Falling for the Teacher Is Never a Good Idea

You've never really lived until you've woken up with shaving cream all over your hand and face. Dick was standing over me laughing to himself with the bottle of shaving cream and a feather, making me wonder if I had just woken up in a
Disney Channel movie from the 1990's.

He looked down at me with a cocky little grin for a few seconds before saying, "you're late for the bus, it leaves in five minutes and we were supposed to be down there five minutes ago."

I groaned and hopped out of bed, while Dick walked out the door, already fully dressed. The jackass didn't wake me up, so I wanted very much to defenestrate him or everything he owned, or both. I didn't of course though, I just hurriedly brushed my teeth, and put new clothes on, not having time to take a shower so I felt a little gross, not having bathed since Friday.

When I got downstairs Mrs. Mills gave me a death glare, and Charlie pranced over to me looking tired.

"What's the point of even doing any sightseeing, it's a Sunday, what the hell is open?" I asked.

She just yawned in response and shrugged.

There really wasn't much we did do that day anyway, we visited a park that was one of the only things in the city that was open, but most of the day was spent at a shopping mall, where we were all sent off to do whatever and meet back at a designated time.

Charlie and I of course took this opportunity to get away from everyone and spent most of our time hiding between racks of clothes so that we wouldn't need to do anything. Several shop assistants weren't too pleased with this so we did get thrown out of a department store but we finally settled down in a furniture store near the corner of the mall where the worker couldn't have given any less of a shit what we were doing. I'm not even kidding we could have hosted a rave party in there and they wouldn't have batted an eye lash.

The Monday after that was a little more interesting. We went to the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument as well as The Vietnam and Korean War Veteran Memorials, because they were all in the same general area, so we got back to the hotel around four.

Things started to get a little more interesting that night, and by things, I mean namely, Mr. Novak. I guess I should also give Dick some credit too, because he set the ball rolling.



"Dick, I understand that the whole purpose of you rooming with me was to annoy the shit out of me, but could you please, for the love of god, stop playing the fucking Barbie song!" I screamed. It was the fourteenth or maybe fifteenth encore of him playing the song 'I'm A Barbie Girl' and at that point I would literally rather listen to Justin Bieber on loop or maybe just starfish mating calls, because holy shit was that song driving me insane.

"It's either this or Thong Song!" he yelled back, from the open bathroom door, where apparently it took several minutes to do his hair. Who on earth was he doing his hair for at 8:00 at night would be a good question that I did not bother to ask. I couldn't even process how long it was taking him in the first place after that millionth chorus.

He had also crudely stolen my ear buds, and 'accidentally' thrown them into a puddle, so there was no way I could even drown out the song. Whoever was rooming upstairs, downstairs, and on either side of the wall to our room was probably ready to commit homicide as well, but I just wanted to rip my ear drums out and throw them at Dick.

"Fine, whatever then, I'm going to leave," I said. I just needed to get away from him, to clear my head, or slam it against concrete. Literally anything but listen to Aqua repeatedly tell me that living in plastic is fantastic.

I walked out into the hallway and, even though I could still hear the song quietly from behind the door, it was a blissful moment. It was like breathing for the first time after taking a long swim. I walked a few steps down the hall and immediately heard the song change from Barbie to something else, I couldn't tell what it was but it didn't sound so bad so
I shrugged and figured I might be able to sneak back in.

I went back to the door, and grabbed the doorknob, but it didn't turn. I tried again. It still didn't turn, so I grabbed the spare key I'd gotten from the lobby without Dick's knowledge, and turned it in the lock. The door… didn't open.

"Motherf-," I said to myself, but I let the words fall. He'd locked me out. Of course he had. What else would have made sense? At least I was dressed though. I still had my jeans on and a plaid shirt, but I didn't have some more essential sleep necessities. Like a bed.

I knew it wouldn't work but I knocked on the door anyway, and yelled at Dick through the wood, "Very funny, you can let me in now."

The music stops, "uh, nope I don't think I will."

"I'll report you," I said back.

"Have fun with that. When you do, I'll give them your supply of weed and tell them how I'm worried about my good old friend Dean Winchester, the pothead."

"I don't have any," I answered but I figured Dick had some, and he could easily just plant it on my stuff.

"I know that, but can you prove anything?"

"Someday you are going to be hit by a car, and I'm not going to do anything to stop it from happening."

"I look forward to that day," Dick replied, "have a good night." The music turns back on, and I heard Patrick Stump singing from behind the door.

'At least he has good taste in bands,' I thought to myself.

"Shit," I sighed, and put my back against the wall next to the door, letting my body fall so that I collapsed into a sitting position.

I couldn't really report Dick without being blamed for drug possession. Well maybe if I were an exemplary student who didn't do anything wrong, but not a trouble maker who'd already been accused of picking on a teacher.

Thinking that thought made my mind stray back to Mr. Novak. I had been able to avoid him for the most part the past day, by talking almost solely with Charlie and no one else, but now that I had time to think about him it was actually making me kind of sad. All I really wanted to do was talk to him, or kiss him or- 'whoa slow down,' I shouldn't be thinking like that.

All the same though, he had been tormenting my mind every minute for the past few days, so that it was hard to not carry a conversation where his name didn't come up.

"Dean?" A man's voice asked making me look up. Speak of the devil.

He was looking kind of shaggy with flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt, his hair a little scruffy and matted after a shower.
He was holding a can of pop so I decided he'd just come from the vending machine.

It hit me I that I was supposed to say something, but it came out as, "whaaa?"

"Why are you sitting on the ground outside your room?"

"Dick locked me out," I said shrugging like it was obvious.

"You could have gone to tell a teacher," he replied.

"He threatened to plant drugs in my stuff if I did. It's better to just say nothing. Who would believe me if I said he was framing me?"

"I believe you, I could talk to him," Mr. Novak said.

"He'd sooner take life advice from the abominable snowman. He's the one who's been picking on you, remember.
Vandalizing your car and the works?"

"Aw yes, I see. So you don't have a room to sleep in?" He asked.

"Oh yes, I have this long hallway. Very cozy, should make for a wonderful bit of shuteye."

Mr. Novak considered what he was going to say for a few minute before saying, "I have a single room. I mean there's only the one bed, but there's a futon."

I looked right up at him in complete shock at this.

"Are you serious?" I asked incredulously and a little frazzled.

"Of course," he said with a wicked grin that time, and he offered me his hand to take.

"I, uh, isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"No more so then having a crush on your teacher," Mr. Novak replied.

"Can we, like, hush down on the whole crush thing?" I said taking his hand and standing myself up right, while blushing.

He didn't say anything but lead me to his room which was down the hallway and to the left, but on the same floor.

"Are you like actually inviting me in?" I asked once again as he opened the door and stepped back for me to enter.

"Of course, what would make you think otherwise?"

I didn't have a response, and I didn't really have another alternative so I walked in. I couldn't think of anything else to do.
I couldn't go to Charlie's room because it would freak her roommate out, but I couldn't really stay in the hallway.

I was understandably nervous though, because I had no idea whatsoever what any of this meant. One thing that was for sure though was that I liked my student teacher, I was eighteen and he was 23, and I was in his room. Technically, and I didn't know if I was thinking too hard about all of this or if I was being completely rational, but technically, it was legal for us to figuratively, have a relationship, albeit frowned upon, but legal.

The question at hand was whether we were on the same page. I didn't know whether or not we were but if I was to have it my way than… I didn't even know what I wanted.