When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  Okay, so I don’t want to lie but I can’t tell them the truth. Oh man, what do I say to that? “Er… I’m not sure.” I winced, hoping that my answer was acceptable. Apparently it was because she smiled and nodded, continuing to chop up vegetables.

  A couple of minutes later my phone started ringing in my purse. I grabbed it out excitedly, knowing it would be Will. I jumped out of my chair as I answered it, not wanting to be near my parents in case my face gave something away that I was having an illegal relationship with my teacher.

  “Hi,” I answered. I bit my lip when I realised how happy and excited my voice sounded. Was I going to scare him away by coming on too strong? Was he going to take one look at my flushed face and finally see me as an over excited school girl?

  “Hi, Cutie. I’m outside, shall I come and knock for you or…” He trailed off and I felt my heart start to crash erratically at the sound of his voice. Suddenly I realised what he’d said. He wants to knock on the door? Oh my days, my dad would literally kill him!

  “No don’t, I’ll be right out,” I said quickly. My eyes were firmly fixed on the back of my dad’s head in case he decided, at that exact moment, to go outside and saw Will sitting there in his car waiting for me. I disconnected the call and headed back over to the kitchen counter where I’d left my purse; I shoved my cell phone in and kissed my dad on the cheek. “I’ll see you both later.”

  “Home before ten thirty, Chloe,” my dad said sternly.

  I gave him my best puppy dog face; I wanted as much time with Will as I could get tonight. I was actually considering the idea of telling them I was staying at Amy’s for the night so I would get to stay with Will, but I couldn’t exactly spring things like that on my parents. My parents liked a little notice and were less likely to kick up a fuss if I told them before I was just about to leave the house.

  “Aww, can’t it be later? Eleven thirty, please?” I begged, pouting at him. “It’s not a school night,” I added. He sighed and nodded and I kissed his cheek again, before skipping off towards the door. “You guys are the best, see you later!” I called over my shoulder.

  As soon as I opened the front door I was overcome with happiness. Just seeing Will’s silver jeep parked there made my skin feel like it had burst into flames and my whole body started to tingle with nervous excitement. He was watching me walk up the path, his eyes a little wide as he raked them over my body. I grinned smugly. Someone definitely still liked the jeans!

  Sliding into the passenger seat of his car, I smiled. He was still raking his eyes down my body lustfully. My heart was beating so loud I’m surprised he couldn’t hear it. He was still wearing the same clothes from earlier, but he always just seemed so much sexier outside of school grounds.

  “Hi,” I whispered, knowing my voice wouldn’t come out if I tried to speak properly.

  His eyes finally left my body and came back to meet mine. “Hi,” he whispered back, grinning at me. His expression seemed to match mine, happiness, nervousness, and a little shock. He leant through into the back seat, and I frowned, wondering what he was doing - until he pulled his arm back into the front, holding out a bunch of red tulips. “Got you these.”

  So. Damn. Sweet! I forgot how adorable he was, how attentive he was as a boyfriend, how he always spoiled me and seemed to remember every single little thing I told him. “Oh, Will, these are beautiful. Thank you,” I mumbled, fighting a wave of happy tears because this was real and he honestly wanted me and that the pain of the last six weeks was finally over. Hopefully for good.

  “You’re welcome, Cutie.” He smiled happily, and my heart melted into a puddle when he called me Cutie.

  He was moving closer to me, his luscious lips getting dangerously close to mine and I could barely breathe. This is where I wake up with my alarm clock buzzing and realise I’ve slept in and am late for school…

  But I wasn’t dreaming.

  His lips pressed against mine, and I made a little squeak of excitement as my hands gripped into the back of his hair, not letting him pull away from me. I wanted him so much, no it wasn’t want, it was need. I needed him. I drank him in greedily, kissing him as fiercely as he kissed me, feeling the little sparks of electricity that seemed to run through my body whenever he was close to me. I pulled myself closer to him, crushing my chest against his as I kissed him passionately, showing him all of my feelings for him.

