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Rose was watching the Disney Channel, her gaze following the animated characters on the screen.
She was alone in the house, but she didn't mind, because she had the TV all to herself.
The phone rang. Rose picked it up after a couple of rings.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Rose. It's me, Dorothy. I forgot the tests for my next class and I need someone to bring them over here.”
“Where?”
“Rose, take your eyes off the TV for a minute! Mickey will still be there!”
“Actually, it's a commercial about-”
“Rose! Focus.”
“Alright. Well, I'm the only one at home. The girls are not here.”
“Can you bring the tests over?”
“Of course.”
“Okay. You'll find them on my boudoir. It's a stack of graded tests. I need you to bring them over here. At the school.”
“That was obvious, Dorothy.”
Dorothy exhaled.
Dorothy gave her the directions for the classroom she'd have to leave the tests in. She was about to start the class before the one she needed the tests for, so Rose had enough time to bring the papers over. She also told her that she wouldn't be bothering the class by leaving the papers, because the students had a free period. Their teacher had called in sick.
Rose found the tests. She got ready and took them over to Dorothy's high school.
Rose managed to find the classroom. She walked in and found all the students inside, talking and laughing.
As she placed the pile of papers on Dorothy's desk, all the noise died down.
She was about to leave, when she took a glance at them, and then she did a double take, as they were observing her.
“Hello. Dorothy told me to bring these papers here. Your next class is with her, right?”
“Miss Zbornak? Yes,” one of the students replied.
“Who are you? I don't think I've seen you around,” another student pointed out.
The others hummed in agreement.
“Oh. Uh, I'm Rose Nylund. Dorothy called and told me that she forgot these papers on her boudoir. She told me to bring them here.”
There was a pause, with looks being exchanged, but Rose didn't notice.
“Wait. You're living together?”
“Yes!”
“How long?”
“About six years,” she said with a soft smile.
The students started asking multiple questions at once.
“How about you ask one question at a time?”
“Are you out?” One of the students asked.
“Uh… no. I'm inside,” she said glancing up at the ceiling.
“No, I mean, are you two out of the closet?”
“What? Oh! Okay, once she pushed me in the closet, but it wasn't my fault! It all happened so fast! One moment she had an arm wrapped around my neck, the next I was in the closet! But that was many years ago, how do you even know about it?”
“She does seem like the type to take the lead,” a student agreed.
“What's it like living with Miss Zbornak? You seem very sweet and she can be… Don't tell her I said that.”
“I won't. I know that Dorothy can be grumpy and sarcastic. She's sarcastic with me all the time! But she's very sweet and very soft.”
“Really?!”
“Yes! I'm telling you, she's the sweetest! Especially, if she's in a good mood. She hugged me all night after I watched that scary movie.”
“It's probably because you're special to her. She's not very sweet with us.”
“Oh, well, she's very special to me, too,” she admitted with a shy smile.
“Can you tell her to give us less homework?”
“Why?”
“Because we have other things to do. And because it's boring.”
“Oh, come on, kids. I would be very happy if Dorothy were my teacher! You know, I found the courage to take my high school diploma, only when I found out that Dorothy was teaching adult classes. I felt brave knowing that she was going to be my teacher. I… I was afraid that I would be judged for my mistakes, and I didn't want a teacher to think of me as stupid. But with Dorothy, I felt comfortable. I wasn't afraid of being judged.”
The students were gazing at her, their eyes soft.
“What’s a funny thing she did?”
“Funny?”
“She’s always serious. Isn’t there some funny story of her?”
“Oh… Oh! I have just the story, but it’s a little embarassing.”
Their interest seemed to double.
“Please, tell us!”
“Alright.”
Rose let out a giggle.
“One time, she was feeling bold enough to solve the New York Times crossword with a pen. She was so sure of her victory, that she was shocked to see that she had made a mistake! She spent an hour trying to turn the wrong word into the right one, in a way that wouldn’t seem like she had ever made that mistake! An entire hour!”
The class didn’t share Rose’s enthusiasm. They were let down.
“Did- did she make it?”
“She bought another copy.”
The students were staring at Rose, while she was giggling.
“But, you're right. She is very calm and collected. She was even able to control her anger, when her mother had arranged her a blind date with a guy who had a foot fetish. I didn't even know what that was, until we met him. He wasn't even discreet about it! The way he was looking at Dorothy's feet was- anyway… I don't want to bore you with all that stuff.”
The students hurried to assure her that they had no problem listening to that story.
