When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  “What if the student has a crush on her teacher?” I countered, biting my lip as my hormones seemed to take over my mouth. Whoops, why the heck did I say that?

  “Well then the student needs to keep it to herself.” He shook his head and strutted into the little room off next to his classroom.

  I sighed and sat on the edge of the desk as rejection washed over me again. Why did I put myself in that situation, why did I just say that? Do I really like to feel rejected? Maybe I’m a masochist and I just like the pain of being humiliated.

  He came out a couple of minutes later in a clean and dry T-shirt. He threw me a sweater. I smiled gratefully. I chewed on my lip as I looked down at myself, I was soaked through, I couldn’t just put it over the top because I’d ruin his sweater. I put it down on the desk and gripped the bottom of my shirt, pulling it off over my head so I was just in my bra. When I looked up at Will he was just standing there watching me. A look of longing was clear across his face that made my body tingle all over and my stomach get fluttery.

  I smiled wickedly. “Will, you can’t look at me like that,” I teased, using his words that he’d said to me.

  He nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off of my body. “I know.”

  I grinned and pulled the sweater down over my head, interrupting his ogling. I felt a little better knowing that it wasn’t just me that felt this attraction. It didn’t even matter that his attraction to me was just sexual, and not the connection that I felt to him. I liked that he liked my body, even if that was all he liked about me.

  He sighed deeply and looked away. “Come on then I’ll drive you home.” He turned and walked to the door. I grabbed my bag and my ruined notes and followed behind him. As I got to his side he looked down at my notes and smiled. “You going to be able to read them?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know, hopefully they’ll dry okay, and I can just copy them out onto better smelling paper.” I turned my nose up at the strong smell of vinegar following us both down the hallway.

  He shrugged. “If you can’t read them then I can help you write some more.”

  “In the library at lunchtime, right?” I teased, giggling.

  “Yeah I think that’s a good idea.” He grinned sheepishly.

  I followed him out to his car and looked in with a smile on my face. It was a mess again. Looks like the keeping the car clean thing only lasted while we were dating, and he’s now back to his old habits. “Nice job with the car, slob.”

  He laughed. “You want to walk home, or are you done insulting my cleaning skills?” He smirked at me challengingly.

  “I’m done with the insults; I don’t want to walk home. Want me to take off my jeans so I don’t ruin your seat?” I offered, looking down at my still damp jeans.

  He shook his head quickly. “No, definitely leave the jeans on. It’s fine, just get in.”

  He walked round to his side as I grabbed the couple of soda cans from my seat and put them on the floor along with the papers and candy wrappers. I threw my bag in the back and sat down looking at the mess on the floor, laughing in disbelief.

  “Will, how on earth do you eat all of this junk and still stay in shape?” I asked, motioning to the floor. There was easily ten different empty candy wrappers casually discarded there.

  He shrugged nonchalantly. “I have a lot of time on my hands so I work out a lot. I’m still running the classes at the ski slope so that’s kind of a workout in itself too.”

  I smiled at that. “Start any snowball fights lately?” I asked. I grinned as I remembered our first proper date. Still one of the best nights of my life.

  He laughed. “No, there are no rebel girls there that like getting hit with snow. Besides, I have to throw out people who start snow fights, it’s against company rules.”

  “So if I came by there one night while you were working, and started a snow war, would I get thrown out?” I questioned, smirking at him.

  He grinned. “No, but you may get your ass handed to you.”

  I laughed at the challenge in his voice. If my memory serves me correctly, Will enjoyed that night almost as much as I did. Well, I thought at the time he did anyway. “Maybe I will.” I waggled my eyebrows at him.

  We were almost at my house now, and I was a little disappointed. This was the first time he’d been like this with me since he broke it off. I didn’t want it to end yet. I’d had a week without him, and I didn’t want another one. Wasn’t up to me though - he was the one that broke up with me, not the other way around, so I had no choice in the matter, much to my disappointment.

