give me a break (Reese)

[Deleted]

Hazel paced in the media center, impatient. At least Patrick had left. God, that man was annoying. He never stopped talking. And he was arrogant and self-centered. And it didn't help that she was already annoyed before he walked in. She didn't think that William knew what she was doing during detention. At least, she couldn't see how he did. So she was almost certain that this was a coincidence. But, it didn't make her any less irritated with it. It was in the middle of detention, and she should really be on the football field with the kids. Instead, she was stuck in here waiting on some computer geek to come fix the stupid computers because they weren't loading the Media Immersion software. And while that was something that the MI teacher should be waiting around for, Danny was stuck in detention. So, William decided that she was going to wait, since she didn't have any club meetings this afternoon.

She wished they could have scheduled this during lunch or something. Hell, Hazel would rather come to school and wait around early rather than now. She knew that the kids would understand, and Danny wouldn't be upset, but she was. She was really doing something great here with the kids. She was finally starting to feel better after everything that happened. She was finally feeling like herself. And she didn't like missing out on a day of it.

She had been waiting for the last forty minutes, fifteen of which was spent rolling her eyes as Patrick prodded her with questions and rattled on about things she didn't care about. But he had finally left, and Hazel stood in the classroom, alone with just the sound of the whirring of the computers. And after pacing for several minutes, Hazel finally say at Danny's desk, opening the internet on the computer. She might as well check her email while she waited.

[Reese Forrester]

Reese's job title had always been, to say the least, complicated. He had gone to school to be a programming engineer. It had been a line of work that came easy to him. Reese's mind had always been analytic, at best. As a kid, he was sharp; all numbers and algorithms. He learned how to take things a part only to put them back together again, then to try later to build them half from scratch. Career wise, Reese had started out working for businesses and schools. He started low-rung and worked his way up. But, it hadn't taken him long. His credentials were high and his hobbies were often what some people went to school just to figure out. He became an excellent programmer, a hacker, and a list of technological based skills accompanied him. Unfortunately, when it came to Reese, he wasn't always the easiest to get in an office at a strict and set time every single day. He was more wired at night and tended to want to do what he wanted as he wanted to do it. It's why he turned to contract work. He'd done everything from government and police work to working on software for schools and hospitals. Name it and he probably had done it. In his field, he was acclaimed. He didn't know where he rated as opposed to others, but he was the kind of guy that knew his way around his occupation and was paid well--not to mention given the freedom to work as he wanted.

Every now and then, Reese went to work for the schools in Toronto. Degrassi was the school of choice this time. Apparently they were having issues with their software and it was Reese that wound up coming to their aid. He hadn't worked at all that day. And it was nice, given that he had the chance to sleep and check to make sure his daughter hadn't exchanged school work for staring at pictures of cats on the internet. Being scheduled later in the afternoon was more or less best for him. He already had a run down of the problems and where to go, so finding the right room wasn't difficult. He slipped inside the Media Immersion room, glancing around before spotting the woman he assumed was the teacher. "These the computers with the problem?"

[Deleted]

Hazel looked up when she heard him come in, and couldn't help the annoyed glance that flashed through her eyes for a second there. "Yup." Ok, so she wasn't being the most mature one there, but could anyone blame her? Probably. Hazel sighed. She wished Darcy was here. All this would not be happening if she was. "Have at it" she shrugged. All she wanted was to not be here. She had initially hoped that he would show up, do his thing, and leave quickly. But he hadn't. Her whole afternoon was shot now. And it bothered her more than she could say. But, it wasn't his fault. She shouldn't be taking it out on him. Shaking her head, she stood up to greet him the right way.

"Sorry. I shouldn't be here, but that's not your fault. I'm Hazel," she extended her hand, straightening her shoulders and being the professional everyone else knew her to be. "It's a Media Immersion program they're trying to install. The last MI teacher had it custom programmed, so I'm not sure how to work it or anything. I'm not a computer person at all. The guy who has the class now is stuck in detention. I'm about as useful as a song book to a hog" she shrugged. Taking a step back so he could do what he needed to do, she sat on the best and eyed him. "You're not a parent here are you?" he looked vaguely familiar, but not enough to where she thought that she had his kid in her class. She liked to think that she knew the parents better than that.

[Reese Forrester]

Okay, so somebody didn't want to be there. He didn't know if he could blame her; not if she had been working there all day only to wait around for someone to show up. When it came down to it, Reese didn't want to be reliant on anyone. As independent as he was, it was no surprise that he didn't want to be somewhere he didn't want to be all because of another person. Though, when she actually chose to greet him properly, he flashed a bit of a smile in her direction. "You must be the unlucky one left to wait on me." And too bad for her. He could sympathize, but he also had a job to do. As far as the program was concerned, he gave a quick nod. "I'll see what I can do."

At her question though, he couldn't help but chuckle. "You never know, I might be." He joked, although he liked to think that he was sure that he didn't have any kids wandering around that he didn't know about, he could never be overly sure. It could happen. It wouldn't be the first time that an unplanned pregnancy happened. And maybe someone just hadn't told him. "But, as far as I know, none of mine are here. I'm pretty sure this is where my cousins throw their kids to, though." Reese only had custody over one of his daughters and he hadn't sent her to regular school, although she was growing closer to that age where he thought she might want t. And the other, last he checked, was at Lakehurst.

