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Hiya! Here’s chapter 11! Enjoy <3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/81222866/chapters/215539506

Or if you’d rather read it here ⤵️

Knowing Larissa Weems

Chapter 11: The Board

Knowing Larissa Weems

Chapter 11: The Board

You were sitting in the teachers lounge, the school day was over and you were doing some grading on your laptop. You heard Rina come in,

“Happy Monday, we survived!” She said throwing her arms over your shoulders.

“Hi Rina,” you laughed, “We did indeed make it through Monday.”

She said hello to a couple of other professors in the room, you paid no mind usually but something told you to listen in,

“So is it true?” The history professor asked Rina

“Is what true?” She said quirking a brow.

“Slate and Weems! What else would I be talking about?!” She whispered not so quietly.

You saw Rina look over at you out of the corner of your eye and just as she was about to speak, in walked Larissa.

“Hello everyone, I trust we all had a good day?” She said cheerfully.

Larissa made it her mission to be close with all her faculty. She found something to bond over with everyone, she always kept it fair and equal, or at least tried her best. She made her way over to you and sat down,

“Hey you” she whispered

“Hey Riss” you smiled, “How was your day?”

“Oh you know, same paperwork different week.” She huffed a laugh.

“I got my email from the board this afternoon.” You said cautiously looking around.

Something settled in her face just then, “I got mine too, tomorrow morning for you as well?”

“Tomorrow afternoon for me” you said nervously.

Rina came over and joined you two, she sat next to you and pulled out her own laptop, setting her water bottle next to yours.

“You can really tell the personality clash by the water bottles” she said giggling

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” You mocked offense.

“Well, just by the stickers, one of us clearly prefers women” she said with a nod

You let out an exasperated gasp, causing the other professors to laugh along with Larissa.

“How dare you make such an accusation” you said staring at Larissa.

Just then the history professor spoke,

“Oh come on, Slate. We all know.” She said with a wink.

You felt your face heat up and you immediately went back to grading your papers.

“Anyone want to have a game night?” Rina asked

“What kind of games?” Larissa answered

“I don’t know, Kale is good at video games but they’re the only one here that is. How about card or board games?” She sounded excited

“I can do board games!” Larissa was enthusiastic

Both turned to you with an excited shine to their eyes. You looked between them for a minute, brows knit trying to find a way out of this. Not because you didn’t like games but because you didn’t want them to see you get competitive.

“Oh give over, you’re in right?” Rina said leaning forward.

You sighed, “Fine. I’m in. But I don’t lose, no one has ever been able to top my game abilities.” You said smugly

“I bet I could top you” Larissa said confidently.

Rina let out a snort and choked on her water, kicking Larissa under the table.

“What?” You asked

“Nothing” Rina said trying to recover from inhaling her water.

You looked at Larissa who was laughing to the point of silence. You’d clearly missed something but didn’t want to ask so you kept it moving.

“So when is this game night?” You said still looking at Larissa trying to figure it out.

“Hmmm Friday night?” Rina suggested.

You nodded, “That could work, I don’t have Wednesday on Friday’s”

Larissa agreed with Friday, she decided to invite the other teachers if they wanted to come. Raines, the history professor said she’d be there at 8. It was about 5:30 when you all decided to part ways for the night. You walked Larissa to her door, giving her a hug.

“I’ll text you when I get settled.” You promised.

“Yes, please do! I want to see proof of food intake as well, Kale Riley.” She said sternly

You did your two finger salute and walked down the hall to your quarters. You unlocked the door and put your satchel down. You walked into the dining area and set your laptop up, it was going to be a long night as your honors students wrote essays that needed marking. You decided on a cup of coffee, hitting brew as you walked into your room and changed. You washed your face, changing your wrapping on your tattoo and tossing your day clothes into the hamper. You settled on sweats, a tank top and some fuzzy socks with pandas on them. Once changed you went and grabbed your coffee to sit at the table. You sent Larissa a quick text,

Kale Riley: I’m afraid sustenance will have to wait, I have 25 essays to get through. I have coffee though. 😘

Larissa: Unacceptable, did you at least change out of your pant suit?

Kale Riley: Yes, I did. I’d been wearing that belt long enough today lol

Larissa: Do I need to feed you?

