Formidable

September 3

Suzana had been sitting in her car since her last class, an hour ago. She hadn't had the courage to go home yet; she didn't want to face him tonight. She wiped her face with a tissue, arranged her makeup and when starting the car, glimpsed Dylan. His face was nonjudgmental. Seeing him calmed her a little. The memory of the concert was still vivid in her memory. She opened the car door and called him. Hearing his teacher call him by his first name instead of Mr. Andeo made Dylan's heart skip a beat. He wasn't sure why, but he liked the feeling.

"Yes ma'am?"

He acted as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't seen her crying in her car just minutes ago. She was thankful for it, he showed her so much respect it was troubling her. She hadn't thought of what she wanted to say to him, she just wanted to hear his voice. Again, she felt bad for this, a teacher has to keep a distance with students. But she couldn't help it; she needed him as much as it was forbidden.

She found herself staring at him and responded with "I talked with Mr. Pierce, your biology teacher. He told me you weren't in class today. Is everything alright?"

She had to be aware of that, of course, as his head teacher she knew when there was a problem. He didn't want to tell her the truth; he wasn't ready to do that.

"Yeah, I, I didn't wake up soon enough ..." She saw he was nervous, she said nothing. He needed to take his time and if he needed to lie now, she couldn't blame him.

"Oh okay." She waited for him to leave but he didn't move an inch. There they were, staring at each other awkwardly, in the school's parking lot, in a heavy silence.

It was Dylan who broke the silence.

"I'm going to walk for a while, you wanna join me?"

He indicated the way he was going to go. Where did that come from? He didn't have any clue. Students don't ask this of their teacher. He felt ludicrous, he shouldn't have said that. What was she going to think of him?

"Yeah, why not?"

The woman made a blinding smile. It made his heart beat faster, her smile was the truest smile he had ever seen. She walked towards him, and he didn't know what to do. If he was honest with himself he never knew how to be with her near him.

They walked in a peaceful silence; they didn't dare look at each other. They left the parking lot and the school behind them; they weren't Mr. Andeo and Mrs. Flauger anymore, they were just Dylan and Suzana and it seemed oddly right. Everything about her seemed right to him. They passed in front of an Asian restaurant where they could see, through the window, the customers eat all kinds of food.

"How is it going for you? Have you faced any problems so far?" She asked him.

"No, not really. I like this school; it's not like the previous ones I've been in. I haven't fought with anyone yet, it's kind of new for me. " The teen laughed.

"Oh great, that's a good thing I think." Her tone was playful. "And with your professors, anything you want to share?"

This time she was more serious. As he didn't reply she added, "Some of them told me you're not very heedful during class. And don't tell me it's not true, you're not listening in my class too."

"Yeah sorry about that, but I think about a lot of things. I can be easily distracted..."

"Distracted?" She sounded confused, for a moment she thought he had problems at the orphanage. "Distracted by what?"

You. "Stuff I shouldn't think about." A coward; Dylan Andeo felt like the biggest coward alive at that instant.

They had been walking for ten minutes when they turned to the left to go to a small shopping alley which was deserted that day. A dog ran next to Suzana and it made her lose her balance. Dylan caught her before she touched the ground. His arm around her waist, he helped her stand up. It started to rain at the same time and they both laughed off the situation. The rain fell increasingly heavily, messing up the woman's hair. They stopped laughing and drew closer under the rain. Suddenly, Dylan raised his hand and brushed a strand of hair which was on her forehead. As intimate as the position was, neither of them felt uncomfortable. It was now the second time they had an intimate contact. That was when he understood, he had fallen for her, and he had fallen hard.

Their eyes locked to each other and they stayed like this for a while. His arm around her made her felt safe for the first time in ages. She wondered how a teenager could make her feel like that. She didn't know him very well and yet, everything about him was right. The way he looked at her with his gray eyes, and his messy hair was overwhelming to her. With her right hand she cupped his cheek and with her thumb she traced circle patterns on it. They were in their little bubble, nothing else mattered to them. They both jumped apart when Suzana's phone rang.
"It's my husband..." By the sound of her voice he could feel her disappointment. "Jarod? Yes, I'll be home soon... I had, I had to stay late at work. I'm sorry I haven't warned you."

Immediately, Dylan missed the feeling of her body against his, the warmth of her breath against his face. It was still raining and he saw her quiver. Without saying a word, he pulled off his sweater and put it on the woman's shoulders. She welcomed the warmth of the clothes on her body.

She was talking to her husband and he kept looking at her. The way she moved and talked reminded him she was a woman, a married woman, whereas he was still a teen, even if he didn't feel like one.

"I'll be home in a moment Jarod."

She hung up and turned around to see Dylan staring at her. The scene seemed surreal, a few minutes before she had his arms around her, they were in some kind of bubble where the world outside did not matter. And now they stood there, face-to-face, not knowing what to do or what to say.

"I'll walk you to your car?" asked Dylan, indicating the way to go.

With a nod, Suzana began to walk next to him in heavy silence, both of them thinking about what had just happened, not knowing that the other was thinking exactly the same thing. The walk to the parking lot was fast as it was raining. When they got to her car, she made a movement to remove his sweater but stopped herself before she could.

"Keep it. Your blouse is not enough in such weather..." She tried to protest, but in vain, his hand on her shoulder kept the clothing in place.

That evening, when she came home, Suzana was in a strange state; happy and confused at the same time. This young man was definitely not like her other students. She was not sure what to think about it but for once she had felt secure, in his arms, and she enjoyed the feeling.

That night, Dylan had to deal with a lot of thoughts. He lay down on his narrow bed, the memory of the hug still keen in his mind. But the voice of Mrs. Voight kept repeating "I expect you to leave" in his head; he had to find a solution to it.

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