Sunshine (Student/Teacher Romance) 18+

6

Ari

"Look, I'm going to need your check in advance," says Diana, a cigarette perched on her lips as she leans against my bedroom door frame.

It's been two weeks since school started back up. Two hellbent weeks of me ducking and dodging to stay out of Kaliyah's path just so I can get through my days.

I stand facing the splintering vanity mirror leaned against the wall as I finish tying up my hair in a high ponytail. In the back of my mind, I'm wondering if this hairstyle would only give Kaliyah the advantage if she decides she wants to go for round two later on today.

"I just paid you Friday," I say, trying my hardest to make it sound softer than I felt it did. "I mean, how much more do you need?"

I can feel her coming closer, my eyes shut as I chant in my head, please don't hit me, please don't hit me.

"Look, you know I don't like bugging you for money. I wish I didn't have to..."

I separate my hair in two sections and pull them opposite ways so that it's tight, then turn to look at her. Smoke swirling in my face as it seeps past her lips.

I've lived with Diana for five years. Besides her occasional drunken slaps when I get too mouthy, she's been the best and most stable home I've lived in. Which is sad, considering I hate it here. But it's got a roof, plumbing, and a woman who is sometimes good for watching marathons of the twilight zone with.

She's a binge drinker, but she wasn't always. She was stable for a while and then something just snapped.

For the most part, she's okay. She's more of a friend—or a fun aunt than a mother, though.

But ever since I started working at Rocket Rudy's, she's started drinking more. Maybe it's the thought of having more cash flowing through the house—Although my minimum wage, not even twenty five hours a week, is hardly cash flow. But I give her what she asks for, even if it means she may drink herself to death...or leave me broke.

"I know." I nod.

"So, I need you to ask Stacey about an advance. Cash. She knows you're good for it." She sets her cold hand on my cheek, the corner of her mouth rising only what she can manage.

I nod. Of course Stacey would. She'd do anything for me.

Even though she has no idea where I'm living, or who I'm living with, she knows I need help in some sort of way. But if she knew the majority of my checks went to Diana, she might think twice about giving me my checks early.

Her hand floats off of me and I turn to grab my backpack, feeling over the hole in the fabric that's gotten almost half an inch bigger than it was a couple days ago.

"I'll patch that up for you later, hun," she says, just like she's been saying now for a couple months.

I doubt it.

I give her a tight smile as I step toward the door, but she places her hand on my shoulder and squeezes. "You know I love you, right kid?"

I frown.

Is this it? Is this the moment she tells me her liver is finally failing, or that the lung cancer's finally set in from all the chain smoking she's done since, forever?

"Yeah. I love you, too."

She pulls the cigarette out of her mouth, standing in front of me. If her skin weren't so withered, she'd be really beautiful.

"Thomas is getting out of jail, today."

My mouth falls open and I step out of her hand. Thomas was the one thing that wasn't before her binge drinking. Thomas was a product of it. He was her cause and her resolution. When he was put in jail, my life stabilized for a moment. I was able to go back to just dealing with Diana and her occasional drinking fits, in which I knew to just steer clear of her until she was sober.

But if he's coming back, I can't just steer clear. I have to leave.

...

I tried to tell myself to wait until I got to school to talk to Maya, but I'm so high strung on nerves and worrying about where I'm going to go after work tonight that I impulsively dialed her on the walk over. "Maya—"

"Hey girl, what's up." I hear lip smacking in the background, followed by her coy, eye roll inducing giggling.

She and Kevin were really hitting it off. They were the perfect couple, just like everyone knew they would be. I feel like I live vicariously through her sometimes. She's the epitome of the normal life of a suburban teenager.

"Is this a good time to talk?" I ask.

"Yeah, girl. Why? What's wrong."

"It's just...I need to ask a favor."

"Quit it, Kev." She chuckles before the background noise stops. If I had to guess, they're under the bleachers on the football field. "I'm listening."

"Thomas is back."

"Fuck, Ari. I thought he wasn't supposed to be released until next year?"

"Diana must have got mixed up."

She clicks her teeth. "Well, I'll talk to my parents and see if you can stay over. But I mean, I don't know if we can milk out more than a couple of slumber parties. And that's only guaranteed on a weekend."

"I know." I breathe out.

"Maybe if I explain to my dad that Thomas, a total criminal and complete asshole, is going to be living with—"

"You can't, Maya."

"Well, I should. I know you don't want to be pulled out of your house again, but you can't keep living in fear. I'm worried about you."

I approach the chain-link fence and see the familiar riot of kids shoving through the small school entrance. "I know. It's only one more year."

"One more year? Girl, in five months you'll be legal. You can leave. You can work more hours at Rocket Rudy's, rent a room in a house that isn't dominated by a creepy asshole."

"I know." How could I forget? My eighteenth birthday. The date I'd been riding on the past two years since I realized it was growing closer. Since I realized it would be my only key to freedom.

"Are you at school yet? You sound like you need a hug."

I roll my eyes and smile. "I am. Where are you?"

"The field."

I chuckle, joining the mix of other kids as I come through the entrance gate. "I knew it."

"Well, get the hell over here before the bell rings!"