Hooked ~A Student/Teacher Love Story~

Chapter 15

“I think that possibly, maybe I’m falling for you.”

I opened my eyes, squinting in the dim light of early morning.  Absently, I reached over and turned off my alarm clock.  Six-fifty AM.  Just enough time to shower, get dressed and ready, grab some breakfast, and be on my way.  I didn’t want to keep Evan waiting after his late night shift.  He had a tendency of getting grouchy when he only got three or four hours of sleep, especially on a school day. 

I went through my normal morning routine and got done even earlier than usual.  At eight o’clock, I was out the door.  Evan met me by his car, not smiling.  He didn’t look particularly angry, more annoyed that he had to be out of bed.  Dark circles underscored his deep brown eyes.  I quirked a fake smile at him.

“Ready?” I asked.

“No,” he replied grumpily.

“Great. Let’s go.”

We got into the Reefer Brownie and buckled in.  The engine sputtered to life, and we were cruising down the road to school. 

A few minutes later, we pulled into Evan’s parking place.  “See ya, Nave,” I said.  He grunted, cut the engine, and got out.  I sighed and followed suit, shrugging my backpack over my shoulder.  Nave was still mad at me for hiding my relationship with Mr. Donnals…  But, thanks to him, I hardly had a relationship with Gerard, so I didn’t feel obliged to apologize. 

Really, what had I seen in Gerard anyway?  He was a persistent, equal-opportunity ass.  Sure he had sweet moments, and he sympathized with me, but damn it, any human could do that.  I didn’t need him. 

And yet I was drawn to him.  I didn’t know how I could loathe someone so much and still be attracted to them.  And it wasn’t just the looks.  Something about his personality kept me running back. 

I needed to cut my ties with him.  Seriously.  He was my teacher; there was no way it could work out in the end.  Why even try?  If I quit then, it would save us both a lot of grief.  I mean, really, we could hardly get along as it was—

SMACK!

“Ouch!” I cried, stumbling back.  Had I really been so distracted I ran into someone?  Good God, I did need to break up with Mr. Donnals.  Thinking about him so much was going to get me killed.

 “Watch where you’re goin’, ya little git,” barked a boy, an atrocious Boston accent.  I looked up at him; the guy was a freaking giant!  There weren’t many people around who were taller than Evan (six-four), but this guy had at least three or four inches on him.  His dark brown hair stuck up in all directions like he hadn’t had time to brush it that morning, but it looked hot instead of trashy.  Something about him looked familiar…  I couldn’t place it, though.  He was gorgeous, hands-down.  I figured I would’ve remembered a face like that.

“Sorry,” I muttered, and started to hurry off to my next class.  But then I noticed that he’d stopped.  The striking giant stood in the middle of the hallway, scratching his head. 

Oh, good Lord.  He was lost.

Despite my desire to make myself scarce, I turned and approached him again.  Damn my mother’s nursing habits rubbing off on me.  I couldn’t walk away without it being on my conscience for all eternity. 

“Excuse me, do you need some help?”  The new guy whipped around to stare at me.  He looked surprised.

“Um, no, I’m good.”

“Are you sure? You look a bit lost.”

He blushed and looked at the ground.  “I’m fine, okay? Just leave me alone.”