When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  I just sat there staring at him in shock; did he really just say all that to my best friend and fellow student? I couldn’t breathe. I literally couldn’t breathe, and my lungs were starting to burn. It was like I’d forgotten how to suck in air or something. I started to panic. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Will, I didn’t want to look in Amy’s direction and see the accusation there. I had definitely broken the best friend code by not telling her who Will was, but she’d forgive me, I knew that. Yes, I’d hurt her, but she’d forgive me anything, the same as she knew I would if this were the other way around.

  Will looked up at me a little concerned as he suddenly gripped my upper arm and stood up, facing me. “Are you all right? You look really pale,” he said desperately. I swallowed loudly and nodded, trying to calm my racing heart, but I just couldn’t. He smiled reassuringly and brushed my hair back from my face softly, the back of one finger lingering on my flushed cheek. “It’s okay. Amy has a right to know so we couldn’t exactly lie about it. I’ll take whatever punishment I get, it’s fine, stop stressing about it.”

  I couldn’t look away from his eyes. He did that trapping me there thing that I both loved and hated at the same time.

  “Why would you get punished?” Amy asked suddenly.

  Will sighed. “Chloe’s a minor. I’m in a position of responsibility, as her teacher she’s in my charge. It wasn’t legal for us to… it’s classed as statutory rape,” he explained effortlessly, as if we were talking about the weather.

  He looked like he’d been thinking about this for a long time, actually, come to think of it, he didn’t look like he’d slept at all. There were dark circles under pink, tired looking eyes. Had he laid awake all night worrying about Amy knowing and had resigned himself to the fact that he was going to prison or something?

  “It wasn’t.” I shook my head fiercely. I hated it when he said that word; it made what we had feel cheap and dirty. I refused to think of it that way.

  He sighed and his hand dropped from my cheek, hanging loosely at his side. In that moment I would give anything for him to put it back on my arm or my face, just any sort of physical contact because I was seriously freaking out.

  “I’ll leave you two to talk, and I’ll go in the shower.” He smiled sadly again before turning and walking out of the kitchen, leaving me there with Amy who I still couldn’t look at.

  I heard the stool scrape against the floor tiles, and suddenly her arms wrapped around me. I just stood there shocked for a couple of seconds before hugging her back. I expected her to be mad at me for not telling her so I really wasn’t expecting this at all.

  “It all makes sense now. How you were so happy then just kind of freaked out in the middle of his class and ran out, then said he broke up with you. Oh Chloe, it must have been so hard for you having me keep talking about how hot he was all the time, when you were so heartbroken over him. I’m so sorry,” she whispered, stroking my back.

  I smiled against her shoulder and hugged her tighter. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I wanted to so badly, but I couldn’t risk Will getting in trouble if someone found out. He would be in so much trouble if this came out. You’re not going to say anything are you?” I pulled back and looked at her pleadingly, begging her with my eyes.

  She smiled and shook her head. “Of course I won’t.” I smiled gratefully and felt the last of the tension leave my body. “I can’t believe he’s the teacher, I mean for goodness sake you find your Mr Perfect, and it turns out he’s your damn teacher! How unlucky can you get?” she mused, shaking her head in disbelief.

  I laughed humourlessly and pulled away, sitting on Will’s stool. I rested my forehead on the table, closed my eyes and sighed with relief. I actually felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders now that I had someone to talk to about it. Of course I had Sam, but it was hard talking to him because one, he is Will’s brother so there was only so much bad mouthing I could do as he was after all his family. And two, he was a guy, so he had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned heartbreak and feelings.

  “So he just broke up with you when he found out that he was your teacher?” Amy asked softly.

  “Mmm hmm,” I mumbled, not lifting my head from the table.

  “Well that sucks! Couldn’t you at least carry on seeing each other or something and just keep it secret?”

  I shrugged. “He doesn’t want to date a minor. I think he’s still pissed at me because I lied to him about how old I was. Well, technically, I didn’t lie, but I didn’t exactly tell him I was seventeen either. We both just kind of assumed things instead of talking about it,” I said sadly, trying not to cry. It was hard to talk about it, I wasn’t used to having someone know the truth, and it all seemed to burn my throat as finally I said the words out loud.

  She laughed. “Chloe, he doesn’t look at you like a minor. He still likes you,” she observed confidently.

  I raised my head and propped my chin up on my hand, looking at her like she was crazy. What on earth is she talking about, ‘he still likes you’. He doesn’t still like me; he’s dating the freaking drama teacher for goodness sake.

  I shook my head fiercely. “He’s made it pretty obvious, Amy. I’m just another student to him, someone he’s bedded, another one of the many notches on his headboard.”

  She looked at me knowingly. “Just another student? Do you see him touching my face like he did yours? Did you see him that concerned over me? Did you see him beat the crap out of that guy for me last night, and carry me through the house? Did you see how sad he was when he was telling me about you two?” She smirked at me knowingly, but I just wasn’t in the mood for this at all, my head was pounding. I couldn’t argue about this right now.

