Stuck together (teacherxstudent)

Chapter 12

I woke up with a pounding headache from the excessive drinking from last night. The curtains were already opened by Allie and the daylight was burning directly into my eyes.

"Oh my God. There's too much light. I might die." I groaned.

Allie who was sat on her bed writing in her little journal laughed at me. "You're so dramatic. It's like 2pm girl. Time to get up."

"You don't tell a girl who's hungover to get up. I need to lay in bed all day and rot."

"Sorry queen." She giggled. "You missed breakfast though, so I got you something."

I sat up straight and rubbed my eyes. "You're my actual hero, do you know that?"

"Funny how the mention of food suddenly makes you want to get up, huh?"

"I'm only human Al. If there's food involved, I'm there." I threw my legs over the edge of my bed and walked up to the plate of food that Allie had brought to the room for me.

"Unless you have to wake up early for it."

I took a bite from the sandwich. "I mean sleep will always come first."

"We have noticed." Allie said while continuing to doodle in her notebook. "Any plans today or are you just gonna lay in bed all day and binge watch criminal minds?"

"Although that is a very tempting thing to do, I actually think I'm gonna go into town on my own today. I need to unwind for a second."

I hadn't even been awake for ten minutes and my brain already felt like it was going to explode. All I could think of while eating my breakfast was the kiss between me and Chelsea and the conversation I had with Ms. Porter last night. It made me confused to say the least. Confused, conflicted, whatever you want to call it. I needed to get out of this building for at least a day. I needed a day without Chelsea and without Ms. Porter. I needed a day for myself.

"Let me guess." Allie said. "You and Chelsea?"

I lifted my eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"She might have told me after the party. She was looking for you but you were God knows where."

"Oh." I just mumbled. I didn't know what to say.

"So?" Allie asked. "Do you want to talk about it or should I leave you to figure it out first?"

Allie said it jokingly but we both knew I needed time to figure out what was going on in my head.

"I'll get back to you on this once I've figured it out."

"Gotcha." She smiled. "I'm gonna go shower. Wanna watch tv together tonight?"

"Sounds good." I said. "See you tonight, Al."

—

The town looked fairly empty for a Saturday. Except for a few families and some older people there wasn't really anyone.

I wasn't really sure why I came to town today, I just knew I had to clear my head so I decided to go to the cafe Ms. Porter had recommended and got myself an iced coffee to go. The cup looked just as tacky as the name of the cafe but it kinda made me smile a little.

I walked up to the park that was right next to the little cafe and sat down against the tree and grabbed the book that I had taken with me. I looked around me and closed my eyes for a split second. There was something so pleasing about being alone in nature with a good book.

After a good hour of reading I couldn't focus anymore. All my minds seemed to do was drift off to the two people I came here to escape from.

I thought about Ms. Porter. The way she had comforted me so gently last night and somehow managed to say the exact words I wanted to hear. Not too much pity, not too distant, but just the right amount of both. In that moment I had wished to be in her arms for the rest of the night. Just us two in complete silence. I had felt comfort in a way I never really did before. It felt safe. Being around her felt safe.