When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  “After you, Miss Henderson.” He smirked making my insides melt. Stupid insides, just get over him already! I wanted to slap myself and call myself names for still being under his spell when he had so obviously moved on to bigger and better than me - well maybe not bigger but undeniably older and sexier.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled uncomfortably.

  “Think I could have a word with you before class?” he asked, cocking his head to the side looking cute as a button. I swallowed loudly and nodded wondering what this was about. “Great. Come to my room with me.” He nodded up the hallway so I waved goodbye to Nick, promising to see him at lunchtime, and then followed Will up the hallway. I tried not to look at his butt as we walked, but I failed my task miserably.

  When we got there he unlocked his door and immediately headed over to his desk, rummaging through his little bag thing that he’d brought with him. I just watched him curiously wondering if he was going to ask about how my date went on Saturday. I couldn’t think of any other reason for him to want to speak to me. I’d done well all week with my project gaining an A grade for the first time in calculus for the presentation that Tricia did on Friday, so he couldn’t want to lecture me about that.

  He turned back and smiled. I tried desperately not to smile back, but it was so hard not to smile at the stupid guy. “Did you hear that Daniel Masters is doing a concert next month?” he asked, looking at me curiously as he perched on the edge of his desk.

  I nodded. “Yeah I heard that on the radio on Sunday.” I sighed sadly thinking about it again.

  “You didn’t get tickets?” He had a sly smile on his face as he asked.

  I shook my head sadly and let my shoulders slump in defeat. “Nope, sold out. We tried to win some from the radio because it’s an exclusive concert, but we couldn’t get through.”

  He nodded, chewing on his bottom lip, looking amused about something. “What is it with that guy that you like? I mean, his music’s terrible.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Will, I remember you don’t like him. Is there a point to this little dragging me away from my friends thing or…” I trailed off, crossing my arms over my chest. I was already annoyed so he needed to stop winding me up.

  He laughed and shook his head. “Here.” He held an envelope out to me, his eyes shining with amusement.

  “What’s that?” I asked, frowning at it as I took it from his hand.

  “It’s a detention slip. Jeez, will you just open it and see, and stop with the attitude?” he said, laughing.

  I swallowed my angry retort and opened the envelope, pulling out two tickets for the concert. Oh my freaking God! My mouth dropped open in shock as my heart started to beat way too fast. Holy poop, I’m holding tickets to the concert in my hand! I’m going to see him live? I squealed and jumped up and down on the spot, which just made Will laugh and shake his head at me. I looked up to him in disbelief. He got these tickets for me, knowing I loved Daniel Masters? Damn it, he really is something else.

  “Are these yours?” I asked breathlessly. He smirked at me and shook his head slowly but didn’t elaborate. “Who’s are they?” I asked, praying he would say he was selling them to me.

  “Yours,” he replied, his voice all husky and sexy making my stomach get fluttery.

  “You’re going to sell them to me?” I asked hopefully, bouncing on the spot again.

  “They’re yours, I got them for you. I’m not selling them to you.” He rolled his eyes as if I’d said something stupid.

  “You got them for me?” I asked, swallowing the lump in my throat.

  He shrugged like it was no big deal. “I heard that he was doing the show and thought you’d want to go. The manager of the club that I used to work at has some contacts. Apparently his brother is the guy who books the venues and stuff so I asked him to get me a couple of tickets. I know he’s your favourite.”

  Why the heck did he do that? We’re not going out anymore, so why did he go to the trouble to do that for me? “Why would you get them for me?” I asked, my voice breaking slightly as I spoke.

  He looked at me intently, his grey eyes locked onto mine making my whole body feel like it was on fire. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to get tickets, I thought you’d like to go,” he explained simply.

  “Thank you,” I gushed. He nodded, his eyes still locked on mine. I wanted to throw myself at his feet and beg him to give me another chance, to beg for him to change his mind, to leave the hot teacher that was ten times better for him than me. “How much do I owe you?” I asked, breaking the silence before I did what my heart was screaming at me to do.

