Secret
#2 of Spring
Rosetta sat at her desk, "Come on children, take your seats, the bell's about to ring!" She worked at a school for the mentally challenged and the disabled. She taught first grade, and the kids just loved her.
"Ms. Rosetta! I like your shirt!" One of the girls in the front row commented.
Rosetta was wearing a purple button up shirt that she had bought not too long ago, "Why thank you. I'm hoping my new boyfriend will like it too. But we should get started. After all, the faster we work, the sooner you get your big surprise!" The class cheered then quickly calmed down.
Rosetta led her class through some basic math and reading exercises, and before they knew it, it was lunch time, "Alright class, you did quite well! Now run off to lunch and recess and by the time you get back, I'll have your surprise ready!"
More cheering, then the class slowly filtered out. Rosetta was about to leave the room, but then the principal walked in, "Rosetta, got some bad news. Jim called in sick today, so he won't be able to help out with the class rewards. Sorry, but do you know who else you can call? We're a little short handed today with the flu going around."
Rosetta put her hand on her chin, "Hm... yeah, I think I know someone to help out. Thanks for the notice." The principal smiled and left as Rosetta called Cedric, "Um, Cedric? It's Rosetta."
"Oh hey, what's up?"
Rosetta smiled, "You sound a little tired, but do you think you can help me out? I need to pick up some stuff for my class, and it would take forever if I do it myself."
"Yeah, where should I go?" Rosetta gave him directions and then made her way to a little bakery close to the school. It was a five minute walk, but to her surprise, Cedric was already there, "I already got everything you ordered here. School paid for it apparently, so here's the plan. Stack whatever you can in my arms, they you'll have to carry the rest.
He picked up a few boxes, then Rosetta began putting boxes on top of those, "Hm, these may wobble a bit, here hold on a sec-"
"No. Just... please no. I can carry these..." Rosetta noticed that he was shaking a little, "By the way, what do you have in here? Seems to be quite a lot for a single class."
Rosetta picked up a bag and opened the door for Cedric, "Well, I guess that's fair. This time of year I like to have a surprise for my class, and I've decided to get together a little cake-designing kit. I have the materials and cakes here, so they can learn some creativity and eat desert!"
Cedric shifted the boxes, which were stacked up to his face, "Well, that's nice I suppose. Come on, let's get these supplies to the school. Kids can't be at lunch forever."
Rosetta walked by Cedric's side, and couldn't help but smile. She really enjoyed his company, and saw this as a chance to get closer to him. She moved a little closer as the school came into view, "Well, here we are! It's not the biggest school, but I like it. Hm?" She saw that Cedric was gazing up at the clock tower, "Something the matter?"
He shook his head, "Nothing important. Come on, get the door for me." Rosetta opened the front door as Cedric entered, "So where are we going?"
Rosetta led the way to her classroom and he set the boxes down on one of the tables, "Oh, could you go to the front office and get a visitor's pass? It was where we came in." Cedric left the room, "Alright! Time to surprise him! He he, this'll be good." She wanted to see how bad Cedric's fear of her was, so she crawled up to the ceiling and waited right at the door.
A minute later, she heard Cedric walking in the door, and she dropped down, "Surprise!" His eyes twitched for a second, then rolled into his head as he fell backwards, "Ah! Oh no! Hey, wake up!" She crawled over him and slapped his face gently to wake him up.
"Don't... do that..." He was still shaking, but alright. Rosetta helped him to his feet, "Let's... set up some stuff." She nodded, then gave some plans. They put two cakes on each table, then an equal number of supplies by the cakes. Since there were four tables and six seats at each, it worked out quite well.
Before they knew it, the kids were coming in from recess, "Woah! Ms. Rosetta! Did you do all this!" Every kid had a similar response.
"Of course! I promised you a surprise, didn't I? Now take your seats, and we'll get started!" The kids did so, "Now, we'll be designing cakes in groups of three in any way you'd like! I'll help out, and my friend Mr. Cedric will also help, so just raise your hands if you need to. After you finish the cakes, we'll take a picture, then guess what? We eat them!" The kids cheered, then dived right in.
Cedric looked at Rosetta, "Mr. Cedric? Funny." Luckily, the kids didn't have too many problems and they designed their cakes very fast. Then, as soon as Rosetta took the pictures, they devoured their treats, "Hey, I'm going to head off. Got some things I want to do today."
Rosetta smiled, "Okay. Um, hey, can I come over again tonight? I mean, if it's okay with you."
