When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  When I walked out of the bedroom she wasn’t in there. I spotted her cell phone on the side, and gasped with excitement. Oh hell yeah! I whipped out my phone and dialled Sam, hoping he’d answer quickly.

  “Hey, Foxy. How’s the revenge going?” he asked, laughing.

  “Great. Listen I just found Erika’s phone so I need the number of a premium rate number, Busty beauties, Horney babes, whatever, just get me a number!” I giggled, excitement building up inside me. He immediately reeled off a number to me. I frowned and screwed my face up. “Should I be worried that you know that off by heart?” I asked, slightly concerned for him.

  He laughed. “No, Foxy, it’s all good; I’m not addicted to sex chat lines. That one just stuck in my mind because that’s where your mom works,” he joked.

  I rolled my eyes at his lame ‘your mom’ joke. “Okay, I’d better go. Speak to you tonight.” I disconnected the call and dialled the number on Erika’s phone, then put it back where I found it. I briefly wondering how long it would be connected to the line for, hopefully long enough that she’d have to pay her parents the two hundred bucks of Will’s money that she’d blackmailed out of us already.

  Last on my hit list was her car. I could feel the package in my jacket pocket and I winced thinking about it in there, touching everything. I would have to make sure I put it in the wash as soon as I got home. “Erika?” I called as I walked out of her room. She walked out of another room, talking on her house phone, flirting unashamedly with whoever it was.

  “Car next, you’ll find everything you need in the garage. My car’s unlocked already.” She nodded towards the front door, signalling where her Mercedes would be parked. I saluted and headed out there, skipping to her garage and grabbing everything I needed.

  I spent a lot of time on it; I wanted it to be perfect so she would have no reason to doubt that I was doing a great job. I washed and waxed it until I could see my reflection perfectly. I vacuumed everything, shampooed the seats, emptied the ashtray of the candy wrappers. It seemed that ‘Little Miss rabbit food for lunch’ had a weakness for chocolate.

  When I was finally done cleaning the car to within an inch of its life, I pulled the pièce de résistance out of my pocket and laughed my ass off. I grabbed the duct tape I’d brought with me and broke off a couple of strips of it, and then proceeded to tape the large piece of raw steak to the underside of her dashboard. It would take a while to rot, but she would have no idea it was there, and would drive around for ages wondering what the putrid smell was. This was another one of Sam’s genius creations.

  And with that, payback three is completed!

  I didn’t mess with the horses. Sam wanted me to let them out so she’d have to catch them, but I didn’t want to do that in case they got hurt or anything. I absolutely loved horses, so surprisingly I enjoyed the time I spent with them. I took my mucking out punishment like a man and just got on with it, dry heaving every couple of scoops. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but this was the only time I was doing it so I made sure to do it properly so the horses would be comfortable.

  When I was done with that and had scrubbed my hands for a solid five minutes, she finally dismissed me. She handed me her English, History and Biology assignments that were to be done by Monday morning, instructing on nothing below a B again. B my butt, she is getting a detention for all three of these if Will has anything to do with it! He had made me promise that he could help me with her work if she gave it to me. I had a feeling he was going to insist on a few additions that weren’t on the syllabus.

  I called him on the way home and arranged for him to come and get me in an hour so I would have time for a shower. I felt disgusting after all that cleaning. When I was clean and smelling like my old self again I headed downstairs to spend a few minutes with my parents before Will showed up.

  “Are you sure I look all right?” I asked for the hundredth time. We’d just pulled up at the restaurant, and I could barely even stand because my knees felt like they were shaking with nerves.

  Will smiled and shook his head, obviously amused by my antics. I’d been asking him the same thing for the last hour, but he never seemed to get annoyed with me for it. Instead of mocking me for it, or telling me to shut up, he’d calmly smiled and told me that I looked beautiful, perfect, incredible, amazing, or some other superlative he could think of.

  He took my hand now, pushing my carefully curled hair over my shoulder, his fingers brushing against the skin there making me break out in goosebumps. “I’m going to have the most beautiful girl in the whole restaurant,” he cooed, kissing me softly.