  Way too soon he pulled away. I struggled to catch my breath, but I still needed more. I pouted at him letting him know that I wasn’t done. He smiled, pecking me on the lips again quickly before pulling all the way back and starting the car.

  I sighed happily and sat back in my seat too, trying to calm my body down before I literally burned into flames - I didn’t want to ruin his leather seats. I snapped on my seatbelt as he pulled away from my house.

  “So what do you want to do? If you want to go for dinner or something then we’ll need to go a little way out of town so no one sees us,” he suggested, frowning.

  I shrugged; I couldn’t care less what we did as long as I got to spend a few hours with him. I would happily shovel manure as long as I was doing it with him. “Whatever you want,” I murmured, tracing my fingers over the waxy petals of one of the tulips, marvelling over their beauty. Trust Will to buy me my favourite flowers.

  “Well, we need to talk, so how about we go to my place and order takeout?”

  Oh heck yeah I want to go to his place! I loved his place, and of course, a visit to his bed would pretty much make my night too. “Chinese?” I suggested, trying not to let my dirty thoughts show on my face.

  “Sounds good.” He held my hand as he drove to his place and I couldn’t help but steal little glances at him every now and again. He was so handsome and made my heart beat a little too fast in my chest. The whole car journey my body was on edge, my palms were sweaty, and my stomach was fluttering excitedly.

  I just held his hand tightly, afraid to let go in case he changed his mind or something and didn’t want to be with me after all. That would crush me. When we broke up last time that was hard but this time it would be even harder because we’d exchanged the ‘L’ word. I smiled and laughed quietly to myself as I thought about him telling me he loved me; coming out of his mouth they were the most beautiful words I had ever heard.

  “What?” he asked, glancing at me from the corner of his eye as he pulled into the spaces for his apartment building.

  I shrugged. “Just thinking.”

  He smiled and kissed the back of my hand before letting go and climbing out of the car heading around to my side. I got out before he could open the door for me, knowing he wouldn’t like that, he liked to behave like a gentleman and do little things like open doors for me when we were dating.

  He sighed and looked at me knowingly as he snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me against him. “Must we have this conversation again about you letting me behave like a proper boyfriend?” he whispered, bending and planting a soft kiss on my forehead. My heart stopped and then took off in overdrive when he said the word boyfriend and I couldn’t help the excited little squeal that came out of my mouth as I grabbed his T-shirt and pulled him impossibly closer.

  “Is that what you are?” I teased.

  He grinned. “Unless you’d rather me behave like your teacher,” he offered, shrugging and stepping back, narrowing his eyes at me jokingly.

  “You think you can teach me a few things upstairs in your apartment?” I flirted, biting my lip and trying to look sexy, but my blush probably ruined the effect.

  “Sure, did you bring your textbook?” he answered, smirking but looking a little uncomfortable at the same time.

  “Damn it, I forgot to bring it. Looks like it’ll just have to be a practical lesson,” I purred suggestively, watching as he gulped, his eyes getting a little wider before he crashed his lips to mine, ending my pitiful attempts at seduction.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  He kissed me hard, pushing me against the side of his c
ar, pressing his body to mine. I instantly wrapped my arms around him tightly so he couldn’t pull away from me. His kissing was almost desperate, like he was determined to make up for the whole six weeks of missing me, right now. Not that I minded. I was pretty up for making up for lost time too, my body was on a slow burn, and the only one that could help me out of my little frustrated state was him.

  However, it probably wasn’t a bright idea to have a full on make out session outside his building though. He’d told me that Miss Teller lived down his street. If she saw us it would be really bad for both of us.

  As he sucked on my bottom lip asking for entrance I reluctantly pulled my mouth away from his. But he obviously wasn’t happy about that though because as I moved my head back, he just moved his forward and kissed me again. I giggled against his lips and finally he sighed and pulled away, pouting at me jokingly.

  “Lesson one; you do everything a teacher wants, that includes kissing on demand. None of this pulling away nonsense,” he teased, smirking at me.

  I giggled again and rolled my eyes. “I just thought maybe we should take this inside in case anyone sees,” I explained, shrugging.

