Lessons in Love (17 page)

Her whole appearance had changed since he’d last seen her. There was something fresher about her. Her face was no longer laden with makeup; her hair, free from hair spray, was now neatly kept at the nape of her neck in a bun. Without the cheerleading trimmings, she looked younger, more innocent than she did before.

Mark, however, looked just as dashing as ever. His chiselled cheeks showed the slight shadow of beard, and his crisp white shirt teasingly clung to his toned physique, as did his dark denim jeans.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” she told him, her voice small.

“It’s no bother.” Mark smiled at her as he got up and went to shut the classroom door. His movements always seemed so fluid and effortless, but now they seemed flustered and verged on being clumsy. It took him two attempts to settle himself against his desk. All the while Alex watched him with nervous eyes.

“What can I do for you?” he asked as Alex tried to avoid his piercing gaze. She knew he was holding himself back from asking further questions.

“I wanted to tell you something.”

“I guess it’s no longer social suicide to be seen with me,” Mark commented, his teacher exterior falling to reveal the hurt man behind.

“Mark.” Alex looked to the floor, feeling embarrassed by her previous behavior towards him.

“I think it should be Mr. Simmons, don’t you?” Mark corrected her curtly.

“You’ve every right to be mad at me,” Alex told him fretfully. “But I didn’t come here to argue.”

“And why would we argue? I’m just a teacher, and you are just a student.” Mark’s tone was cold as he tried to suppress his feelings.

Alex trembled slightly as she stood with her application, despite the warmth the hooded top provided. It was becoming too much. First her friends shunned her, and now Mark, the man she was crazy about, was also treating her like a pariah. Despite her best efforts to hold them in, tears began to trickle down her cheeks, and her lip quivered.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Mark said apologetically, coming over and placing an arm around her.

“I’m sorry,” Alex gasped. “I’m sorry I was so terrible to you and so rude when all you’d done was to be kind to me,” She was crying harder now, her tears falling upon Mark’s shirt as he embraced her.

“It’s okay,” Mark told her soothingly. “I’m just bitter because deep down I know you did the right thing. I should have been the adult in the situation, but you stepped in and beat me to it.”

Alex laughed slightly at this.

“I’m mad because I missed you, that’s all,” Mark admitted. “I miss talking about music and movies and learning about you.”

Alex felt relieved to hear his admission, as it justified how she had been pining for him for the last four months. She wanted to tell him that she felt the same, that she missed their conversations, missed the smell of him and how she’d still smell him days after because his cologne clung to her clothes after just one brief embrace. She wanted to flood her senses with him, to smell nothing but him. But first she had to give him the big news, the news that he’d surely be delighted to hear.

“I came here to tell you something,” she declared, pulling away from their embrace.

“Oh?”

Alex relinquished her shield and passed it over to Mark.

“I got into Princeton,” she explained simply as he regarded the envelope.

His eyes immediately widened with joyous wonder. “You did?”

“Yes!”

“On a scholarship?” he added carefully.

“Yes!”

“That’s fantastic!” Mark beamed before throwing his arms around her and holding her tight to his chest.

“My God, I’m so proud of you I could burst!” he told her. When they eventually parted, Alex noticed how Mark’s eyes were watering.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she admitted, blushing.

“Yes, you could have.”

“No, really, I couldn’t. You reminded me about who I was and who I want to be. For a long time I’d been adrift since my dad died, but you set me back on course, and I’ll be eternally grateful for that.”

“I’m just glad I could help.” Mark smiled.

For a moment they stood in the empty classroom, staring at each other but neither speaking. Alex wished she could be brave enough to tell him how she felt, how she’d missed him each and every day since she’d stormed out of his classroom. She had the application, surely now she could be brave enough to cross that invisible line and stop being Mark’s student and embrace him as she truly desired.

But Alex’s feet remained frozen firmly in place. The line still existed between them, stopping her from moving towards him despite her heart’s yearnings.

“Are you happy?” Mark suddenly asked her.

“Happy?” the question caught Alex completely off guard.

“Yeah, are you happy? You don’t seem ecstatic about getting into Princeton. In fact, you look troubled,” Mark noted, his eyes narrowing with concern.

Alex wanted to shout that he was the reason she looked troubled. That as she stood there, she was engulfed by conflicting emotions. A part of her knew she should walk away, maintain that teacher-student relationship and conform to society’s ideals of relationships. But another part of her desperately wanted to run into his arms and kiss him and become lost in that kiss. Alex felt as though her body were trying to tear her in two.

“I’m happy.” Alex smiled nervously, worried that her body language would reveal her inner turmoil. “Course I’m happy. I mean, Princeton, it’s what I’ve been working towards. It’s what I’ve always dreamed of.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“You’re what’s wrong!” Alex declared, gesturing to him with her hands.

“Me?”

“All I can think about is how much I want you, how desperately I miss you, and even the victory of getting into Princeton seems hollow because I can’t truly share it with you as I want to,” Alex blurted out, unable to conceal her true feelings any longer.

“Are you going to graduation?” Mark asked her suddenly.

“What?” Alex shook her head in confusion, unsure where the question had come from. “Um, no. I already got my graduation certificate, and I have no interest in going.”

“Then you’re no longer a student here,” Mark said excitedly. But before Alex could register what he meant, he’d closed the distance between them in two easy strides, and he took her once more into his arms, although this time his intentions were not to comfort her. Mark was no longer the math teacher; he was purely just the man. He leaned in and kissed Alex passionately on the mouth. At first, just their lips touched, but then her lips parted, and she felt his tongue hot and heavy within her mouth, the sensation making her entire body tingle.

They kissed passionately, Mark running his hands down her body, cupping her curves, as Alex ran her fingers through his thick hair.

When at last they parted, panting breathlessly, Alex managed to smile coyly at him. Her heart was dancing madly in her chest. He felt the same. The jubilation was greater than when she’d heard her Princeton acceptance letter for the first time.

“That was…” Alex was lost for words, her mind scrambled by the magic of an insatiable kiss.

“I care about you, Alex,” Mark told her, taking her hand in his.

“I care about you too.” Alex smiled shyly.

“And now you’re no longer a student at Woodsdale, we can actually be together.” Mark grinned.

“Yeah.” The thought made butterflies fly madly around Alex’s stomach. “But won’t people talk?” she added with concern.

“We’re doing nothing wrong,” Mark reassured her. “We waited until you graduated school before we did anything.”

The use of the word
anything
made Alex tingle in a place where she’d never previously tingled. She knew what
anything
meant and struggled not to get breathless at the thought of it.

“So, since I’m now just a guy and you’re just an insanely hot girl, may I take you out on a date to celebrate you getting into Princeton?” Mark asked in a proper gentlemanly manner.

“Yes,” Alex nodded eagerly, “of course you can.”

She felt giddy with delight as Mark ran a hand down her cheek before taking a firmer grip of her face and pulling her in for another hot and delicious kiss.

****

“So who is this guy?” Jackie interrogated her daughter for the tenth time as Alex paced nervously around the trailer.

“A guy from school,” Alex answered ambiguously, aware she was only half-lying.

“What’s his name?”

“Mark.”

“Is he going to come inside to meet me?” Jackie asked, visibly on edge. It was the first time she’d had to deal with her daughter going out on a date, and she felt out of her depth. She wished her late husband were there to help guide her through the situation. He’d have known exactly what to do. He’d have invited the guy in, made some friendly small talk before jokingly telling him about the colt beneath his pillow and how if he hurt his daughter, he wouldn’t be afraid to use it.

But Jackie couldn’t do any of those things; all she could do was watch fretfully from the trailer.

“No, Mom, he’s not coming in to meet you because this isn’t the fifties,” Alex remarked cheekily.

“It’s only proper manners to meet the parents!” Jackie objected.

The last thing Alex wanted was for Mark to come inside and meet her mother. She knew that his age would instantly be an issue. It was better for all of them if, for the time being, her mother was led to believe that he was just another student rather than a teacher.

“Is he going to college?” Jackie asked after a brief silence, determined to learn what she could about the mystery man before Alex ran out into the night to commence her date with him.

“Yeah.”

“Where is he going?”

“Notre Dame.” It was the first name that sprang to Alex’s mind.

“What will he study?”

“Teaching,” she replied. Again, only a half lie, as Mark had already gone to college to study teaching.

“Oh.” Jackie nodded thoughtfully, seemingly satisfied by this piece of information. “Teaching is a noble pursuit,” she added.

“It sure is.” Alex laughed, regretting telling her mother that she was going on a date. Whenever she thought she was going out with Claire she wasn’t nearly as concerned.

“Is Claire dating anyone at the moment?” Jackie queried, continuing to seize the opportunity to ask her daughter questions.

“Yeah, a guy named Jeff.” Alex didn’t want to go into details about how she and Claire were no longer friends. If her Mom knew that people were shunning her because she was now ousted as a brain, she would only pity her, and Alex despised being pitied.

“Is he nice?”

“Nice enough.” Alex shrugged.

Car headlights shone just beyond the window, and before her mother could have a chance to wander out to the vehicle, Alex bounded through the door to the trailer, sending it smacking against the dwelling’s exterior.

“Have fun!” Jackie called meekly after her daughter.

“That was quick,” Mark noted as Alex hurriedly buckled herself in, eager to leave the trailer.

“My mom is dangerously close to letting her curiosity get the better of her and coming out to meet you,” Alex explained.