The Teacher Across the Hall

Chapter Sixteen

Gabby

I rushed down the stairs, slammed my door, and dropped to the floor. My eyes filled up with tears, and soon enough I was crying my heart out, all alone on the floor of my bedroom. Everything was going wrong all at once, which had never happened to me before. Sure, I've had some sad teenage times, but my life had always been remotely peaceful and happy, before this week . . .. this horrible week in hell. I just wanted it to stop. 

Why wouldn't it stop? 

I couldn't shake the feeling that Mom and Dad weren't happy, and that Mom was cheating on him. She had never acted out like this, but why was she being such a horrible person all of a sudden? I came to Grandma's house to get away from her and dad, yet she managed to follow me here and now I have to deal with all of her adult drama. I couldn't deal with any more of this shit, especially with Grandma and David being gone. 

I had a plan . . . No, it wasn't the smartest, but it would help me get the hell out of this place. That was more than enough to convince me to go through with it. 

I wiped my face, then pulled out my phone. Quickly, I typed a message and sent it, waiting anxiously for a reply. After a few seconds of scrolling through Instagram, he messaged me back. 

hey, are your parents home?

Dom: My dad is. Y?

ugh, nvm...

No tell me. What's up?

my parents are driving me crazy and i need to leave right away, i hate it here.

U can come over if u want. It's cool with my dad.

will rachel get mad tho?

Nah...

okay well i'm omw. 

Can't wait to see you Gab :) 

I felt my heart doing flips when I read his last message. Gab. I loved when he called me that, he'd been calling me that since we first met in second grade, when he was too lazy to say Gabriela. But he was Rachel's boyfriend, so literally no one knew how I felt about him except for Sadie. 

I grabbed a bag and began to stuff my things into it quickly. After I was done, I quickly scribbled on a piece of paper and left it on my neatly made bed. 

With a quick few strides, I was at my window. Carefully, I slid the window open and squeezed through it, not bothering to close it as I sprinted across the yard and through the trees. 

~

Mary

"I can't do this." I said suddenly, and Denny raised his eyebrows. "You have a wife and a fucking kid, Denny!!" 

His eyes widened. "Okayyy, what the fuck??" He scoffed. "Here, just read this letter since you always jumping to conclusions and shit." He murmured, handing me all of the weird gifts he brought, plus an additional piece of paper. "Just FaceTime me after you're done freaking out. Later." Without giving me a chance to say anything, he turned his back and began walking away. 

As he walked down the driveway I looked down at the items I was holding, feeling confused and conflicted. I made sure to wait until he left for me to go inside and look at the gifts he just gave to me. I neatly scattered them across the table and picked up the piece of paper. When I unfolded it, I could feel my face heat up. 

These were my results, but with something new written on the bottom. 

Dear Mary, 

I'm sorry for ever doubting you and not believing you. I have a hard time opening up about my emotions, and I know it's been hurting you. I'm also sorry I had to send Denny over here, but to be fair you did say that we would be over if I showed up. So, I just found a way around things. Ha, I'm just so fucking clever. 

I laughed as I continued reading. 

Rocky looked like he was really missing you, so I decided to find a way to bring him to you. The roses reminded me of that night we found out that you were being evicted out of your apartment so we hung out in that flower shop, at like midnight or some shit like that, and we got drunk on that champagne we found outside your neighbor's doorstep until David came and took us back home. He made us buy roses to give to your mom since we were gonna tell her that you got kicked out and had no money, which the roses did help a little bit. She technically did enjoy them for the few moments before you told her that you had gotten kicked out . . . AND you decided to tell her that you were pregnant, which is NOT something we agreed on haha . . . I'm glad you told her though, because do you see how she and Gabby are? She loves that little shit to pieces! 

Again, I laughed out loud, and felt a sense of joy as I finished reading. 

Lastly, the doughnuts came to mind since you and your dad used to buy them every Sunday morning after you went to your horseback riding lessons. I know you think of him whenever you're eating one, which is why I got a whole dozen. Now, you can think about him twelve times! 

I love you, baby. I know I don't say it enough, but I mean it. I would be lost without you. 

~ Ross (Mustard) Lynch

P.S.,

Please don't karate chop me in the dick for kinda going against your wish for me to leave you alone and writing this letter. 

I wiped my eyes when I noticed that a few tears dripped down onto the paper, and inhaled deeply. He was so sweet, and writing this was a big step for him. He never really did anything romantic or sweet for me, which was a sign that he wanted to fix our relationship. 

I pulled out my phone and texted him immediately. 

You're so sweet, I love you. Please come over ASAP. 

While I waited for him to text me back, I decided that it would be a smart decision to tell Gabby the truth about everything. I didn't want her feeling like she couldn't trust me, I wanted us to be okay again. Slowly but surely, we all were going to be okay again. 

"Gabby! Can I talk to you?" I called out to her as I was walking down to the basement. 

"Mary, Gabby!" I heard Mom yell from the foyer. "We're leaving!" 

"Okay, have fun! Love you guys!" I yelled back. 

"Love you too!" They replied in unison, before I could hear the front door being closed. 

I smiled as I made my way over to Gabby's door; I hadn't gotten a response from her yet. 

"Gabby, can you open the door please?" No answer. I knocked again. "Gabby?" 

She probably just had her headphones in. 

I slowly opened her door, and I was surprised when I saw that she was nowhere to be seen. She could have been in the bathroom, so I didn't want to worry myself over nothing. Convincing myself not to panic, I peeked into the bathroom and the door was wide open, with no one inside. I felt my heartbeat quicken as I called out her name.

"Gabby?!" 

When my eyes landed on her open window, then the note on her bed, I couldn't breathe. 

I needed to get away . . . don't come looking for me. 

~ Gabriela 

~

A/N: The picture above is the love of Gabby's life, Dom; AKA, her best friend Rachel's boyfriend! Shit's gonna go down, and I hope you're all ready for it!