Forbidden

Chapter Five

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

                Olivia groaned as she smacked her fist into her bedside alarm clock. The air outside of her covers was chilly and it nipped at her face and her exposed skin. She wanted nothing more than to wrap herself up in her covers and close her eyes for just five more minutes. She fought the urge though, knowing she needed to get ready. She pushed her blankets off of her and stumbled out of bed with her eyes still closed. Her knee met the edge of her bed with a nice thud.

“Fu-,” she started to say.

“Shit, shit, shit, ow,” she whined instead as she rubbed her knee with force.

                She flipped on the light in the bathroom, observing the quickly progressing knot. She rubbed it again and turned the shower on. After she was finished, she wrapped herself up in her striped bold-colored robe and walked into her room. She picked up her phone, noticing she had four text messages and a missed call with a voicemail attached. All from Kenley.

“I’m not coming to school today. I’m gonna stay home with momma. Do not worry, everything is fine. There’s just more crap to go through than I thought so. . . yaaaay for the weekend! That was my take at sarcasm, I hope you picked up on it. Anyway, call me later. Love you.”

                Olivia smiled and hung up her phone. She figured she could make a stop at Starbucks and pick up some coffee since she’d have extra time to spare from not picking up Kenley. And if she was really lucky, he would be there again.

                She picked out a pair of washed denim skinny jeans that emphasized her figure well, and a tight fitting button up light blue plaid shirt she bought from Hollister. She rolled up the sleeves and slipped her flip flops on, showing her manicured red toes. She straightened her long blonde hair and put on some light makeup. She walked up to mirror and did a quick once-over and was pleased with how she looked. Except. . . and she undid a couple more buttons, showing just enough cleavage to keep the mind wondering.

                She bid adieu to her Daddy and grabbed her purse and her Vera Bradley messenger bag and headed out the door. There was more traffic than normal on the way to Starbucks and a couple of times, Olivia considered turning around and just getting coffee from the vending machine at school. But she pressed forward. She kind of enjoyed running into him out of nowhere. Actually, she really enjoyed running into him out of nowhere. She waited for a red light to turn green, and as it did, she lifted her foot from the break, hitting her knee on the steering wheel.

“Damnit! Really?” she yelled to no one in particular. She grabbed onto her sore knee and turned into the parking lot where naturally, there were no close spots up front. She noticed a subtle limp with her stride and she cursed silently to herself. She pulled the door open and held it, while waiting for a lady and a small child to walk through.

                She stood in line, skimming the crowd of people as inconspicuously as she could. No sign of Mr. Cereno. She signed and decided she would be seeing him soon enough anyway. She ordered her coffee and moved down to pay when she heard a voice come from her left.

“I’ve got it,” Mr. Cereno said as he handed the cashier a twenty.

“We’ve gotta stop runnin’ into each other like this!” she said with a laughter, as if this hadn’t been her hope all along.

“And no, I can’t let you pay. If anyone owes anyone a coffee, it’s me. Let me get yours,” she said.

“Absolutely not. I’m being a southern gentleman here. Please don’t turn me down. It’ll be awkward,” he said with a smirk.

“So this is a pride thing?” she joked.

                He pretended to think about what she had just said and replied, “Yeah, somethin’ like that.” He winked.

“Alright, well for pride’s sake, I will allow you to buy this coffee for me. But only this one time! I don’t want you starting your day out feelin’ awkward,” she smiled.

                She noticed he was already clutching his own cup of coffee as he reached to take his change and they walked out together.

“Thank you,” she said in response to him holding the door for her.

“Southern gentleman, remember?”

“How could I forget? You just spent an entire three dollars and twenty-three cents on me, and I am forever grateful,” she winked.

“So I guess you’re not a fan of the vending machine coffee at school, huh?”

Small talk! Small talk! Don’t screw it up this time!

“It’s repulsive. Have you tried it?”

“Regrettably. All I had to do was stick my tongue in the cup to get a small taste before realizing I’d better throw it away if I wanted to live.”

                Olivia laughed. She felt chemistry build between them, and she knew it wasn’t just her. He was flirting too, wasn’t he? Stop beating so hard, heart! Quit laughing like an idiot! Be normal, Olivia!

“I’m really looking forward to our mentor meetings,” he said, breaking the war she was having with herself inside of her head.

“So am I. I’m surprised I actually got my first pick. I wasn’t expecting to.”

                She noticed Mr. Cereno blushing and he suddenly starting acting nervous.

“Yeah, we got lucky, I guess!” he said.

“So, don’t think this is weird or anything, but you smell amazing,” Olivia said.

Stupid. It was definitely a weird thing to say.

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you.”

“Well, thank you. It’s um, always a good thing to smell good, right?”Another stupid laugh.

“Right,” he laughed back. “Well, I guess we should probably get goin’. I’ll see you second period, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there. I gotta leave right after though. I have to take my parents to the airport. They’re vacationing in Fort Myers for the weekend.”

“It’s gorgeous there. Have you ever been?”

“I have. And, it is. It’s absolutely breathtakin’ out there.”

“I agree.”

Awkward silence, awkward silence, he looks so good today, awkward silence, stupid smile, stupid heartbeat, leave, don’t embarrass yourself, turn, leave.

“Well, I’ll see ya in a little while then,” she said.

“A’right, see ya then,” he smiled and winked.

“Bye,” she said in her sweet southern drawl as she held her hand up in a wave.

                Mr. Cereno got in his car, looking at her in his rear view mirror. His heart had been thudding the entire time, too. He quickly noticed her attire, and found himself wishing he could just touch her, just once.

Stop, Nick. She might be eighteen but you’re still her teacher. She’s a high school student. She’s legal, though! But she’s still a high school student, in my class!

                The two of them let out a tired sigh as they pulled out of the parking lot. Why’d he have to be a teacher? Why did she have to be a student? They were both drawn to each other. But there was nothing they could do about it. Stupid knee, stupid situation, stupid school policies.