Kale Riley: Not necessary, feeding yourself isn’t an option though.

Larissa: You’re exhausting

Kale Riley: You love me

Larissa: Yes, I do.

You smiled and flipped your phone over, doing your best to focus on the task at hand. You got halfway through the first essay when your stomach growled. You slumped back and sighed, you picked up your phone.

Kale Riley: I lied, please feed me. I have not food shopped.

Larissa: I was already planning to. Dinner will be done in about 30 minutes.

Kale Riley: You’re the best

Larissa: I know.

You shook your head and went to unlock your door so Larissa could just come in. You sat back down and got to work, you’d finished the first essay easily, there wasn’t much that needed done to it. Of course it was Wednesday’s and she never needed much correction ever. The next essay was Enid’s, she always needed a little help. Wednesday used to try to tutor her but she never had the patience to follow through fully, you’d broken up several arguments between the friends.

“The monument looked more better.” You shook your head and read it again.

Yeah that’s definitely not correct, you laughed and made the correction. You’d have to speak to her about that eventually, but for tonight, you and your coffee had to do the fixing. She was a bright kid, she just got in a hurry and messed herself up. As you were finishing her essay, there was a knock at the door, Larissa stepped through a second later carrying 2 plates.

“That smells divine, love” you said as you went to help.

“Thank you, it’s a simple pasta dish and some bread.” She smiled.

“I’m easy to please, you know.” You sat your plate down and went to grab drinks.

You walked to the fridge and pulled out seltzer waters.

“Strawberry or Orange Vanilla?” You called over

“Orange Vanilla” she said back

You grabbed you each one and walked back, opening it and placing it in front of her. You sat across from her, she was watching you closely.

“Yes?” You said awkwardly

“Nothing, you just look cute” she said still looking

You felt your neck and cheeks heat up, “I look pretty homely tonight I think.”

You took the first bite of your food and you felt as if your soul left your body.

“This is amazing, Riss!” You said through bites.

“Try the meat, I think you’ll find you very much enjoy it.” She smiled taking a bite.

You followed direction and cut a meat ball taking a bite, you tasted it immediately,

“You used chicken!” You exclaimed happily

She nodded, “I did, I know you aren’t much on hamburger”

You thought about asking why Rina choked earlier but decided to let it go, you instead turned your computer so that she could see and she helped you grade the work. She had taught this before you did, you felt you could use the experience she offered. You ate and graded, laughing at some of the topics the students chose to write about.

“You know,” she took a drink, “Teenagers think vampires are the most romantic things to exist” she laughed

“They do don’t they? Clearly they’ve never met Rina” you giggled

“I’m sure Rina is plenty romantic!” She laughed

“Well she’s straight, so I don’t know.” You joked, “No I’m sure she’s wonderful, but to me, she’s a thorn.”

“You two make quite the friendship, you know. It’s hilarious to watch you go back and forth like siblings. You’re good for each other.” She said seriously

“She brings me out of my shell. Kind of like Wednesday and Enid” you said

She agreed, soon enough the food was gone, the grading was dwindling down, and it was 10pm. You looked at your phone and sighed.

“It’s getting late, I don’t know that I’ll have these done by tomorrow.” You admitted.

“You don’t have to. Tomorrow can’t go as planned, you have to see the board. Your honors class falls at that time anyway.” She stated

You hadn’t thought of that,

“Oh my gosh you’re right. You’re a life saver.” You grabbed her hands.

“We should both be well rested though, the board is going to ask some questions that we have to be ready for.” She squeezed your hands.

“I know, I don’t know if I’m ready” you said

“You are, we can do this.” She said reassuringly

By the time you were done talking it was 10:30

“I should get going, I should sleep at some point so I’m ready.” She said

“You’re right, here I’ll walk you out. Don’t worry about the dishes, I’ll do them” you smiled

You walked her to the door, she turned to face you. You wrapped your arms around her neck and gave her a kiss. You reassured her that it would be okay and tomorrow once everything was over, you wouldn’t have to hide anymore. Once she was out the door, you locked it, and returned to the table to collect the dishes. You put them in the dishwasher and started it, that was a problem for tomorrow night.