  “Nothing, I didn’t have to pay for them.” He turned away from me, busying himself with moving his things around on his desk. “I pulled in a favour; they didn’t cost me any money.”

  Did he really not have to pay for them? I stepped closer to him knowing the bell was about to ring and that his class would be here soon. I touched his arm, and he turned round to face me, his eyes tightening as his body tensed up.

  Oh God, can I kiss him? Would he kiss me back if I did?

  “Thank you,” I whispered gratefully. That was probably one of the nicest things anyone had done for me, so thoughtful and adorable.

  “You’re welcome,” he whispered back. He was so close I could feel his body heat seeping into mine. Jeez, I need him so much. Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to turn out to be my stupid teacher? “You should go, the bell’s about to ring.”

  Before I could stop myself I stepped forward and pressed my lips against his cheek softly, letting my mouth linger on his skin for a couple of seconds while I enjoyed the feel of him under my lips again. He moaned in the back of his throat and turned his face towards mine slightly so my lips touched the corner of his mouth. I felt my heart skip a beat as hope started to build inside me. I wanted him to kiss me so much. If he just moved his face again our lips would connect. I pulled back ever so slightly so I wasn’t kissing him anymore, but our faces we so close that I could feel his breath blowing across my cheek and down my neck.

  “Please go, Chloe,” he begged, closing his eyes as his hands clenched into tight fists.

  “Thank you for the tickets. That was really sweet, Will.”

  “No problem, glad you liked them.” He stepped back, folding his arms across his chest. “Not sure what you’re going to tell Amy though, good luck with that.” He smirked at me and laughed as I practically skipped out of the classroom. When I looked back at him, he winked, and my smile grew impossibly bigger.

  I didn’t tell Amy about the tickets. I was itching to though, especially when she was moaning and whining about not being able to go. They felt like they were burning a hole in my pocket and I couldn’t wipe the excited grin off of my face all morning. When lunchtime came Olly plopped himself down next to me, grinning happily. My heart sank. I’d forgotten we went on a semi date, and that I’d agreed to eat with him today.

  “Hey, want to go eat outside or something?” he asked.

  Crap, I guess I’d agreed to it so I can’t exactly say no! “Sure.”

  I grabbed my sandwich and drink following him out of the building, ignoring Amy’s proud smile. He walked over to the benches at the back of the school and sat down looking at me expectantly. I gulped and sat down next to him with a forced smile.

  “So how was the rest of your weekend?” he asked, tucking into his sandwich.

  I shrugged. “It was okay. I didn’t do much really, I spent the day with Nick, and then Amy came over in the afternoon. What about you?” I asked, moving slightly further away from him as my arm kept brushing his as we moved to eat.

  A frown lined his forehead. “You spent the day with Nick? So are you two back together then or…” he trailed off, looking away from me.

  I smiled and rolled my eyes. People always assumed things about me and Nick. It drove me crazy. Couldn’t two people just be friends? Why did something always have to be going on?

  “Definitely or,” I confirmed.


  He smiled happily, turning in his seat to look at me. “Awesome, I thought you meant… never mind, I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought.”

  “You thought I got back with my ex,” I guessed.

  He nodded. “Yeah sorry. It’s weird you two being friends, you don’t see that very often.”

  I shrugged. “Yeah but people forget that Nick and I were good friends before we even got together, so that makes it easier. I want to keep him in my life so we just need to work a little harder to make that happen. It was a little strained at first, but it’s cool now.”

  He grinned happily and reached out to brush my bangs away from my eyes. “Well then that’s great,” he whispered. His eyes flicked down to my lips as he moved closer to me.

  Oh no! I need to talk to him and explain a few things about Will before he starts to really crush on me and then he ends up getting hurt or something.