Rose perked up at that, more than happy to oblige when an audience wanted to listen to her.
However, the bell rang. The sound of students rushing out of their classrooms filled their ears.
Rose apologized and insisted that she had to leave. The kids made her promise that she would visit them again and share that story. She agreed and left.
She didn't come across Dorothy on her way out of the school.
When Dorothy walked into her next class, she felt relief as she saw the tests on her desk. She checked them and was glad to find that nothing was amiss.
She knew she should have trusted Rose. It's just that the blonde has the tendency to get distracted, so Dorothy worried about the fate of those tests. Now, she felt silly for thinking that. Rose had done exactly as told. Without making any mistake.
Dorothy was glad Rose wasn't able to hear those thoughts. She could hear her asking, “When have I ever made a mistake?!”
And Dorothy would have to recount all the times Rose had gotten her involved into something embarrassing, without even realizing it.
She smiled at the thought.
Unbeknownst to her, the students noticed that she was smiling, while looking down at the tests, and concluded that she was thinking of her girlfriend.
Dorothy noticed that everyone had gone quiet. She usually had to bang her hand against the desk to get them to hush.
“Good morning, class. Today, we are going to talk about your test results. There's a lot to discuss, so I would like to begin immediately.”
“Miss Zbornak?”
“Yes?”
“We met Miss Rose, when she brought the tests.”
“Oh. Uh, yes. I told her to bring them over. Did she have trouble finding the classroom?”
“No,” another student said. “She’s very kind and sweet.”
“Yeah, she is,” Dorothy agreed with a soft smile. “… Anyway, let's talk about the tests.”
She picked up the first test from the pile.
“One of the most common mistakes was-”
“Miss Zbornak?”
“Yes?”
“Does the school know about Miss Rose?”
“No. I didn't tell them. Why would I? It's not like we did anything illegal.”
“Just know that we're on your side. If anything happens.”
Dorothy frowned.
“Uh… thank you. Okay, back to the tests.”
“Miss Rose told us that she was able to finish high school because of you.”
“She told you that? Of course she did. That woman can't go ten minutes without sharing her life experiences.”
“We didn't mind. She said very nice things about you!”
“Oh. Well… I hope that will make you more willing to do your homework. Or prepare better for tests, which by the way-”
“Where did you meet Miss Rose?”
“Why are you asking me all these questions?”
“Because we're curious.”
“About Rose? I mean, I get it, but can we focus on the tests?”
“Can we ask you once last question?”
Dorothy exhaled.
“Fine. But only one. And that's it.”
The kids seemed to have decided on the one question they wanted to ask. They motioned at one of them to voice it.
“Does your family know about you and Miss Rose?”
Dorothy blinked.
“Know what?”
“That you're a couple.”
Dorothy blinked a few times, her brain trying to catch up with the information.
“That we’re what? ”
“Uh… a couple. Are you not together?”
“No! No, we're not! Where did you even get that idea?!”
“Miss Rose told us.”
“She what?!”
“She told us that you’re living together.”
“That doesn't mean we're dating!”
“She was saying all those sweet things… With the way she was talking about you, we assumed you're a couple.”
“I can't belie-” Dorothy blinked. “What sweet things?”
“She said that you're soft and sweet. She also said that you're very comforting. She was constantly praising you!”
“…Praising me?”
“We’re sorry we assumed you were together. But… her eyes were almost shining when she was talking about you. You're very special to her.”
“She could be talking about paper and her eyes would still look the same! It doesn't mean I'm that special to her.”
“She said that herself. The eyes just added to it.”
“…She said that?”
“Yes, she said that you're very special to her.”
Dorothy didn't know what to reply to that.
Some of the students started “oohing”.
“Miss Rose seems to have a crush on you, Miss Zbornak,” one of the boys in the back said with a smirk.
That only increased the noise.
Dorothy became flustered.
“Hey! Hey! Be quiet!”
“Miss Zbornak, if you happen to love her, then we believe she loves you, too. She was talking fondly about you, giggling and smiling. It made sense to think you're dating!”
“Was… was she really praising me?”
“Yes!”
“And when she said I'm special to her… Not that I care, but… how did she say it?”
“I'm sure that everyone in here can agree that it was said softly and with shyness. She looked like a woman in love.”
Another round of “ooohs” began.
“Even Miss Zbornak is gonna get a woman before you find a girl to take to the prom, Ted!”
“Hey!”
Dorothy had no idea what to do with all that information. She didn't think that school was the appropriate environment for that conversation, but… the image of Rose talking fondly about her to her students, of telling them how special… Dorothy felt her heart beating faster in her chest.
She sat behind her desk, trying to take it all in.
Then, a thought crossed her mind.
“How do I know that this isn't a prank? Because if it is, I swear you will never-”
“Because she told us something we couldn't have known.”
“What is it?”
“About the time you bought a new copy of the New York Times, to make it look like you solved the crossword with a pen, without making any mistakes.”
“She told you that?! It was only one mistake, if you must know! That was supposed to be- Wait. So, you're not lying.”
The students moved their heads.
“What will you do now, Miss Zbornak?”
“I… I don't know.”
“You should go talk to her.”
“You think it's easy? For you kids, maybe.”
“Miss Zbornak, I say you take her out on a ride with your car. Girls love a good car.”
“Thank you, Fred, for sharing your wisdom with us.”
The class laughed. Dorothy continued.
“Well, we still have to get through the tests.”
“But what about-?”
“After class. You're not avoiding the tests.”
All the students grumbled in unison.
Rose was humming in the kitchen, taking a look at the oven, when the kitchen door was slammed open.
She snapped her head towards Dorothy, who was marching over to her, an angry expression on her face.
Dorothy stopped a couple of steps away from Rose.
“Rose, what did I tell you on the phone?”
“When?”
“Last spring.”
“What?”
“This morning. We talked on the phone, remember? What did I tell you?”
“Oh. To bring the tests over. I got them to the right classroom!”
“Yes, you did.”
Rose smiled at that.
“Then, what's the problem?”
“I told you to bring the tests over. Not to have a conversation with my students.”
“Oh. Well, the kids wanted to talk to me.”
“At what point of the conversation, did they ask you to tell them how special I am to you?”
“Uh…”
“Or did they specifically ask you to say how soft and sweet I am?”
“Well- I wanted to let them know that you're not as serious as they think. You are very sweet! Now that they know that, they might see you in a different light!”
“Rose, they don't have to see me in a different light. They're my students. And from what I was told, you didn't just put in a few good words for me. You praised me,” she said with an eyebrow raised, her eyes searching Rose's for any reaction.
“How could I not praise you?”
Dorothy became flustered at the answer.
“How can you say this so casually?! No wonder the kids thought we’re a couple!”
“What?”
“They thought we’re a couple.”
“Why- Why would they think that?”
“First, you told them we were living together.”
“That doesn't mean we're dating!”
“Then, you proceeded to talk very fondly of me.”
“Oh. I- I…”
“I told the kids that it was just a mixup.”
“Oh. Good.”
“But they have a theory. Would you like to hear it?”
“Uh, okay.”
“They think that you're in love with me.”
Rose's eyes widened, her face flushed red.
She tried to form words, but she couldn't.
Dorothy recognized the reaction for what it was and took a step closer to Rose, who in turn, took a step back.
“Probably, because you were praising me while giggling and smiling. Their words, not mine. To them, you seemed like a woman in love.”
She took another step forward, forcing Rose to take another backwards. Rose bumped against the counter, a gasp escaping her parted lips. She was looking up at Dorothy, trying to find the right words to say.
“You walk into my class and tell my students that I’m soft and sweet. Do you have any idea what that does to me?”
“No,” Rose replied weakly, while shaking her head.
“It makes me love you even more than I already did.”
Rose's lips parted, as she stared up at Dorothy in disbelief.
“Dorothy,” she breathed out.
“You are very special to me, too, Rose.”
“I am?”
“Yes. Now, I'd like to ask for your permission to do something, that I've been wanting to do for a while.”
“What is it?”
“Can I kiss you?”
Rose's eyes widened again. She opened her mouth, but she needed a couple of seconds to speak.
“You- Have you been wanting to… kiss me?”
“Yes. That's why I'm asking. It's something I'd love to do, but only if you're okay with that.”
“Yes. I would like that, too.”
Dorothy's face lit up, as she covered the distance to Rose's lips.
Rose melted into the kiss, while raising herself on her tiptoes, to make this easier for Dorothy.
Dorothy pulled back, feeling elated, but Rose pulled her back in for another kiss. Her arms were wrapped around her neck, and Dorothy would be lying if she said she didn't like Rose's eagerness. In fact, she responded with just as much desire.
‘No essays for the kids for the next two months,’ she thought, as she tightened her embrace and deepened the kiss. Rose let out a cute sound, which made Dorothy want to push her against the counter, but she wanted to be soft with her, so she just enjoyed the kiss and made sure that Rose would melt into her embrace.