  I smiled. “Well do you think you could drop me home before you get your freak on with her, you were my ride after all,” I joked, trying to calm my nerves by straightening my black dress again.

  He laughed and snaked his arm around my waist. “If you feel uncomfortable at any point and want to leave then we should have a kind of code word or something so that we can escape,” he suggested, looking thoughtful.

  “Like, hedgehog or tadpole?” I offered, laughing at how silly he was being.

  “Tadpole, like it, we’ll go with that,” he agreed, obviously thinking I was serious. I laughed harder as he led us towards the door of the restaurant. My smile faded as I saw them all standing in the bar section, obviously waiting for us seeing as they were all together.

  “Oh crud,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “Relax, Cutie, you’ll be great, and they’ll love you as much as I do by the end of the night. Hell, my mom already loves you.” He gave me a little squeeze as we closed the distance to his family. I plastered on a smile and hoped that it covered the nervous face I was bound to be pulling unconsciously.

  As soon as we got to the group Sam stepped forward and slapped Will around the back of the head, frowning at him. “How many times do I have you to tell you to keep your hands off of my girlfriend!” he scolded.

  I looked at Sam and burst out laughing. Will, on the other hand, didn’t laugh. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to enjoy the night at all. He looked like he wanted to seriously maim his brother; clearly he still hadn’t forgotten the condom joke from yesterday.

  Will turned and looked me right in the eye. “Tadpole?” he asked, almost pleadingly.

  I burst into a fit of giggles, probably making myself look like a complete and utter moron in front of his family. This was not exactly the impression I wanted to make on them. I was definitely acting like the little school girl that I was. Will laughed too and pressed his forehead against mine, his arm tightening on my waist.

  I looked over to his parents, shooting them an apologetic smile, but they were all grinning at us, Angela, his mom, was gazing at us like we were the cutest thing ever. Will sighed and pulled away. “Guys, this is my girlfriend, Chloe. Chloe, this is my crazy family. You know their names, right?” he asked.

  I nodded and smiled, holding out my hand politely. “Sure, it’s nice to see you all again.”

  Angela made a little ‘Aww’ noise as she shook my hand, grinning at me happily. “I’m so happy you could come, Chloe. We’ve been badgering Will to bring you over to the house, but he’s insistent in keeping you all to himself,” she said, shooting him a fake glare.

  Will laughed. “I don’t like to share,” he joked, brushing his hand down my back.

  I shook hands with the rest of the family, making polite conversation with them for a few minutes until we were called through for our table. As we were walking to our table, Sam grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him, leaning in to whisper in my ear.

  “How did the things we discussed turn out today?” he asked, obviously wanting to know about Erika but was trying to ask subtly because of his family.

  I grinned. “It was just as we planned,” I told him, nodding happily. He held out a fist to me, obviously wanting to do one of those cheesy fist knocks that he does with his brother. I just looked down at it and raised one eyebrow. “Grow up, Sam. You Morris boys are so imma
ture,” I stated, shaking my head in mock disapproval.

  He grinned and grabbed my hand, balling it into a fist and bumping it against his. “You love it,” he teased, winking at me. “By the way, did she have a diary?” He looked at me with an extremely hopeful expression on his face.

  “No, Sam-bo. I looked, but she doesn’t have one,” I confirmed, watching how he frowned. He really was a little weird to get so excited about a girls diary. “Why so interested anyway?”

  He smiled longingly. “If I can finally understand the inner workings of a female brain then there will be no girl in the world that will be able to resist me,” he stated, running a hand through his hair, trying to look serious but there was a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

  I burst out laughing. We got to our table then and Will pulled my chair out for me, like the incredible boyfriend that he is. “Maybe I’ll let you read my diary,” I joked to Sam. I didn’t have a diary, but I could make up some trash and let him read it as a joke.