  He pulled up outside my house and stopped the engine, turning to face me. He had that slightly pained face on again. Does he not want this time to end either? Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?

  He leant through the gap in the seats, fumbling in the back for my bag. As he straightened himself up he was a lot closer to me because of how he was leaning. His eyes were locked onto mine making my whole body burn with excitement. It suddenly felt like someone had set a hundred butterflies loose in my stomach. His breath was blowing across my face making my lips tingle with the need for his to be pressed against mine.

  He didn’t move away, he just stayed there looking at me, as I was him. Oh, Will, please kiss me. It didn’t matter to me that he was a teacher, or that I was a minor. When something is right you just feel it - and I definitely felt it, my whole body felt it. He was the one for me. The one that would drive me crazy and make me laugh even when I was sad. He was the one I wanted to hold me when I cried, the one I wanted to call when I had happy news. He was just the one.

  I could barely breathe. I wanted to throw my arms around his neck and crush my lips against his. I wanted him to hold me and tell me that we’d work something out, that he’d figure it out because he wanted me as much as I wanted him.

  He was looking at me softly, tenderly, just like he used to look at me. I could feel my heart crashing in my chest as his eyes flicked down to my lips for a split second before returning to mine. His mesmerising grey eyes trapped me in his intense gaze as he slowly started to inch his face closer to mine. I smiled and moved forward too.

  Just as our lips were an inch apart my cell phone rang. Will jumped back quickly into his own seat, almost pressing against the door in a bid to be further away from me. I frowned as my heart sank down to my toes. So near but yet so far. His face hardened again and I knew the moment was over. I wouldn’t get another chance because he didn’t want me. That was just the sexual tension sparking up. That was all I was to him, something fun he could amuse himself with and get his jollies with.

  “You should go inside and answer that.” He turned back to the windshield and started the car before gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.

  I sighed and nodded. I wouldn’t let this upset me again. I needed to stick to the realisation I’d had over the weekend - worse things happen to people all the time and they cope with it. Our breakup wasn’t a tragedy, it was just something unfortunate, but it was part of life. Heartbreak was something you got over in time. I just prayed that I could get over him quickly because this pain was almost unbearable.

  “Thanks for the ride.” I grabbed my bag and climbed out of the car not looking at his stupid handsome face again as I headed inside. I didn’t bother to answer my cell, I’d call them back whoever it was. I didn’t want to speak to the person who ruined my kiss with Will. Technically it wasn’t their fault, but I couldn’t help but be a little annoyed with whoever it was.

  My parents weren’t home so I went straight upstairs and headed into the shower to wash off the vinegar smell. As I stood under the spray I replayed the moment in the car. Would he have kissed me if my cell phone hadn’t rung? If he had kissed me would that mean that we could be together, or would he have just brushed it off as a mistake afterwards? Maybe he would have kissed me and realised that I was the one he wanted too, and he would have asked me for another shot. I stood under the water for a good half an
hour just playing out ‘what might have been’ in my head.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I hardly slept that night. All I could think of was how close his lips had gotten to mine and how his mouth had twisted into that sexy little smile that seemed like it was just for me. I’d never seen him smile like that at anyone else. That had to mean something, didn’t it? Over the course of my sleepless night I had somehow convinced myself that it had to mean something. He felt more than just a sexual attraction to me, he had to.

  I decided to stick to the decision I’d made over the weekend - worst things happened all over the world every minute of every day, and I shouldn’t let this upset me anymore. But at the same time I decided I needed to try and work through it. If he felt anything for me then it was worth a shot. I needed to talk to him and see exactly what was going on in that sexy head of his. If he told me that it was just a sexual attraction then I would let it go and move on, if he wanted me for more than that then we’d have to work something out. I refused to be confused any longer. He either needed to admit it or leave it, that was final. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop caring about him overnight, but if he didn’t want me then I would try my hardest to forget him.

