidents.

Dianna approached him cautiously. She grew up around some pretty tough characters and learned at an early age how to survive.

"DeShaun, how are you this morning? Are you feeling alright?" she asked softly.

DeShaun had gone through several teachers and the Miss Nice routine wasn't going to fool him. He glared at Dianna.

"Look lady, I don't know you and I don't want to be bothered. The only reason I'm in here is because I don't want to go to reform school. So if you don't want some real problems, leave me alone." He growled at Dianna. Then he put his head down on his desk.

Dianna found herself in a difficult situation, she realized that the rest of the class was waiting to see how she handled this situation with DeShaun. If she tried to force him to comply, she'd end up in a power struggle with a student and she would instantly lose.

Her mom always told her When you find yourself in a hole, take your time and climb out of it. Don't dig and make it deeper. She decided to give DeShaun a choice.

"Mr. Moore, sit up, please." Dianna addressed him by his surname. DeShaun didn't move, he simply sat there with his head down.

Leaning in close to him and speaking in a low soft tone so that only he could hear, Dianna offered him a choice.

"Mr. Moore, it is the first day of school. I don't want to have to send for the resource officer any more than you want me too. But I will if I must, now all I want you to do is sit up and at least participate in class today. Will you sit up, or do I need to call Officer Thigpen?" Then Dianna walked away.

She knew that DeShaun wanted to comply, but he had to save face in front of his peers. By giving him a choice, he then had some control over what happened to him, which helped him to maintain some power over his personal space.

DeShaun eventually sat up and completed the assignments Dianna had given him. The kids in all four classes would rotate to different classroom throughout the day. However, since this was the first day, they stayed in homeroom.

Before long it was time to go to lunch. Dianna watched her students carefully because she was making mental notes of their interactions with each other.

She noticed that four of the six girls in her class formed a tight social group and two were not really a part of the group. The boys grouped themselves according to their interest, but DeShaun was a complete isolate.

No one talked to him or interacted with him at all. She also noticed the same thing about one of the girls in her class, Selena. That child was a loner too.

She'd make sure she talk to both of them to see if they were loners by choice or if some other factors caused them to be social pariahs.

Lunch was over and it was time to return to the classroom. Dianna had selected a quick aptitude test to get a vague idea of what levels her students were on.

That afternoon once she'd graded the assessments, Dianna was disturbed to find that out of the twenty kids in her homeroom class, only four were reading at or slightly above grade level, six were slightly below grade level, but the majority of the class were seriously below grade level.

She knew she had to come up with a plan for these students or she would have serious problems.

The school day progressed and before long the day ended. Bryce asked that all sixth grade teachers meet with him to talk about their first day and any challenges they encounters.

Dianna walked to Bryce's room with Mrs. Towers, Summer was already there. The first thing Dianna saw when she entered the room was Summer leaning casually across Bryce's desk. Bryce was across the room from her, but her young firm bottom was clearly lifted giving him a clear view.

"Ms. Thyme, please sit up. You are in a class room." Dianna said to the young lady in a harsh tone.

Summer jumped, she was leaning across the desk to retrieve a pen and was unaware of how she appeared to others.

Summer jumped, "I'm sorry, I dropped my pen. I didn't realize..." She stammered embarrassed.

Bryce watched the exchange between the two women with a smirk on his face. He didn't even notice the awkward position Summer was in and it amused him that Dianna did. For all of her bluster, she certainly seemed interested in more than just a professional relationship.

"Um, um!" Bryce cleared his throat to get the women's attention. Mrs. Towers was trying her best not to laugh. She knew this would be a new year of women trying to get this young man's attention. Mrs. Towers shook her head as she chuckled to herself as she recalled events from previous years.

"Ladies, I hope your day was uneventful and everything went well. Did any of you have any problems that we need to address?" Bryce asked calmly.

Mrs. Towers was the first to speak. She explained that so far her class seemed to be fine, but she could tell some of the kids might become serious troublemakers.

Summer talked about how some of the boys in her class tried to flirt with her, and the fact that a couple were definitely too old to be in the sixth grade.

Bryce listened to their concerns and asked each teacher to compile a list of students that were in their classes that were thirteen years or older.

The meeting ended and everyone stood to leave. It had been a long day and everyone was tired.

