Forbidden

Chapter Ten

Olivia awoke the next morning and put her hair into a bun and made her way down the stairs. As she was waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, she checked her phone. There were three missed calls, two voicemails and eleven texts. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she hit the voicemail icon and put the phone to her ear.

“Olivia, it’s Mr. Cereno, Nick, whatever,” he laughed, “I was just calling to make sure you made it home alright. I wasn’t going to call, but, well, I did so just uh, let me know.”

“Olivia, it’s me again. You’re starting to make me worry. Please call me back just to let me know you’re okay. I know you’re by yourself tonight and I . . . I’m just worried. Please call me.”

                She laughed quietly to herself and bit her lip to hide the smile that was forming on her face. She opened her texts.

“Make it home okay?”, “Olivia . . .,” “I know you’re getting my texts . . .”

                She hit reply on the last text.

“Sorry for not answering. I crashed as soon as I got home. I’m fine, thank you for checking :) “

                She poured herself a cup of coffee and made her way to the screened in porch out back. She loved mornings like this where she was completely alone and it was just her and the sound of the birds chirping. She let her mind wander back to the night before and although she was undoubtedly upset about the way everything happened last night, she couldn’t help but smile.

“You have the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen. I keep gettin’ lost in them, no matter how hard I try to fight it.”

                He felt the same. That wasn’t the question anymore. So what was the question? What now? Her phone rang and she picked it up, looking at the caller I.D. It was him again.

“Hello?”

“Oh my God, Olivia, you had me flippin’ out. I was gonna drive over and check on you but I didn’t know if maybe you were busy or . . .”

“Not at all. I went to bed entirely too early last night,” she laughed. “I wouldn’t have minded some company, actually.”

“Yeah, me either . . .” he trailed off. “Well, a ‘right then. I was just checkin’ up on you.”

                She smiled.

“Thank you, it means a lot.”

                Silence.

“Okay. See you Monday?” he asked.

“See you Monday.”

                Just as Olivia was hanging up with Mr. Cereno, her phone beeped and Daddy appeared across the screen.

“Hey, Daddy!”

“Hey, sweetheart. So, it looks like we might be staying a little longer than we had originally planned.”

“Oh, yeah? When were you planning on coming back?”

“Probably Thursday. Is that okay? You doing alright?”

“Yeah, absolutely! I’m fine. Just give me a holler when you’re ready for me to come get you guys! Have fun and don’t worry.”

“A ‘right darlin’. We love you and we’ll see you soon. You better go to school!”

“Daddy, c’mon. You know I will,” she laughed and rolled her eyes.

“A ‘right. Love you bunches.”

“Love you.”

                Another four days with an empty house? What was she going to do the whole time? She knew she’d survive it. She just had to get through this weekend where everyone was busy and by the time Monday came, she wouldn’t have to be so lonely so much as she was bored. She sighed and knew she should get ready. She still hadn’t gone to the grocery store yet and she figured she might as well get it done. Plus, it gave her something to do. Maybe she could call Mr. Cereno back and see if he wanted to have dinner, or go for a walk, or . . . whatever. Maybe it was against the spoken and unspoken rule to “hang out” outside of school. Regardless, she tucked away her insecurities and dialed his number anyway.

                The line rang twice before she heard his voice on the other end.

 “Hey Olivia, what’s up?” he said.

“Hey Mr. Cereno. I just uh, I have a really dumb question for you,” she laughed nervously.

“I doubt it’ll be dumb, but go ahead.”

“I was just, my parents are gonna be gone until Thursday now and I’m dying here from boredom, so I was thinking maybe we cou—,” he stopped her mid sentence.

“Olivia, there is literally nothing I would love more than that, but I don’t think that after last night it would be . . . appropriate.”

“Oh, yeah, no you’re absolutely right. I was stupid to ask.”

“No. It’s not that. I just . . . I don’t trust myself around you,” he let out a sigh. “Listen, Olivia. Like I said, if it were any other situation, it would be entirely different, but this is the hand we were dealt. I’m sorry.”

                Her face burned. Not from excitement or from the unknown, but from embarrassment. She shouldn’t have called. This was not how Olivia would normally act, so why was she being so irresponsible and careless?

“That’s okay. You have nothing to apologize for. Obviously I’m the one to blame. I knew not to call and I did anyway. I’m sorry. I’ll see you Monday.”

“Olivia—wai-“

                She hung up and felt the sting of tears burn her eyes. She had never been so embarrassed before. She shook her head as if doing so would empty the thoughts from her head. It didn’t work. She stood from her chair and looked out the window, suddenly picking up an interest in nail biting. Olivia put her forehead against the warm glass and sighed heavily. He’s right, though. It doesn’t matter if I was interested in him at the coffee shop or not. The fact is that he is my teacher and I acted like a fool. Great! She smacked her head lightly on the window. I can’t undo that last phone call. What am I gonna do when I’m forced to face him Monday?