When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  He drove me home in silence. When he pulled up he looked at me curiously. “You’re not really pregnant are you?” he asked, wincing.

  I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Nick, I’m not pregnant, that was a joke, not a particularly funny one but a joke nonetheless. Stop stressing,” I assured him, smiling apologetically. “Want to come in and keep me company?” I asked hopefully. Otherwise I’d have to go in and find some other way of distracting myself.

  “As long as you promise not to throw up on me like that other time.” He turned his nose up in disgust.

  I burst out laughing. On our third date I wasn’t feeling particularly well but didn’t want to cancel so I still went, and ended up vomiting on his foot in the middle of a busy movie theatre.

  “Oh, Nick, I’m surprised you still talk to me,” I mused, still giggling.

  “Me too sometimes.” He rolled his eyes and climbed out of the car, waiting for me to get round to his side before slipping his arm back around my shoulders and leading me inside.

  My mom wasn’t home yet. She worked until four o’clock so we had the house to ourselves. Nick pulled me over to the couch and made me sit down. “I’ll go make you some tea or something, and then we can watch a movie,” he said, smiling and walking into the kitchen like he owned the place.

  I laid my head back on the sofa, silently counting just to stop my mind from wandering to Will again. After a couple of minutes Nick came in and set some toast and a cup of peppermint tea in front of me before he headed to the DVD player.

  “Thanks.” I smiled.

  He plopped down on the sofa next to me while I nibbled on the toast, not really wanting it, but not wanting to offend him after he went to the trouble of making it for me. When the movie started I smiled. It was ‘Love Actually’, my favourite. I snuggled against his side and sighed. Why can’t I just fall in love with someone like Nick? A sweet and adorable guy who is crazy about me, and more importantly, my age.

  After the movie we talked easily for a bit. When talk turned to my classes my heart sank, knowing he would soon mention Will. “So how are you getting on in calculus this semester? Think you’ll get buddied again?” he asked. He knew I hated it last time; I’d ranted about it enough to him.

  “I don’t think so; the new guy said I should get a tutor. He suggested Erika, can you believe that? Her of all people,” I griped, annoyed at the thought of her again.

  “If you need a tutor I can help you. I mean, I’m not a complete whiz or anything, but I get by easily enough,” he offered, shrugging casually.

  “You’re kidding me! You’d do that for me?” I asked, looking at him hopefully.

  He grinned, holding up one finger. “On one condition.”

  I held my breath, praying he wasn’t going to ask me out again or something. I really liked us being friends again and didn’t want things to get awkward. “Okay, what’s that?” I inquired nervously.

  He smirked at me confidently. “We do it at my house, and as payment you can cook for me on those nights. At least twice a week.”

  I grinned and threw my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly; I would have cooked for him if he asked me to even without the tutoring. “Deal definitely,” I agreed happily. He hugged me back and suddenly there was a knock at the door. I glanced at the clock to see it was just after three. Who the heck is that? I’m not expecting anyone.

  I jumped up, but Nick instantly pulled me back to the sofa, tickling my sides. I squealed and giggled as I tried to fight him off me. He laughed and finally stopped, leaving me gasping for breath. “I’ll get the door. You’re supposed to be sick, remember? I knew you were faking,” he said, narrowing his eyes at me playfully.

  I laughed as he pushed himself up and went to get the door. I rested my head back and listened to see who it was and what they wanted. “Oh hey, sir, um… What are you doing here?” Nick asked, sounding confused.

  Sir? What’s that about? I stood up and walked towards the door. Just as I got to the corner, I heard his voice.

  “Well, I have Miss Henderson’s cell phone. I said she could have it back at the end of the day, but her friends said she went home, sick. I know how important a cell is to a girl,” Will replied. His voice sounded extremely uncomfortable and a little annoyed.

  Oh my days, he came to my house? What the heck is he doing? I turned the corner to see Nick standing there half blocking the doorway, his arm on the frame as he looked out at Will. His body language wasn’t very welcoming. They seemed to be looking at each other strangely. Will was definitely pissed; I could tell by the clenched jaw.