  I reached up and took his hand that was tracing along my cheekbone. I pulled back, smiling apologetically. “Olly, I need to talk to you about something.”

  He looked at me curiously as he intertwined our fingers, leaving his hand in my lap. “Okay, what’s up?”

  I sighed. How the heck do I say this without giving anything away and making myself sound like a moron who’s obsessed with her ex-boyfriend? “Well this summer I started dating someone.” I frowned. The situation hurt to talk about so I would actually rather not do it at all.

  He pulled away further, frowning as he let go of my hand. “Great, so you are seeing someone,” he accused, frowning.

  I shook my head quickly. “No I’m not, honestly I’m not. It’s just I really liked him and then he broke up with me like two weeks ago and I still don’t think I’m over it properly.” Wow that doesn’t even cover a tenth of what I’m feeling.

  “The guy dumped you? What is he, stupid or something?” he asked, looking confused.

  Aww, that’s a sweet thing to say! I smiled. “I don’t know. It just didn’t work out and I don’t want to rush into something if I’m not over him because that wouldn’t be fair on either of us.” I smiled apologetically.

  “So you’re still into this guy that dumped you. You think you two will get back together?” he asked, his expression was hopeful as he studied my face.

  “No I don’t.” There was no chance that Will wanted me now that he was dating Miss Teller. He wouldn’t want to down grade to a stupid school girl after being with her. Not to mention the fact that he thought I’d lied to him about my age, and he’s my teacher. Everything just made it impossible for us to get back together so I could say with absolute certainty that what Will and I had was over - for him at least.

  “So… maybe we could take it slow or something until you feel over it,” Olly suggested, cocking his head to the side and giving me the puppy dog face.

  Could I take it slow with him? What would that actually mean though? Going out on dates, kissing, and holding his hand. I guess I could do that, as long as both of us understood that it was nothing serious. I knew I didn’t have strong feelings for him, but he was a sweet guy. Maybe, like Amy always says, my feelings would grow once I let myself get over Will. Maybe one day he would make me fall for him, and I would be passing up an opportunity that I should be grabbing with both hands. Will and I were over. I needed to accept that fact.

  “What if I’m just on the rebound from this guy and we both end up getting hurt?” I quizzed, giving him the chance to walk away from me. I would hate it if I ended up hurting him.

  He shrugged. “Who knows, but you’ll never know if you don’t try, and I want to try.” His blue eyes were burning into mine, willing me to give him a shot. I could feel my resistance crumbling. Why oh why can I never say no to people?

  “We’ll have to take it really slow though, Olly,” I whispered, not trusting my voice to speak. I’ve just done it – taken the significant step and chose to move on. Now I just need to make my heart move on too.

  He grinned and took my hand again; I smiled and looked at our intertwined hands. It still felt wrong but it was nice to know that I was trying. “Then we’ll take it really slow,” he confirmed. The bell rang signalling the end of lunch, and I smiled at his disappointed face. “I guess we should get to class. I’ll see you in calculus.”

  He stood up grabbing my empty lunch things throwing them in the trash for me. He smiled and held his hand out for me to take so I slipped my hand back into his as we walked down the hall towards my next class. He stopped outside the door to my Spanish class and smiled. “So I’ll see you in a bit,” he mumbled, tucking some of my loose hair behind my ear for me.

  “Yeah. Thanks for walking me to class.”

  “No worries.” He turned and practically ran down the hallway where he was late for his class because he walked me to mine. As I watched him run off, I spotted Will standing there. It was like he was frozen in place, staring at me, frowning angrily. Well, it was more like glaring actually.

  What on earth is that look for? I sighed and headed into the classroom. I give up trying to work out what goes on in that sexy head of his.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I sat down next to Amy. She was grinning at me expectantly so I knew she’d just seen us in the hallway and now wanted the gossip on lunch. I smiled teasingly which made her almost bounce in her chair as she looked at me pleadingly.

