The Singer and the Teacher

It was nice and dark as I leaned my head against the wall of the airplane, and it fit my mood. It's absolutely, horribly poetic how my morning has gone. I said goodbye to Adriene, every word stomping my heart as I said them. Of course, Pilar never got on her flight and camped out at some high class hotel, maxing the credit card I paid for. On top of that, Alex has been giving me shit ever since he found out I slept with Adriene last night.

"Hey, sleeping beauty," said Alex, prodding my shoulder. "Your sleeping mask is very attractive."

"Eh."

"Stop being so depressed," he said, and I slapped his hand away when he tried to uncover my eyes.

"I have every right to be depressed."

"Well, you have about five hours to get over it," he informed me, and any further conversation was stopped by the pilot telling us to buckle our seatbelts while the flight attendant doing her demonstration at the front, even though I couldn't see her. The plane pulled out of the terminal and started down the runway. "Come on, you'll see her again."

I pushed my mask up onto my forehead.

"I'm getting off this plane," I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.

"Derek, we're moving."

"I don't care."

"We're in the air now," he said, his voice getting panicky when I got into the aisle and the flight attendants started to exchange looks. I made it within reach of the door before one touch on the shoulder brought me to the floor. My feet could touch the door I wanted to jump out of, but I slumped forward and hid my face with my hands for a few seconds before tangling them in my hair and resting my elbows on my knees.

"Alex, why is this so hard?" I asked, and he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Come on," he said sympathetically. "Let's sit back down before you give these nice ladies heart attacks." With the efforts of the nice ladies and Alex, I was back in my seat--and when the plane had leveled out--with a glass of strong alcohol, complimentary.

"Hey, hear me out," said Alex, who was probably gesturing with his hands, but I had my sleeping mask back on. "We always have the same routine. We're almost done with the new record, and we should tour not long after that. I'm positive we'll be stopping in San Francisco, so at the latest, you might not see her until November or December."

"What changed your mind about Adriene?" I asked, remembering all the times he'd told me to "drop her like a rock".

"She's different," he said after a few moments. "She's not in the music business and you didn't meet her at a concert or shortly after one. She reminds me of Jessica, in the way that I know she loves me for me, not for what I do or my music."

I settled deeper into my seat, thinking about that last statement. The way that I know she loves me for me, not for what I do or my music. At first, I wasn't sure what he was talking about; Jessica loved our music. Then again, when Alex was in one of his moods where nothing was working and wanted to quit music all together, she told him she would still love him anyway, even if she didn't believe he really wanted to stop making music.

He was right. Damn it, I thought, but it was a friendly thought. If I ever stopped singing for some reason, I knew in my heart of hearts that Adriene wouldn't feel any different about me. She would drag me to Greece and I would get to see her rave about every single piece of architecture. I could see her eyes twinkling already, and slipping into Greek whenever she got too excited. I made a mental note to learn that language.

"You understand now," said Alex, probably because of the cheesy grin on my face.

* * *

I'm normally pretty good at hiding my emotions when I'm feeling unhappy, but my heart wasn't in it when I strode into my classroom. I sat down at my desk, and Christy was the first one into class with a vase of flowers.

"You look much better, Miss McNair," she said, setting it on an empty space on my messy desk. "There's a note in it."

"Thank you, Christy," I said, feeling miserable.

"Don't thank me," she said, a knowing smile on her face as she sat down at the front table and opened her Latin text book. I looked at her suspiciously, and found the little envelope that always came in a bouquet of delivered flowers. I smiled as I opened it and saw my name scrawled on the front. Oddly enough, they weren't from Derek.

Adriene,

Look in your desk.

Love, Alex.

My heart was thumping hard in my chest, making my head feel a little light. I pulled open my front drawer and saw a larger envelope, also with my name written on the front. It wasn't sealed, so I flipped open the top. There was another note on a lined piece of paper from a notebook. I unfolded it and something fell out; a plane ticket.

Adriene,

Derek was too depressed to think of any of this. We'll be done recording in a month, so I want you to come out and celebrate with us. No, I haven't done this for anybody else, but we all got pretty attached to you because you aren't evil. I will be mad if you don't come.

Love,
Alex, Brooks, Jake, Jeremy...
And of course Derek, even though he has no idea what's going on.

"Weirdoes," I said, but I felt my eyes starting to water. I was afraid to wipe them because they were still bruised.

"You got those from Mayday Parade, didn't you?" Jessica stated more than asked.