  “She’s sick; I’ll give it to her,” Nick said, holding out his hand for the phone.

  “I’d just rather check she’s okay. She came over a little funny in detention,” Will replied sternly, using a teacher tone of voice that I didn’t even realise he had.

  I took a deep breath and walked up behind Nick, lifting his arm and stepping in front of him. Will’s face softened as he saw me. Nick stepped closer to me and pressed his chest against my back, his hands resting on my shoulders. Will’s posture seemed to change instantly, his shoulders tightening again. The air was thick with awkwardness as we just gazed at each other, not speaking.

  Nick broke the silence. “Mr Morris was bringing your cell phone back.”

  I nodded and held my hand out for it. “That’s really nice of you, sir, but you could have kept it until tomorrow.” I tried to keep my voice light and friendly in front of Nick.

  Will placed the phone in my hand, cocking his head to the side, looking at me intently. “I also wanted to check you were okay after lunchtime.”

  “I’m fine.” I turned to Nick. “Um, do you think you could make some more tea? I’m pretty thirsty,” I asked uncomfortably. He frowned and nodded, walking off. I looked back to Will to see a smirk on his face as he watched Nick’s retreating back. “What do you really want?” I asked quietly, pulling the door close behind me so that it would muffle the conversation from Nick.

  “Like I said, I just wanted to give you your phone and check you were okay. You looked pretty upset when you stormed off,” he said quietly, cocking his head to the side and watching me avidly.

  “I’m fine.” I shrugged nonchalantly. “As you can see, I have company, so thanks for returning my phone, Mr Morris, and I’ll see you tomorrow in detention,” I said in my bitchiest voice.

  He snorted, his eyes tightening. “Yeah I noticed you had company. Replaced me already?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me challengingly.

  I gasped. Man, he’s just starting to piss me off more and more! “Is that some kind of joke?” I snapped, clenching my fists and ignoring the stinging from the little scratches on my palms as the skin stretched slightly, probably starting them bleeding again.

  “Just an observation.”

  “Nick and I are friends, not that it’s any of your business anyway.” I looked back into the hallway quickly, making sure Nick wasn’t there listening to any of this.

  “Yeah? That’s not what I heard, I heard that you two used to date but broke up at the start of the summer,” Will retorted. His jaw tightened as his piercing grey eyes hardened accusingly.

  What the hell is he looking at me like that for? This is none of his damn business even if I did start to date Nick again! He’s the one that broke up with me, not the other way around. “That has nothing to do with anything; we were friends before we got together. Where are you getting this crap from anyway?” I asked annoyed.

  He shrugged, his jaw relaxing now. “I hear stuff. You weren’t in class so people started speculating because you were seen leaving school with your ex-boyfriend.”

  “Well like I said, it’s none of your business anyway. Thanks for the phone.” I stepped back, starting to close the door in his face.

  Before it even got half way he stuck his foot out, holding the door open. “I’m sorry I’m hurting you,” he said quietly, looking at his hands.

  I scoffed at that. “You’re not sorry
at all. It’s no skin off your nose. You’re probably just pissed that you’ll have to work a little harder for sex from now on. No longer on tap when you want it. Oh, and by the way, I’ve sorted my tutor issues; Nick’s offered to help me.” I kicked his foot making him pull it back. I slammed the door in his face, ignoring his shocked expression.

  I leant against it barely able to breathe. He hissed a cuss word from the other side of the door, and then a few seconds later a car door slammed. I pushed myself away from the door and headed to the kitchen. Nick was leaning against the counter waiting for the kettle to boil. His back was to me so I went and pressed my face between his shoulder blades, fighting the urge to cry again.

  “Okay?” he asked, turning awkwardly and wrapping me into a hug.

  I nodded, hoping my voice would work. “Yeah I’m good. Want to stay for dinner tonight?” I asked hopefully.

  He grinned. “Hell yeah, your mom’s cooking is even better than yours, no offence,” he replied, pulling back and smirking at me. I slapped his arm, faking hurt. “Ouch, easy with the right hook, Rocky Balboa,” he teased.

