Mr. Mendes

VII - Caught

We danced and talked with Eliza for about ten minutes until I saw Elena coming back over to us. She held hands with a tall brunette guy, his head turned back towards the house so I couldn't see his face. Judging by Elena's appearance, I'm sure he was a catch.

"Girls! This is Shawn," she smiled proudly.

When he looked up to greet us, that's when my stomach hit the floor.

❊

The girls and I, and Mr. Mendes, all froze for a moment. It was clear that none of us knew how to act, and I could only hope that no one would make this awkward situation any more terrible than it already was.

"Hi, I'm Shawn. Nice to meet you all," he said, giving us a tight smile.

We all made awkward small talk for a bit, trying to avoid the clearly terrible situation unfolding in front of us. Sure, he's young and cute, but he's also our teacher who just found four of his best students drinking at a party they're too young for. Not to mention the fact that although we look classy, we're all dressed a little slutty.

I couldn't have been anymore thankful than I was when one of his friends called him over, taking him away from our group.

"Isn't he great? We've been dating for almost three years. I think he might propose soon!" Elena said cheekily. She walked away soon after that, leaving me and the girls to ourselves.

"Holy shit!" Ronnie and Liv said at the same time.

"What are the odds?" Molly added, "At least he seemed cool with it though, it's not like he'd tell our parents. Do you think things will be weird seeing him at school now?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly, "but I do think it's best if we keep a low profile for the rest of the night. Let's just not make this anymore awkward than it has to be." All the girls nodded and we went along with our night, occasionally coming into awkward contact with Shawn.

-

A few hours later the party had cleared out significantly. We decided to call an Uber, since we'd all drank too much to drive home. While we waited I decided to go inside to the kitchen to get one last shot, it's been a crazy night.

When I walked in I could hear someone cleaning up. Much to my dismay, it was him. The only people who seemed to be inside this whole entire mansion were only me and Mr. Mendes.

"Hi," I said, giving him a tight smile and an awkward wave. "So, um, honestly I came in here to get another shot but now I'm not so sure if I should do that," I said and we both laughed.

He turned around and grabbed two shot glasses, then turned back around to face me. He put them on the kitchen island, filling them both with tequila. "Go big or go home, right?" he said, a small smirk pulling on his lips. He was either trying to show off or testing me, but I wasn't sure which. "Just let me grab a couple lime slices," he said.

"I don't need a lime, just hand me the shot," I said blatantly. He raised his eyebrows at me for a moment, then slid the shot across the counter. "Cheers," I said, raising the shot up towards him slightly. I downed it quickly, placing the glass back down on the counter. He searched my face for any form of a reaction to the alcohol, but unlike what he had predicted I was unaffected.

"I'm impressed, Pérez, maybe you'll get extra credit for that," he winked, trying to make a joke. He downed his shot and coughed the slightest bit.

"Yeah let's not talk about that right now. The fact that you're my teacher, I mean, because I don't want to have to realize that I just took a shot with my teacher," I said, making him laugh.

He paused for a moment, staring at the counter as he played with his hands. After what seemed like a minute or two he spoke again, "Can I tell you something? Actually no never mind, that'd be wrong. Totally crossing teacher-student boundaries," he said, contradicting himself.

"Really?" I said, trying to hold back a laugh as I gave him a questioning look, "You think that asking me a question would be crossing the line? After the way we met and what happened tonight?"

He chuckled and stood up straight, running his fingers through his hair, "You're right. So," he began, clearing his throat, "I think I want to end things with Elena."

"What? Why?" I asked him, taking a seat on the bar stool in front of me.

He came around the island, taking a seat next to me. We were both turned towards each other, my legs together in between his. "She's amazing, don't get me wrong, and we've been together for so long. She's just...not what I want anymore, I guess," he said honestly.

"Well what do you want?" I asked, my voice coming out quieter than expected.

"I'm not sure yet," he replied.

"How do you know she's not what you want if you don't even know what you want?"

"Maybe I do know what I want, I just know that it's wrong."

"A little trouble never hurt anyone," I said, a coy smirk forming on my lips.

"You're not what I expected, Maggie Pérez."

"And what did you expect?"

He thought for a small moment before he spoke, "Someone who follows all of the rules, I suppose."

"If you follow all of the rules you never have any fun," I replied, looking straight into his eyes.