When He Stays: A Student Teacher Romance

by A. R. Breck

  "Okay." I go up on my tip toes and give him a lingering kiss, and with all my power, disconnect, and turn around walk out the door without another glance. "Bye, baby." I say with a wave over my shoulder.

  "See you at eight, babe."

  * * * *

  "Spill it, bitch." Mya says as she slams her tray down on the lunch table next to me, making me jump.

  "Dude!" I scowl at her. I hate getting snuck up on.

  Laughing, she says, "Whatever. Spill the beans, Callie. I've waited long enough."

  Leah sits down a moment later, very gently placing her tray down on the table. I give her a warm smile. "Good afternoon, Leah."

  She gives me a funny look. "Uh, hi?"

  "Okay. Let's eat our food quickly and then go somewhere, like the library or something, okay? Too many people around." I take a bite of my chicken patty, moaning with all of its delicious goodness. Not sure what it is about the school patties, but they are always the perfect amount of crispiness and it just hits the spot.

  "Okay." Mya says, taking about five massive bites of her chicken patty and standing up to go throw her trash away. She comes back and stands there. "Ready." She says, mouth still full.

  Rolling my eyes, I say, "Sit down for a minute, would you? Let me eat."

  Leah laughs. "Seriously, Mya. Hold up for a second."

  Groaning about how unfair life is, Mya dramatically sits down puts her face into her palm, watching us while jiggling her foot up and down underneath the table, making an obnoxious sound that quickly drives me mad.

  "Fine! Okay, let's go." Quickly shoving one more bite into my mouth, I throw the rest away in the trash can, listening as Leah quickly gathers her things and takes a couple bites on her way to the trash can. We leave the lunch room, making a bee line for the library. Walking into the back where no one ever goes, a/k/a the science fiction section, we all get to a table in the back corner and sit down.

  Looking at both of their eager faces, I sigh. "Okay. You guys have to absolutely promise, under no circumstances, including the threats of cruel and unusual punishment, will you guys ever say a word."

  Both of their eyebrows lift to their hairline as they mumble an okay.

  "I've sort of been seeing someone." I grimace.

  "No shit, Sherlock. Who?!" Mya leans forward on the table like she is about to pry it out of me with her bare hands.

  I lean back a little, slightly intimidated by the look in her eyes. "Um…uh-"

  "Spit it out, Callie!" Leah whispers.

  "Mr. Cooper." I cover my face with my hands, knowing that my face is turning beet red. After a moment of me not hearing a peep, I slowly spread my fingers and look through the cracks of them, seeing both Mya and Leah with their mouths and eyes as wide as they can possibly go.

  Slapping my hands down on the table, I say, "Say something guys! For fuck's sake."

  "You're - you're sleeping with our history teacher?" Leah asks dumbfounded.

  "Um, yes?"

  Mya leans over the table and shoves me. "You bitch! How did you get so lucky and score him?! He is so fucking hot! Is his cock huge? How does he look naked? Oh my God, details woman!"

  "Mya!" Leah chastises, turning beet red herself.

  Shushing both of them, I say, "He's hot, okay? Hotter than anyone I've even known. And he is a man, not a boy. But we're also not just hooking up, we're actually dating? I think? He said we are, but it seems almost juvenile for how much older he is, right? Ugh, I don't know. We are enjoying each other is how Alec puts it."

  "Alec?" Mya's eyes are pretty much glowing red with envy at this point.

  "Well, yeah. What do you expect? Me to call him Mr. Cooper when I am with him all the time?"

  "Well, no. I guess not. Whatever. Lucky ass." Mya crosses her arms across her chest, sticking her nose up in the air like she's pissed.

  "So, how is this going to work? You guys are just going to keep it a secret until you graduate? And then what? Is he going to follow you to California? Or are you guys going to do long distance?"

  Feeling like a bomb just went off in my brain, I turn speechless. I guess I didn't even think about any of this stuff. Give it to Leah to be the voice of reason in the group. Letting out a tortured groan, I say, "I don't know. I didn't even think about that stuff. And honestly, I don't even think I want to think about it right now, because it will just tear me up inside. I am just going to take it day by day."

