Chapter Ten
This day was the hardest to get through, I wasn't thinking clearly. The events that happened the night before keep replaying in my mind. Nicole was there for me the whole day, she did everything she could to cheer me up but nothing was working.
Last class of the day, calculus. I was nervous because I didn't know how Mr. Hoffman would react to me. He might apologize or completely ignore me, anything was possible. Nicole met up with me outside the door, I was leaning up against the wall avoiding conversation with everyone.
She stood next to me being silent. That's what I needed someone to be there with me and not say a word or give their opinion on the situation. The bell rang and we took our seats in the classroom. I saw Mr. Hoffman keep his eye on me when I entered. He looked down at the lesson plans hiding his concern. I slouched in my chair just staring at the board.
Mr. Hoffman got up and welcomed everyone of his students like he does everyday. He began the lesson of the day and seemed to rush through it. After only twenty minutes he gave all of us an assignment and told us to work on it with a partner outside on the benches. Nicole looked at me and I nodded agreeing to do it with her.
Mr. Hoffman dismissed us to go outside. As the students walked out I heard him ask me "Ms. Linton could you stay in here for a second?" Caught by surprise I stopped dead in my tracks and stood in my place. I didn't say anything, Nicole keep walking because she knew what might happen. I was near the back of the classroom, he was at his desk in the front.
"Come here" he said. I headed towards him slowly. He noticed the hesitation and smiled, "don't worry I'm not going to do anything to you."
Still staring at the floor I tried to smile, it was difficult. It felt like I couldn't do anything. No emotion or movement was coming out of me.
"Would you look at me?" He asked. I lifted my head to see his face. He had a peaceful and calm expression just looking at me. When my eyes met up with his he smiled, his eyes seemed to sparkle. "What happened after you left yesterday?" He asked me.
"I went home" I said a little confused at the question.
"No something must have happened, you've been crying a lot. Also, you don't have any of your books for today. Plus you normally don't dress like this and you are not wearing any makeup"
"Oh yeah well it was just a tough night"
"You can tell me, remember I'm here for you"
I hesitated, "I'm not sure if I should"
"Come on, I promise it will be between you and me"
"Well alright. Last night when I got home I went in my room and locked myself in because I was crying so much. My brother and sister picked the lock to get in so I told them what happened and they flipped out on me. So I drove around for a while and then went to Nicole's house. I told her what happened, I asked to stay the night so I wouldn't have to deal with anyone. That's why I don't have any of my things and I look like this"
"Oh I see, did I do anything to make you uncomfortable yesterday?"
"No of course not! I really needed someone to be there for me."
"Good because if I overstepped some boundaries I want to apologize"
"No don't apologize, it was really sweet of you to do that. I actually want to thank you"
He smiled, "My pleasure. So are we alright?"
"Yes we are." I tried to smile again.
"Do you mind if I gave you a hug?"
"No not all"
He got up from his chair and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this" he said. I stood there, it was nice to have someone care so much about me.
"Why are you doing this?" I whispered in his ear. He let go of me and looked into my eyes.
"I think we have a good connection" he said.
I looked down, "like we have been friends for a long time"
"Exactly!" He put his hand on my cheek, "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you are happy."
That made me smile for the first time all day, "Thank you" The bell rang and all the students came into the classroom to get their things.
Nicole rushed in to see me, she saw Mr. Hoffman and I standing at the front of the classroom. She gave me a suspicious look. He looked at me and nodded. I left his side to go to Nicole. The day was over and I was dreading going home again. I knew everyone had an idea of what happened yesterday and they would ask me every question they could think of. I was prepared for the worst.
"Flight 155 will be landing in ten minutes" The announcer came on the loud speaker.
It had been a long three months and Derek was finally coming home! I was waiting at the back gate. Some of his friends were with me, we all drove together so we could surprise him at the airport. He knew I was coming but not his friends. We planned a welcome home party back at my house. It was all set up in the backyard, this was exciting. We had a dance floor put outside, a small bar, and a lounge area for just chilling.
