The Singer and the Teacher

There were a few things working against the very short time I had with Derek and the guys. Time with friends always passed by quickly, and camping wouldn't be camping unless the time flew by. Before any of us knew it, they were driving me to the airport with my suitcase and the van was silent. My suitcase was bigger than before thanks to Jake. He started shoving Mayday Parade merchandise into my old suitcase, decided that it was far too small and bought me a bigger one to accommodate the things he made me swear to wear to the San Francisco venue.

"Well, this is our stop," said Alex as the driver pulled up to the curb in between other cars dropping off and picking up passengers. The silence was unnerving. They silently got out of the car, silently opened the back, silently took out my bags and silently set them on the sidewalk. I gave each of the guys a big hug and they returned to the van so Derek was the last one. I had prepared to feel sad that I was leaving, but I wasn't prepared for the panic.

"Derek, I can't go. What if you guys get in a wreck? Or the end of the world comes? What if the San Andreas fault goes out and there's a huge earthquake and tsunami that destroys San Francisco? What if this plane crashes? What if--" Derek put a finger to my lips to quiet me and then smiled.

"What if none of that happens and you've gotten yourself worked up for no reason?" he asked, and I blushed, feeling a little embarrassed. "I'll call you as much as I can. If I know it's a school night, I'll text you so you know that I'm okay."

"Okay. Good. Yeah, that'll work," I said, feeling better. Only a little better. "I'll um, text you when I land."

"I can't believe you still get nervous about calling me like I'm going to purposely ignore you," he said chuckling under his breath. He took me into a hug, the kind you don't ever want to let go from. "Just think about what I said." He didn't have to specify exactly what that was. That kiss could've lasted a little longer too, but I did have to catch that flight. Letting go was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.

I stood in line, picked up my ticket, checked in my bag, stood in the security line forever, made it through security with no problems, found my terminal and bought a Starbucks and a Cinnabon. I had to admit, I was getting used to the Florida weather and I would have to wear the warmest clothes I owned to work when I got back to that drier air.

My mind was occupied with thoughts about school, the students I had already met and when my dear Mayday Parade would be back in the bay area. The attendant called out for the rest of the plane to start seating, and I had luckily been able to upgrade to business class online for a good price. I buckled up, watched the flight attendant give her little presentation while the plane was taxiing to the runway, enjoyed take off and then put in my iPod headphones and closed my eyes for the rest of the flight.

* * *

"We should see if our record label would pay Adriene to come on tour and teach us Greek and Latin," said Alex, who seemed to miss Adriene's presence more than I did. "I miss bad talking you in a language you don't understand."

"Eísai éna gami̱méno bástardo," I said, making his jaw drop.

"What did you say?!" He yelled. "She didn't teach me that one! Adriene! Come back! I need your translating skills for my own personal gain!"

"I just called you a bastard," I laughed. "I called you a fucking bastard. She's mine, her and all of her random talents."

"I really hate you sometimes."

"Yeah, I think I get that vibe."

"Come on, let's not start this before the tour bus is packed," begged Brooks, which settled Alex down. "San Francisco is in three weeks and we leave tomorrow. Calm down."

Brooks was right. Sleep was hard that night, knowing that Adriene was home in her bed without me. She was still afraid to call me and texted that she missed me and that she was going to sleep. I pressed the little green phone icon on the screen to call her.

"Derek, go to sleep! It's like, midnight over there!" she whispered harshly.

"Why are you whispering? You live alone," I whispered back, making her scoff at me.

"Never mind, you need your sleep. Your tour starts tomorrow," she said firmly, and I could picture her with her fists on her hips, giving me that stern teacher look.

"I wanted to hear your voice," I closed my eyes and pretended she was lying in the spot next to me. "You're really here in Florida with me. You never left, you're coming on tour with me and I get to show you off to all of my touring friends."

"Oneirév̱este, agóri tragoudistí̱s," she said quietly, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "I miss you, too. I'll see you in a few weeks."

"I love you," I added, my heart doing weird little thumps and skips. She hesitated, only making my poor heart suffer more.

"I love you, too. Go to sleep." With that, she hung up. I may not have been awake to see it, but I knew I was sleeping with a smile on my face.