  "Okay, but I'm just going to give you the same advice you gave me. Be careful, and take it easy. By the look in your eyes, you love him, and I don't want to see you with your heart broken at the end of the year." She looks at me sympathetically.

  "Yeah, okay." I look down, not wanting to show how much her words are actually affecting me.

  Moments later, the bell rings signaling the end of lunch hour.

  "Well girl, I expect all the details, all the time." Mya looks at me seriously.

  "Ha-ha, okay." I joke.

  "I'm actually serious."

  "Oh. Yeah, probably not." I laugh.

  "Whatever, I will just have to make up some hot visuals of Mr. Cooper all on my own then." She gives a sigh, as if she is in the middle of a day dream right now.

  Giving her a shove, I say, "Stop, Mya." I laugh, but the jealousy I feel towards one of my best friends shocks me. "And seriously guys, don't tell anyone." I give them both pleading looks.

  "You don't have to worry about me, Callie." Leah gives my arm a reassuring squeeze and then gives me a wave, heading off to her next class.

  "Yeah, I won't say anything. No worries." Mya stops her joking momentarily as she wraps her arm around my waist, giving me a side hug. I squeeze her back, thankful for her friendship and accepting me when so easily when I am so new to this town.

  "Thanks, Mya." I give her a warm smile.

  "And you know I will be here for you when everything crashes and burns." Mya leans in to whisper into my ear before she turns around and heads to her next class.

  I gasp. "Mya!" I shout, but she is already gone.

  I go to my locker to grab my stuff for next period, and then huff and puff my whole walk to class. We are not going to crash and burn.

  But then I find myself biting my lip. We aren't going to crash and burn, right? Unfortunately, this question sits on repeat in my head the rest of the day.

  SIXTEEN

  "Look who's here! How was the dance?" Elaine says. She was telling me stories all last week about her and her high school boyfriend. How much fun they had at the dance, drama that her and her friends went through. She went to Middle Park too before she started college, so listening to her juicy stories are always a bit entertaining.

  "I, ah, didn't make it." I cringe, waiting for the screech.

  "WHAT!?" There it is. "Why the hell didn't you go to the dance?"

  "I wasn't feeling good, had to go sleep it off."

  "Ah, ah, ah. My greatest gift is being able to tell when someone is lying. I can smell your lie from about a mile away. What happened, really? She puts her hands on her hips, giving me her big sister look.

  I walk over to the hook in the backroom and grab my apron, putting it on and wondering how I can get out of telling her I snuck off with my history teacher.

  Looking over at Elaine giving me puppy dog eyes, I know that I have to give her at least some kind of truth. "Remember how you were telling me when I first started that you could tell I really liked someone? Well, we're kind of a thing now."

  "Oh honey, good for you! Who is it? Do I know of him?" She puts her finger up in a one moment gesture, and goes to help a client who just walked in. She tells me what to make, and I take my time putting the order together, not prepared for her begging and harassing me for details.

  After handing the drink off to the customer with my usual thank you, have a nice day, I turn around to a waiting Elaine, and say, "No. You don't know him."

  "Are you sure? What's his name?" She persists.

  "I'm sure. You don't know him. I can’t really t
alk about it, okay?"

  She looks like she wants to say more, but finally relents. "Okay, if you say so."

  Things are quiet for a while after that, and I keep looking over at her and seeing the sad look on her face, and I realize that since moving to Colorado, I have apparently become a huge softy.

  "Elaine, I'm sorry. I just I can't say anything about it. But if I could, you would be one of the first people I would tell, okay?" I give her a reassuring smile, not wanting any hard feelings to be between us.

  She gives me a small smile. "It's okay, Callie. I'm here for you if you need me, okay?" She comes over to me and gives my shoulder a squeeze. The rest of the evening runs smoothly between us and things seem back to normal. As we close up the shop, Elaine lets me know that she will see me on Friday. She is off this Wednesday because of class so I will be working with Shaya.

  I give her a wave and hop into my car, cranking up the heat to warm up my frozen fingers. I called Aunt Jenna on my way to work earlier, letting her know that I was going over to Mya and Leah's house after work to work on some homework together, which she was fine with.