  The next morning after hardly sleeping and contemplating my options in my head; I felt and looked awful. No amount of make-up was going to cover up the dark circles I had under my eyes so I didn’t even bother trying to disguise them. I pulled on the first clothes I saw in my closet, and went downstairs to wait for Amy to come and pick me up.

  When I heard her horn, I walked as slow as possible to the car. I knew she’d give me the third degree about letting Will go and moving on, the same as she did every morning. I held my breath as I climbed in. I was right, the fifteen minute drive she was telling me over and over just to date someone else. She was going on and on about Oliver Hawk - apparently she’d heard that he liked me and wanted to take me out. She even suggested that I sleep with Nick again in a bid to help me get over my ass of an ex, those were her exact words. I just smiled and nodded along, not wanting anymore confrontations about it. I couldn’t make any firm decisions until I’d spoken to Will.

  When we got to school I made up the excuse of needing to go to the office, but instead made my way to his classroom. This was it; once and for all I was going to find out what he meant by that yesterday. He had one chance and one chance only. If he wanted me then he needed to admit it.

  Though as I trudged in the direction of his classroom, I started to doubt myself. What would a guy like Will see in a girl like me anyway? Will is awesome, funny, smart, caring, and when we were together he was the best boyfriend ever. What the hell would I have that would keep him interested in me? Nothing, that’s the answer. I’m not good enough for him at all. I’m going to make myself look like a total moron doing this - just like a stupid schoolgirl crushing on her teacher. Wow, I suck! I wanted to stop walking, but my stupid legs kept taking step after step of their own accord.

  I stopped outside his classroom and took a deep breath, trying in vain to settle my nerves and pluck up the courage to go through with this moronic plan. Be brave, Chloe! Just as I was about to walk in I heard laughter. I stopped dead in my tracks and sneakily glanced in to see Miss Teller, the drama teacher, standing way too close to Will. She was giggling and flicking her hair over her shoulder as she smiled at him seductively. I couldn’t see what he was doing because his back was to me, but no doubt he liked the attention.

  Miss Teller was gorgeous and was pretty young for a teacher too; she was probably only about twenty-six or so. Most of the boys in school had a crush on her. Not that I blamed them. She was tall and athletic looking, with long blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a larger than average chest, which she had no problem showing off teasingly in her revealing shirts.

  I felt jealously boil up inside as she put her hand on his forearm. “That was funny. You really have made this place interesting, Will,” she purred, looking at him through her eyelashes.

  “I’m sure this place was plenty interesting before I came along,” Will responded, shrugging. I noticed that he didn’t move his arm away from her hand. I had the strong urge to rush in there and rip her damn arm off for her.

  “You want to meet up at lunchtime and get something to eat offsite today?” she asked, smiling seductively.

  Oh God, please say no!

  “I can’t, I have a lot to do, sorry,” he replied.

  I breathed a sigh of relief, but deep down I recognised that he hadn’t actually turned her down; he’d just said he had a lot of things to do. He hadn’t said a flat out ‘no thanks, not interested’.

  “Oh, okay never mind. You still okay for after school?” she asked, looking at him hopefully.

  “Yeah sure, I said so didn’t I?”

  Oh my gosh, he’s seeing her after school? He turned her down for lunch but is going out with her after? Wow, that hurts so much. I felt my heart start to beat faster in my chest. He really was finished with us, and that little scene yesterday was just a mistake. Damn it, the stupid jerk-face! Is he doing this on purpose to hurt me? Building my hopes up just to crush me again?

  “Great.” She smiled.

  “Just come meet me here after or something.” He shrugged casually.

  I suddenly realised that their conversation was probably coming to an end, and I was just standing in the doorway listening. Miss Teller’s attention was firmly fixed on Will at the moment, but the minute she turned a bit to the right she’d see me and know I heard their little flirting session.

  I moved back around the corner, trying not to listen to anything else. I couldn’t hear any more flirting, it was too painful. My whole body hurt where I was so tense.