  I chuckled darkly. “It was nice,” I stated, knowing she would want details, and it would kill her to wait.

  “Annnnnnd?” she cried excitedly.

  I shrugged noncommittally. “I don’t know, it was nice. He was sweet. I told him about Will and that I wasn’t ready for anything, and he said we could take it slow. Then he held my hand and walked me to class.” That was it, no juicy details like she thought.

  She sighed dramatically. “Well he’s hot so you’re lucky. I hope you give him a proper shot, Chloe, because he’s a nice guy.”

  “I will give him a proper shot. Hopefully the taking it slow thing will help,” I confirmed, turning to the front of the class as the teacher walked in. All through class I ignored Amy’s stares and obvious frustration at not getting the gossip.

  When the class was over she looped her arm through mine and skipped along at my side. “So did he kiss you again?” she asked with wide eyes.

  I shook my head. “Nope.”

  “You think he will?” she asked, grinning.

  I gulped. I didn’t really want to be thinking about this yet. “Probably,” I admitted reluctantly.

  “Oh good grief he’s hot,” she gushed. “And you already know what his body is like because of all the swim meets. Oh my God, your boyfriend’s on the swim team! You’ll have to go to all of the races and stuff to support him. You get to perv on him in his trunks!” she squealed.

  Wow, it’s so wrong that Amy is more excited about this than me!

  “Tone it down, Amy. He’s not my boyfriend.” I frowned as we stopped outside Will’s room. This class would be awkward with both Will and Olly in the same room.

  “He didn’t officially ask you out?” she asked, pouting disappointedly.

  “No,” I answered. “Now come on let’s get a seat before Mr Morris gives us detention for being late or something.” I headed into the class to see Will was already sitting at his desk, watching as we walked in. I smiled but he didn’t smile back.

  What the heck is his problem now? This morning we had a great moment, and now he’s looking all angry at me again.

  Olly grinned as we walked in and nodded his head towards the empty seats next to his. Thankfully the seats weren’t at the front this time. I smiled and walked up to him, plopping down next to him and Amy next to me.

  “Hey, long time no see,” he joked, grinning as he scooted his chair closer to mine. His side was practically pressed against mine, making me feel a little uncomfortable.

  “Yeah I almost forgot what you looked like.” I stuck my tongue out at him making him laugh as his arm slipped across the back of my chair
, just resting there casually.

  Will stood up. His body looking a little tense as he looked around the class. “So we only have half a lesson today as there’s been an assembly called for seniors at two thirty in the hall. We don’t really have time to start anything new, so how about we go over some of the rules of proportions ready for tomorrow.” He shrugged, his eyes scanning the room. When they settled on me, he frowned and looked away quickly.

  What on earth is his problem now? I honestly have no idea how his brain works anymore. I thought I knew him well, but all this just shows that I have no idea who he was in the first place.

  I groaned and pulled out my textbook, flicking to the page he said. All sorts of equations and formulas jumped out at me on the page. My brain immediately started to switch off. I concentrated on what Will was saying at the front of the class, trying to understand what he was talking about, but I knew I needed more one to one help. I would never understand this stupid subject so I thanked my lucky stars for Nick.

  Olly was playing with the back of my hair while we sat there, twisting it around his finger as I tried to concentrate, but failed miserably as I started daydreaming about Will again. He was walking around the classroom and I couldn’t help but watch his pert little behind discretely as I bit my bottom lip. Thoughts of wrapping my arms around him, or trailing my fingers up his spine, bombarded my brain.

  Suddenly he stopped in front of me, looking at me expectantly. Oh God, what did I miss? I looked around to Amy for help, but she was just looking at me with wide eyes.

  “Er,” I mumbled, not knowing what was expected of me.

  He laughed humourlessly, his face hard. “Nice answer,” he said sarcastically. He turned to Olly and narrowed his eyes. “Maybe you should let her concentrate instead of feeling her up in the middle of my class,” he growled.