  He scrunched up his face and shook his head fiercely. “You think I want to read details about you and my brother getting your freak on? Man, I can’t even think about you two getting naked and having se-” he started, but he was cut off by Angela.

  “Sam Morris! That’s enough,” she scolded, looking at him shocked.

  I clicked my tongue at him and shook my head theatrically. “Listen to your mother, Sam-bo, you’re being rude,” I chimed in, smirking at him.

  He shot me a wink and grabbed his menu, looking at it with mock interest. I looked back to Will. He smiled and inched his face closer to mine, kissing me softly, holding his hand on the back of my head so I couldn’t pull away. I blushed thinking about his parents seeing this, but it felt nice to be out in front of people as a couple. To have him acknowledge me in front of his family like this made me feel extremely special.

  Sam cleared his throat. “You know, I’d pay to watch this if you weren’t my brother, Will,” he stated, making everyone laugh and causing me to blush harder.

  Will pulled back slightly, leaving his hand on the back of my head as he stared into my eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I love bringing you out and showing you off,” he whispered.

  I heard Angela make the little ‘Aww’ again, but I ignored it this time and just focused on Will and how he made me feel like I was the only girl in this restaurant. “Right back at ya, Mr Morris,” I teased.

  He smiled and kissed the tip of my nose before pulling back and letting go of me. “So, what’s everyone having?” he asked loudly, changing the subject as he scanned his menu.

  Sam elbowed me in the side gently. “Foxy and I are sharing the spaghetti so we can to the Lady and the Tramp thing,” he stated.

  I laughed and shook my head as Will sighed and shot him a dark look. This was going to be a fun night. It looked like Sam was intent on annoying Will as much as possible.

  As it turns out I was right, the night was incredibly fun. Will’s family seemed to welcome me with open arms. His parents were great, just like when I’d met them at Kaitlin’s wedding. I was worried that they wouldn’t like me because of my age and the whole their son could be sent to jail at any time thing, but they didn’t once mention me being underage or his student. Talk was mostly what I liked to do, what were my family like, and general getting to know you stuff.

  His mom seemed to just love the fact that Will was happy. She was incredibly cute. Her husband, William, was just like his boys, funny, witty and flirted with his wife endlessly. Apparently this was their twenty-eighth wedding anniversary, but yet they still looked at each other with that loved up look in their eye. Each time he would wrap his arm around her, or they would share a little smile or a laugh, I looked at Will and couldn’t help but wonder if he would still look at me like that if we managed to make it that long.

  Kaitlin, Will’s sister, was adorable too. She was just like Angela, kind, sweet and very, very talkative. Her husband, Andrew, was the strong, silent type, but when he did add into the conversation he was incredibly witty. They balanced each other out perfectly; she liked to talk a lot, and he just seemed content to listen to whatever she had to say. They were obviously still in the ‘honeymoon’ stage of their relationship because he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off of her - much to Sam and Will’s obvious disgust and remarks about them getting a room.

  All in all, I loved it, and I loved them already too. I really shouldn’t have expected his family to be any less than what they were. With two incredible sons like Will and Sam, they were all bound to be great people. In a way, meeting them made me feel a little bad though. I longed to do this with Will and my family. I would love to take him home with me and have him shake my dad’s hand and get his approval. I adored my dad, and his approval of the love of my life would mean a lot to me. There was just six more months and then I’d be able to do that. I couldn’t wait until I could show him off proudly, just like he was doing with me right now.

  As soon as we’d exchanged goodbye hugs with everyone, and promised to go round to his parents’ house next Sunday for a family dinner, we finally left for his apartment. I couldn’t wait to just have his arms around me; it felt like it had been so long.

  “So, how did I do?” I asked, wincing nervously, waiting for his reaction.

  He smiled and took my hand as he drove, pulling my hand into his lap, our fingers interlaced. “You did great, Cutie. They loved you,” he assured me.

  I bit my lip and sank lower in the seat, unable to keep the satisfied smile off of my face. “I can’t believe they just wouldn’t care about everything like that. How can they approve of me, knowing that I’m seventeen and your student?” I asked, shaking my head in awe of them.

