Page 8 of Extracurricular with Mr. Abbot
My gut tightens. “Nothing,” I say, hating that I’m saying this. “We go on, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Okay,” she whispers, but I see the heartbreak in her eyes. She takes a deep breath and walks over to me. Her hand rests against my chest, her breath hot against my skin. “Be happy, Jared,” she whispers as she presses a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “I want you to be happy.”
Fuck. She’s killing me. I want nothing more than to lift her into my arms and take her to bed. To deepen the kiss and show her how much I want her. That she’s what makes me happy. But I can’t.
“You too, baby,” I whisper as I take a step backward. “Goodbye, Erin.”
I walk away, and I know that I’m losing someone important. I know that if I was given a chance, I’d fall hard for her. I’ve no doubt in my mind that she’ll be the one that got away.
FOUR
ERIN
Seven Months Later
“Stasi,” I whisper at my best friend, who looks as though she’s not slept in days. “What’s going on?”
She shrugs. “I’m fine, just tired. I’ve been working on studying.”
She’s lying. God, she’s such a bad liar. “Ah, Stasi,” she sighs. “What am I going to do with you?”
She laughs. Anastasia Brynn is my best friend. Has been since I met her outside Pure Indulgence the morning everything changed in my life. I’m still not okay from what happened between Jared and I. I miss him, and that’s such a stupid thing, I only had one night with him, but I truly miss him.
Stasi has been a huge help in keeping me distracted from being sad. I’m not sure what I would have done without her.
“Love me?” she says with a big grin.
“That’s a given,” I reply with a smile as I link my arm through hers as we walk toward our first lecture of the day. “So, are you still going to lie? Tell me what happened? You study constantly, you’ve never looked like shit.”
Her eyes grow wide at my words, and she blinks slowly. “Okay…”
“I don’t mean it in a bad way, I mean that usually you’re so polished and put together. Today, it looks as though you haven’t slept at all this weekend. So tell me, what’s happened?”
We enter the class and take a seat at the back. I’m waiting for her to tell me what’s going on. Anastasia is the epitome of regal, the girls a freaking princess. A real-life princess, she never looks this rough.
She places her hands flat down against the table and takes a deep breath. “You know how I had got a tutor?”
I hum, where’s she going with this? “Yep, how did it go?”
“I learned loads. It seemed to be going well,” she says. “He helped me understand things in a way that I’ve never did before.”
“Oh my freaking god, that’s amazing. I grip her hand and try my hardest not to squeal loudly. I fail but thankfully no one pays us any attention. Oh that’s great, Stasi.”
She makes a non-committal sound. And I look at her, she’s staring down at her hands. “Oh no,” I hiss, as I lean in closer. “Spill, girl, what happened?”
“I read the email, saw that my tutor’s name was Jacob, and emailed back, letting him know that I was good with the time, then he replied with his address, I didn’t think much of it. Turned up to his house, excited, and then when he opened the door, I was so damn shocked.”
What the hell? “What, who was it?” I ask, needing to know what the hell happened.
The door opens behind us, and she turns and looks in the direction. “Him,” she whispers as she turns back to me.
I look up, and my stomach drops as I see that she’s talking about our History professor. Professor Peterson. “Noooo,” I gasp. “No freaking way. Spill girl, what the hell happened?”
The lecture begins, and I know that she won’t say another word. The moment it’s over, we go back to her apartment, and she tells me everything. How they kissed and how she’s confused. I lie to her, telling her that I have no idea how she’s feeling, but the truth is, I do. I know how hard it is to be so consumed by someone. Have something you want so badly that you can’t breathe without it. But at the end of the day, there’s nothing we can do.
I leave her to sleep, she’s not had any this entire weekend, her mind is muddled, and she needs rest. I hate that she’s dealing with this, but I’m glad that it was only a kiss. I'd hate for her to fall headfirst with a guy who she’ll never be able to have like I did.
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