The Singer and the Teacher

When I woke up, my head was throbbing so hard I wanted to throw up. I could feel a warm breeze and the sun on my legs, and I could smell salt water. I was afraid to open my eyes, but I knew I would have seen the ocean. I groaned and reached up to touch my nose, which I knew was going to be huge. It was definitely broken, which meant I probably had two black eyes as well. Just my luck, I thought bitterly. I heard footsteps, someone wearing flip-flops, and took a chance to crack open an eyelid.

"Adriene?" asked someone's voice I didn't recognize. All I could make out was a head of long, super curly hair. "I'm Brooks."

"Hi," I groaned. "I'm sorry you have to see me like this."

"Well, Alex's girlfriend Jessica came out with Pilar, she's the one who's been taking care of you while Derek makes Pilar feel guilty," he said, and then patted my leg. "Feel better, okay?"

I slowly opened my eyes the rest of the way and Brooks was gone. I was on a cushioned deck chair under an umbrella. First I wanted to try sitting up, which wasn't too hard; I was only a little sore.

"Hey, you're awake," said a girl's voice, making me jump. I saw Alex with a girl around my age, and less scary than Pilar, who came over to sit next to me. "Alex called me and told me what happened."

"Jessica is a nurse, lucky for you," he said, his arms crossed. "Your boss, Mrs. Langley, declared that you made the first day of summer school the most interesting it's been in years and has given you until next Monday to heal up. Once again, lucky for you."

"Alex, go get Derek," she ordered, but blew a kiss at him to turn it into more of a request. He caught it with a smile before disappearing back into the house. "That was pretty brave of you to face Pilar like that."

"Stupid brave, maybe," I said, fiddling with my hands. "It's no less than what I deserve. He is her boyfriend."

"No," she said firmly, scooting her chair closer. "No one deserves that. Derek was being nice to a complete stranger and she had to jump to conclusions and get jealous."

"Does she always do this?" I asked, pointing at my nose.

"I think you were the last straw," said Jessica, gently reaching to feel it. "It's only cracked, there's nothing a hospital would have done for you. Let me check your eyes." She dug a mini flashlight from her pants pocket, held my eye open and checked my pupils. "Not bad, but I wouldn't suggest any more run-ins with Pilar."

"Thanks for everything," I told her, and that's when Alex came back with Derek.

"I'll see you later," she said, winking. "Come on, Alex. Let's take Pilar to the airport." They left, leaving Derek and I alone.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he said, sitting in Jessica's chair and cupping my chin with his hand, staring at my bruised face. "This is my fault; I should have gone straight to the school myself."

"Don't worry about it," I said, trying to look down at my lap, but his hand stopped me. He lightly kissed my nose, reminding me of what happened early this morning. "I'm still going to miss you when you leave."

"I'll be surprised if I can stand more than a month," he said, the hand that was holding my chin now brushing back my hair. "I'll call you every night, add you on Facebook and cover your Wall."

"Now you're being silly," I laughed, blushing a little. My mom was on my Facebook. "I think we should just be happy while we can and talk about this Facebook nonsense after you leave."

"A walk on the beach?"

"That sounds wonderful."

When Jeremy confirmed that Pilar was on her way back to the airport with Jessica and Alex, Derek laced his fingers with mine and we walked to the shore. We walked and talked for hours, sitting down in the sand whenever I felt out of breath. I told him every story from college, how I missed my friends and what made me want to study Classics. I told him about my overly-proper mother, my hard-working father and the story of our last family reunion that ended in the fire department coming to get my grandma from a tree that had been covered in toilet paper.

"I wanted to come to San Francisco because I fell in love with this place on high school trips," I said, my shoes in one hand, the other still holding Derek's. A wave swept up the sand, the cold water stinging my bare feet. "Only Athens could beat San Francisco."

"You want to live in Greece?" he asked, the alarm in his voice making me come to a stop and stare up into his eyes.

"It would be like sleeping in the center of history," I marveled, picturing the white and blue buildings, the ruins and the Mediterranean. The thought of waking up to the warm sun coming through the window and seeing the city and the sea, an old playground for the gods made me feel like I was floating. I would turn my back to the open window and see Derek waiting for me in the door, ready to make my fantasy complete. "I want to get married at the Parthenon. Could you imagine?"