"Mr. Yearly, I have some questions about a couple of my students can I speak with you privately." Dianna asked after Mrs. Towers and Summer had left his room.

Jasmine, that was her fragrance, jasmine.Bryce was dumbfounded. He wanted to spend a few minutes with her all day and now she was giving him time alone in his classroom.

"Dianna, it's the end of the day. Let's go to Betty's Place and get some barbeque." Bryce suggested. "That way we can talk about your students in a relaxed atmosphere."

At the use of her first named, Dianna stiffened. She knew she was more than clear about keeping their relationship professional.

"Mr. Yearly, if now is not a good time to talk; I can schedule a time afterschool later this week to talk to you about this. Or, do I need to talk to Mrs. Jones, I'm not sure. With you being my mentor, I thought I should come to you first. I would like to follow the correct chain of command." Dianna stated looking annoyed.

Very gently, Bryce caught Dianna's hand and held it tightly. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let her.

Lifting her hand to his lips, he gently grazed her knuckles with his lips. Dianna inhaled sharply as heat formed between her thighs. Then snatching her hand away, she turned to leave his room.

"Dianna, wait!" Bryce called. "I know you want to hate me, but I am not my father. Give me a chance. Get to know me, please."

"I know what he did wasn't your fault. Your father was ornery and gruff, but I felt he was honest with us. I trusted him, and he betrayed that trust."

Taking a deep breath Dianna continued, "I am not going to lie to you Bryce, you are a handsome man. I find you very attractive, but after dealing with your father, I don't really believe I can trust you. He was your father after all."

"I am Bryce Yearly, not Joseph. I am my own man. If you give me a chance I can show you." Bryce caressed her caramel colored cheek as he lifted her chin so that he could look in her eyes.

Dianna swallowed as she looked into his eyes. She wanted this man, wanted to be with him, but if she gave in to her desires and learned he could not be trusted, what did that say about her.

"I'm sorry, Bryce. I can't." She turned to walk away. Bryce stopped her with a question.

"I know he stole money from you and that was bad. What else did my father do? What sins am I being punished for?" Bryce asked quietly.

"You don't get it. For me, it wasn't just about the money. Even though he was a money hungry ogre, he was the one constant... It's hard to explain."

"Dianna, I don't care about the past. My dad messed up, but he's gone now. I am not him. He put my Mom and me out on the streets when I was eleven years old, so I know he was an evil and selfish bastard. He showed up at my house one week before he died with no place to go. I took him in because at the time it was the only thing I could do." Bryce explained.

"Bryce, I don't blame you for him. And after listening to you I like him even less. I don't want to think about Joseph Yearly anymore, OK." Dianna declared.

Bryce smiled, "Then don't.

"I believe we would be good together, but you have to trust me. I know this is hard for you and I understand that. Give me a chance to prove myself Dianna." Tilting her face forward looking deep into her eyes, Bryce wanted to promise her the world.

Dianna swallowed as she looked into his eyes. She wanted this man, wanted to be with him, but if she gave in to her desires and learned he could not be trusted, what did that say about her.

"I'm sorry, Bryce. I can't." She turned to walk away. Bryce stopped her with a question.

"Dianna, give me a chance. Give us a chance. What do you have to lose? Bryce asked quietly.

"Bryce," she whispered, "If I trust you, give you a chance and you hurt me. I can't ... I don't know if...., I gotta go!" Dianna then rushed from his room.

Bryce was frustrated. I am not my father. Why does she keep trying to lump me in with him? I don't get it. She tells me she knows what he did is not my fault, but refuses to get to know me. Forget it. I'll leave her alone and find someone else. I don't feel like dealing with her issues. Bryce surmised.

Meanwhile as Dianna was headed home, she sat on the bus and thought about Bryce and how unfair she was being to him. It's really not fair to keep blaming him for his Dad; he did try to rectify the situation. I know what Joseph did was not his fault. Maybe I should give him a chance. Maybe I can trust him.

She got off at her bus stop and walked to her house. At this point she entered her house thinking about the handsome man at her job.

That night she decided to give Bryce a chance. She would arrive at work early so she could talk to him the next morning and let him know about her decision.

*

Thank you again for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story. Part 2 will be out shortly. Please remember to vote, comment, and send feedback. I really want to know what you think.