  He pressed his forehead to mine. “I guess. And we really, really need to talk,” he said breathlessly, pulling away from me, taking my hand.

  I smiled and interlaced our fingers, letting him lead me towards his apartment. With each step I got more and more excited because I wanted to just lay in his arms forever.

  He stopped outside his door and looked at me apologetically. It dawned on me what the apologetic look was probably for. “Your place is a mess, right?” I asked, trying not to laugh.

  “In my defence, I didn’t know you were coming over,” he replied, wincing.

  I stepped closer to him and brushed my nose against his lightly. “Will, I know you’re a slob. I like it actually; it proves you’re human and not some super hot pod person. Everyone has flaws, and enjoying living in a pig sty is obviously yours.”

  He smirked at me. “You think I’m super hot?”

  I grinned. “Hottest teacher I’ve ever seen.”

  He laughed and opened the door, taking my hand and pulling me inside. The place was just how I remembered, messy, dirty, and cluttered. But I loved it. I smiled and stepped closer to him, wrapping my arms around his neck, looking right into his eyes as happiness swirled around my system.

  “I love your apartment,” I confessed.

  He smiled. “And I love you being in my apartment.”

  I pulled his mouth down to mine, eager to pick up where we left off outside. He kissed me for a couple of seconds but then pulled away from me, smiling a little sheepishly. “Chloe, let’s talk for a bit.” He guided me over to the sofa and sat down. A concerned frown lined his forehead.

  I smiled and nodded, sitting next to him and holding his hand tightly. He played with my fingers, looking a little uncomfortable. “Will, spit it out!” I laughed, rolling my eyes.

  “Okay, so I want to be with you,” he started.

  I grinned as my heart leapt in my chest. “Well that’s pretty good considering I want to be with you too.”

  He bent his head and kissed me lightly, his eyes locked on mine. “We could both be in so much trouble for this. There’s a couple of options for us and how we go about this.” He frowned, and I nodded for him to continue. “We can either be together and hide it, or wait until after you leave school.”

  I smiled and scooted closer to him on the sofa. “You’d wait for me?” I teased, playing with the collar of his T-shirt.

  He wrapped his arm around my waist and smiled sadly. “I was planning on asking you out the day you graduated. I had this big idea of showering you in tulips and getting down on my knees, holding a bag of Mexican food, and begging you for another chance,” he admitted, brushing his hand down the side of my face.

  I chewed on my lip. That was actually an incredibly sweet plan. He didn’t look as if he was joking either, so maybe he really would have done that. “Would there have been tortilla chips in the bag?” I asked, trying to keep a straight face.

  He smiled. “Absolutely, and sour cream dip.”

  “Then I definitely would have given you another chance.” I giggled as he smirked at me. My heart was beating so fast that I could barely keep still. I’d missed this, this easy routine, the flirting, and the smiling. Everything was always so easy with Will.

  “So we’ll wait until after you leave school then. Everything will be easier then, and the nine months will pass really quickly. Well, I hope it does,” he said, laughing uneasily.

  He wants to wait? I don’t want that at all. Now that I’d kissed him again I didn’t ever want time away from him. “Will, I don’t want to wait. You seriously want to wait?” I asked, begging him with my eyes to say that he couldn’t stay away from me for a single second either.

  He frowned. “Of course I don’t want to wait, Cutie. God, I don’t want to wait at all. But you said-” he started but I cut him off by putting my hand over his mouth.

  “No more crossed wires. I want to be with you now, Will. I’m totally crazy about you and these last six weeks have been awful. We’ll be together but keep it quiet. That’s what I want,” I said sternly, taking the upper hand for once.

  He laughed. “Where did this sudden burst of confidence come from? I like it,” he teased, waggling his eyebrows at me. I blushed as usual and he traced his finger across my cheek looking extremely proud of himself. “Okay, great. We’ll keep it quiet then. I’m thinking that you’ll need to tell Amy, she’ll figure it out anyway otherwise.”

  I nodded and bit my lip. Amy was going to go crazy when she found out. “Amy’s been telling me that you still liked me, but I didn’t believe her. She’ll certainly say I told you so when I tell her.”

