I Won't Give Up (Teacher/Student)

Chapter 8

Eight

It should be a crime to be up this early and yet my body thought it was okay. I turned my head to the clock, stifling a groan when I saw that it was only 5:30 in the morning. Caden was still sleeping beside me, his face partially buried in his pillow. I carefully removed the comforter and decided to shower. As I was towel drying my hair in the mirror, I thought back to the morning that Caden had woken me up abruptly. How incredibly rude of him to scream in my ear while I was sound asleep. How equally rude of me to take this long to plot my revenge.

I pursed my lips and walked around the apartment, thinking of ways that I could wake him. A cold bucket of water was a classic, but also messy, and it was my bed too so I didn't want it ruined. I could change his alarm to something obnoxiously loud and scary. Shaking my head, I walked into the kitchen and searched through the drawers. I grabbed two pans and smiled to myself. Simple but effective.

I eased the bedroom door open, peeking my head inside to see if Caden was still sleeping. It was almost six and he didn't have to be up for another hour, an hour he desperately needed because he went to bed around midnight. I stepped onto the bed slowly and stood with my feet on either side of him. I lowered the pans to his ears and banged them against each other harshly.

Caden jumped up, screaming loudly, and clashed his head against the pan. I laughed as he grabbed onto his forehead and fell back onto the bed, groaning as he did so. He finally looked up at me.

"Diem, what time is it?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Oh, I would say about 5:45. Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

His eyes widened. Before I could move, he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around my bare legs, pulling me onto the bed. I yelped as my body bounced against the mattress. Caden twisted and hovered over me slightly.

"Why'd you wake me up so early?"

"It's not good to waste your life away, Cadey. Up and at 'em." I reached up to pinch his cheek but he slapped my hand away. A slow smile stretched across his face as he looked down at me.

"You're going to pay for this."

I tilted my head and held his gaze. "Is that a promise?"

He leaned down, causing my heart to slow in anticipation of him getting closer. Caden brought his lips to my ear, pressing his body slightly into mine. "I do remember you saying I can have you in any way I want. Maybe your punishment will be not having me."

And then his body was gone, but the heat remained. It filled my cheeks and slowly made its way down my body until I felt it in my toes. Caden was going to be the death of me and my true punishment was having to live with him.

***

According to all of the girls in my class, Mr. Livingston looked really good today. He was in gray quarter zip with a white dress shirt underneath and a pair of black dress pants. I tried to make it a habit of thinking of him as Mr. Livingston, the teacher, whenever we were on school grounds and not Caden, the roommate. Despite how annoying and brainless some of my classmates could be, they were quick to latch onto possible gossip and never let go.

The last thing I needed was for my name to travel through these dingy halls and reach Dustin's ears. If he was bad now, I didn't want to imagine how he'd get if he heard I was messing around with a teacher, the best looking one this school has apparently seen. The nightmare I had a couple of nights ago would become a reality.

I tapped my pencil against the desk as I waited for class to start. I was impressed with Dustin, really. Despite how fast information travels in this school, he managed to keep his craziness a secret. Although, I guess I should be partially credited for his success. I never argued with him in public, never displayed the bruises he created, never told anyone about who he had become. I didn't keep Dustin's dirty secret to spare him, though. I did it because I didn't want anyone talking about me or looking at me differently. I wanted to be left alone, and if I had to suffer because of it, then that's the price I was willing to pay for my privacy.