  Chapter Nine

  The rest of the week passed much the same. I tried to avoid Will whenever possible. If I saw him coming down the hallway or anything I excused myself to the nearest restroom or classroom. The lunchtime detentions were okay, he didn’t let me off of them so I just sat at the back of the room listening to music and reading. I ignored him completely, as he did me. He didn’t buy me lunch again; I purposefully made myself a sandwich so I could turn him down even if he did anyway.

  His classes were awful. I had no idea what I was doing. I barely understood anything and sat there on edge the whole time while the girls all drooled and flirted with him like crazy. He didn’t single me out, and he didn’t ignore me, he just treated me like any other student in his class. Except maybe I got fewer smiles. Actually, come to think of it, I got no smiles at all, but that was probably because I didn’t give him any either. Nick and I were meeting up on Saturday so he could help me study.

  Today was Friday, and I was due to meet Sam any minute. As the bell sounded signalling the end of the day, I packed up my books and stood there waiting as Amy pulled her hair into a loose ponytail.

  “So tonight’s the big date,” she gushed excitedly, waggling her eyebrows.

  I could practically feel Will’s stare boring into the side of my head. From the corner of my eye I could see him standing there watching me. His whole body seemed tense.

  “It’s not a date,” I reply flatly. My hands were starting to get sweaty because Will was staring at me so intently.

  “You’re going to the movies with a boy, it’s a date,” Amy countered, waving her hand dismissively. I shook my head and opened my mouth to protest, but she spoke again cutting me off. “It should be a date anyway, because damn, I would screw that boy senseless, and you should too. It’ll help you get over Mr Perfect if you jump his brother. It’ll stop you pouting so much,” she teased.

  I gasped. “Amy!” I hissed, grabbing her arm and dragging her closer to me giving her the shut the hell up face. Too late. I heard a loud crash from Will’s direction and looked over to see he had walked into a desk, knocking the chairs over and dropping the stack of books he was carrying. His jaw was tight, he looked furiously angry.

  “Are you all right, Mr Morris? You need a hand?” Amy offered, smiling seductively.

  “Er… it’s… no it’s fine. Thanks for the offer, Miss Clarke,” he rejected politely.

  I decided I needed to leave before he could pull me to one side. “I gotta go,” I muttered looking only at Amy. “I’ll call you and we’ll meet up Sunday.” I hugged her quickly, before turning for the door leaving her to finish packing up her books.

  “Chloe, wait!” Will called.

  I stopped dead in my tracks. That was the first time he’d called me Chloe since we found out he was my teacher. The sound of it made my stomach get all fluttery even though I was angry at myself for still letting him have power over me. I turned back to look at him, not really wanting to see his angry face again.

  “I could actually use some help, maybe you could give me a hand?” he requested, though his eyes were saying something different entirely.

  “I’ll help you, Mr Morris,” Amy interjected. “Chloe has a hot date.” She shoved me towards the door with a sly grin and a wink. No doubt she was excited for a few minutes alone with Will.

  Will frowned. “But I… I… right, okay yeah thanks, Miss Clarke.”

  I waved to Amy and headed through the door. I felt guilty for not staying and clarifying to Will that it wasn’t a date and that I wasn’t going to ‘jump his brother’ like Amy had made it seem. But then again, he should know that I wouldn’t sleep with his brother anyway. He should know that because firstly, I wasn’t the type of girl to go sleeping with someone on a first date, and secondly, we’d only just broken up, therefore I wouldn’t do that anyway, especially not with his brother.

  I headed to my locker quickly grabbing the rest of the books I would need so I could do my homework over the weekend. I lingered near my locker, wasting time. When I could put it off no longer, I walked out of the front doors, silently wishing I hadn’t agreed to this. I just wanted to go home and change into sweats and chill. Hopefully Sam won’t even show up…

  My hope of that faded as soon as I looked up and saw a black jeep parked right at the edge of the walkway. My heart sank as I spotted him perched behind the wheel. He grinned as he saw me and started the car up; I plastered on a fake smile and opened the door.

