I Won't Give Up (Teacher/Student)

Chapter 22

We drove to school in separate cars. My car was here anyway, and I didn't want to depend on Brax to drive me back to his house to pick it up later. Though, I wasn't sure if I'd be spending another night somewhere else. My mind hadn't planned that far ahead. Instead, I was trying my best to keep my mind off of Caden and all that was said.

I had this awful feeling that maybe Caden could be right. Maybe I had no right to talk about mothers and what it meant to lose them when I never had a real mother to begin with. I never knew what it felt like to be loved by one, so maybe I could never understand what it meant to lose that love. Maybe it didn't matter that in my eyes, I had still suffered a loss. When you lose a mother, at least you are reminded of her love when you do miss her, at least you have a comforting memory when you feel alone.

I had lost my mother a long time ago, and that was all I ever had. No love. No memories. The only thing that accompanied her loss was a series of questions, with the two prominent ones always being: Why couldn't you stay, and was I really that awful?

I pushed those thoughts away as we pulled into the school parking lot. Brax and I managed to find two parking spots close to each other. He waited for me by the end of the lot and we walked through the halls together, toward my locker where I knew Cass would be waiting. My outfit did not go unnoticed by my classmates. Several eyes glanced at us and eyed Braxton's clothes on me.

I groaned, and Braxton placed his arm over my shoulder, pulling me into his side.

"Dee, are you embarrassed to be with me? You spend the night in my bed but can't be seen in the halls with me?" I could hear the grin in his voice. Unlike me, Braxton couldn't give a shit what people thought about him, and I was jealous of him for it.

"Shut up, idiot," I said, elbowing him. He laughed and pulled me in closer.

Just then, as luck would have it, Dustin walked by us. His eyes were glued to mine for a moment, and then they stared at Braxton's arm around my shoulders and the lack of distance between our bodies. They lingered over my clothing before looking up at me again. He glared, and for a second, I was afraid that he'd approach us and do something stupid. I let out a small breath when he looked away and passed by us, continuing his conversation with a friend.

Brax gave my shoulder a small squeeze. "I really don't like the way Dus acts anymore."

I nodded, clearing my throat. Luckily, we made it to my locker shortly after. Cassie looked up from her phone and saw us approaching.

"No fair. I've been asking you for one of your shirts for years, dickhead."

Cassie scowled at Braxton, causing me to laugh. I walked over to my locker, opening it, and listened to them bicker in the background.

"Cass, you have like five of my fucking shirts and a hoodie. My favorite hoodie, you thief."

Cass pursed her lips and broke into a grin shortly after. "Where's your proof?"

"Probably somewhere in your closet."

"Well, until you have some definite proof, I'm innocent."

Shortly after, we all went our separate ways. I dreaded going to first period. It was a constant reminder that Caden was back at the apartment, laying in that bed.  Day after day, we had crappy subs who did their best trying to review our material. Sometimes, the other biology teachers who taught the non-AP classes stepped in and taught some of the material, but most of the time, we worked on exercises and talked amongst ourselves for the entire block. I mostly stayed distracted, thinking back to Caden and what he was doing.

The worst part was listening to all of my nosey classmates gossip about his absence. Some thought he was sick, some thought he was on some secret vacation, others thought he was planning on quitting, and some correctly guessed that someone had died. But I swear, when he did come back, if anyone acted on their curiosity and prompted him to explain his absence, I'd pounce on them before they could even finish their question.