Controlled Demolition

I must not have been asleep for very long because when I woke up it was still dark and my head was still spinning slightly from the alcohol I had consumed earlier. I could feel Pete’s arms around me, and despite my want to just stay there and enjoy this, I knew I had to go over to my own apartment and get in my own bed before my mom came home and realized I wasn’t there.

Carefully I slid from Pete’s arms and out of his bed. After sex on Pete’s couch, we had sluggishly made our way to his room where we had talked for a bit until we couldn’t keep our eyes open.

I stumbled back out into the living room where I gathered my clothes and carefully pulled them on. I thought about leaving some kind of note, but opted to just leave. I’m sure I would see Pete soon enough. If not later, then definitely at school… which might be awkward. I definitely wouldn’t talk to him there, of course.

Once I was in my own apartment, I went to my room and changed into some pajamas before crawling into bed.

I lay awake for a little while, still reeling over the fact that I had slept with Pete. Mr. Wentz. My history teacher. Who does that kind of thing? (Apparently I do, but I swear this is the first time something like this has ever happened.)

I heard my mom come home not long after, and I shut my eyes knowing that she was probably going to come check on me. I think because she worked so late, she worried a bit that something would happen to me and I had occasionally found her poking her head into my bedroom to make sure I was there.

It wasn’t often that I was awake when she came home and I never asked her straight out why she always checked on me when she got back. Again, my best guess is that she worried. I’m not exactly sure what she would do if she came home and I wasn’t there and I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to find out. Something was telling me she’d probably call the police.

I finally fell asleep again once I heard my mom go to her own room.

---

New Year’s Day was uneventful. My mom made me lunch and we hung around watching TV and movies. We didn’t often get to spend time together, and when we got the chance we usually just stayed home in our pajamas, lounging on the couch.

The next day I had to return to school. I wasn’t sure if I liked that the first time I was going to see Pete since our latest incident was going to be during school. I’m sure I wouldn’t have a problem holding it together—it wasn’t like I was an overemotional teenager. I didn’t get flustered easily.

When I arrived to history class at the end of the day, though, Pete didn’t smile at me like he usually did and I couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. I guess I hadn’t expected things to change between us so quickly and I started to worry that maybe he wouldn’t want to hang out with me anymore.

I knew that having sex with him had crossed all the boundaries that could possibly be crossed, but we had both been a bit drunk…

And I knew that I was his student and he was my teacher, but we were also friends. At least, I thought we were friends.

As I sat at my desk and pulled out my notebook, I just hoped that Pete and I would get to talk later or just something to help ease the thoughts that were starting to trouble me.

---

I brought my mom to work after I got home from school and when I got back, Pete was standing in the hallway. When he saw me, he looked at me sheepishly and I had a feeling that all my worrying earlier was for nothing.

“Hey,” he said, smiling at me. I felt my cheeks warm and knew they were probably getting red, and I wished that blood flow was something that I could control. “Can we talk?”

“Yeah,” I said, pulling the key to the apartment out of my coat pocket. I unlocked the door and opened, stepping inside and allowing Pete to follow before shutting the door behind us. I moved towards my bedroom, wanting to bring my book bag to my room. I hadn’t had time to do it before bringing my mom to work. “Just give me a minute.”

I quickly went to my room, feeling suddenly nervous and set my bag down on my desk chair. When I turned to leave however, I was surprised to see Pete had followed me into my room. He was looking around for a moment and when his eyes fell on me, he smiled.

“So this is your room?”

“Yeah,” I said, looking around at my things. I had posters and pictures on my wall, and I don’t think I had ever felt more like a teenager than I did in that moment. Here I was, in my room with a man twice my age, while I still had fucking posters on my wall.

“How old are you?” Pete suddenly asked, eyes meeting mine.

“Seventeen.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“The end of this month.”

“Did you regret the other night?”

“No,” I said, answering immediately. I had had time to think it through and I knew that was the honest answer. Though he was older and my teacher, something about it just felt right. I didn’t feel wrong or dirty for doing what I had done.

“You’re sure?” Pete asked quietly, moving closer to me.

“Definitely,” I said, meeting his gaze, not shying away.

He was right in front of me now and his hands shot forward to rest on my hips and he pulled me closer to him. He leaned in quickly to capture my lips in a quick kiss, testing the waters. When I didn’t resist, he pulled away, but just barely. I could feel his lips so close to mine, our eyes perfectly aligned.

“Good,” he mumbled. I could feel him smiling.