You headed to your room, you put your phone on the charger and set your alarm. Tomorrow morning Larissa would be meeting with the board, as nervous as you were for it, you knew she could breeze through it. You brushed your teeth, changed into your pajamas and got into bed. You turned your nightly white noise on and settled to try and sleep through the nerves.

You woke up to a text from Larissa as your alarm went off,

Larissa: Good morning, sweet thing. I’ll text you as soon as I’m out of my meeting. Have a good morning, I’ll have coffee made in the lounge for you!

Kale Riley: Good luck!!

You put your phone down, you took a few minutes just to ruminate in the anxiety. What if this went badly? Would you have to quit? You weren’t prepared to risk Larissa’s job. You put your hands over your face, letting out a very loud exhale. You got yourself up, you took a quick shower with cold water; maybe it would help the nerves.

You got out, the sun was finally coming through. It was supposed to be nice today, thank god for that as you were sick of the cold. You picked out a white under shirt, a short sleeve button down and some slacks. The color combination was a bold move, but you’d always loved maroon and navy together. You paired it with some nice loafers and grabbed your stuff. You sprayed on Larissa’s favorite cologne of yours and headed out.

You stopped by the teachers lounge and grabbed your coffee, adding your couple of sugars and headed to your room. When you walked past Larissa’s office you could hear muffled voices inside, your heart rate spiked and you just kept walking. Your phone vibrated,

Rina: Is the board here?

Kale: Yup, they’re in her office right now.

Rina: Are you okay?

Kale: I feel like I’m on fire.

Rina: I’ll stop by before classes start

You got your room, put your stuff down, took a healthy sip of your coffee and started writing on the board. Rina knocked twice and came in,

“Hey, so they’re here?” She asked

You nodded, “I heard them speaking when I walked by on my way here. It didn’t sound like it was going too bad.” You shrugged.

“That’s so scary, remind me not to date another teacher.” She shivered.

“You won’t have to do this if you do. This is only happening because Larissa is our boss. They don’t want any special treatment.” You stated

“Still, that’s scary.” She said

“Also, aren’t you trying to date my brother?” You shot back surprising her.

“I uh uhm how do you know?” She rapid fired back

“He tells me things, Rina” you laughed.

“Oh boy, look at the time, the first bell is about to go off. Bye Salad!” She called as she left.

“We aren’t done with this conversation Professor Mara!” You called after her.

The first bell rang and you wondered how Larissa was holding up, the students started filling the classroom, lots of “good mornings” and half groans. It was shaping to be a very scary Tuesday.

————————————————————————-

It was nearing lunch, your anxiety was getting worse as the day went on, your phone went off

Larissa: Good luck, they’re going to be tough on you. You can do this.

You sighed and put your laptop into your satchel, your stand in walked into the room.

“Professor Slate?” He asked.

“Yes, Hello! You must be Mr. Michaels!” You greeted him, shaking his hand.

“Indeed I am! I’m here to cover your last 3 classes of the day, are the plans on the desk?” He looked at the board.

“Yes! They’re also pinned to the board, the books are in the back cabinet as well.” You smiled

“Alright, thank you! I can take it from here.” He assured you.

With that you were out the door and on your way to the conference room on the 3rd floor. You could feel your heart beat in your ears and behind your eyes. Your hands shook uncontrollably, palms sweating. You tried to steady your breathing on the way there, opting to get there early to try and calm yourself before they showed up. You counted the bricks along the walls on your way there.

“Hello Professor Slate” Morticia greeted you

“Hello Professor Addams.” You said shakily

You tried to refrain from making any eye contact, you didn’t have time to stop and talk. You were still uneasy around her after what happened. Wednesday had filled you in on her disgust of the whole situation, calling her mother delusional and ditzy. The memory made you laugh a little under your breath, not wanting to look like you were losing your mind you coughed to cover it.

You rounded the corner and saw that the door was open, you walked in and sat your things down, pulling out extra documents that you knew you’d need thanks to Larissa. You smoothed imaginary creases out of your slacks as the board members started to walk in. You stood immediately to greet them, shaking their hands and thanking them for their time.

“Hello, Professor Slate.” The head greeted you.

