Ecie & Esme III: Forever and a Day

Three

'I'll see you guys later,' Ecie said dropping Esme and Verde off at Quin and Zabad. 'Have fun at work.'

'Bye.'

Ecie drove off.

Ecie lay curled up with Landon, under a blanket, as they watched a movie in front of the fire in his living room. He pulled up the blanket over Ecie and kissed her head.

'Are you okay?' he asked softly.

'Hmm,' Ecie nodded half asleep. 'Just quiet.'

'I'll make some hot chocolate,' Landon said getting up slowly and checking Ecie was comfortable. 'I'll be back in a minute.'

Landon looked back at Ecie before he went into his kitchen and started making them hot chocolate. He returned to the room ten minutes later with two steaming mugs and set them down on the floor, where Ecie was lying.

'What did I miss?' he asked sitting down.

'Nothing really,' Ecie yawned looking back at Landon. 'I don't know.'

Landon moved closer to Ecie and wrapped his arms around her as he pulled her closer to him and kissed her.

'I'm tired,' Ecie said.

'What did you do today?'

'I went to see my mom and her boyfriend,' Ecie replied. 'Then I went to see my dad for dinner.'

'You've had a busy day,' Landon said. 'Do you want me to give you a massage or something?'

Ecie's heart almost skipped a beat.

'What's wrong?'

'No thanks,' Ecie said. 'I don't want a massage.'

She released herself from Landon and reached forward for her mug of hot chocolate. She sat back again, but a little bit away from Landon as they watched the rest of the movie.

'What are these?' Ecie asked as Landon brushed his teeth.

'What are what?'

Ecie looked through the small stack of papers that were on a stool in Landon's bedroom. She came across her own paper and looked at it. She saw another copy of the same paper and looked at it confused.

'Do you photocopy every person's paper?' she asked holding up both copies of her paper when Landon walked back into the bathroom.

'Huh?'

'Why are there two of these?'

'Ecie,' Landon said taking the papers from her. 'You're not supposed to look at these.'

'Why did you photocopy it?' Ecie asked as Landon cleared away the rest of the papers and put them in a draw.

'It helps me grade them and understand them,' Landon replied. 'I find that when I do that I get a better perspective of the work, and the student usually gets a better grade.'

'Right,' Ecie nodded. 'So why did the photocopy say A, and the original say C?'

'Listen Ecie,' Landon said. 'It's a little complicated...'

'No its not,' Ecie said. 'Why are you purposely giving me a low grade when you know I deserve better?'

'E...'

'No Landon,' Ecie said. 'Don't do that. I give you sex, the least you can do is give me a decent grade and not treat me like some total idiot.'

'This is awkward for me,' Landon said. 'You realize that what we're doing makes it tough for me. I've got to be tough on you...'

'No you don't,' Ecie said. 'You've only got to be honest. Change my grade.'

'I can't do that,' Landon said shaking his head. 'I can't.'

'Yes you can,' Ecie said. 'Just do it.'

'If the other students found out about us they'd be angry, all of them,' Landon replied. 'They'll think that the only reason why I was giving you the best grade was because we were together. They wouldn't even think that you had worked hard at all.'

'So you're just giving me low grades so that when the others do find out, they'll think you were still being equal?' Ecie said. 'I'm smart Landon. I am so goddamn smart and you've got no idea. I spend hours on those dumb papers and I work so hard on them.'

'I'm only trying to be fair...'

'On who?!' Ecie said. 'Because you're sure as hell not being fair on me. You're making me suffer.'

'This was never supposed to happen,' Landon sighed sitting down on his bed with his head in his hands. 'I wasn't supposed to fall in love with my student.'

'Come on Landon,' Ecie laughed. 'Let's get real for a second.'

'I am,' Landon said looking up at Ecie. 'I'm in love with you.'

Ecie stared at Landon confused. 'Really? You're really in love with me?' she scoffed.

'Well if I wasn't do you really think I'd waste my time and risk my job for a fling?' he said. 'Do you really think I would risk everything for something I didn't believe in?'

'Look, Landon,' Ecie said slowly. 'I don't know... I don't know how...'

'It's fine,' Landon said getting up and walking over to Ecie. He put his hand on her cheek then stroked it. 'I don't expect you to fall head over heels in love with me after such a short time. You're nineteen and I'm thirty.'

'I didn't know Landon,' Ecie said shaking her head. 'I'm sorry... I would never have...'

'Its fine,' Landon replied. 'I know that Palm Springs should never have happened but I'm not sorry it did. I won't apologize for that.'

'Then why are you giving me unfair grades?' Ecie asked. 'Just move me to another class for crying out loud. I don't want to be held back on account of your feelings towards me.'

'It's tough for me...'

'It'll be tougher for me when no law firm wants to hire me because of my sucky grades,' Ecie said. 'You've already got all your qualifications. If you lose this job, you can always find another one. What about me?'

'Ecie,' Landon said putting his arms around her. 'Can we talk about this tomorrow?'

Ecie looked at Landon then sighed. 'Yeah whatever. I don't care. I'm over it.'

She left Landon and climbed into his bed, wrapping the covers tightly around her.