  Turning on my Counting Crows playlist, I take the route that I have become familiar with since the weekend. Parking in Alec's large driveway, I hop out and see he is already waiting for me with the front door open, casually leaning up against the door frame. He looks edible with his jeans and plain white V-neck t-shirt.

  "How was work?" He asks as I approach.

  "It was fine. People are apparently very curious about my love life." I chuckle.

  A shadow crosses his face. "You haven't told anyone about us, have you?"

  I gulp. Should I tell him? He does not look happy with the thought of people knowing. "No." I lie. "I haven't said a word." I smile, hoping that I look more convincing than I feel.

  He lets out a breath of relief. "Good." He grabs my wrist and yanks me towards him. I oomph when I hit his chest, and grow warm from ears to toes as he wraps his arms tightly around me and gives me a hug. "I've been wanting to do this all day." He rasps, and I grunt in agreement, inhaling the manly scent that can only belong to Alec.

  He chuckles. "Are you hungry? I have food that I left in the oven for you." He says, pulling me into his warm home and kicking the door shut with his foot.

  "Mmm." I say, smelling the wonderful scent of herbs that are permeating the air. "What did you cook? It smells delicious."

  "Chicken parmesan. You want some?"

  "Oh, yummy. Sounds great." I lick my lips, mouth watering at even the thought of eating. I realize I haven't eaten since lunch, and I didn't even eat it all because Mya was being so nosy.

  Alec goes and gets me a plate and then sets it down on the table, gesturing for me to come take a seat. He turns around to the fridge, "Do you want something to drink?" He asks over his shoulder.

  "Water would be fine." I reply, digging into my food. He grabs a water bottle for me and grabs himself a bottle of beer. "Good Lord this is good."

  "Thanks, babe." He laughs.

  He sits there and watches me eat, making me blush. Eventually, I can't take the staring anymore. "What? Is there something on my face?" I ask, reaching up and wiping my mouth with my hand.

  "No. You're just really beautiful."

  Feeling shy, I lower my head. "Thank you."

  "Don't get shy on me. You are beautiful, Callie. If I could shout it to the world, I would. If I could take you out on the town, I would. I wish I could spoil you more than just feeding you leftover dinner. I wish I could kiss you when I see you, instead of having to treat you like every other student at school. You are not a child to me, Callie. You are my other half. And one day - one day I will shout it to the world. And you will hold your head high while I do, because you are beautiful, inside and out. And the world should see your beauty."

  Feeling speechless, and even a little emotional, I abandon my plate and rush over to him, making my chair crash to the ground in the process. I slam into him, giving him the deepest kiss possible and trying to show him with my kiss how much his words mean to me, how much they touch my heart. Grabbing the sides of his face with both of my hands, I break our kiss but leave our foreheads connected, "I can't even explain what your words do to me. All I can say is, I feel them. Right here." I say, grabbing his hand and moving it to my chest. "I feel it here. And I haven't felt much of anything there in a long, long time."

  Closing his eyes, he almost looks in pain. But then he opens them, and in each of his eyes I see love shining back on me, so much love that I feel I will drown in it. He reaches up with both hands, cupping my face and pulling me forward, crashing our mouths together. Our tongues tangle together and dance, tasting each other's love for each other, and healing each other's pain for having to be apart.

  Alec's hands slide down my back, down past my ass and giving it a hearty squeeze before going to the backs of my thighs and lifting me up, carrying me to the stairs and up towards his bedroom. The moment we reach his bed, he gently lowers me to the bed, covering me with his body and kissing me with everything in him.

  And for the first time since we met, we make love.

  * * * *

  Tuesday morning, I feel like I am on a high. Aunt Jenna even looks at me funny, wondering where my happy mood has come from. Usually I am a grumpy ass hole in the morning, so me humming a tune? Yeah, Aunt Jenna was about moments away from checking my forehead for a fever.

  On my way to school, I sing along to Wonderwall by Oasis, getting maybe a little too passionate about it, but what the hell, right? My heart is full. Pulling into the parking lot, I feel my phone vibrate in the pocket of my winter jacket. Pulling it out, I see a text from Alec.