I couldn't wait to be in his arms again. Ten minutes had passed, I saw the plane land on the runway. One of his friends, Alan, told me to calm down because I was getting a little crazy. The people walked off the plane. It was here! He was home!
Derek was the same age as me, he was very tall, muscles from training so much, had gorgeous green eyes, and black hair which he normally spiked down the middle. I watched his family get off and onto the path for the airport. Derek was the first to walk out to the back gate.
As soon as I saw him I ran, he walked a little faster. When I reached him I jumped into his arms and we spun around a couple of times. Tears were falling down my face already. I put my hands on his cheeks just looking at him, soaking in the moment. He put me down and kissed my lips, "I missed you so much babe" he whispered to me.
"I missed you too Derek!" I was so excited I could hardly talk. It was exhilarating being with him again.
"I promise I'll never leave you again"
I smiled, "Deal. Some of your friends came with me to welcome you home" I turned around and as we walked towards the crowd he put his hand on my waist. I couldn't stop smiling, we were together again.
Everyone said there greetings and asked how the trip was. He said it was good but probably wouldn't go there again. We all talked for a bit before leaving the airport. I had room for one more person in my car so I asked Derek if he wanted to ride with me, he said yes. All of us piled into my car. As we drove off Derek and I began talking, "Happy to be home huh?" I asked.
"Yes it's good to be back, I'm never going there again"
"Why honey?"
"The weather is horrible, my relatives are getting old so therefore boring, and I missed you"
"Oh yeah I could see that. I have a surprise for you"
"What's that?" He asked.
"All of your friends and I have planned a party for you at my house"
"Awesome! That was so thoughtful of you guys"
I smiled as we continued driving. It took us about forty minutes to get home. When we got there I led Derek and his family out to the back yard. Everyone we knew was there, my house was packed. We had a casual party until the late night. It was a blast! We danced for a while, talked about how our summer was, and spent the time together.
Derek and I were inseparable the whole night. We were so happy to be with each other again. It was pretty late at night so we headed inside the house to get away from everyone. All of the rooms in front of the house were full of people crashed from partying. Derek and I went upstairs to my room, the only place where we could be completely alone. I took his hand and pulled him up the stairs, he began laughing.
His laugh made me smile, I looked at his sparkling green eyes. We reached my room, he picked me up and carried me over to the bed. Setting me down he rolled over to the opposite side so he was face to face looking at me. He then put his hand on my cheek moving his fingers, "I can't begin to describe how happy I am right now" he stared into my eyes.
I smiled and closed my eyes, "You don't know what I'm feeling"
"It's amazing being here with you" he moved his hand down to my waist.
"I love you" I kissed him.
"I love you Elizabeth" he whispered as he pulled me closer and kissed my forehead. Soon we fell asleep, it was an exhausting day.
When we awoke the next morning I was wrapped up in his arms. I stretched and he felt me move, he kissed my shoulder. It was the weekend with no plans. I cleared my schedule so I could spend as much time with Derek as possible. He was really tired from the long flight and partying. I was ready to get up and start my day. It was around nine in the morning, I started to sit up. Derek held me down and laughed, "Why are you getting up so early?" He asked.
I looked at the clock, "It's past nine"
He brushed the hair out of my face, "Come on stay here with me for a little longer"
"Alright but not too late, I don't want to stay in bed all day" I laid back down next to him. He pulled me close to him, I could feel him breathing against me.
This was perfect. I was with the man that made me the happiest. We laid in bed for another hour. Now I was ready to get up. He was in a deep sleep, I didn't want to disturb him. I slipped out of bed and put my silk robe on in case people were still here.
Some of our friends were passed out on the couch. I walked in the kitchen and started brewing coffee for everyone. While I was waiting for the coffee Elle came into the kitchen. I could tell she was exhausted from last night. She was still trying to wake up.
Soon we were joined by the rest of the family. Isabella and I decided to wake up all of our friends. I had a meeting with the suppliers of the boutique later in the afternoon so I needed to get ready. We went into the living room and let everyone know it was time to get up. It wasn't long before they all went back home.
