The Singer and the Teacher

I sat at my dining room table with a cup of fresh coffee in front of me. I watched the steam come off of the hot liquid intently, waiting for it to be cool enough to drink. Derek's jeans were about a mile too long and a few inches too big around the waist, and Alex's shirt was baggy on my female frame. I had vague memories of running into my apartment, all of it blurry and spinning, and I do remember trading clothes, but the rest was far too scattered to make anything out of. I started laughing to myself when I wondered what would possess us to do such a thing. I had done some weird things, but this surpassed all of it.

I started thinking about Derek leaving again to continue his tour, and an idea struck me like lightning. I went into my bathroom and rummaged through my jewelry box, a large smile on my face. I found what I wanted and stuffed it in Derek's pants pocket. I was wearing them after all, and sat back down again. After I finished my coffee, my stomach started to rumble and I thought a large breakfast was in order.

* * *

Adriene's pillows smelled like her shampoo, perfume and her skin. I had my face buried in one of them, inhaling it for the last time. We were scheduled to leave around noon or whenever the bands recovered from their hangovers. Her clock's red numbers said it wasn't even nine, and the smell of pancakes interrupted all thoughts. Alex wasn't in bed either, but he soon barged into the room.

"Derek, get up! There's pancakes," he said, and I could hear Adriene telling him that if he got syrup on her carpet he could forget about his tour and he would be on his hands and knees scrubbing it out with a toothbrush. He went back to the table and Adriene replaced him in the doorway.

"Good morning, agóri tragoudistí̱s," she said, smiling as she came over to give me a peck on the lips. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes. Lead the way," I said, feeling very awkward as I got out of her bed in Alex's tight jeans that were a couple inches too short. "Ignore the pants, please."

Sure thing, agóri tragoudistí̱s," she said, and led me to the kitchen by the hands.

* * *

I thought I would be used to telling Derek goodbye. When we were waiting outside and flagging down a taxi, I was a mess. For once, Alex didn't have anything to say and waited for Derek to get the taxi. I don't know if it was simply that he was leaving and I wouldn't see him for a long time, or if this so harshly collided with my perfect vision of how my life was supposed to be.

"Adriene, please calm down," said Derek, his voice cracking. He didn't like to see me like this.

"I was supposed to meet a nice, sweet boy from San Francisco. He was supposed to work for some company and we would take each other to random work parties. We would have coffee together every morning, and my mom was going to love him, too. He was supposed to ask my dad for permission to marry me, and he was going to be planning his proposal for months before it happened.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to be pushed into the water and you weren't supposed to care about a completely stranger. I wasn't supposed to fall for this wonderful, amazing man that makes my heart wrench every time he walks away." I literally spilled everything I had been thinking about while he'd been gone. This wasn't like me; I used to be so good at hiding things like these. They embarrassed me more than anything. Then there was Derek, who was forever understanding of me and my odd ways, and enveloped me in his arms.

"I want you to meet my parents," he said, and I looked up at him. "Christmas. I remember you complaining you were going to be stuck in this ice cold city for the holidays."

"Really?" I asked, a little confused. I had just told him that he wasn't supposed to happen and then he goes and invites me to Florida for Christmas. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, anói̱to dáskalos," he said, and I gave him a skeptical look.

"Did you just call me "silly teacher"? In my own language?" I asked him, and he shrugged like he had no idea what I was talking about. I laughed and squeezed him as hard as I could. "I would love to meet your parents."

Alex had called Jack to come and pick them up during my little episode and we could see his car at the end of the road. I gave Alex a hug goodbye, telling him that he was loads of fun. I held on to Derek's hands and looked into his eyes for as long as I could, hoping that it would get me through the coming months, but knowing that it wouldn't.

"I'll put a picture of you on my desk," I said, pulling my phone out and snapping a picture of how he looked right this second. "You know, to make the whole boyfriend thing official."

"I already have your picture taped on the wall by my bunk," he confessed and smiled sheepishly. "A couple of them."

"Just remember me, okay?" I asked, feeling my eyes well up as Jack pulled up to the curb. He leaned down to kiss me and I could already feel my misery setting in.

"I don't think I could forget you if I tried," he said just before closing the car door. He rolled down the window and forced a smile on his face. "I love you so much, Adriene."

"I love you too!" I yelled as they drove away, watching the car until it was out of sight. And just like that, I was alone again.

Apparently I wasn't as alone as I thought. A young woman around my age came out of my apartment complex. She had straight blonde hair that came to her shoulders and ice blue eyes you only saw on TV. I was rarely insecure, but she had me feeling my nose and hoping that I hadn't gained any weight back.

"It's hard saying goodbye to such a perfect guy, huh?" she asked, giving me a significant look.

"Um, yeah, it is," I answered suspiciously. I was raised by my parents to be polite to everyone, so I didn't demand to know who she was.

"He's hard to be with," she said, looking at the cars passing by. "My name is Jenny, by the way. I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier."

"It's okay," I said, reaching out to shake her hand. It was a light and flimsy shake, and it made my suspicion worse. "Adriene."

"I've heard about you," she said, nodding. Again, my politeness wouldn't let me ask which sources she heard about me from. "I just wanted to meet you myself and see what you're doing and what you are that makes him want you so much."

"Okay," I said, getting more and more confused.

"We can keep this between us, right? I don't want Derek to know I went looking for you, it would look bad," she said, making her voice sound pathetic. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something didn't feel right.

"Yeah, no problem," I said, and she smiled. She had very straight, very white teeth. A car with tinted windows pulled up beside the curb and she got in.

"Remember, this is our little secret," she said, still smiling as the car pulled back into traffic.

My feet took me back to my apartment, my mind on the blonde girl named Jenny. Maybe she really was just curious to see why things were working out with Derek and me, but a part of me didn't want to give her benefit of the doubt. Then again, how in world would talking to me benefit her? If she thought that I would be jealous because she used to date Derek, she was wrong. I'm with Derek currently, so why would I care if she's a random ex? He's a musician, he probably had a million of them and a million more that would lie about it. I felt my phone start vibrating in my pocket and I instantly felt better when I saw Derek's number.

"Hey baby, how is my beautiful teacher?" he said right away, and all thoughts of the blonde haired girl named Jenny were swept away.

"I'm slowly recovering to an operational state so I can function in life without you," I said, and he laughed on the other end.

"You're never without me," he said, his voice quieting. "I am always with you. Don't ever forget that, Adriene."

"I'll remember that," I said, feeling warm all over. "And to prove that I'll always be with you, are you still wearing the pants I wore to bed last night?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Check your pockets." I heard him set down his phone on something soft and I patiently waited for him to pick it back up.

"Found it," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "I'm never taking it off."

"That's what I was hoping to hear," I said, feeling as if a part of my heart was hanging around his neck as I heard the chain scrape his phone.

"You just wait until you see your Christmas present," he said smugly, and we launched into a conversation that would keep us occupied until someone's phone died.

* * *

Pilar was waiting for me in the airport lobby, looking stunning as usual. I felt kind of plain when I was around her, but she admitted she felt the same being around me, so we were bound to be best friends one day.

"Well, how did it go?" she asked, and I smiled a wide, mischievous smile.

"The show was great as usual, Derek didn't see me and she's exactly the type of girl this would work with," I said, ticking off three fingers. "Now, Derek may be the hard part."

"How is that part going to be hard?" she scoffed as we climbed into her Jaguar.

"You didn't see the way he looks at her," I said, feeling a twinge of jealously, but I squashed it immediately. The last thing I needed was to be jealous of this girl. "But I was a huge part of Derek's life, and we just have to hope that he remembers that."