The Singer and the Teacher

My heart always throbbed and hurt every time I looked down at the locket Adriene gave me. It was old and silver with "Forever" etched on the front and back. She must have found a new chain for it, because it was thick enough for me to last through all of our performances so far.

We were nearly done with our tour, and Thanksgiving was tomorrow. Adriene was going to be at her parents' house and I was going to be hundreds of miles away at a Denny's back on the east coast. We already had passed into the Eastern Time zone, and it was getting close to seven o'clock. That meant Adriene would be calling me any moment to let me know she was leaving for her mom and dad's.

I really wanted to be there. My parents already knew about Adriene and were excited to meet her next month. Adriene kept a different relationship with her parents and hasn't even seen them since she met me. I found myself hoping she was going to mention me, and hopefully say good things. She stayed quiet about a lot, and that worried me sometimes. I opened up the locket and smiled at the pictures I put in there. One was of her blowing a kiss at me, and the other of us while we were camping. My hair looked horrible, and hers was back in a sloppy ponytail and she had dirt on her face. She looked stunning; with or without makeup, and even with a dirty face and smelly clothes. Just as I snapped the locket shut, she called.

"Argh!" she exclaimed, but it didn't sound directed to me. "Stupid, stupid suitcase!" I heard her grunt, the sound of a zipper and a long sigh. "Sorry about that. Hello, my love."

"You haven't left yet?" I asked her, lying in my bunk.

"Oh, not yet," she said. "Any minute now, though. I just need to get this beast into my car and stop at a Taco Bell."

"I wish I could go with you," I said longingly, imagining showing up at her parents' front door, standing behind her with our luggage and getting large smiles from them and a hug from her mom.

"Me too," she said, sighing again. "This drive wouldn't be so long and lonely."

"Eat good homemade things for me," I said, definitely missing my mom's cooking. Even Adriene's, but hey, it's my mom. I'm obligated to like her food more. "We're all going to Denny's or something. We're not sure yet."

"Well, that's lame," she said, but I could hear that perfect smile. "I'll eat a whole pie. Just for you."

"Good," I said, nodding. "Take pictures, I want to see all of your relatives."

"Don't worry," she said. "We're actually going to be at my aunt's, and my grandparents from Washington are coming down, too."

"God, I love you," I said, closing my eyes and feeling the longing in my chest. I haven't felt like this in a long time.

"I love you too, Derek," she said softly. "I have to go. You don't need to hear me wrestle with this thing. I'll call you as soon as I park, and again tomorrow when I'm done being interrogated by my family about you."

"Interrogated about me?" I asked, my spirit lifting so much I had to sit up.

"I may not talk to them all the time, but it's damn hard to keep things from them," she said, laughing to herself. "They probably already know your name and your occupation. Just wait until they find out how crazy I am about you. I really have to go now. I love you." She hung up without waiting for me to say anything back.

I lied back down on my bunk, closed my eyes and started humming to myself, very conscious of the weight of the locket on my chest. This was a very good day off.

* * *

After stopping at the Taco Bell near the outskirts of the city, I was on my way to the Oregon coast to a small town called Gold Beach. It was a tourist stop more than anything. During the winter months the entire town suffered, but the tourists always came back and all of the businesses had money again. It was my hometown, and my parents still lived there. From San Francisco, it was going to take around seven hours to get there. I turned on my little Bluetooth earpiece and dialed my mom's number.

"Hey Adriene!" she said enthusiastically. "Are you on your way?"

"Yeah Mom," I said, watching the road. "I just left. I'll be there around eleven."

"Okay," she said, and I could hear the sports channel in the background. "Are you bringing your boyfriend?"

"Mom, he's not...well, no," I said, remembering that Derek was in fact my boyfriend now. "He's on tour."

"On tour? See! I told you, honey! He's a musician," she said smugly to my dad. "Not a golfer. Gosh."

"He could still be a golfer!" I heard my dad say. "Golfers go on tour!"

"Tell Dad that he's a musician."

"She says he's a musician," my mom relayed, and then laughed. "He's shaking his head. This boy better pick up golf."

"I'm sure if Dad asked him to, he would golf," I said, laughing at them. Their relationship was much different than regular parents.

"Oh, so he's a gentleman, is he?" she asked, and hmph'd at me. "We'll just have to see."

"I have a couple CDs that his band made and there are pictures of him in the album booklet," I said, rolling my eyes. "There's some on my phone and camera, too."

"He gave them to you?"

"I bought them at Target."

"Oh, so he makes money doing this," she said, sounding much more interested. "You hear that? He's a musician that's actually succeeding."

"Sheesh, Mom," I said. "He's famous enough to Google. His name is Derek Sanders."

"Justin! Turn on the computer! We're Google-ing your sister's boyfriend!" she shouted to my younger brother. "We'll let you get back to driving. My sister is going to be calling soon to see if she needs to cook more for the boyfriend she thought you were bringing. See you tonight, Adriene."

"Love you, Mom," I said, and hung up. I was torn between being excited and terrified of letting my family meet Derek. I knew he would be absolutely ecstatic, and thankfully he was such a nice guy it was hard not to like him. I mentally made plans for us to fly to Medford after Christmas. Even with all of the drawbacks, I wanted him to meet my family, too.

I had finally crossed the California-Oregon border, and as the sun fell behind the mountains, I was suddenly thinking about the blonde-haired girl named Jenny. It started slowly, like my brain was having trouble remembering our encounter. How did she know where I lived? Why didn't she just walk up to Derek if she knew him as well as she claimed? Her manner was sneaky; she was in my apartment complex, first of all. Secondly, she obviously didn't want Derek to see her, so she either had nothing to do with him or knew that he didn't want to see her. If she wanted him back, she could have walked right to him and given him a hug. No, this didn't have anything to do with Derek. I saw it now, and I didn't like what it was. This had something to do with me. The pieces seemed like they were coming together, but I couldn't see the whole picture. This girl was messing with me; I could feel it. Her wimpy handshake should have given her away. I found myself remembering how tan her skin was, a lot like Pilar's; from natural sunlight, not from tanning in a bed or booth. That was Florida skin. I would bet every penny I had that she was from Tallahassee. I would even go as far as believing that she left scars on Derek's heart that would never go away.

She definitely used to mean something to Derek. She would've had to for her to believe she could do anything to me. Maybe she broke his heart, or maybe he broke hers and felt bad about it. I had a whirlwind of ideas going through my head now. I would have to remember her when I go to Florida; if she knew what apartment building I lived in, what else did she know? Whoever this "Jenny" was, she was up to no good. I knew it now, so I had gained something. She didn't know who she was dealing with. I didn't care what she thought she could do to me; if she did anything to Derek, I'd kill her.