Wicked Chemistry

by R. L. Kenderson

  “Oh. That.” He shrugged. “My dad’s out of town until Sunday.”

  I’d forgotten about his dad leaving town often for work. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

  He grinned. “I’m not. I got to stay here with you.”

  I blushed. “Go shower, you flirt.”

  “Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when I’m done, so you can get in.”

  “Thank you.”

  Mace left the room, and I lay back down. I didn’t think I’d fall back asleep so fast with the scare I’d just given myself about Mace being caught, but I did.

  Before I knew it, Mace was kissing me on the cheek. “Eden?”

  “Hmm?”

  He smelled like my shampoo.

  “It’s time to get up and get ready.”

  “Okay,” I said without opening my eyes.

  “I gotta go, but you’d better get up.”

  “I will. Promise.”

  “Okay,” he said, his voice farther away now. He slapped my butt. “See you later.”

  “Later.”

  “Eden.”

  I tried to get away from the voice.

  “Eden.”

  “Mmm … go away.”

  “Eden, it’s eight forty-five.”

  That woke me up.

  “What?”

  Becca was standing over me. “Yeah. Why aren’t you up?”

  I pushed my alarm clock’s face toward me. “Fuck.” I pushed the covers off me, grateful I still had the oversize shirt on. “My alarm went off, but I must have turned it off and gone back to sleep.”

  I didn’t look at Becca when I gave my excuse because I was a horrible liar, and she’d know something was up.

  I ran around my room, snatching up clean clothes, and ran to the bathroom. I didn’t have time to shower, so I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and got dressed. I was going to smell like Mace the whole day. I quickly pumped two sprays of perfume on me to cover up any sex smell that might remain.

  I opened the door to see Becca standing there, and I put my hand on my chest. “You scared me.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “You don’t sleep in.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “I don’t?” I was pretty sure I did every weekend.

  “Okay, so you do, but you don’t sleep past your alarm.” She waved her finger at me. “Something is going on with you.”

  I laughed nervously. “Nothing is going on with me.” I walked past her and went back to my room. It was now five after nine. “Eek. We need to get going.” I threw the T-shirt in my dirty clothes pile and grabbed my suitcase.

  On the way out, I picked up my purse with my workbag and took a quick peek around the living room. I hadn’t even thought about cleaning up the clothes we’d left behind last night.

  I would have to give Mace a big thank-you the next time I saw him because he’d made sure the living room left no trace of us.

  Becca followed me but stopped to pick something up. “Hey, don’t you want your package from Adam?”

  “No. You can leave it.”

  Becca locked up the house after we were both outside. “You don’t sound happy. What did he send you?”

  “A wedding invitation.”

  “Really? Then, why the sad face? I thought you were over him.”

  I stopped and looked at Becca. “To a man.”

  “Oh.” She winced. “Ouch.”

  “Yeah.” I continued on to her car. “I am happy for him, but I’m sad for me.”

  She opened her trunk, and I put my suitcase in the back.

  “Because he didn’t tell you or because you feel like your whole relationship was a lie?”

  I burst into tears.

  “Oh, honey.” Becca stepped toward me and pulled me into her arms.

  “You-you know me so well.”

  She stepped back, keeping her hands on my arms for comfort. “How so?”

  “It’s both those things. I’m so-so …”

  “Hurt?”

  “Yes.”

  Despite feeling sad about Adam, it was so good to know that Becca and I still had a connection.

  I wiped the tears from my face. “We’d better get going. I’ll tell you more on the way.”

  “Okay. But one more question.”

  “Shoot.”

  She looked around. “Where’s your car?”

  I groaned. “At school. Flat tire. That’s a whole other ordeal.”

  “How’d you get home?”

  “I caught a ride. I’ll have to fix it when I get home.”

  “Jeez. Now, I see why you didn’t want to get out of bed.”

  I pulled my sunglasses out of my purse. “And why I need some really strong coffee along the way.”

  “What time are you leaving tonight, Eden?” my mom called out from her bedroom to where I was in the kitchen.

  “In about a half hour,” I yelled back as I unloaded the dishwasher.

  “What do you think?” my mother said from behind me.

  I twirled around. “I love it.” She was wearing the shirt I’d gotten her for Christmas. “You look so pretty.”

  She ran her hands down the front. “Thank you. It’s something I never would have bought for myself.”

  “That’s what Christmas is for.”