“Hello Mr Thomson” you greeted with a smile.

The board member next to him, Mrs. Klein spoke to you next,

“Alright, Kale” she said clearing her throat, “We are here to discuss your relationship with Headmistress Larissa Weems.”

You have a polite nod, “Yes ma’am. Whatever you’d like to know or ask, I am ready.”

“Alright,” she said grabbing her pen, “Let’s start with when this relationship started”

You cleared your throat, “Just recently. We have been quite close friends since I started working here. The feelings grew naturally.”

“I see, so you being hired here was not a bonus of this relationship?” She asked.

“No ma’am. I was hired years before this came to fruition. I had no prior knowledge of Principal Weems before I was hired.” You stated

She wrote some things on her board and looked at another member who introduced himself as Mr. Hollands,

“Professor Slate, you stated that this happened very recently, weren’t you Tenured recently?”

You weren’t ready for that, you took a shallow breath and nodded,

“I was, yes. The relationship happened after the fact, so I don’t see the correlation” you stated.

He looked over at Mrs. Klein, they shared a look and both wrote something down. You shifted in your seat, heat was creeping up your neck. You’d never been through something like this before. Your eyes darted around the room, trying to find something, anything, to anchor you down.

Just then Mr. Thomson spoke,

“Kale, we will have to reevaluate your tenure with the school, it lines up too closely with the dates provided by yourself and Larissa. That’s not to say it’ll be invalidated, just that it needs to be looked at from all sides. We’ve heard wonderful things about you.” He said as he typed something into his laptop.

Your mouth went dry at that statement. You wanted to tell them that they were being ridiculous, Larissa would never do something like that. She’d tenured every other professor here without being with them. She held you all in the same regard when it came to teaching. She had high standards and you’d spent years proving yourself to her and the other professors here. It felt like they were undoing all of your hard work because of this one this. Still, you bit your tongue, these people signed your checks and you needed a job, this job.

“I understand, I’ll take whatever your decision you make.” You said solemnly

“Will this relationship be long term?” Mrs. Klein asked.

That hit you like a ton of bricks. You hadn’t thought about it, you wanted this to be long term, you wanted to spend your life with Larissa. You didn’t know how if that was appropriate to say though,

“Yes. I do assume it will be long term.” You said firmly.

Mr. Thomson spoke, “If it is not, do you intend to resign from your position or go after Weems’ job?”

You politely shook your head, “No, never. I love my job and I love my students. As far as Larissa, she makes this school what it is, it wouldn’t run without her. We are both adults and could make it work. We both play a vital role to this kids futures.”

They seemed pleased with that answer, you knew how to be an adult. You were 30 for all it was worth, but you knew that some people could be immature in the way that Morticia was.

“I think that about wraps this meeting up, Professor.” Mrs. Klein said.

“Thank you for taking the time to sit and speak with us, it takes a lot of courage to face the board.” Mr. Thomson shook your hand.

“Thank you all for speaking with me.” You smiled.

Once out of the room, you let go of a breath. You walked down the hallway, you felt shaky. That was so much to deal with, you were still mad about your status. Hopefully by the end of the day you’d have an email with their decision. You walked to your quarters and collapsed on the couch. You got a text,

Rina: HOW DID IT GO?

Kale: It went as well as could be expected.

Rina: Are they going to allow it?

Kale: I won’t know until the end of the day, they also may reconsider my tenure because of the timing.

Rina: That sucks.

Kale: You’re telling me. I spent years proving myself just for this to happen. I just want to teach and love Larissa.

Rina: I’ll see you after school.

You sighed, pulled yourself up and went to change. You rid yourself of your teaching clothes and grabbed some shorts and a Silent Planet t-shirt. You switched your fancy socks out for some normal ones and slid your shoes on.

You grabbed your laptop again and headed to the teachers lounge. You stopped by the fridge and got a water, sitting at your usual spot in the back by the window. You searched up some source material for the next unit you were going over with your normal classes. You made a couple of notes in your notebook and looked up when you heard the bell ring.

The hallways flooded with students, eager to get away from curriculum and into their hobbies. You stepped out and waved at a few of your students as they ran past

“Hi Professor!” They called

“Do your homework!!” You called back.

