When Summer Ends (58 page)

I could feel the anger boiling up inside me as I stood up
too. “He’s not taking advantage of me! Will you get a grip of yourself and let
me explain?” I cried, throwing my hands up in exasperation.

He laughed humourlessly. “Sure, go ahead, say something
that’s going to make me believe that this guy isn’t a damn pervert that’s
abusing his position at the school to prey on underage girls,” he growled
sarcastically.

My hand was itching to slap his face because he was
disrespecting Will, but I held back my anger. I knew Nick was only saying these
things because he was worried about me. He was just defending me. He didn’t
know Will the way that I did. Most people would see our relationship through
Nick’s eyes too and I needed to keep in mind that he was just trying to look
out for me.

“When I met him in the summer I didn’t tell him how old I
was. We started dating, and he thought I was older. When we found out he was my
teacher and that I was only seventeen, he broke it off immediately; he said
exactly the same things that you’ve just said. He’s not a bad guy, Nick. Please
just calm down and listen to me for a minute,” I begged.

His face softened slightly. I knew that he wouldn’t stay mad
at me forever, I could always rely on Nick to have my back, he’d calm down once
he got over the initial shock of it all.

“If he’s not a bad guy then why the hell is he dating one of
his students? He’s sick, this whole situation is sick and illegal,” he
countered, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

I felt my chin wobble as the tears started to build up in my
eyes. I hated that people would think that about Will. I closed my eyes and
shook my head. “You can’t help who you fall in love with,” I whispered sadly.

A tear fell down my face. He groaned. “Don’t cry, you know I
hate it when you cry,” he moaned, wrapping his arm around me and hugging me. I
pressed my face into the crook of his neck and took a couple of deep breaths,
trying to calm down as he stroked my back. I could feel all of his muscles
bunched up and tense, probably because of the situation and the direction the
conversation we were in the middle of.

“Nick, please don’t think badly of him. He’s such a great
guy, he makes me so happy. Age is just a number after all. In a few years the
five year age gap will seem like nothing. Please just try to see this from my
point of view, please?” I begged against his neck.

He sighed. “Chloe, I don’t like this situation at all. If
he’s such a great guy then he should have waited until you left school, he
should have waited until it was legal for you to get together. This is wrong,”
he whispered, his hold on me tightening as I went to pull back from him.

I shook my head. “He did want to wait. I didn’t,” I told
him, digging my fingers into his back, willing him to understand. “Nick,
please, you’re one of my best friends and I need you to understand.”

He sighed and pulled back, cupping my face in his hands. He
was just looking at me, his eyes soft and caring like usual, but his jaw was
tight and tense. He clearly didn’t like it at all. The silence was deafening as
he just stared at me, looking like he was choosing his words carefully. I
decided to break the tension and say something first.

“Please? It’s not just a fling, I love him. I really want
you two to get along because you’re important to me, your opinion matters to me,
and I really want you to like him. Please?” I whispered, giving him my begging
face. This face always worked with Nick, he was so soft he never could stay mad
at me or refuse me anything.

He sighed and closed his eyes. “He’s serious about you too?”
he asked quietly.

I felt my strained body start to relax as I nodded
confidently. “Yeah, he’s serious about me too,” I confirmed.

He nodded, his whole face sad. “You do know that because
he’s an old man already, that he’ll be grey soon, right?” he joked, a smile
pulling at the corners of his mouth.

I laughed with relief. The intense situation was over; Nick
the sweetie-pie was back. I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll make him dye it,” I agreed,
playing along.

He laughed and opened his eyes looking at me a little
exasperated. “You do get yourself into some crappy situations, don’t you? Just
aren’t satisfied with a boring life are you?” he teased, digging me in the ribs
with one finger.

I laughed and squirmed away from him, sitting on the sofa
and pulling him down with me. “You haven’t even heard the worst of it yet, this
is just scratching the surface,” I told him.

