Sweet Caroline

#40 Trying not to miss you

"What the hell is that?" Tiffany demands to know when I walk into her classroom to ask her something before the kids start arriving in a few minutes. Her eyes are on my neck and I quickly push my hair over my shoulder, hiding the bruise that's peeking out of my shirt.

"Nothing to worry about," I assure her with a smile.

She cocks her head to the side and frowns. "Either you're strangely happy about being assaulted yet again or you and Nathanial are into kinky sex."

"Shh!" I shush her, looking over my shoulder to make sure no one is in the hallway outside her classroom since the door is still open. "Tiff, you've got be more careful when you say shit like that!"

She laughs and shoots me a wink. "And you need to buy shirts with higher necklines or start wearing a scarf if you're gonna show up with bite marks from your secret lover."

I can't help but smile, remembering last night. And this morning... He kept his promise and buried himself inside of me the moment the alarm clock sounded. I was barely even awake when he already had me screaming his name. That man...

"Ew," Tiffany comments, scrunching her nose. "I don't even want to know what is causing a smile like that this early in the morning. Although..." She wiggles her eyebrows. "Does he have a brother? I could seriously use a man's touch. It's been too long."

I grin at her. "I'm actually going out with my friends Shaughna and Dshawn this weekend. You can come if you want? I'm sure Shaughna would love to find you someone. You can even spend the night at her place. And it's three hours away from here, so you don't have to worry about any parents seeing you get drunk and rowdy."

"That actually sounds great. Are you sure your friends won't mind?" She smiles when I shake my head. "Okay, then I think I'll come with you. I could use a night of fun."

Kids and parents start filing in then, so I hurry back to my own classroom. I didn't even get to ask her about the test we're giving the kids that afternoon, but it can wait till the lunchbreak.

***

It's a good thing I have plans with my friends this weekend, because I'm missing Nathan like crazy. We spend every minute we can spare texting and calling each other, even though we've seen more of each other than we normally do during a week that he's got Rose staying with him. He met my parents, spent the night and he even came in to talk to me after classes on Thursday, even though all we did was make eyes at each other while we pretended to chat about Rose's progress.

On Saturday, I am eager to make the drive back to my hometown and just forget about him for a day. Not because anything is wrong, of course, but just because I can't take another second of missing him so intensely that I feel like I'm going crazy. Tiffany makes fun of me all the way to Shaughna's place, which means that she's laughing at me for three straight hours. Sure, we also chat and sing along to songs on the radio, but she's mostly mocking me for being a soppy mess.

Shaughna is eager to meet Tiffany, curious about her since I've been talking about her ever since I made the big move. Shaughna is used to knowing every single person in my life, so the fact that I now have a new job, neighbors and friends in a different town is foreign to her. She doesn't like it, not at all, which is cute, really. When she opens the door and sees Tiffany, she immediately pulls her in for a big hug, even though they've never met before. She holds onto her way too long, making Tiffany blush fiercely. I've honestly never seen Tiff blush, so that's a first as well.

"You look exactly like Car described you," Shaughna comments, taking Tiffany in from head to toe when she finally lets go of her. "You really do look a bit like me."