Falling for math

12. The touch of her lips

I woke up the next morning in the exact position I had fallen asleep in. My head was nestled in a warm neck and my arm was resting comfortably over Miss Rose's waist.

Because, yes, Miss Rose was still here. In my bed; cuddling me. Shit. I had spent the night in my math teacher's arms.

I slowly extracted myself from her arms, trying not to wake her since I had kept her up most of the night. And not in a fun way either... So, the least I could do was let her sleep.

Once I had successfully gotten out of bed without waking her up, I took a few seconds to admire how adorable she looked in her sleep.

Only a week ago, I was convinced Miss Rose was just being a caring teacher. But now, I knew there was more to it. She had spent the night holding me when she could simply have woken me up after the nightmare and left me to deal with my problems alone. She didn't have to comfort me; it wasn't in her job description. So now I knew there must be more to it. There was something more and beautiful growing between the two of us. Even if I had never felt it before, I knew what it was. However, I was too scared to put the right words on it. Because of her still being my math teacher, it felt dangerous. And I was scared that thinking too much about what was going on would ruin it and that everything would be taken away from me. So, for once, I tried to stop myself from over-thinking, which was no easy feat.

That's when I realized I was still staring at her sleeping face like a creep, so I hastily made my way to the bathroom to put on a running outfit, stumbling on the way there.

I had never gone three weeks without dance practice three times a week and I knew I needed to keep myself in shape. I wasn't a fan of running but until I could get back to a dance studio, it would have to do.

When I got out of the bathroom, Elena was still fast asleep, now sprawled in the middle of the bed like a starfish. I smiled at the cuteness and briefly considered bringing her breakfast in bed. The thought was dismissed as soon as it entered my mind, and I tried not to overthink why it had been there in the first place.

I hurried to get my phone and AirPods so I could leave the room and get some fresh air. At the last minute, I decided to leave a note for Elena so she wouldn't think I had randomly disappeared. For some reason, I didn't want her to think I had abandoned her in my bed while she had so selflessly comforted me the night before.

As I got closer to deposit the note on the bedside table, I had to stop myself from laying a gentle kiss on her forehead like she had done so many times before.

Instead, at the last second, I decided to stick the note to her forehead. That way, I was almost sure she wouldn't feel like I was avoiding her. I giggled silently like I had just pulled an elaborated prank and left the room while she didn't so much as stir.

**

I had been running at a slow pace for an hour when I almost collided with some guy on a bike who wasn't looking where he was going. I had to jump out of his way and when I did so, I felt a sharp and blinding pain in my right calf.

I inhaled deeply at the sudden pain and took a tentative step forward. As I rested more of my weight on my right leg, it folded without my consent and if it hadn't been for the low wall of the nearby park, I would have fallen over.

With another deep breath, I sat on the small wall and reached to massage my calf. As soon as I pressed a bit, the sharp pain intensified, and I recognized the symptoms all too well. It was most likely pulled muscle. Great. Again.

I knew two things for sure: first, I was about to spend the next three weeks with crutches and second, there was no way I'd be able to walk back to the hotel.