Did you Forget?

In a Year

Its been a year since I last saw Taylor. I've watched her on the news but not once has she call or have I called her. I ended up moving to Edmonton. It was busy and it took a while to pack evrything in my apartment. Apparently I had another beach house in Hawaii so I had everything shipped out and sold it. Most people would have kept it but I had a feeling that without my singing I wouldn't be able to afford it. I owned a little apartment with one room full of all my fancy clothes and things that I wouldn't need for the job I'm in now. I am now officially an elementary and middle school drama teacher.

I also got a whole new look. I died my hair brown and I don't wear anything that looks like its worth a million dollars. I go by Ariel, not Darla and instead of using Brooks as my last name, I use my middle name, Mae.

Living alone is pretty lonely because I'm still used to living with my brother and mom. My memory has not come back and the doctor says its not going to. He thinks it's been to long.

I've tried cooking but I stuggle. I've burned everything. In my memory, my mom never taught me to cook and I can't seem to get it. I've bought thing I don't have to cook and I've eaten out. I'm afraid I'll gain weight but it will take time before I can make food that is edible.

Every morning I drive fifteen minutes to work and on the way I stop for a coffee, which I have learned to love. The students are sweet and enjoy making plays. The last one we presented was about a princess, which was me, that was taken by the cowboys, which was the grade four boys, and the palace girls, the grade four girls, had to save me. It was defiantly a good production.

Today was a wednesday so I drove out to the school, prepared for my.morning class. I was planning on teaching them how to show more emotion while they act. As I walked in the school, I was greeted by Mr. Watson, or Jake Watson. He taught Math to grade fives and him and I had gotten quite close. He had taken me to dinner a few times but never anything serious. He doesn't know that I think like a twelve year old or I was in an accident. I doubt he has noticed that, at one point, I was a famous singer.

I did think it was odd that I had agreed to go out with him. It felt like I was going out with an older man. At the same time, thinking like a twelve year old helped me interact with the students better. As I was going through the jobs in the newspaper and I found this one and it said I only needed a clean record and experience on a stage. I happened to have both, not that I remember it. I knew that with my memorie loss, I had an advantage with getting along with kids. I picked up drama for dummies and I was ready to go.

"Hello, Ms. Mae." Jessica said as she skipped in.

She was followed by the rest of her grade and they all took a seat in a circle on the floor.

"Alright class, I want each of you to partner up with someone." I said as I put my pen down.

They all shuffled around until everyone had a partner.

"Good. Now I want you to take turns telling each other what emotion to make and the other has to try their hardest to make it convincing," I explained. "Go ahead." 

Everyone began to make faces with their partners and I had to hold back my laughter. The little grade fours had so much enthusiasm in acting and it was truly fun to watch. One little boy was trying to be scared and he was very convincing. Another was acting sad and I would have totally believed he was crying. I loved to see them getting so into their parts.

Lunch came quickly and I sat in the teachers lounge. Jake sat beside me and began sipping his coffee.

"Got any plans after school today?" He asked.

"Not that I know of," I replied.

"Then how would you like to go to dinner?"

"Why not," I smiled.

The bell rang and I was forced to go back to my next class. I taught them the same lesson. Sometimes the days seemed to drag on. Not all students were as good as the others. The grade sixes liked to cause nothing but trouble. They stuck gum in girls hair, put gum under chairs, drew penises on the board, laughed at a certain number, and were full of lies. It was like a contest everyday. See who could tell the best story that was believable. 

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT DRAWING ON THE BOARD!" I shouted to a few boys who thought they were the funniest people in the word. "Not cool," I shouted behind them as they left with the bell.

And next I had the grade I dreded most. Grade eight. They were polite but for all the wrong reasons.

"Morning Ariel," James winked in my direction.

I rolled my eyes. "I told you James. It is disrespectful to call your teacher by her first name." I said as he sat down.

"Miss Mae," another boy named named Eric smiled as he handed me a songle white flower.

"That's sweet Eric but I think your Mom would like it more." I dismissed him and a look of failure spread across his face.

I swear, I think I'm nothing but a challenge to them. See who can get the new young teacher to like them. Even if I was closer to their age in mind, I was way older than them in reality. It was a pain to teach them.

The next hour was boring. Nothing like trying to teach while half the boys are hitting on you. But when the final bell rang I let out a huge sigh. I gathered all my papers and brought them to my car. I put the keys in ignition and was about to drive away when Jake knocked on my window. I rolled it down and laughed at his goofy smile.

"I thought we were having dinner?" He asked.

"Right," I thought for a moment. "Why don't you just come to my house and I'll order something in?"

"Sure," he smiled before opening the door and sitting himself down.

"What about your car?" I raised my eye brow.

"Right. I'll tail you." He laughed then went to his own car.

I groaned and began the long drive home. Jake was right behind me the whole time and I almost felt uncomfortable but I kept reminding myself he was just coming for dinner. When I finally got to the appartment, I called for chineese.

"Nice," Jake comented as he stepped in. It wasn't anyhting that great but he seemed to like it.

"Thanks," I replied and excused myself for a moment.

I changed into my sweat pants and went back out to see Jake sitting on the couch.

He smirked," that's not what most girls mean when they say they'll change into something more comfortable."

"What?" I tilted my head to the side.

"Never mind," he muttered and stood to get the door as the food arrived. He payed and put the food on the table.  We ate in silence. I was to tierd to really care about tonight.

"So busy day today?" He asked.

"Mhmm." I replied with a mouth full of rice.

He gave me a half smile then pushed his chair back. He slowly walked to my side. I continued eating, not caring what he was doing. He brushed my hair behind my ear. I dropped my fork and looked up at him. Before I could react, his lips were on mine. At first I was shocked but then I pushed him away.

"We work together. This is not appropriate." I grumbled and went to open the door for him.

"What?" He asked as I pulled the door open.

"Us," I stated as he used his toe to close the door.

"Why?" 

"Because."

"You're going to have to do better then that," he smirked.

"I can't be with you and I don't know if I want to." I said proudly.

He chuckled. "You clearly don't know what you want."

"That isn't tr-" he cut me off by pulling me in by my waist and kissing my neck. "No." I shoved him again more playfully than forcefully. His lips found mine but I didn't pull away. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried us to the couch. 

Maybe he was right. Maybe I didn't know what I wanted. Something in his eyes made me go with him something the way his voice soothed me made me want to stay in his arms.