  Alec: Meet me in my classroom.

  Callie: See you in a minute.

  I wonder what he wants. Ducking and dodging my friends, I sneak past everyone who would attempt to talk to me, completely bypassing my locker. My mind is on a one-track mission, and that is to go see Alec. When I get to his room, the door is closed. Knocking gently, I hear him say, "Come in." Cracking open the door, I peek inside and see Mr. Cooper sitting at his desk, and he looks up when he hears his door opening, giving me a big smile when he sees it's me. "Close the door." He says.

  Closing the door, I walk over to him. "What's up?" I ask, still with my coat on and my backpack slung over my shoulder.

  He waltzes up to me with such confidence that it takes some serious control to not rip my clothes off here and now. He leans down when he reaches me, giving me a long, deep kiss. "I just wanted to say good morning how I should be saying it. Like this." Leaning down again, he gives me another deep kiss, wrapping one of his hands behind my back to keep me from falling.

  After a beat, he releases me and steps back. "That's all I needed. Good morning, baby." He smirks at me.

  I have gone from on a high to completely drifting away, I have no words. "Morning." I say on a rasp.

  Chuckling, he turns around and heads for his classroom door, opening it up as students start trickling into the hallways. "Better get to class, don't want to be late." He walks past me and gives me a wink, knowing that I am barely coherent at this point.

  Without another word, I retreat out of his classroom, hearing him laugh in the distance.

  * * * *

  The rest of the day goes by much the same as this morning. I feel so much happiness, and it makes me feel good about myself. Both Mya and Leah seemed to notice my change, giving me funny looks but overall not giving me shit about sleeping with my history teacher.

  I stayed after school to do the extra credit in Alec's class and was sneaking looks at him the whole time. Unfortunately, he had some after school meeting to attend, and I didn't have to work so I decided to head home. Which actually wasn't a bad thing.

  I've been feeling bad for Aunt Jenna. I'm sure she has been wondering where the hell I have been lately. So, I came home and got some much-needed homework done, and then sat down and had some roasted chicken and potatoes with her for dinner. It was n
ice; we were able to catch up on what has been going on in each other’s lives. We even had a moment, because I mentioned coming home, and Aunt Jenna immediately teared up, saying that that was the first time that she had heard me call her house home. I started tearing up too, knowing that it finally does feel like a home for me, and that I have people that I can actually call a family.

  After our heart to heart, Aunt Jenna goes into the living room to watch her Tuesday evening shows, and I go back to my room and decide to call my friend, Nell. I haven't talked to her since the first week of school, and it feels like so much has happened since then. I haven't really been on social media all that much lately, but from what I have seen, it looks like her life is continuing on as normal.

  It seems like it is about to go to voicemail, but at the last moment, she answers. "Hello?" She yells. It sounds like there is a lot of commotion going on in the background. It almost sounds like she is at a party or something.

  "Nell? It's me, Callie."

  "Callie? Hey! How are you, girl? It's been a minute!"

  "I've been good. What's been new? How is everyone back home?"

  I hear her mumbling in the background and then say, "Hold on a second, kay?" And then more mumbling, and then finally a door closes and silence. "Sorry about that. What were you saying?"

  "I was wondering how everything has been back home." I say, less enthusiastic about talking with her now that she sounds so distracted.

  "Oh, you know. Same old, same old. How is everything out in the tundra? Living with a bunch of mountain people?" She laughs like her joke was the funniest thing ever.

  "Actually, it's pretty cool here. Beautiful, too. And the people are great. Most of them, at least." I think of Alec. "Cute guys."

  "Cute guys, huh? Now that I can handle." I hear someone mumble to Nell in the background and then Nell says, "Hey, I'm sorry about this but I've really got to go do this thing. So, we should talk soon, okay? I'll call you." She sounds distracted.

  "Oh, okay. Talk to you soon. Bye." But she doesn't even say bye back, hanging up the phone. I look at my phone screen for a few minutes, completely stunned. Is that how it is now? Because I'm not living there, am I just written off now?