  “Smart girl. I thought I was doing a pretty decent job at hiding it. Well, I was doing well until that little shit Oliver kept touching you…” he trailed off, frowning.

  I squirmed on my seat. “Will, I didn’t want to be with Olly, you know that, right? I was upset about us breaking up, and then you started seeing Miss Teller so I just tried to move on. And, I admit, that it started because I was trying to get back at you for moving on so quickly with her.”

  He sighed. “I know you were upset, and it’s fine. I wasn’t seeing Miss Teller though, I promise. Nothing ever happened with her, or anyone else, and it never would because I’m in love with someone else.” His eyes locked onto mine, making my skin heat up. Is it getting hotter in here, or is that just me?

  I kissed him, not knowing what to say. I’d been wrong about him and Miss Teller all along, and because of that I’d gone out with Olly. Sure, it was only for ten days but I’d still done it, and I couldn’t feel worse about it. He kissed me back, making a little moan in the back of his throat that definitely raised the temperature in the room another degree.

  I slowly lay down on my back, pulling him down on top of me, kissing him deeply. I ran my hand down his chest, slipping it under his T-shirt marvelling over the hard muscles on his stomach. He pulled away quickly and put his hand on top of mine, stopping me from moving it any higher under his clothes.

  “Chloe, you’re making me crazy,” he whispered, his eyes raking down my body slowly. He rolled to the side, moving off of me, lying at my side. I smiled. He always made me feel so beautiful all the time. I had no idea what someone like Will saw in someone like me, but he clearly saw something he liked, and that thought made my heart swell in my chest. I moved back to kiss him again, but he shook his head. “We need to set some boundaries, and we need to do it quick before I lose my restraint,” he said quickly.

  I looked at him confused. “Huh?”

  He looked at me a little pained. “I’m all up for us being together and keeping it secret because I’d miss you like crazy if we waited. But… I’m an adult, and I’m your teacher, so there needs to be some lines that we just don’t cross.”

  Lines we don’t cross? Please tell me he’s not
saying what I think he’s saying. Suddenly I became very aware that he had barely touched me at all, every time I’d touched him he’d pulled away. Every time things were getting a little heated he’d stopped it.

  “Meaning?” I prompted, praying he just wouldn’t say it.

  He looked at me knowingly. “You know what I’m talking about, Cutie. I’m talking about your pervert ways,” he teased, flicking my nose lightly.

  I rolled my eyes. Great, well that’s just great, he’s going to leave me frustrated for nine months. Perfect. I sighed and looked at him questionably. Would he actually be able to wait for nine months until I left school? The glint in his eye when he was looking at me and the way he kissed me certainly didn’t say that he wanted to wait for a physical relationship.

  “So what kind of thing is acceptable to you then?” I asked, resisting the urge to pout and whine like a little girl. I didn’t really understand why he wanted to wait, no one would know if we took it further.

  He sighed and traced his hand down the side of my face. “Well, I can’t not kiss you, so kissing is definitely acceptable,” he murmured, pressing his lips to mine softly for a second. “I just don’t want to be groping you or anything. If we maybe just stick to outside of clothes, no skin.”

  I gasped. “Are you kidding me?” He’s blowing this way out of proportion; we don’t need to take it that far!

  He sighed. “Chloe, come on, this hard for me. I’m an adult and technically you’re not. I shouldn’t even be lying here with you, or kissing you. Touching is kind of a stretch,” he explained, looking at me apologetically.

  “Will, no one will know how far it goes. We’re keeping it secret from everyone; I won’t tell Amy anything that happens. The only ones that will know are you and me. There’s no reason for us to be holding back and being frustrated for the next nine months.” I looked at him pleadingly.

  “Cutie, I’ll know, and you’ll know. I can’t sleep with a minor again, it’s different doing it when I didn’t know, but I can’t knowingly commit statutory rape on a student of mine. Please understand, I just don’t want to.” He looked at me apologetically as he continued, “The nine months will pass really fast, I promise…” he trailed off, his eyes boring into mine, begging me to understand.