  She walked out of the room and smiled to herself as she sauntered past in her black pencil skirt that showed off her pert behind. Suddenly I felt incredibly underdressed in my jeans and loose fit sweater. All of the guys in the hall smiled at her as she walked past and turned to get a look at her ass.

  My hands were shaking a little with both jealousy and shock. Why the hell am I so surprised about this? Miss Teller is beautiful and actually a really lovely lady too. Why wouldn’t he want to date her? Over the course of the night I had gotten my hopes up for us to be together again. It looked like there was no chance of that now. He’d already moved on to someone better and more suited to him.

  The click of a door closing drew my attention. I looked up just as he walked out of his classroom. I didn’t have time to get away before he saw me. I clenched my hands into fists, feeling both angry and betrayed. For some reason it felt like he’d cheated on me, even though he hadn’t. I wanted to punch him and scream at him in front of everyone so they would know that he made me feel like a cheap piece of meat.

  He looked at me shocked for a second before stepping closer to me, concern crossing his face. “You okay? What’s happened?” he asked, bending to look at me. His eyes found mine as his warmth and smell surrounded me. My stomach started to ache.

  “I’m perfect,” I muttered, trying to appear unconcerned, pretending that his little plans with the hot drama teacher didn’t bother me in the slightest.

  I turned to walk off, but he caught my hand and pulled me to a stop. When he didn’t let go of my fist I turned back to look at him curiously. I glanced down at our hands and tried my best to ignore the little thrill that was going through my bloodstream just because he was touching me.

  “Are you allowed to grab a student, Mr Morris?” I hissed.

  He frowned angrily and let go of my hand quickly. “What’s wrong?” His tone was coloured with annoyance because of my comment.

  “Why would anything be wrong?” I asked, shifting my heavy bag on my shoulder.

  “You look upset, your hands are shaking, and your eyes are doing that little twitching thing they do before you cry,” he stated, crossing his arms across his chest making the muscles in his forearms tense. I hated myself for suddenly wishing those arms were wrapped around me. Focus, Chloe
!

  “Twitching thing?” I was a little thrown by his comment; my eyes didn’t twitch before I cried.

  He nodded, shrugging. “Yeah it always happens right before you start to cry.”

  “How do you know that?” I asked, feeling stupid and willing my eyes not to twitch and give me away.

  “Sad movies.” Wow, he really paid a lot of attention to me when we were going out if he noticed something small like that. He smiled. I felt my anger melting away so I fought hard to hold onto it. I refused to forget this. He’d hurt me, and I wasn’t going to pretend like him moving on so quickly wasn’t ripping my heart out.

  “Well I’m fine, nothing’s wrong. Just tired,” I muttered, gazing longingly up the hallway towards the gym, eager to make my escape to my first class.

  “You didn’t sleep very well?” He flicked his head to get his hair away from his eyes. Jeez, I love it so much when he does that! Maybe I should ask him to cut his hair a little shorter so he’ll stop doing that in front of me.

  I opened my mouth to answer, but the bell rang loudly from above my head. Oh thank you, God! “Got to go.” I smiled and turned to leave. He didn’t stop me this time, and I was grateful. His touch just had an effect on my body and I refused to let him have a hold over me any longer. Stupid, arrogant, cocky, player teacher!

  The rest of the morning passed slowly. I tried really hard not to think about him. I threw myself into my classes, and every time I thought about him and Miss Teller, I mentally slapped myself and focused harder on what the teachers were saying. I even managed to make it through another gym class without hurting myself which I was amazed about. Maybe it was just mind over matter.

  At lunchtime I sat with my group of friends listening to them arrange for us to all go and see a movie on Saturday night. I was definitely up for that. I hadn’t really done anything much since Will and I broke up. Apart from the night out with Sam on Friday, I’d just sat around and wallowed.

  Oliver plopped down next to me, smiling nervously. “Hey, Olly, good weekend?” I asked, finished the last of my juice.