"Alex," I said, nodding.

"I thought he had a girlfriend," said Christy, watching me intently.

"He does, but he's acting on Derek's behalf," I said. "Can you guys keep a secret?"

"Yes!"

"Uh, yeah!"

After the chorus of promises to never tell a soul, I rolled my chair over to the front table. It was like being a teenager again. I told them about my week off to recover, and it sounded more and more like a fairy tale until this morning when he left.

"You're so lucky," said Rachel, her chin in her hands. "You're going to go to Florida, right?"

"I don't know," I said, looking down at my lap.

"You have to go," Jessica said, opening her text book. "But we should probably start class now."

I felt much better after the lesson, even if the girls didn't because of the homework. While I was locking my classroom, my flowers in one arm, I heard high heels clicking towards me.

"Miss McNair," the clipped words gave away the speaker's identity. "My office, if you will." Mrs. Langley's high heels clicked away, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. This couldn't be good.

She was sitting behind her desk, a tray with two tea cups and a tea pot were on it, and she was waiting patiently.

"I invited you here to discuss this summer," she said, gesturing for me to sit down. "I have been reviewing the work of your four students, and it seems that they aren't in need of any summer schooling, at least in Latin.

"I was looking forward to seeing how you perform, but with this recession I need to cut back as much as I can. This is not a reward, Miss McNair, to have the rest of the summer off. Do not expect such leniency during the school year. I will contact the girls' parents myself. Enjoy your time off; there may not be any until next summer." She poured herself tea, and dismissed me.

With no classes to teach and no Mayday Parade to keep me company, the days dragged on like years. I walked to Fisherman's Wharf every day, leaning on the railing like I did the day I met Derek, closing my eyes and hoping he'd be there when I opened them. It was on one of these days, sunnier than most, when my phone finally rang.

"Hello?" I asked, my voice sounding breathless. There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, and then a long sigh.

"You have no idea how amazing it feels to hear your voice," said Derek, and I think I melted into a puddle on the boardwalk. "I miss you so much. How have you been? What have you been doing?"

I told him about my free summer, my walks to the Wharf, which he didn't approve of, and decorating my apartment. I listened to him tell me about his days recording, and how he was almost glad it was almost over.

"When do you think it'll be finished?" I asked, and he let out a breath.

"I don't know," he said. "The producers say that we need to be done next week, but we'll see."

"I see," I said, a strange feeling welling in my stomach.

"Alex! Stop it! Give me the phone back! GIVE IT!"

"Yo, Adriene!" said Alex, speaking in a New York accent. "I've always wanted to say that. Rocky, you know."

"Hey," I said, smiling wider than I have in a long time.

"Derek, go and break up with your girlfriend or something useful while I talk to your new one. Go on," he shouted, and I heard a string of nasty curses come from Derek before they faded entirely. "Sorry. You should have seen him shake while he tried to call you. It was sad."

"Am I supposed to use that ticket?" I asked, and that seemed to put him in a more serious mood.

"Yes. Tomorrow," he whispered. "Derek is on to me. Pilar can tell he's going to dump her soon, and she's been sucking up all of Jessica's time, therefore I've been accidentally letting things slip. If you get here tomorrow, it can still be a surprise."

"Tomorrow?" I repeated, that strange feeling becoming more widespread.

"Yeah, the first flight that leaves," he said, still whispering. "I'll meet you at the airport. See you tomorrow!" After a short silence, someone else was on the phone.

"Sorry about that," Derek said, sounding irritated. "He's been absolutely out of control since we got back from San Francisco."

"Did I really cause that many problems?" I asked, feeling so excited that I thought I was going to puke.

"No, not problems," he chuckled. "I wish I could see you."

"Yeah, me too," I said, the longing in my voice didn't need to be faked.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked, and I realized I was pacing the same ten foot span.

"Ask away."

"If I suddenly decided to stop singing or playing music, what would you do?" Something in his voice told me that this was an important question to him, even though the answer was obvious.

"We would go live in Greece, silly," I said, laughing. "Well, anywhere would be fine as long as it was with you. Then we would do whatever we wanted."

"Adriene," he said seriously.

"Yes?"

"Would you believe me this time if I said I was in love with you?" he asked, and if I thought I was a puddle earlier, that puddle that was me either expanded or evaporated, whichever one meant that I felt even better.

"Yeah, I think I would." Was this really happening? I knew he liked me, but...

"I love you," he said. "I will always love you."