The New Teacher (Shawn Mendes)

24 - Toronto

*Aurora's POV*

"Have I mentioned that I love Toronto?" I told Shawn as we stepped into the water taxi.

"Just about 100 times already," he chuckled. "You should go to university here, you'd love it."

I nodded. "I definitely want to. Whether I'll get in to the University of Toronto is another thing."

"You will. I guarantee it," he muttered. There were loads of people in this water taxi. Guess it's one of the attractions of Toronto. It was fairly cramped in this water taxi with all the seats being taken. Shawn grabbed my hand and led me to a spot beside the railings so that I could look at the lake. I moved over slightly and gestured to Shawn to stand next to me however there were loads of people near the railings and it would be too cramped.

"I'll just stand behind you, it's fine," he said, reaching over to grab the railings from behind me and sort of hugging me in the process.

"You're so awkwardly tall," I chuckled to myself as he rested his head on top of mine.

"Shush. At least the both of us can see the lake now," he muttered into my ear over the loud chatter of the people around us. He kissed the top of my head lightly before gripping onto the railings tighter as the taxi began to glide across the lake.

I loved being in Toronto with Shawn. No one from school was going to be here and no one was going to recognise us. Plus, all of his family is at the wedding and so is my mother so literally no one will see us. This means that we could have as much PDA as we wanted because to all the strangers around us, we were just a young couple. Perfectly normal.

-----

*Shawn's POV*

"So where are we going now?" Aurora asked, her blue eyes eager and shining brightly as she looked up at me.

"You'll see," I teased which resulted in a groan from Aurora.

"I feel like we're overdressed for literally anywhere we'll go," she laughed which was way too true. We were dressed for a wedding and definitely not just a casual date. I was wearing a black suit with a patterned shirt which had the top button unbuttoned and Aurora was obviously looking beautiful in a floral off the shoulder top that was tight fitting and made her figure look great.

I shrugged. "We do look great though so I don't care if people stare," I grinned at her. She nodded in agreement and I led her to our next stop. A cat cafe.

On arrival, we were greeted by over a dozen cats who were lazily lying around corners of the cafe. It was beyond cute.

"Awww look!" Aurora gushed speed walking to the nearest cat that was stretched out on the windowsill.

I chuckled to myself. "I'm gonna go get us some drinks," I mumbled even though she wasn't paying attention to me any more but instead to all of the cats. I don't blame her though.

-----

The time flew by as we chatted and played with the cats. Eventually, the conversation turned to my music.

"So why aren't you doing anything with it? You're clearly an amazing singer!" exclaimed Aurora giving me a weird look.

I shrugged. "There's always been a part of me that wanted to do something with it but I don't know... I guess I'm just kinda scared what would happen if my music 'blew up'. Do you get what I mean?"

She nodded slowly. "But there's no harm in trying right? Even if your music did 'blow up' and you were offered a record deal or something then you could always decline it if you'd prefer to stay in teaching." 

That did make sense however I guess there was just a part of me that was scared and by the look on her face, I guess she could understand that.

"Shawn..." she said, reaching out across the table to hold my hands. I made eye contact with her and cocked my head slightly to the side, confused about what she was doing or going to say next.

"At least give it a go? You're truly talented and I feel like you not doing anything with it is just a waste. There's loads of open mic nights in Pickering and Toronto, why don't we go to one of them and just see how it goes?" she suggested.

I felt uneasy at the idea. The thought of performing my own material in front of a crowd of people who didn't have to be nice to me because they didn't know me or weren't my friends scared the shit out of me. I was about to shake my head no but the pleading look on Aurora's face made me think about it a little harder.

After a few moments, I finally spoke out. "Okay, sure. Why not?"

She smiled widely at me. "Good. And just so you know I'm not going to let this go. You're actually going to go do it now that you've said yes. Literally, the second I get home I'm going to search up some open mic nights and sign you up for one."

I laughed, "Guess I don't have a choice now."

-----

The sun was starting to set when we decided to slowly make our way back to the after party of the wedding. We were in full-sprung conversation and laughter when I accidentally bumped into a woman who was walking opposite us on the pavement.

"Oh sorry, hun," I said absent-mindedly, focusing on Aurora more than the woman that I had just walked into.

"Shawn," the woman said and instantly a chill went down my spine. Whipping my head round, I saw the woman that I hoped to never see again in my entire life.

"Melanie," I responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Hello Shawn. Who's this?" she asked, her voice raspy as she looked Aurora up and down disapprovingly.