He frowned, looking a little concerned as he waited for me
to tell him what I was talking about. I told him everything: how Will and I got
back together, Erika finding out, the blackmailing - which made him hiss a
string of expletives again. I told him about Sam’s plan, the payback chores I
had done, and my meeting with the Principal. The whole time he just sat there
listening, watching me intently. When I was done, he blew out a big breath and
slumped back in his chair.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you were in trouble.
The whole plan seems fool proof though, this Sam guy is an evil genius like you
said,” he agreed, nodding.

I smiled at the thought of Sam. I still owed him a big
thanks. “Yeah, but there’s something that I’m a little lacking on.” I winced wondering
if he would help me. He seemed to be okay with me seeing Will, well, ‘okay’
wasn’t exactly the right word, he had stopped sneering when I mentioned his
name now anyway which I took as a good sign.

“What’s that?” he asked.

I took a deep breath. “Witnesses.”

He raised one eyebrow. “I don’t get it, Chloe. Dumb it down
for me,” he instructed, laughing at his own joke.

I smiled weakly. “I was kind of hoping that you would back
me up a little and tell the Principal that you’ve heard of Sam. You don’t have
to say you’ve met him or anything, just that you know we’re going out and that
he’s Will’s brother.” I winced, waiting for his reaction.

He frowned. “Look, Chloe, I understand that you want to date
this guy, that’s your choice, but how can I help you two sneak around and have
an illegal relationship if I don’t approve of it?” he countered, looking at me
apologetically.

My heart sank. I really thought he would help me. “Nick,
less than ten minutes ago you were willing to marry me because you thought I
was knocked up, but you can’t even go along with a lie to help me and Will not
get into trouble?” I asked, quietly.

He groaned and closed his eyes; he was quiet for a little
while, obviously thinking about what I had said. Finally he spoke, “Yeah,
you’re right, it would be hypocritical of me not to help. I would have married
you, I would have devoted my life to you and a baby that wasn’t mine, so I
guess that the least I can do is tell a little lie,” he agreed.

Happiness burst inside me. I squealed and threw myself at
him, hugging him tightly. “Thank you!” I squeaked excitedly. Everything was set
now; if the Principal asked my two best friends then both of them would say
they knew about Sam.

Nick laughed, seeming a little shocked as he patted my back.
“Chill out, Chloe. It’s not like I’m giving the old dude my blessing to hit up
my bestie. He needs to work for my approval,” he said, laughing.

I grinned and pulled back to look at him. Will would win
Nick’s approval once he got to know him more; they’d probably even be friends
because they were both awesome people. I kissed his cheek affectionately. “You
know you’re an awesome friend, don’t you?” I gushed, smiling gratefully.

He nodded and rolled his eyes. “Yeah I know. How about you
show me how grateful you are by making dinner, I’m starving!” he joked, pushing
me off of him and nodding his head towards the kitchen.

“You’re always starving, I think you have worms,” I teased,
winking at him as I stood up.

“Hey, I don’t have worms!” he cried with fake horror.
“They’re snakes,” he added, patting his stomach and grinning. I burst out
laughing and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the kitchen to choose what he wanted
for dinner. I really had some incredible people in my life; I was a seriously
lucky girl.

I didn’t sleep a wink that night. After studying with Nick,
he’d driven me home and I’d immediately called Will, talking to him until well
after midnight. I was tired, but I just couldn’t relax enough to succumb to
sleep. I just couldn’t stop worrying, trying to think of any holes in the plan.
I was pretty sure we had everything covered; there was no CCTV in the
classrooms so no one would have seen us kiss. We never did anything in the
hallway where there were cameras; no one else had seen, or suspected anything.

The thing I was worried about was the jobs that I did for
Erika. What if she had some footage of me arriving at her house or something?
She could show the Principal, and then he would ask why I was at Erika’s house
doing chores for her. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t go down that route though;
wouldn’t she be in more trouble for blackmail if she admitted it? Anyway, if
she did go down that route I was going to say that she paid me to do those
things. It would be her word against mine, and she would already look bad in
the eyes of the Principal because of all of the teachers that would hopefully
back us up.