  I sighed and pushed myself up from the stool. “Can we just not talk about it? How about I make some breakfast? He doesn’t ever have much in the apartment to eat, but I think there’s some cereal and stuff.” I headed over to the cupboard, looking to see if there was any of the Lucky Charms left that he bought for me when I used to stay here. I smiled when I spotted the box exactly where I left it. He’d always just laughed at me when I ate this kind of stuff but to hell with it; if something tastes that great it has to be good for you.

  I shook the box at Amy in offer. She smiled, nodding eagerly. After digging out the last two clean bowls from the cupboard, I found the milk from the fridge before shoving some bread in the toaster for Will. I left it up so he could push the button down when he came out of the shower. I turned back to Amy. She was just watching me with a small smile on her face. I gave her a quizzical look which made her smile grow more pronounced.

  “You know your way around his kitchen, that’s adorable,” she said, digging into her type two diabetes in a bowl.

  I shrugged but didn’t answer. She was just trying to start the conversation about Will again and I just couldn’t cope with that yet, at least not until my headache had dulled fractionally. After about a minute of silence she frowned and seemed to be losing the battle she was obviously having with herself not to say anything about it again. I rolled my eyes and just looked at her expectantly waiting for her to get it off of her chest.

  She let out a big breath and shook her head. “Okay I need to say it. Holy fudge, Chloe, you screwed a teacher? And a damn hot one too. Jeez, that chest. Swoon. Wow, just wow,” she gushed.

  I burst out laughing at her little outburst. “Are you done?” I giggled.

  She nodded and fanned her face. “Yeah unless he comes back in shirtless again,” she joked.

  I smiled. Trust Amy to lighten the mood. I knew she was only doing it to cheer me up, and I loved her for it. I also knew this wasn’t the end of it; she wouldn’t let this go at all. Once we were out of here and on our own, she would quiz me for all of the details. She already knew a lot of the details, but I guessed she’d want all of the things that had happened since we broke up because I had told her I hadn’t seen or heard from Will since he dumped me. There was lots of gossip and
details that she would hound me for.

  A few minutes later Will came back into the kitchen looking a little uncomfortable. I smiled reassuringly and nodded towards the toaster. “I put that there for you, or have you already eaten?” I asked, wanting to break the slightly uncomfortable silence.

  He smiled gratefully. “No I didn’t eat yet.” He grinned and nodded at my empty bowl and the box of Lucky Charms on the table. “Glad you’re eating that crap up, the sugar in it was tainting all of my health food,” he joked.

  I grinned and laughed. “You don’t have health food in the apartment, Mr I like microwave food so I don’t have to wash up too much,” I teased, sticking out my tongue. He laughed and pushed the button down to make himself some toast while I just watched his back wondering if I could ask him about the tickets that he got for me.

  He turned back and crossed his arms over his chest looking from me to Amy. “So I guess I have some explaining to do?” he asked nervously.

  I flicked my eyes to Amy to see her shake her head. “Not really, Chloe’s explained everything, and don’t worry, I won’t say anything to anyone. You two make a really cute couple,” she said, smirking at us both before pushing herself up from the stool and heading out of the kitchen towards Will’s bedroom.

  I cringed and looked at Will worriedly, chewing on my lip. Why did she have to say about us being a cute couple? He smiled at me sadly. I picked up my bowl and Amy’s and put them in the sink while he just watched me curiously. “Are you really all right, Chloe? Not freaking out about last night or anything? You know you can talk to me, don’t you?” he asked, touching the small of my back softly.

  I nodded. I was actually fine. If I could remember more of it then it would be worse, but at the moment, it was all just a little hazy, like I was watching someone else through frosted glass or something, everything was a little distorted.

  “I’m fine honestly. Thank you so much, Will, I owe you a lot. And I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I shouldn’t have danced with that guy, I was just trying to prove a point and piss you off,” I admitted, feeling stupid and immature.

  He smiled and nodded. “I know why you did it. That doesn’t make it your fault though, that guy probably would have found someone else to do that to if it wasn’t you; he had the drugs with him so he obviously planned it. In a way I guess we were lucky that it was you because I was keeping an eye on you. I saw him lead you off down the hallway. If it had been someone else, some other girl that no one was watching, then it could have been a lot worse,” he replied, smiling sadly and brushing some of my hair behind my ear.

  I closed my eyes and turned my face towards his hand, pressing my cheek against it, loving the feel of his skin against mine again. I heard a small moan escape my lips and I wanted nothing more than to step forward, press myself against him and hold him tightly. He didn’t move. His thumb just traced across my cheek lightly making my whole body tingle. I could hear his breathing and nothing had ever sounded more important to me.

  I knew right then that I loved him. I already knew I was crazy about him, but it just all of a sudden hit me like a truck or something. I was totally and utterly in love with him, and no amount of trying to move on was going to help me get over him. Time I guess would be the only healer.

  The toaster popped making me jump. I laughed at how lost in the moment I was. His hand dropped from the side of my face, and I dragged my eyes up to meet his just wishing things were different. Wishing I’d met him in a year, when I was eighteen and had finished school and was starting college or something. I had nine and a half months left at school to get through then I could move far away from his handsome face. Maybe the distance would help with the getting over him.