You laughed and stepped back inside from the rush, there’s far too many eager teenagers out right now. You grabbed a snack from the bar and sat down once again. The door opened and the history and anatomy professors walked in,

“Hey Slate!” They said in unison.

“Hello ladies!” You smiled.

“How’d it go with the board?” Raines asked

“It went okay I think” you shrugged.

“I’m hoping the best for you two.” She said with a sincere smile.

You’d always gotten along with Professor Raines. She’s the one who showed you around on your first few days. She’s also the one who warned you about Thornhill. She also supported you through Larissa being in the hospital and spent countless nights just letting you cry through it.

Larissa walked into the teachers lounge a little while later,

“Kale, can you come with me please?” She asked

You got up, “Yes I can.” You said as you grabbed your stuff.

Rina walked by you on your way out, you mouthed for her to text you. You waved at her as you passed by. You followed a step behind Larissa as she walked through the halls, you weren’t going to complain a single bit. She wore her grey plaid dress today, it was your favorite, her lipstick looked a shade darker though.

Larissa got stopped by a Professor on your way there, she signaled for you to continue to the office, you saluted and walked away. You weren’t one to argue with her when she gave an order, maybe that’s one of the reasons she liked you so much. You made it to her office and walked in, you set your stuff down and sat on the couch by the fire. You watched the embers dance, you leaned back and closed your eyes for a little bit.

You didn’t hear Larissa come in, she kissed you to get you to open your eyes. You smiled when she pulled away,

“Sleeping on the principals couch eh?” She laughed nudging your head

“You caught me” you yawned

“Did you not sleep well, love?” She asked concerned

“I did, I was just really stressed out this afternoon I guess.” You shrugged.

You walked up to her and wrapped your arms around her,

“I missed you today, Riss.”

“I missed you too, darling.” She kissed the top of your head

“They said we’d hear by the end of the day, so hopefully any time now. Did they tell you about my tenure?” You asked

She nodded, “They did, I put up my best fight for it to remain valid. You’ve worked tirelessly for years. You deserve that.”

You saw an opportunity to lighten the mood,

“Oh good, I thought you only did it because I’m hot” you said in a sarcastic tone.

She laughed, grabbed your chin and whispered,

“While you are hot, I would never offer someone that simply based off looks.”

You smiled and said

“That’s a relief. Lots of good looking people work here”

She walked around her desk and sat down, she pointed at the chair in front of her. You sat down without being asked, you could follow hand motions well. Rina had texted you, you pulled your phone out,

Rina: What happened?!

Rina: Did you get fired?

Kale: What? No! Larissa just wanted to talk to me!

Rina: Mhm, suuuuuure.

Kale: I’m serious!

Rina: If talking includes kissing then sure! You cannot lie to me, Salad.

Kale: You’re- you know what? Go text my brother

Rina: I still don’t like that you know about that.

Kale: I’m the all knowing Kale :)

You heard Larissa’s email tone go off, your heart stopped for a micro second. You made eye contact and nodded at each other. You rounded her desk and leaned down next to her,

“Is that my favorite cologne?” She smirked

“Riss! Focus!” You scolded

“Right, right, sorry.” She said

She opened the email, you were reading as fast as you could,

“Headmistress Larissa Weems, we have decided that your relationship with Professor Slate does not break any rule or boundary. We are going to allow it, please keep it professional. You must alert the staff to the relationship as well. As for Slate’s tenure, we’ve found that it has legal standing and will hold up.

Thank you for speaking with us today.

Warm regards,

Mrs. Helen Klein

You gasped, Larissa spun around to look at you, she pulled you onto her lap and hugged you so tight. You were a crying mess, you were allowed to be together. You had to tell the staff but neither of you cared about that. You cupped her face in your hands and rested your forehead on hers,

“Oh my god, we can do this!” You said through tears.

“Yes we can, my darling. I love you!” She said as she kissed your forehead.

The hardest part was over, now, you just needed to figure out how to do day to day life.

Knowing Larissa Weems has been the best part of your life thus far.

#larissa weems #morticia addams #larissa weems & reader #nonbinary!reader #the board #kale almost lost their mind #Larissa has a dirty mind