I turned off my alarm before it even beeped and just sat on
the edge of my bed, cradling my aching head in my hands. I was exhausted, but
at the same time extremely keyed up and excitable, like an adrenalin rush or
something. It was like an oxymoron, the two feelings inside me were clashing
against each other, part of me wanted to fall into bed and sleep forever, the
other part of me wanted to run to school and see what was happening.

I dressed slowly, wanting to kill some time, and then pushed
my food around my bowl not really wanting to eat anything in case it made me
feel sick. My stomach was already full of butterflies; I couldn’t possibly fit
much else in there. My cell phone rang in my bag so I pulled it out expecting
it to be Amy, it wasn’t, it was Will. I smiled tiredly and answered it.

“Hey, Cutie. So I was missing you really badly, and I
wondered if I could pick you up a little early today?” he asked.

I smiled happily. I would love a few extra minutes with him
this morning. I needed him to wrap his arms around me and tell me that he loved
me in person, rather than over the phone. “What time were you thinking?” I
asked, looking at my watch. It was just before eight, he didn’t usually pick me
up until eight thirty.

“I just pulled up outside. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll
wait,” he replied.

I laughed. “You’re eager,” I teased, grinning like an idiot
and throwing my untouched Lucky Charms down the waste disposal.

“Always,” he confirmed, laughing.

I grabbed my bag and shouted to my mom that I was leaving
early, and then headed out of the door quickly. I practically ran to his jeep,
so excited to see him that my whole body was tingling and prickling. I climbed
in his car and sighed contentedly as he smiled at me. His beautiful smile
brightened my day and made me forget how tired I was. His smile made everything
right in my world. I would do anything for that smile. All of this was just a
blip on the horizon, something we would look back on and laugh at one day - at
least, I hoped so anyway.

“Good morning,” he whispered, his gaze raking over my face. “You
look like you didn’t sleep well.”

I laughed and scooted closer to him on the seat, wrapping my
arms around his neck. “Was that a polite way of telling me I look terrible this
morning?” I asked, pretending to be offended.

He smiled and shook his head slowly, tracing his finger
across my cheek lightly. “You never look terrible to me, ever. You just look
like you need a few hours sleep; maybe you should sleep at mine tonight. You
always seem to sleep well in my bed,” he whispered, running his nose up the
side of mine lightly.

My insides danced with happiness at the thought of spending
the night with him. I bit my lip and nodded. “Your bed is a lot comfier than
mine,” I mumbled, playing along.

He nodded. “It’s agreed then. I’ll pick you up at about half
past three,” he suggested.

I smiled at the thought. “Will, just stop talking and kiss
me already!” I ordered, trying to look stern.

He grinned. “Yes, Miss Henderson,” he stated, crashing his
lips to mine. I smiled against his lips and pressed my body to his, feeling
everything fall into place. Everything that was going on at the moment,
everything that was stressing me out and making me lose sleep, it was all so
totally worth it.
He
was so totally worth it.

He pulled back and looked at me curiously. “Did you eat
breakfast?” he asked. I shook my head, chewing on my lip. He smiled. “Great.
Let’s go to that coffee shop that does the pastries that you like,” he
suggested happily.

I nodded in agreement. “Okay, but I’ll run out and get them
and we eat in the car,” I compromised. It was a little way out of town, and it
was early so no one should be there, but it wasn’t worth taking the risk, not
when we were in so much trouble already.

He started the engine, putting the car into drive, and then
took my hand. “Whatever you want, Cutie.”

The morning was almost painful. Every second felt like an
hour, every hour felt like a day. All I could think about was the Principal
asking around and making his investigations. Erika was walking around smirking
at me whenever she saw me, she made a couple of “nice knowing you” comments,
but I just ignored them. Nick, bless his little heart, was by my side and made
a couple of sarcastic remarks back to her which she seemed extremely offended
by. I silently wondered if I was right, was Erika hot for Nick? Even if she
was, it wasn’t going to get her anywhere with him though. He really hated her,
now more than ever.