  He smiled sadly and sighed. “I’ll drive you and Amy home when you’re ready,” he muttered.

  “Thanks.” Is now a good time to ask him about the tickets? Would I get another chance to ask him if I didn’t do it now? “Will?” I frowned. Was this just going to make things even more awkward between us?

  “Mmm?” he mumbled, buttering his toast with his back to me.

  I took a deep breath. “Why were you working at the club last night? I thought you would have stopped that now that you were working full time,” I asked, going for the subtle approach.

  He shoved the butter back into the fridge and shrugged. “I just had some hours to make up before I left.”

  “Really? Because Jack said you were paying for some concert tickets you got.” I watched him, waiting for his reaction. His eyes tightened marginally but other than that he showed nothing else. Damn he’s a good actor… unless Jack was wrong and I’ve just made myself look like an idiot or something.

  “Jack’s mistaken,” he replied, munching on his toast.

  “So you’re not working at the club to pay for the Daniel Masters tickets you got for me?” I questioned. I honestly didn’t know whether to believe him or not. Maybe Jack was just messing with me or something, trying to make me think he’d paid for them when he hadn’t.

  “Does it really matter?” he asked, looking a little uncomfortable.

  Holy crud, he really is working there for me! I felt a little thrill go through me at the thought of him giving up his time for me. He’d agreed to work there for the next month for me, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to see Miss Teller because of it, did that mean something?

  “It matters to me,” I mumbled breathlessly.

  He sighed and frowned. “Then yeah I am. He wouldn’t sell them to me. I got them in exchange for me working there for another month.” He shrugged like it was nothing and I felt my heart skip a beat at how sweet he was.

  “Thank you, Will, that’s really…” I trailed off not knowing how to finish that sentence. A lot of words sprang to mind, but I wasn’t sure which one suited him best: adorable, thoughtful, generous, incredible; the list went on and on.

  “It’s no big deal.” He shrugged defensively.

  Wow, no big deal, that is the understatement off the century. It’s a huge deal to me. “Yeah I guess the extra money will come in handy.” I shrugged, trying to make light of it. He was obviously a little uncomfortable talking about it.

  He laughed and shook his head. “It would, but I’m not getting paid.”

  I gasped and looked at him shocked; he wasn’t even getting paid for it? “Seriously?”

  He nodded and put his plate in the sink with the other unwashed dishes. “That’s the whole idea of payment, Chloe. Wouldn’t be much of a deal for my boss if I was getting paid and getting the tickets on top would it.” He laughed, flicking my nose playfully.

  I smiled gratefully. Jeez, this guy just gets better and better. “Daniel Masters’ tickets don’t cost that much you know. I think maybe you were ripped off,” I joked, grabbing his hand as he went to poke me in the ribs.

  He laughed and wrapped his arm around me, pinning my arms to my sides, pressing me against the fridge and freeing his other hand as he tickled me making me giggle and squirm. “I was ripped off, really? They weren’t worth my time? Shall I give them back?” he teased, laughing.

  I shook my head, pressing my face against his chest as I squirmed and tried to get out of his hold, giggling like crazy. He laughed and pressed his face into the crook of my neck blowing a raspberry on me making me laugh hysterically.

  “Stop, stop,” I squeaked breathlessly.

  He laughed and loosened his hold on me but didn’t step back; I smiled and moved my head off of his chest looking up at his face. He was grinning happily and I felt my heart start to race at how close he was to me. His chest was pressed against mine; our legs were tangled together as he pressed me against the fridge.

  The smile slowly faded from his face as he looked at me. His expression was torn, like he was trying to decide something. I could barely breathe. I could feel the sexual tension sparking up. If this had happened a month ago, before school started, he would have lifted me onto the counter by now and made love to me.

  I gulped an
d ran my hand up his chest slowly until I got to his neck. I slipped my arm around his neck, tangling my fingers into his hair as my heart started crashing in my chest. He moaned lightly in the back of his throat as he pressed himself to me tighter, bending a little so our faces were at the same level as he just looked at me. He looked like he was trying to memorise every part of my face. He was looking at me so intently that it was making my legs a little weak.

  His hot breath blew across my lips making my mouth water and my whole body tingle as a hundred butterflies seemed to take flight in my stomach. He gripped the back of my shirt tightly as he pressed his forehead to mine, his nose rubbing against mine teasingly making me arch my back so I could press against him harder. I was pretty sure that if he didn’t kiss me soon I was going to pass out through lack of oxygen where I just couldn’t seem to remember how to breathe.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  His eyes were boring into mine and a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. I tightened my hand in the back of his hair as his hand stroked down my back slowly making me shiver with desire. Just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore teasing, he started inching his face closer to mine.

  My insides were jumping for joy at the thought of him kissing me, if he kissed me then that meant he still wanted me and everything that he had done for me since we broke up really meant something. Was Amy right about him still wanting me? He couldn’t look at me like I was a minor; because his mouth was now dangerously close to mine. Every inch of his hard, toned body was pressed against me, and I could barely stop myself squealing with excitement.