Acting Out [Student/Teacher, GxG]

Pinky Swear

My after-class meeting with Miss Lane was brief, and I received the quizzes that needed to be marked by email later that afternoon. I had a suspicion she hadn't sent me all of them, as I'd asked, but instead kept roughly half to grade herself.

I thought better of inviting her out with Caleb and his girlfriend. I knew I'd probably get shit for it later, but I didn't want to push my luck with her, and bringing her out drinking with me was a terrible idea.

That night, I locked myself in my apartment, toon notes, and graded assignments. After all of the grading was done, I was overcome with the urge to be literally anywhere else. My apartment was just about the loneliest place on earth, and watching through the windows as people laughed and stumbled down the busy streets as they made their way in and out of bars and clubs wasn't helping.

I pulled out my phone and texted Brielle.

— Rowan: You busy tonight? We need to talk.

Brielle responded almost instantly. Probably just as busy as I am.

— Brielle: Nah, bored as fuck at home. Come over?

I sent the grades back to Miss Lane and put away my laptop and books. I would finish my notes another time. I texted her back.

— Rowan: Sure, give me 20 :)

Part of me was dreading talking to Brielle. We had an easy friendship — not impersonal, but unemotional. Brielle would never come to me if something was bothering her; she let me have my secrets, and I let her have hers. It was a great arrangement at first, but now only made the prospect of having a heavy conversation with her all the more terrifying.

I pulled on a hoodie and grabbed my car keys. Brielle was usually in pyjamas unless she was going out, so I wasn't too worried about dressing up for her.

I blinked twice, realizing I'd never stopped to wonder why Brielle didn't leave her house unless she had to anymore. I supposed she'd been drinking a lot when we hung out, but I always matched her shot for shot so I never paid much attention to that either. I'd always thought I was perceptive, but there were red flags all around me and I'd missed them all.

My chest hurt when I thought about the day I met Brielle and how bright and mischievous she'd been. The change wouldn't have been obvious to most people, but in retrospect I was remembering more and more times that I'd caught her staring into space, a lost look in her eyes. It was like the light inside her had burned out, and she was trying her best to pretend it hadn't happened.

As I drove to her house, I tried to think of what I was going to say. I drew a blank. My parents were like a cancer, sucking the life out of everything that mattered to me for their own selfish reasons. Nothing I could say to her would make it better, but I needed her to know that I was on her side.

When I reached her apartment, I knocked on the door and waited. Brielle's apartment wasn't so much an apartment as an entire floor of an apartment complex, but if it was in her means to live in a condo bigger than some people's houses, who was I to begrudge her that?

She opened the door in a pair of Adidas leggings and a black hoodie, her hair pulled back from her face in a messy ponytail. She was still beautiful, but she looked drained. "Sorry the place is such a mess." She apologized, letting me in and locking the door behind us.

"You should see mine." I replied with a smile. I didn't cook often, so I didn't usually have dishes piling up, but I also didn't clean often, so the result was less than immaculate.

"Want a drink?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"What have you got?" I called after her as she retreated into the kitchen.