Lesson Learned {Student Teacher Romance}

Chapter 33

"Where the hell have you been, Moira?" Keri hollers out of the window and pulls her mom's van to a screeching halt behind Will's Volvo. "And what the hell is Fitzwilliam doing here?" 

Keri slams the car door and stomps up the short gravel path on a mission to scold. 

"Will's been helping me with my mom," my words vaporize into puffy clouds in the icy air.

"What?" Keri squawks like a parrot. "Why? What's going on with your mom? Is that why you called me yesterday?" 

"Can we take this inside?" I ask when I catch the blinds of our neighbor's trailer window eek upward. "It's freezing out here." 

I unlock the door as quickly as possible to usher Keri inside. 

"I'll be waiting in my car," Will stifles a chuckle. 

I watch him walk away before shutting the front door behind me. 

"What the hell is going on, Moira?" Keri frets. "What happened to your mom? And, isn't that Hotty McHotpants?"

"My mom fell off the wagon," I reply as Keri's expression falls. "Will was helping me find her, but she wound up in the hospital."

"Oh my gosh!" Keri gasps. "Is your mom OK? Is she in jail?"

"She's alright, thank goodness," I hustled over to our wall heater to crank up the temperature (seeing as I could still see my breath on the inside of our trailer). "And I don't think she's going to jail because Will got my mom in a private rehab program, complete with a lawyer to work on her behalf." 

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you!" Keri wails and tackles me in a hug. "Oh, and don't think I didn't hear you call your teacher, Will! What else was he helping you with?" 

"Outside of helping me graduate on time," I reply carefully. "Will is my friend, for now."

"Great googly-moogly!" Keri screams as I wriggle out of her grip to save my eardrums. "You're in love with him!"

"I have feelings for him," I hiss and wave for her to keep her voice down. "But nothing is going on for now, because it's complicated, as you can imagine."

"Sure," Keri's epic eye roll is hilarious.

"Can I stay with you for a while?" I gnaw on my bottom lip. "I'm not used to being on my own yet." 

"Um, are you sure you want to stay with me?" Keri nods toward Will's Volvo in front of our trailer. 

"While I appreciate your effusive support of us hooking up," I smile at Keri. "I think it's better if I stay with you. If you think your parents would be alright with it?" 

"Girl!" Keri feigns indignance. "Please! You are always welcome. I think my parents like you and Joey more than me, at this point." 

I hug her tight to thank Keri for being my best friend and my rock. 

"I'm really glad your mom's getting help," she mumbles into my hair. "You do realize that you're going to have to tell me everything that happened with that beautiful man, right? Preferably over hot chocolate."

"Yes," I laugh and pull away. "I am well aware you're going to want every sordid detail." 

We head outside where Will's boxy car is running and a plume of puffy white exhaust into the air. He's watching us with a pleasant smile as I approach his window. 

"I'm going to stay with Keri for a few days," I tell him as the glass retracts into his door. 

"That sounds like a good idea," Will nods. "Listen, I don't want to go home and see whether Rory trashed my place while he was moving out. Do you want to go and grab something to eat? I can drop you off at Keri's house after."