  He smiled and shrugged. “They just want me happy, and you,” he brought my hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it softly, “you make me very happy.”

  I sighed contentedly and closed my eyes. “You make me very happy too,” I confirmed, grinning like an idiot.

  When we got to his apartment he looked a little tense. I had a feeling he was worried that me staying over was pushing the boundaries a little. I squeezed his waist reassuringly and pressed my side against his tighter. He smiled down at me and pressed his lips to mine as he slipped his key in the lock, he pulled back and put his forehead to mine. “I love you,” he whispered, rubbing his nose against mine in a little Eskimo kiss.

  “I love you too,” I responded immediately. He grinned and pulled back, taking my hand and tugging me into his apartment, shutting the door behind us. I watched as he locked the door, locking me into the apartment for a change. I loved the sound of the click. That sound signalled that I was here to stay for the night, the sound made my breath catch in my throat, and my knees to tremble a little with excitement.

  “Want something to drink? We could put on a movie, it’s only half past ten,” he suggested, looking at his watch.

  I shook my head and stepped closer to him, slipping my arms around his neck. “I just want to go to bed with you.”

  “Just to cuddle though, right?” he checked, bending to look into my eyes.

  I nodded. I knew the rules, I respected the rules, I just didn’t like them. “I just want you to hold me, that’s all,” I confirmed.

  He smiled and traced his hands down my arms, when he got to my hands he interlaced our fingers and walked backwards towards his bedroom, pulling me along with him. I felt so contented, so happy, so fulfilled. I didn’t need anything more than his arms to wrap around me, for his smell to fill my lungs, for me to drift to sleep knowing that I would wake up next to him. This was like heaven.

  When we got to his bedroom, he picked up my overnight bag that I’d brought over with me earlier, he plopped it down onto the bed for me. I headed over to it and opened the top, knowing I didn’t pack anything to wear to bed.

  “Dang, I forgot to bring pyjamas!” I cried, frowning theatrically as I pretended to look through my bag for them.

 
He sighed. “On purpose no doubt.” He looked at me knowingly and I laughed guiltily as I shrugged. He smiled. “Looks like you’re sleeping naked tonight,” he teased. His eyes raked down my body slowly, as if he was imagining it or something.

  I felt the breath catch in my throat. Is he serious? I’m going to be in his bed, naked? Oh hell yeah I like the sound of that! “Really?” I asked, looking at him excitedly.

  He laughed. “You really are a pervert. No, Cutie, I was kidding. The last time I checked you were still a minor,” he teased, winking at me as he pulled his blue button down shirt off over his head, and threw it to me. “Sleep in that.” I smiled gratefully, and I bit my lip as I looked him over. His body made my mouth water, and my knees tremble. I moved my hands to the back of my dress and was just about to unzip it so I could change, when he groaned. “You can change in the bathroom,” he mumbled, nodding at the door.

  I pouted as I headed into the bathroom. Looks like I’m definitely not getting anything more than a hug tonight. I wasn’t really expecting to, I knew how serious he was about me being a minor; he really wanted to wait, so we’d wait. Tonight was more about being close to him, having him hold me like he used to, and spending time together without having to watch the clock to see if I was going to miss my curfew. Just relaxing as Will and Chloe, instead of teacher and student.

  I pulled off my dress and bra, leaving my panties on as I pulled his shirt over my head. As it passed my face I breathed it in. His scent just amazed me. It sparked my senses, it was like some sort of drug, and it gave me an instant lift. Tonight I got to sleep with that scent all around me; I wished this night would last forever.

  As I walked out of the bathroom, Will groaned. “I forgot how sexy you look in my clothes,” he almost growled. I flicked my eyes to him quickly. He was lying in bed, with his chest bare. The sheets covered to just above his bellybutton. He made my stomach tingle because of how incredible he looked. I would probably never get used to the attraction that I felt for him, he literally looked like the most beautiful man in the world. Nothing and no one compared to Will.