“Yes. I never felt like Oakwood could offer me anything. But now…”
“You’re second-guessing all of your decisions.”
She nods, wringing her hands together as she looks at me with aching eyes. “I don’t want you to be my teacher.”
I lift a hand, wanting to touch her in comfort. But I know that’s something I can’t do anymore. “I don’t want you to be my student.”
She bites her lip. “Then what do we do?”
“I don’t know,” I say honestly, stuck between a rock and a hard place. “Oh god. How old are you?”
“Eighteen. I turned eighteen last November. How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“I thought you were younger.”
“People always do,” I say. Despite my height and size, I’ve always looked younger than I am.
Her face crumples, and she turns away. “This is such a mess. How am I going to pretend I don’t think about you the way I do?”
“I don’t know. But it’s only two months, right? We can make it until then.”
“And then what? We’d have the summer, and then I have to go to New York. And if anyone sees us together, they’ll think this started while I was your student. This is a problem no matter which way we look at it,” she says, so young and so wise at the same time. I don’t want to hear it, but I know she’s speaking the truth.
“We’ll work something out.”
“There’s nothing to work out,” she says, wiping tears from her eyes. “You and I can’t be.”
“Maya. My Maya. Don’t talk like it’s over. It’s just on pause. We can make a life together as soon as you graduate. I’ll transfer if I have to.”
“To where? Even I know what a big deal it is to get a head teacher position at a school like this. Anything else is a step down.”
“You’re worth it. I’m not letting you walk away from this.” One look at Maya, and I was a goner. I’ll never be at peace unless she’s in my life and my bed. Two months without her will be torture. But I can make it if it means we can have a life together. I’m in love with her.
“You should get back in there,” she says, ignoring my plea. “You shouldn’t be in here alone with me. We don’t want anyone suspecting anything.”
“Jesus,” I sigh, knowing she’s right. This isn’t the time or the place to be having this conversation. “This discussion isn’t over.”
“In my mind it is,” she says, folding her arms over her chest as she steps back.
“Maya—”
The door squeaks before it opens and a student from a lower grade walks in, freezing when she catches me standing across the room from Maya. “Um…” she says, looking between us. “Should I find another bathroom?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I was just leaving. And Maya, I expect you to show up. Graduation is only two months away.” I eye her carefully, hoping she understands my meaning because I’m not giving her up.Ever. She’s mine, dammit.
“I understand, sir,” she says, walking past me with her arms folded and her chin in the air.Fuck.
I move to follow her out, pausing next to the gapping girl. “Pardon my intrusion,” I say. “But attendance is important. Bathroom breaks should be kept to recess and lunch.”
The girl’s eyes go wide as she quickly nods. “Yes, sir. It won’t happen again.”
“Good. Now hurry up and get back to class,” I instruct, closing my eyes as I exit the bathroom to return to my students.God, I feel like such a dickhead.Not only am I hiding a relationship with a student, but I’m behaving all crabby and scaring another away before she’s had a chance to use the bathroom. I need to get control of myself.I need Maya.
Maya
The weeks pass in slow motion. I experience every minute, every second, in an excruciating progression of time. Who knew you could fall so hard and so completely for a person in just one day? It’s as if part of my soul has been torn away, and I’m forced to watch while statistics spurt from his mouth as he prepares the class for our AP finals.