He rubbed the back of his head, "Sure, why not? As long as you don't plan on surprising me any more, it should be fine." She giggled as he left.
"Ms. Rosetta?" One of the girls was tugging on her shirt, "Is mister Cedric your boyfriend?"
Rosetta looked out of the class windows, "Yep. Found him with the Soul Mate Gene. He's really nice, even if he does seem a bit scary."
The girl smiled, "What does he do? Is he a teacher? Is that why you are soul mates?"
"Hm... I know he is retired, but I haven't asked him about what he did before then. Being a soul mate is more that having the same career, it's a feeling you get when you are around a person that's impossible to describe. There is also a test they can do to help you find the one, which was convenient. But enough about that, go eat some cake."
The kids finished eating, and then helped clean up the room just before the final bell rang, "Good job everyone! Enjoy your weekend!" The kids filed out of the room, then Rosetta had a thought, "Cedric did have a nice kitchen, but no actual food. Maybe after I pick up some things at my house, I can go buy a few things. We can have a romantic weekend together!"
She quickly made her way home, picked up an old backpack and put in a few shirts before walking to the little supermarket a few doors down. She bought a few items, mostly comfort foods and a few beverages, then happily left. On the street however, two men stopped her, "What's in the bag? You should let us hold that for you." The menacing look in their eyes immediately gave away their intentions.
Rosetta took a step back, "Um, no thank you. I should be going." She turned around, but one of the men blocked her path, "Please excuse me."
He laughed quietly, "Uh, let me think about that... no." He shoved Rosetta and grabbed the grocery bag. As he looked inside, he was disappointed, "Only food? What the fuck? We need more than this to be happy. I wonder what else you can offer..." A few bystanders crossed to the other side of the road so they wouldn't get involved.
Rosetta tried to call out for help, but the words got stuck in her throat. He eyes were pleading to the people around, but they were looking away with nervous expressions on their face. The other man grabbed her shoulders, "Let's see what's under this shirt!" He threw off her backpack as the man in front of her lunged forward.
"What a shame..."
The men stopped as they looked at the source of the voice as Rosetta slowly opened her eyes, "Who the hell are you? Fuck off unless you want to die!"
"I was hoping to keep this a secret, at least for a little while longer. But it can't be helped. It would be best if you closed your eyes Rosetta." It was Cedric, "As for you two... this is gonna hurt." Cedric glanced at the men, who had let go of Rosetta and pulled out handguns. As they aimed at Cedric, he didn't even flinch.
"Don't you fucking move!" Cedric turned and entered an alley, "Huh... heh heh, he was all talk! You're little boyfriend is a co-" A figure dropped from above onto the two men and knocked them down. He kicked their guns away, then turned to the one who tried to take off her shirt.
He picked the man up by his throat, then viciously bashed his head into a light post. The other man watched in horror as his friend's bones were cracking and blood was pouring out, "Oh, I didn't forget about you." Cedric dropped the limp body he was holding, then dragged the other one partially into the street so that his kneecaps were between the curb and pavement, "Your crimes are great. Now suffer." Cedric stomped on the man's knees, making them bend the wrong way. The man screamed out for help, and only now were people calling the police.
"C-Cedric..."
He turned his attention to Rosetta, "Hey, you okay? Hey!" She fainted, "I can't leave her here like this. Shit..." He put her backpack on her shoulders, picked up the grocery bag, then lifted her onto his back. Her legs instinctively grabbed onto Cedric's body, "Dammit dammit dammit dammit... focus! Get... her... safe... legs... not... there...." He closed his eyes and tried to enter a happy place as he rushed towards his home. He made sure to take back roads and alleys to lose public attention, when suddenly he felt Rosetta's head lift up, "Hey, you alright? Urk..."
Her head was a few feet above his since her body was different, so she had to look down to see Cedric, "Huh? What happened? Where are we? Oh! I remember now... hey, you don't look so good." Cedric looked up to look into her eyes, but her breasts were in the way, "Well, you don't sound too good. Let me down." She crawled down as Cedric shivered violently.
"I need... a shower and... rest... grrrr... come on, the police will be looking for me." His little growl seemed to make him more courageous, or at least more determined. In a few minutes, they arrived at his home, "Get inside, quickly." Rosetta scurried inside as Cedric kept a look out. Then, he locked the door.
Rosetta set her bags down, then had to ask, "Who are you?"
Cedric looked away, "I'm retired. But before then... my job was killing people."