Illegal Innocence (Student/Teacher Relationship)

Chapter 29

"I already have what I want," he replied, tapping his finger against my nose. I blinked and rolled my eyes.

"I guess this is something I'm going to have to decide on my own then," I sighed, getting up from the couch.

"I already got you something," he chided. I turned to him, narrowing my eyes and raising my eyebrows.

"Which is..?"

"You'll find out in a week."

I sighed in defeat, but smiled. Elliott got up from the couch and pressed his body against mine. He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and traced my jawline with his finger softly. "What did Hunter do after he found out?" he asked.

My body tensed as I remembered what had happened about an hour ago. "It was Chloe who told me you resigned," she said. "And Hunter was with me when she told me. Let's just say he wasn't happy."

He kissed my forehead. "Does that bother you?"

I gave him a cocky, half-smile. "I love you, not him."

He chuckled half-heartedly. "You don't know how happy that makes me."

A thought struck me all of a sudden. "Wait," I said. "What happened to... Amanda?" I swallowed before speaking her name, wondering if anything serious had happened to her after what happened in the classroom.  

Elliott sighed. "To be honest, I don't know what happened to her. I haven't seen her since last week."

"Oh," I said lamely. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Right now?" he said. "It's a good thing."

Happiness went throughout my body. Everything was finally becoming right again. And this time, no one would break us apart again. I was free to do whatever I wanted. I was eighteen, and Elliott wasn't my teacher any longer. Technically, it wasn't illegal. Just frowned upon.

~
"What are you going to do about a job?" I asked, throwing another piece of popcorn into my mouth. We were slaying down in his bed, watching TV, and eating popcorn.

"Well, actually," he said matter-of-factly. "I actually have good news."

"Oh really?" I asked, glancing at him.

"Remember that book I said I was writing?"

"Yeah?"

"I sent it to an editor, and they said that they want to publish it," he said.

I dropped the piece of popcorn I was holding. "Seriously? Elliott, that's great!"

He smiled at me. "Thanks."

"What was your book ever about?" I asked.

"A man who fell in love," he said. "To a beautiful girl he thought he could never have."

My heart beat faster and I felt my face grow warm. "Really?"

He pulled me closer. "Really."

"How'd it end?"

"She died," he said. My eyes widened and my whole body felt cold. When he saw my face, he laughed loudly. I narrowed my eyes at him, blushing and looking away. "Avery, I was just kidding. They end up being together."

"Why do I have this insane feeling you wrote it about us?" I asked, throwing a piece of popcorn at him.

"Because I did. Just in a different situation," he said, throwing a piece at me.

"I'm flattered that I have a book out there that's written about me," I scoffed. "And it's published."
He laughed again and threw more popcorn at me. "I'm glad you came back, Avery," he said, calming down.

"Came back?"

He nodded. "To be honest, Avery," he began. "I didn't think you would come here."

I looked down and scooted closer to him. "Well I did. And that's all that matters."

"Yeah," he agreed. We stayed silent for about ten minutes, staring blankly at the TV. I wanted to break the silence between us, but didn't know how. I opened my mouth so say something, but he cut me off. "Stay the night?"

I stared at him, a little shocked. I finally nodded. "I'll get Chloe to cover for me," I said. "Speaking of which, I kind of... told her everything."

"You did?"

I nodded, hoping he wasn't mad. "She knew something was up when I got back with Hunter. When I tried to lie, she wouldn't leave me alone about it. It was after she told me she wasn't pregnant."
He nodded. "That's good. She doesn't need teen pregnancy."

"Yeah. Things wouldn't have gone well for her," I agreed. "And it's not like she's going to tell everyone like Hunter would've."

His jaw tightened again. "We aren't going to talk about him anymore."

It was clear that Elliott hated Hunter with a burning passion. But I didn't blame him. I hated him just as much. What he did was unforgivable.

"'Kay," I whispered. "It's going to be weird not having you as a teacher anymore."

"It's going to be weird not having you as a student," he agreed. "But I'd rather have you as my girlfriend than a student."

"Yeah," I breathed.

"So you're staying tonight?" he asked hopefully.

I smiled up at him. "I am."