[Deleted]

Hazel couldn't help but smile back. He had one of those catching smiles. "It's not that. This is the time I'm usually sneaking behind the principal's back and teaching a class I'm not supposed to teach. I'm having to skip the class today." It probably sounded odd, admitting that she was sneaking behind Snyder's back. But really, what was he going to do, run and tell? She seriously doubted that he would, and even if he might, she doubted he knew him by name. Besides, she thought he should know that it wasn't like she didn't want to wait on him. Actually, under any normal circumstances, she would love the alone time, and take the opportunity to enjoy the solace. But it seemed like she was getting too much alone time. She wanted to be out there, helping, not sitting around.

When he answered her, she nodded. "You're lucky then. Do yourself a favor, keep them far, far away from this school." Any other time, Hazel would be on the soapbox about what a great school this was. But lately, she was starting to feel like she had been thrown in there. And honestly, if it weren't for this incessant need for her to help these kids, she would switch schools. She was really growing tired of Snyder, and being here in general was taking a toll on her. Hazel wanted a fresh start, away from Degrassi. She wanted a new set of kids. But she felt like leaving now, with everything that happened, would be like betraying the kids here. She was stuck.

[Reese Forrester]

If she thought that it sounded odd, then that was an understatement. What type of class had to be taught behind a principal's back? On second thought, what type of school had that type of problem? Last he checked that wasn't how high school or any institution worked. And so, he was left quirking an eyebrow in her direction. "What class is that?" He asked, not sure what kind of class could be barred by the principal and yet still taught. Actually, if he put his mind to it, he could probably list a few. But, honestly, there was nothing off the top of his head coming to mind. And although he was supposed to be working, carrying on a conversation with the teacher wasn't bothering him in the least bit. His eyes wandered back to the computer screen. He could work and carry on at the same time. It wasn't a problem in the least bit.

"I think you're supposed to find ways to sell the school, not scare people away." He teased. Although, honestly, he could see why someone would. With the news surrounding Degrassi, he was damn glad that his kids weren't there. "I've got one over at Lakehurst and I keep the other one at home." He explained absently. "It must be rough, in a school with shit luck out of a horror movie." It might have been blunt and making light of it, but he didn't want the conversation to get dark. But, at the same time, he didn't like avoiding the elephant in the room. He knew what happened there. He thought it was better to address it lightly than to try to be overly sensitive about it. Enough people were like that. And it was horrible, he knew that. And honestly, he sympathized with everyone that had to go through it. He couldn't imagine what it was like and frankly, he would have lost it if it had been one of his daughters. Even if he didn't have custody over one of them, it was still his kid.

[Deleted]

When he asked about the class, she opened her mouth to respond, but then faltered. The door was wide open. What if Snyder walked past the room? Or someone who might go and tell? Holding up a finger to tell him to wait a moment, Hazel went to the door and closed it, locking it so nobody could just barge in. She then turned to face him. "Ok. You're right. What happened came straight from a slasher movie. But it doesn't have to be all that horrible. These kids just need a reason to not be afraid. They need a reason to be confident in themselves that they can get past this. And the best way to do it is to teach them to fight back. Teach them to take hold of the situation and kick the predator in the balls. That's what I wanted to do. I told him I would hold a self-defense class on my own time, for free, without any sort of special funding. I don't care if I lose money on this, or if I work for hours without pay. All I care about is helping those kids. You know some of them were trapped in the adjoining room, stuck listening to it all? I was in with them. And you know what he told me?" Hazel didn't wait for a reply. Instead, she cleared her throat, deepening her voice as she mocked the man. "We are going to continue on normally. Nothing is going to change." scoffing, she dropped the manly tone. "Acting like nothing ever happened is going to make the kids feel more isolated. That's not what they need. I'm giving them what they need." Just, she was giving it to them without permission. And normally, that was not something she did. Hazel had always been one to go by the rules. She might have gotten a little bendy with them when she was a kid with Paige, but that was back when she was thirteen-fourteen years old. The worst thing she ever did in school was get Saturday detention for watching porn. She never snuck around anyone's back, never rioted or protested anything. But this was different. And for the first time in her life, Hazel couldn't keep quiet.

Shaking her head, she addressed his earlier statement, about her job to sell the school. "You couldn't pay me enough to sell this fucking school," she hissed. This school was cursed or something. She had decided that the night of the dance. With the way she was talking, especially about the institution, it was probably a good thing that he wasn't a parent of one of her kids. He probably thought she was a terrible teacher. And she wasn't. Hazel was a great teacher, if she did say so herself. She loved her kids. And she would do anything for them. And she had proven that this year, time and again, since the Sniper killings started happening. Who was the one that organized that whole Disneyworld trip? Who was the one who stopped her lesson plans so the kids could just talk? Hazel took good care of those kids. And that was all she was trying to do now; take good care of them. "If it weren't for that stupid dance, I wouldn't be here anymore. I keep hearing that Lakehurst's principal is great." Then again, if it weren't for the dance, she wouldn't be considering leaving.

Why was she even telling him all this? Hazel hadn't talked about it with Ashton, or Danny, or Elliott, and she knew them. She never even talked about it to Paige, her best friend. And yet, here she was, confiding in this man who never even gave her his name. It made no sense. But then again, nothing in Hazel's life made sense right now. And it probably wasn't a great idea, confiding in a stunningly handsome stranger (because, he really was stunningly handsome). But maybe that was what Hazel needed at the moment. To run with a terrible idea. Maybe it would take her away from this reality. Because reality sucked. Reality was driving her crazy.