"This is torture," he said, stopping to face me and put his hands on my waist. "You're so passionate about what you do and you're so open. I'm sorry, but I can't help this." When he kissed me this time, it didn't scare me, shock me or make me nervous. A happy little glow that was always there when he was around got brighter, and I had completely forgotten about Greece. I thought that if I could stay in any moment forever, it would be this one. Poseidon must have been jealous, because a wave came and soaked me up to my chest, ending that perfect moment. I couldn't stop laughing, and I swore I could hear the sea laughing with me.

* * *

My last days in San Francisco were nothing short of amazing. Adriene would talk until she couldn't talk anymore, dance with me whenever I asked, listen to me talk and sing her to sleep. Things like this weren't supposed to happen; they were in Disney movies where they lived happily ever after.

I watched her as she played pool with Jake, beating him bad. She was trying to explain to him that it was all simple geometry, but he was too irritated with her to listen. Definitely a teacher.

"Jake, just try it," I could hear her telling him, then pointing at the dots on the table. He gave her an exasperated look before taking her advice. He stared at the ball with absolute hate as it rolled into a pocket. "You did it perfectly!" Nothing seemed to dampen her mood, and even Jake stopped glaring when he started to catch up.

She had been teaching Alex phrases in Greek, which he used frequently while talking to me. I didn't understand his words, but I had a sneaking suspicion he was calling me names. Jeremy had been asking her about Greek myths, which really got her going. She talked about them in the present tense, which was unsettling and why I never asked about it, but he was interested. Brooks didn't directly ask her anything, but picked up on what she told everyone else. She wasn't intentionally teaching me anything, but it was like relearning the entire female species. Someone who was honest, open and passionate and loved what she did as much as I loved making music seemed almost impossible to find, but there she was, smiling at me in the low lighting of the bar.

"You leave in the morning," she said, sitting on the stool next to me.

"I know," I said, reaching to hold her hand. No one else's hand would ever fit so well in mine.

"Was there anything special you wanted to do?" she asked, and I shrugged. "We could go rent a movie and watch it at my place."

"That's perfect," I said and kissed her forehead. "Let's ditch this place."

* * *

We couldn't decide on a movie and ended up leaving with four of them. Queen of the Damned, The Notebook, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Pride and Prejudice. We sat on my couch drinking beer that had been in my fridge since I moved in, staring at the four DVD cases on my coffee table.

"The Notebook is going to make me cry," I said, pushing it out of the lineup. Derek pulled it back into line.

"I like that movie."

"Okay fine," I said, tapping my lips with my pointer finger. "Pride and Prejudice first. It's a good love story, and you've never seen it."

"Alright," he said, and I could feel his eyes on me as I put the DVD in the Blu-ray player. I brought the remote back with me when I sat down next to him. I'd seen this movie a hundred times, and every time Mr. Darcy continues to amaze me. I moved closer to Derek partway through, and we looked like a normal couple. Except we weren't together and he had a girlfriend.

His body heat was making me warm and drowsy, all of my muscles relaxing and causing me to fall asleep for a few seconds before jerking myself awake. He looked down at me with a smile, even though my nose was broken and my eyes were bruised, and kissed me anyway. It was slow, like we had all the time in the world. All the time we wished we had, anyway. The movie credits were rolling now, but I don't think either of us noticed.

"Um," he said, pulling away for a second. I saw him glance over to my bedroom. I lifted an eyebrow and he swallowed, his face turning red. He was smiling, though.

"You don't have to worry," I said, feeling bolder than ever. I stood up, grabbed handful of his shirt and dragged him behind me. I smirked at him devilishly. "I'm a teacher. I can show you the ropes."

* * *

"I'm going in," I said.

"You aren't going to knock?" Brooks asked, exchanging glances with Jeremy.

"He told us to meet him here, on the second floor, at apartment 228," I explained, ticking off a finger for each thing Derek told me. "I'm not missing a flight because he stayed up too late."

"Derek!" I opened the door as I yelled, and I heard a muffled curse.

"Hang on!" Adriene's panicked voice shouted, and my eyes narrowed. I knew it. He's not supposed to get any when I don't, I thought irritably, pacing through her apartment. Adriene came out first, frantically hand-brushing her hair and wearing a knee-length night gown.

"Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?" she asked, getting out coffee cups from one cupboard and muffins from another. "Coffee?"

"Thanks, but we have to get going," I said, feeling a little sad when her entire expression fell. She knew this was goodbye. Derek came out of her room while he was still putting his shirt on, and snaked his arms around Adriene's waist from behind her, resting his head on hers. I couldn't help but feel bad for them, but something told me this wasn't the last we'd see of Adriene McNair.