  “Hey,” I greeted with forced happiness, slinging my bag into the backseat.

  “Hey, Chloe, good day? Uh-oh, big brother alert,” he said, looking over my shoulder as I was just about to get in. I turned back to see Will walking out of the building. I could see the barely contained fury building with each step he took towards us.

  He stopped right behind me. “Chloe, I’d like a quick word with my brother, please,” he growled, not even looking at me. He was glaring at Sam with so much anger that I’m surprised he hadn’t died from the venom alone.

  I gripped his arm tightly making him look at me. His eyes met mine. I flinched a little from the hardness of them. “Just leave it. Ignore Amy, it’s not a date,” I assured him. I looked around seeing that most people had left already so luckily there was hardly anyone around.

  He didn’t answer; instead he gripped my upper arm and pulled me behind his body, putting himself between me and the car as he leant in to speak to his brother. “Don’t you fucking dare. I’m warning you, Sam. You need to drive away right now,” he spat angrily; his whole body tense and alert.

  Sam just laughed. “Relax, I don’t want your sloppy seconds.” He rolled his eyes.

  “Sam,” Will said his name as a warning, his hands clenching into fists.

  Dammit, is Will going to hit his brother? I grabbed his wrist quickly, pulling him back out of the car. “Stop this! We’re going out as friends. Not that it’s any of your damn business anyway, but I have no interest in your brother at all. You’re behaving like a spoilt child, arguing over a toy that you don’t even want to play with anymore!” I chastised. I could feel my eyes prickling and I knew I would cry soon. I needed to go.

  His face softened as he looked at me pleadingly. “Chloe,” he whispered. His eyes bored into mine making my heart beat faster.

  I shook my head. “I’m going out with a friend; you have a good weekend, Mr Morris,” I said acidly as I climbed in the car.

  Just as I went to slam the door and make a dramatic exit he caught it, pulling it open again looking at Sam warningly. “You keep in mind that she’s a minor, Sam,” he warned.

  Sam laughed. “Like you did you mean?” he teased. Will opened his mouth, probably for an angry retort based on the look on his face, so I held up a hand and cut him off.

  “For goodness sake, you both need to chill out, or I’m just going home. I’m not in the mood for this right now. Just
grow up both of you,” I scolded, crossing my arms over my chest, staring out of the windscreen.

  “Fine,” Will huffed. “Have a nice time, Miss Henderson. We’ll talk later, Sam.” Will slammed the door with so much force that it made the whole car shake.

  “Wow, someone’s jealous,” Sam muttered, chuckling to himself as he waved teasingly at Will.

  “He’s not jealous; he just doesn’t like the thought of someone touching something that he’s had. What a jerk! What the hell did I see in him anyway? He doesn’t want me, but I can’t go and have fun? Damn he’s so… so… ugh; I don’t even have the right word! Annoying will have to do for now until I can think of something stronger,” I ranted. Sam laughed at me as he pulled out of the parking lot, heading in the direction of the movie theatre.

  I couldn’t stop thinking about him all the way there. Will’s reaction was so annoying. Where the hell does he get off telling me who I can go out with? And that little comment to Sam about keeping in mind that I was a minor, jeez, does he actually think I’m going to sleep with someone? What kind of person does he think I am? He really doesn’t know me at all. That last thought hurt me more than anything.

  “Earth to Chloe,” Sam teased, laughing and waving a hand in front of my face.

  I snapped back to reality. Oops, had he been talking to me? “Sorry, Sam, what?” I asked, smiling apologetically.

  He sighed and shook his head in exasperation. “I said; are you planning on getting out of the car or do I need to find a drive-in movie or something?”

  I looked around to see we were parked outside the movie theatre. I laughed sheepishly because I was so lost in thought that he’d driven the whole way there already. I rolled my eyes, grabbing the door handle and climbing out of the car.

  Sam walked around to my side and slung his arm round my shoulder. “Come on then, let’s get you cheered up. I’ve not seen a real smile from you since you two broke up,” he suggested, looking a little sad about it.