Noon was approaching and Derek still had not come down stairs. I knew he was exhausted and getting used to the time change again but I didn't want him to spend his whole weekend sleeping. When I was walking upstairs to my room I ran into Carlie, she bumped into me on accident. "Oops sorry Elizabeth" She apologized.
"It's fine" I laughed.
"Where's your brother?" She asked.
"Oh he is downstairs with everyone else"
"Ok thanks" she went downstairs to met up with Steven. I continued to my room, when I opened the door Derek wasn't in bed anymore. The water was running in my bathroom. I walked in and it was filled with steam.
"Are you taking a shower baby?" I asked Derek.
"Yeah I hope you don't mind"
"No not at all. Here I'll get you a towel" I reached into the cabinet and grabbed a towel. I set it on the counter, "Ok there is one on the counter"
"Thanks babe. I'll be out soon"
I walked out and into my room. My notebook with Mr. Hoffman's number was on my desk. If Derek saw it he would freak out. I quickly grabbed my phone and inputed his number. To avoid any issues I ripped out the page and crumbled it into the trash can.
I didn't want any problems with this again. Derek was finished and walked out with a towel around his waist. I was trying to fix a problem on my laptop. He went behind me and put his arms around my waist. "Whatcha doing?" He asked.
"My laptop isn't working right" I turned around facing him, "Derek! Where's your clothes?" I exclaimed.
He began laughing, "I'll get dressed soon, you still have some right?"
"Yeah they are in the fourth drawer next to my lamp"
He walked over to my dresser, I continued messing with my laptop. My program froze I used it to keep an eye on the boutique. I was getting frustrated at it. It kept freezing and not getting the information it needed. I sighed and put my face in my hands, staring at the screen. This was so confusing, everything I tried didn't seem to fix it. Derek got dressed and stood behind me. "What's it doing?" He asked.
"It's freezing on me" I said frustrated.
"Oh here let me see"
"I don't have time for this, I need to get ready and go" My meeting was in an hour. I ran into the bathroom to take a shower, time was ticking and I really needed to hurry. As I was doing my hair into a bun I was trying to decide what to wear.
This meeting was important, looking professional was key. I picked out a pale pink blouse, an ivory striped skirt that went to my knees, and nude heels. Looking in the mirror I felt confident. "Hey honey! Will you look at my outfit see if it looks professional?" I asked Derek.
"Yeah come out"
I walked out of my closet. He stood up from his chair, "Wow" he said.
"What? Is it bad?" I asked concerned.
"Bad? You look incredible!"
"Aw thanks baby!" I went over to him and kissed his cheek, "Ok I should go now I will talk to you later. Love you" I grabbed my keys, phone, purse and walked out. The meeting was in twenty minutes, being late was not an option. I was considering buying new collections for the boutique. My parents put me in charge because they were going to let me own the store once I graduated school. I was excited!
Derek was still trying to fix my laptop when Elle walked in. She forgot I had a meeting and came up to tell me something. Derek and her got along so they talked quite a bit. He considered her a sister they were extremely close.
"Hey Derek! Where's Elizabeth?" Elle asked.
"She went to her meeting at the store"
"Oh that's right. I completely forgot about that"
"Yeah she left about fifteen minutes ago"
"I came up to ask her a question, oh well I can wait. So since she isn't here I might as well tell you what's going on" Elle sat on the bed.
Derek turned around and focused on her, "what are you talking about?"
"Oh she hasn't told you?"
"Told me what?"
"I don't want to be the one starting anything between you two" Elle got up.
Derek stood up blocking her from going anywhere, "is there something I should be aware of?" He asked.
"Well yes but she needs to tell you"
"Elle listen I love your sister very much and if there is anything you think I should know you better tell me"
"Oh alright" Elle sat back down on the bed. "Has she mentioned her math teacher, Mr. Hoffman?"
Derek sat down beside her, "no we haven't talked about school"
Elle told him everything that happened a few weeks ago. He asked her numerous questions, some questions she didn't know the answer to. His main concern was if I was interested in Mr. Hoffman and not him. They talked for about two hours on this subject. Elle left leaving Derek confused, he wasn't sure what to think of this. All he knew was nothing was going to happen between me and Mr. Hoffman.