* * *

I went to work early, and when I say early, I mean a week early. I couldn't stand lurking in my empty apartment for more than an hour. Mrs. Langley was more than happy to let me start working early, considering she had lost a few months of time from budget cuts. I had all four of the girls that were supposed to be in my summer class, who waved at me cheerily when they saw me in the hallway.

Tamara was sitting in my classroom alone, reading her Latin textbook with surprising intensity. I set all of my things down and looked in my desk for my planner. When I had it flipped open and a pencil in my hand, she finally said something.

"I know you're only supposed to be a teacher, but can I ask you for advice?" she asked, still sitting at her table at the front.

"Um, sure," I said, hoping that I wasn't getting myself into anything bad. "I don't know how much help I can be, but I'll try my best."

"Well, there's this guy," she said, her voice sounding more relieved. "He asked me on a date, and then he invited me to go to a concert."

"Okay," I said, knitting my eyebrows.

"But I'm afraid that if I go to this concert with him, he'll get jealous if I tell my friends that some guy is hot, or not like me if I enjoy myself. I mean, I really like him, but if he doesn't like me back--"

"Tamara, let me tell you something really important," I interrupted, earning her attention. "Be yourself. Always be yourself. Look at me, for example.

"I get nervous and I have to speak in Greek or Latin. Derek's ex-girlfriend messed up my nose. I still can't call him because I'm afraid that he's not going to answer and that he's over in Florida making fun of me. But he likes me anyway, and probably because of those things."

"Wow," she said, looking down at her desk. "Can I ask you a favor? I know you're not supposed to, but the concert he's taking me to is the Mayday Parade one in a couple weeks. Can you maybe introduce us?"

"That shouldn't be a problem," I said, and her face lit up like the day Alex came to "protect" me. I still bristled at that memory and reached up to touch my crooked nose, remembering how much it had hurt.

"Thank you! This will make up for him buying my ticket!" She gave me a hug before leaving the room. From what Mrs. Langley had been telling me, I made a huge impact on the four girls in my class with a big thanks to Alex. Tamara had been studying in my classroom ever since, probably hoping that another random member of Mayday Parade would drop by.

I spent the rest of the morning scanning through the text book I would be teaching out of, ate lunch with the summer school students, and then finished the text book before I went home. I had the rest of the week to set up September's lesson plan, and the principal couldn't have been happier about it.

My home life was boring. I was currently re-reading Harry Potter, but I found it hard to stay focused now that I didn't have five boys to pay attention to. I gave up on the book and went to my computer instead to lurk on Facebook. Pilar had tried sending friend request after friend request, but I knew better than to accept that one. Derek wasn't much of a Facebook or Twitter person, but he seemed to always be online these days. A chat conversation popped up along with Derek's picture.

Derek Sanders

Hi beautiful :)

I giggled and started typing back.

Hi Derek

Do you have Skype?

Yeah.

You should give me your username.

I typed in my username and opened another tab to log in to Skype. In less than five minutes, Derek was calling me. I answered the phone call and my heart leaped up when his face appeared on my screen.

"See? This is the greatest invention ever," he said, smiling wide. "Can you see the bus moving?"

"Yeah, I can," I said, unable to stop grinning. "Do you have wi-fi on the bus or something?"

"Of course, what kind of tour bus would it be otherwise?" he asked as if it were an obvious fact. "We're only an hour away from our first stop. Only nineteen more stops until I get to see you."

"Hey! Don't start counting down! The time is already going to go super slow in the first place!" I pleaded, and he laughed.

We talked until the bus stopped and he had to be dragged away from the laptop when he refused to leave.

* * *

I sat on the stage while the sound techs were getting Jake's drums to the right volume, waiting for my turn so we could start warming up. Alex and Brooks were next, then Jeremy and then me. We were touring with All Time Low and Breathe Carolina, so the shows were sold out before we even left home. Normally I would be hanging out or talking to our merch guy, but I wasn't feeling it tonight. I could hear fans starting to make a longer line outside when it was my turn to test my keyboard and vocals.

Adriene was finally going to see me in my strong suit. I know I can sing and write music just like she knows she can speak her various languages and spout history. I felt a surge of something that wiped every bad feeling I'd had all day and put myself in show mode. Here we go.