Teacher, Teacher

Five

Five

Water. Water has a sensation, but it also has a sound. What I was hearing was water bubbles around my ears. My eyes were closed and I was trapped. My head was throbbing and I couldn't breathe, yet I could smell the water. It was...pond water. Or...no, it was lake water. Clean lake water. I felt cold all over.

"Mandie...Amanda." I was coughing as I was waking up and I opened my eyes to see Prince in a towel and sitting on the bed. He was patting my back. He stopped to stand up and hand me a bottle of water and I sat up to take a sip. "You okay? I haven't heard you cough that hard since your first J." He said. I laughed a little and rubbed my eye. I looked around. I was in the hotel and Prince had just gotten out of the shower. "I made coffee for you. I'm gonna finish getting dressed. I uh...went by your house and got you some clothes if that's cool." I smiled. It was weird, but I trusted him. "Thank you. How long have you been up?" I asked him. He stepped back into the bathroom. "A few hours. Actually, no...I haven't slept." He admitted.

I stood up and saw the open package of underwear he got me last night and some clothes. "Were you dreaming?" He asked me. "Yeah, I was. It was a weird dream. I was underwater." I said as I started to get dressed. Prince stepped out of the bathroom and had done his hair and was completely dressed besides his heels. I stepped into the bathroom to use it before finishing getting dressed. Prince hadn't said anything about my dream. We checked out of the hotel and we were in the car just driving around before he dropped me off and we were kissing in my driveway. "I'm gonna be gone a couple of days to check on Luther and Denise. Do you need anything before I go?" He asked. I shook my head giving him more kisses. "Call me when you land." I told him. "I will." He kissed me again and I knew if I didn't get inside we'd be outside all afternoon.

I went inside and sat on my couch in silence. Wow...this was happening. A chapter of my life that I had forgotten was starting to come back up. Prince and I were...talking? Or dating? I wasn't sure, but I was enjoying this. My phone rang by the sofa and I answered it. There was music in the background. "Hello?" "Hey, it's me." Prince said. I smiled and laid down listening to him. He wasn't talking, just breathing. "Can you talk on the phone and drive?" I asked him. "Of course I can." He said. "Mandie, I'm here if you need anything." He said. "I know. I think I'm okay now, though. I hope Luther will be okay. I'll get all his stuff lined up for school. I really hope things will be okay with his mother." "Denise is a fighter. She'll be okay." He said. I heard the blinker turn on and I knew he was pulling into his driveway, but even when he got out of the car he was still talking to me.

"You sure you don't need anything before I go?" "Yes, Prince. I'm okay. Just give me an update on Luther." "I'll let him talk to you when I get there. He'll probably be asleep when I get there but later tonight he should be awake. Time difference, you know." "Yeah." I said softly. "What do you think I need?" I asked him. "I don't know. I just wanna make sure you're okay." "I'm fine." I said with a giggle. He was quiet and he was loudly throwing stuff around, but not angrily. Like he was fighting the urge to say something. "Amanda..." I sat up switching the phone to my other ear. "Yes?" "Do you and your mom wanna come to Minneapolis for Thanksgiving?" Thanksgiving wasn't even a thought on my mind. It wasn't even October. "I'm...sure mom wouldn't mind. You should probably reacquaint yourself with her, though." "Oh, yeah I will. So...is that a yes?" I smiled. "When you come home and talk to mom, I'm sure she'll say yes." I heard a long zipper. "Cool. I'm about to go to the airport. I'll call you when I land." He said. "Okay, I love you." I said. I didn't want to say it, but it was like a muscle memory. "I love you, too. Bye." He said. We hung up and I curled my knees up. Wow. I told him I loved him. What a surprise.

Into the next week, it was October. I was trying my best to decorate my room for the holiday as much as possible. I always went all out for Halloween. It was my birthday month and also my favorite holiday. I took down my Barbie poster and put up my handmade decorated Halloween poster board. This year I was wanting to put photos of the kids decorating their favorite monster on it. I've been hearing from Prince about once a day and it was usually right when I got home from work. Tonight I was going to be talking to Luther which I was excited about. I wasn't sure if he knew about Prince and I, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind.