My Straight Teacher? [Discontinued]

12-"I never meant to..."

Ajax-

I arrived at exactly 5.

I continued to use Echo as my cover story, which she completely encouraged. She was on my side for the bet, wanting to see me seduce our gym coach, and my photography teacher.

Once I arrived at his house, I saw messy piles of clothes on the lawn. They were directly under a window, and looked as if they had been thrown out.

Confused, I parked my car and hesitantly rung his doorbell.

Steve opened the door, his eyes red and baggy from exhaustion. He reached his hand up to rub his eyes again, and I noticed the small growth of his stubble, as if it hadn't been shaved in a day or two. "Ajax," he greeted with a groan.

I nodded slowly. "Yep," I answered. I looked behind him, into the house. It looked as if it had been trashed. "What happened?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Nothin', nothin'. Hey, do you mind if we skip today's session?"

I shrugged, though sadness hit me hard. "Sure," I told him.

He squeezed his left eye shut, making his nose jolt up in that direction. He rubbed his stubble, as if he were thinking. "Hey, maybe we just... just call off the shoots for a little?" He asked.

I nodded, though my sadness became overwhelming. I loved seeing him, if even just for half of an hour, in addition to school time. "Sure, Steve."

"And," he added, "maybe it'd be best to just stick to Mr. Grand for now."

I nodded my head faster, making sure he couldn't see the years start to form in my eyes. I felt special calling him Steve, as if I had a part of him no one else did. "Okay, Mr. Grand."

Steve—Mr. Grand—nodded. "Thanks, Mr. Miller," he said before closing the door.

I didn't realize how much I liked hearing him say my name. I missed the sound of my first name on his tongue, even if it was just once.

I stood in front of his house for quite some time, before deciding I finally had to go back to Echo's.

School the following week was very strange. Steve—Mr. Grand, now—was clearly upset. He had a small temper, and tried to avoid me of any mention of me.

"Geez, Ajax," Addy said, "what'd ya do to him? One minute he was all over you, and now... and now you're gonna lose the bet!"

I shrugged, but Echo added on to Addy. "Ya, I really thought he liked you."

My heart skipped a beat. "You did?" I asked, slightly too hopeful.

She shrugged. "Eh, I guess I was wrong."

After the silent treatment had gone on for a few weeks, I decided to finally take action. Not for the sake of the bet, but for the sake of my sanity.

I walked—or, rather, stomped—into his class during lunch. "Okay," I said, putting my hands on my hips, "what the heck?"

Mr. Grand was bewildered. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

I sighed. "You won't talk to me, you stopped the photo shoots, you'll barely even look at me! What happened?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, Mr. Miller."

I chuckled. "You know, this started after that night at the club. I know this'll sound crazy, but that night... I don't know, never mind."

"No," Mr. Grand insisted, "tell me. That night, what?"

I shrugged. "I guess I thought you liked me, or something. I thought that... I thought that you were going to kiss me." He looked shocked, and I took it to be from disgust. "I know it might have just been the too many drinks, or-or something else, but I thought you were going to kiss me. And after that, you cut off any slightly personal connections."

Mr. Grand sighed. "I'm sorry, Ajax," he apologized. His use of my first name made my insides flare up, and my stomach turn. "I never meant for you to see that. I never meant to..."

"Wait," I stopped him. "So, you did almost kiss me?"

Mr. Grand groaned. "Yes, Ajax, yes. I almost kissed you that night. But, you're my student, and I realized how unreasonable that'd be."

I stared at him as if he had just grown another head. Something inside me took over, and I told him, "I would have kissed you, ya know."

Mr. Grand shook his head. "No. No, none of that. It'd be stupid, and risk both of our futures."

I shook my head. "Fine. It was stupid to even bring any of this up, I'm sorry. I... I'll just leave," I excused.

Mr. Grand sighed. "Ajax," he sighed, making me stop. He rubbed his temples, shaking his head. "I have another photo shoot with those guys that lent me the swim trunks. They said they really liked you as a model, and thought you'd be perfect for the job."

I perked up slightly. "So..." I prompted him to go on.

He released another heavy sigh. "I need you to come over on Sunday, if you can."

Addy and I had kept going to Echo's, along with Grace, even after the photo shoots had stopped. It was a nice time to discuss love life, and the bet, which seemed to be growing further and further from my mind.

I smiled. "Yeah, I'm probably free," I told him, trying not to show him how eager I was.

Mr. Grand showed a fake smile. "Great. Thanks."

I turned around again to walk away, but once again Mr. Grand's voice stopped me. "And, it's supposed to snow over the weekend, so make sure to wear something warm. You'll need it."

"I will," I assured him before finally exiting.

Today was Friday. At this point, I was just counting down the hours until photography class, and from there, the hours until I'd next see Mr. Grand.

I'm falling for my teacher, hard, and I'm not sure if I want to stand back up.