Tori is an intelligent, kind, beautiful and capable young woman who prioritizes meeting and upholding the expectations of her loved ones even if it means sacrificing her own needs and wants. As her father experiences a health emergency, Tori's life...
The next morning I awoke feeling like I had been hit by a train. Nope, not just one train, two trains. I looked at my phone and saw that Liv had sent me several text messages and called several times. I called her back and explained the events of last night. "Girl, seriously?! What the actual fuck?! You go from zero guys to two of them?! Whatever you're doing... we need to bottle and sell. Also, I think we need to seriously do a deep dive on the Shane situation..," Liv said. I sighed and turned over in my bed as we continued our call.
The remainder of the weekend was as uneventful as I could have hoped for. I was able to catch up on laundry, took care of Charlie, and knocked out my homework assignments. I was finally recharged once Monday arrived. Liv and I were still unsure where we stood in regards to me giving Shane a second chance, but before I knew it, Shane was heading in my direction as Liv and I were walking down the hallway towards our first period class.
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His face lit up and he extended his arms in a gesture of expecting a hug. I walked up and hugged him lightly while he fully embraced me and even appeared to breathe me in during our hug. "I was worried about you when you didn't text me when you got home," Shane said as he then put his arm around me and began walking in the direction that Liv and I were originally headed. "Oh, yeah. I am so sorry. I must have been so tired, that I forgot," I said trying to come up with an excuse on the fly. "No worries, Tori." Shane said with a dazzling smile. "I do think we should talk about this Friday thought since it is an away game. My mom offered to drive you there and back. I told her you would probably be down for it, but I just wanted to double check." Even from my peripheral vision, I could see that Liv had heard what Shane was asking and almost choked with laughter at the idea that not only would I attend a football game but travel to do so. I tried elbowing her to control her laughter. "You know, I would need to run that by my parents," I said relieved that I was able to come up with such as thing so quickly. Shane nodded his head in understanding. As I looked away from Shane and towards the flow of traffic within the hall, my eyes met with Wyatt who saw Shane's arm around my shoulder. Wyatt's eyes seem to burst with flames, eye brows wrinkled with disappointment and anger while his jaw appeared chiseled due to the amount of clinching he was doing. My mouth parted out of surprise that he witnessed this and I felt a sudden wave of guilt come over me. Finally, Shane, Liv and I passed Wyatt. I finally understood the phrase, "if looks could kill." Finally, we reached my first period class, and Shane finally released my shoulders. He appeared to almost have tried to go for another hug but I walked into class before it could happen. "Bye, T! I'll see you later," Shane yelled and I nodded in response. Liv looked at me, "T?! I'm the only one who calls you that. Girl, that boy is in love with you... and from the looks of it, so is Wyatt, but what I find most interesting is how you really seem to act as comfortable as a turtle on skates with Shane." I burst with laughter. "What?! I don't look like that! We go well together!" I attempted to defend myself. "No. I love you, but no. You look miserable," Liv corrected.
We sat through our first period class, and wouldn't you know it, there was someone waiting for me once the bell rang. "Hey, T! Just thought I would walk you to class again," Shane said with a smile and once again put his arm around my shoulders. My eyes met with Liv and I made an overly exaggerated smile to her to prove her wrong but it ended up just making Liv laugh. We walked up to my mother's classroom and Shane said, "well, I guess this is your stop. I have weight lifting now so I probably won't make it back in time to see you off for your college class." He said as he attempted to lean in for a kiss. I dodged the kiss and hugged him instead. I patted his back like you would an unfamiliar relative. Liv could not control herself at this point and belted out a laugh which spurred the attention of one Mr. Wyatt Daniels. "Why does your teacher look so pissed?" Shane said. I turned to look and saw that Wyatt was staring daggers at Shane. "Oh, ummm... maybe because no one ever does the reading?" I said trying to sound as normal as possible. "Well, I'll talk to you later, T." I backed away before he could attempt to touch me anymore. I took myself and looked up to find that Wyatt was still fuming, but it was not until the end of class that he asked to speak with me. This time, he was asking me where a specific folder of exams were which threw me off as I was expecting some sort of judgement or advice from him. I provided him with the requested folder and then said, "I'm sorry for earlier. I don't know why Shane feels like it's okay to be so affectionate every moment." I said lightheartedly trying to find some ground of reconciliation with Wyatt. "I mean. it's just awkward to be doing that at school and all..." I said trying to encourage him to engage in a conversation with me. "I'm just a sub, remember? I don't have opinion about who students do and don't date. I hope you have a great rest of your day, Miss Simmons." "Please don't be like that," I begged. "I don't know what you want from me. You chose this." He slammed a book shut and ran his fingers through his hair out of frustration. His jaw was clenched yet controlled. His hair full gloriously into place. "What? What do you want from me? You want me to tell you that it hurts me seeing his arm around you? You want me to tell you that I'm jealous of Shane? That I loved being the one that you called when you were upset? Well, I can't because you didn't choose me. So you have to live with that, and I do believe you need to leave campus now and head to your college course, Miss Simmons." Wyatt had dropped eye contact with me and was no longer facing my direction at this time. I was silenced by his words. I did not know the extent of his feelings towards me until he freed them just now.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I hurt you. I'm sorry if you're mad, but I have to do what I think is best," I said. "No, Tori, you're doing what you think everyone else will approve of because you think it's weird or uncomfortable that I am two years older and a temporary teacher at the school you go to." Wyatt responded. I did not disagree with me because then I would have been lying to myself. I turned around and understood that if I walked away- then, I could not call him again. I could not talk or run to him again. I needed to leave things the way they were and let him heal. I knew that he felt the same, that with each step, I was signing an ultimatum that what we could have had - would never be.
