Lost Chances (Sarah / Alec and Keith)
Tie-in with Big School Series 2 Episode 5.
Sarah has has enough with Keith and his hot-and-cold attitude.
Keith Church. Head of Science.
Although the title will only last him for three days, it’s still better than never having been the head of science. At least he’d have something to brag about to his family at Christmas and no one ever has to know that the title lasted him for less than a week.
As he makes his way down the stairs, he sees a familiar head of red in front of him. “Sarah!”
Sarah rolls her eyes and contemplates not stopping for him but he catches up with her before she can make her decision. She turns to him with a courteous smile, “hello, Keith.”
“Leaving already? Need a lift?”
“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”
“It’s really no problem. Maybe we can have a celebratory dinner together before I send you home.”
“Alec is coming to pick me up.”
“What about tomorrow?” he asks hopefully.
“Alec and I made plans already. He’s taking me to a bed-and-breakfast this weekend. Just the two of us.”
“Right,” he nods, looking at her crestfallen. “The entire weekend.”
“Yes.” She clenches her fist as a wave of anger rolls through her. “See you on Monday,” she says evenly, breathing through her nose to control this unexplained anger.
She begins to walk away when he calls for her again. “What about Monday night? You don’t have plans then, do you?”
“Why are you doing this, Keith?”
“I just want a chance with you.”
“You had your chance! I gave you a chance, Keith,” she hisses incredulously. “Don’t look at me like I rejected you before you even had the opportunity to ask me out. You asked me out, I accepted and you stood me up!”
“I didn’t stand you up,” the science teacher replies weakly. “I went to the wrong place. I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t even bother to call when you didn’t see me there! You clearly don’t really care for me or our date.”
“Now, you can’t say that.”
“Yes I can,” Sarah scowls at him. “Just this morning, I asked you to have lunch with me and you’d rather sit at the special table than to eat with me. You clearly care more about your stupid special table than me.”
“I was trying to be funny.”
“Well, you failed.” She presses her fingers against her temple, feeling a headache coming on. “Before you get confused, I’m not angry because I think you care more about yourself than you care about me. Who you care about doesn’t concern me. I’m angry because you make it seem as if I’m the one who made the mistake of going to the wrong restaurant.”
“Sarah…”
“No. No more words from you. You’ve said enough.” Keith looks at her like a sad kitten abandoned by his owners on the streets and she shakes her head. “You don’t get to look at me like that, Mr Head-of-Science and is too cool for the regular lunch table. You had your chance and you lost it. It’s not my fault so you don’t get to look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re sad and I’m the one responsible for breaking your heart or something.” Sarah sighs tiredly. “I gave you a chance and you didn’t treasure it. It’s not my fault and I refuse to let you make me feel guilty about it. You cannot just be thinking about yourself all the time.”
“I don’t do that.”
She rolls her eyes for the second time. “Yes, you do. I asked you to have lunch with me so we could celebrate your promotion because that’s what friends do but you’d rather sit at the special table. That’s selfish and rude. Which made me realise that I haven’t thanked you for standing me up.”
He opened his mouth to protest but a glare from her and he swallows his words. “If you had shown up, I wouldn’t have met Alec. He’s everything I ever wanted in a man and I love him.”
“He’s not that perfect,” Keith mutters under his breath.
“No, he’s not perfect,” Sarah says readily, “but I know he’d be more than happy to sit on the floor with me if I asked him to. He’d never pick anything over me, especially not a table.”
“Ouch.”
Sarah almost jumps for joy when Alec’s car turns into the school compound. She’s really tired of having to deal with him. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
Keith watches as Alec jogs towards Sarah and the scowl that she was wearing just seconds ago completely vanished. He sighs as the car disappears from the school compound. That should have been him, he sighs sadly but she might be right about him picking a table over her. He’s an idiot and he’s really lost his chance with Sarah, he thinks.
Sarah has has enough with Keith and his hot-and-cold attitude.
Keith Church. Head of Science.
Although the title will only last him for three days, it’s still better than never having been the head of science. At least he’d have something to brag about to his family at Christmas and no one ever has to know that the title lasted him for less than a week.
As he makes his way down the stairs, he sees a familiar head of red in front of him. “Sarah!”
Sarah rolls her eyes and contemplates not stopping for him but he catches up with her before she can make her decision. She turns to him with a courteous smile, “hello, Keith.”
“Leaving already? Need a lift?”
“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”
“It’s really no problem. Maybe we can have a celebratory dinner together before I send you home.”
“Alec is coming to pick me up.”
“What about tomorrow?” he asks hopefully.
“Alec and I made plans already. He’s taking me to a bed-and-breakfast this weekend. Just the two of us.”
“Right,” he nods, looking at her crestfallen. “The entire weekend.”
“Yes.” She clenches her fist as a wave of anger rolls through her. “See you on Monday,” she says evenly, breathing through her nose to control this unexplained anger.
She begins to walk away when he calls for her again. “What about Monday night? You don’t have plans then, do you?”
“Why are you doing this, Keith?”
“I just want a chance with you.”
“You had your chance! I gave you a chance, Keith,” she hisses incredulously. “Don’t look at me like I rejected you before you even had the opportunity to ask me out. You asked me out, I accepted and you stood me up!”
“I didn’t stand you up,” the science teacher replies weakly. “I went to the wrong place. I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t even bother to call when you didn’t see me there! You clearly don’t really care for me or our date.”
“Now, you can’t say that.”
“Yes I can,” Sarah scowls at him. “Just this morning, I asked you to have lunch with me and you’d rather sit at the special table than to eat with me. You clearly care more about your stupid special table than me.”
“I was trying to be funny.”
“Well, you failed.” She presses her fingers against her temple, feeling a headache coming on. “Before you get confused, I’m not angry because I think you care more about yourself than you care about me. Who you care about doesn’t concern me. I’m angry because you make it seem as if I’m the one who made the mistake of going to the wrong restaurant.”
“Sarah…”
“No. No more words from you. You’ve said enough.” Keith looks at her like a sad kitten abandoned by his owners on the streets and she shakes her head. “You don’t get to look at me like that, Mr Head-of-Science and is too cool for the regular lunch table. You had your chance and you lost it. It’s not my fault so you don’t get to look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re sad and I’m the one responsible for breaking your heart or something.” Sarah sighs tiredly. “I gave you a chance and you didn’t treasure it. It’s not my fault and I refuse to let you make me feel guilty about it. You cannot just be thinking about yourself all the time.”
“I don’t do that.”
She rolls her eyes for the second time. “Yes, you do. I asked you to have lunch with me so we could celebrate your promotion because that’s what friends do but you’d rather sit at the special table. That’s selfish and rude. Which made me realise that I haven’t thanked you for standing me up.”
He opened his mouth to protest but a glare from her and he swallows his words. “If you had shown up, I wouldn’t have met Alec. He’s everything I ever wanted in a man and I love him.”
“He’s not that perfect,” Keith mutters under his breath.
“No, he’s not perfect,” Sarah says readily, “but I know he’d be more than happy to sit on the floor with me if I asked him to. He’d never pick anything over me, especially not a table.”
“Ouch.”
Sarah almost jumps for joy when Alec’s car turns into the school compound. She’s really tired of having to deal with him. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
Keith watches as Alec jogs towards Sarah and the scowl that she was wearing just seconds ago completely vanished. He sighs as the car disappears from the school compound. That should have been him, he sighs sadly but she might be right about him picking a table over her. He’s an idiot and he’s really lost his chance with Sarah, he thinks.