  My mom had the same shade of dark blonde hair that I did—although she had some help from a bottle nowadays—and brown eyes. I looked a lot like my mom, except she was five inches shorter than me and tiny. I had inherited her facial features and small boobs, but everything else had come from my dad.

  My father was six-one and barrel-chested. His sisters were all tall, too, with wide hips like me, except they had gotten my grandmother’s breasts. My dad was also a redhead who burned at the first hint of the sun, so I supposed it could have been worse, especially now that I was living in Texas.

  “Anne, are you about ready?” my father asked as he came into the kitchen. “Wow, honey, you look great,” he said when he saw my mom.

  “Your daughter has good taste, Al.”

  My dad looked at me and smiled. “That she does.” He smoothed his own shirt down. “How do I look?” he said and puffed out his chest.

  “Handsome as ever, Dad. Where are you two going tonight again?”

  My mother picked up her purse and started rummaging through it. She always double-checked to make sure she had everything she needed before she left the house. Her organizational skills were why she ran a small Christian preschool.

  My parents had met while teaching, and after they’d married, my father had gone on to get his PhD. My father was now a professor at South Dakota State University. My mom had quit working for a while after I was born and started working at the preschool when I was old enough to attend. She had thought it was going to be temporary until I went to kindergarten, but she’d loved it so much that she stayed, and she was now the program director.

  My parents were the reason that I had gone into teaching. They both loved their jobs, and since I’d been little, I’d known that I wanted to be like them when I grew up. I didn’t know if I would ever go on to teach something other than high school, but one thing I loved about teaching was that I had options.

  “Just dinner with friends. We’ll probably be home before midnight.”

  “Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of New Year’s Eve?” I asked.

  “When you’re our age, New Year’s isn’t as fun,” my father said.

  “Neither of you is even fifty yet. You act like you’re in your eighties.”

  “We also want to take you to breakfast before we have to take you to the airport,” my mom said. “What time are you going to be home?”

  “I will not be home before midnight. But probably soon after.” I needed to get up in the morning and spend all day at the airport before flying home, and then I had to go back to work the following day.

  I should have rethought the decision to come home before New Year’s. I was going to get home tomorrow in the late afternoon. I’d have a few hours t
o rest before heading to bed for the night.

  But I didn’t want to miss hanging out with my friends. A lot of them had moved away after high school and college, like me, but they were all home for the holidays. It was a chance for us to get together.

  My father looked at his watch. “We’d better get going, Anne.”

  My mother came over to me and gave me a hug. “You’ll call if you need a ride, right? Don’t get in the car with anyone drunk.”

  “Yes, I’ll call.”

  My mother really didn’t have anything to worry about. Brookings, South Dakota, was a small college town. The cops were extra vigilant when it came to drunk drivers, so none of my friends would risk it.

  “Okay.” She smiled sadly at me. “I’m bummed we won’t be spending your last night here together.”

  “Mom, we spent all week together. Go have a good time tonight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Okay.” She pulled me down and kissed me on the cheek. “Have fun.”

  “I will. You, too.”

  I waved good-bye to my parents and went to the bathroom to finish getting ready. I just finished when my phone beeped.

  Dana: We’ll be there in five minutes.

  Me: I’m ready to go. Just honk when you get here.

  Three and a half minutes later, I heard the sound of a horn. I went from the front door to the car outside. It was a lovely twenty-five degrees or something like that. Much different from Texas where I had gotten a little spoiled.

  I climbed in the backseat with Dana, a happy-go-lucky brunette. Stephanie, a bossy blonde, was behind the wheel, and Laurel, another brunette, sat in the front seat. We’d all gone to high school together and moved away to different parts of the country.

  “Hey, ladies,” I said with a grin.

  I gave Dana a hug and Laurel and Stephanie half-hugs since they were in the front.

  “Let’s get this show on the road,” Stephanie said as she backed out of my parents’ driveway.

  “Where’s Pete?” I asked Laurel. She was the only one of us married or even in a serious relationship. “I thought the hubs would come out with us tonight.”

  Laurel turned in her seat to see me. “He’s meeting up with us a little later. He went ice-fishing with my dad today, and they just got home when I left.”

  “Great.”

  Pete was a lot of fun, especially when he drank. I hadn’t seen either of them since their wedding the past summer.

  My phone beeped in my hand. It was a text from Becca.

  Becca: Happy New Year! Wishing you were here with us!

  Attached was a picture of her, Connor, and Mace, and my breath caught.

  It had been just over a week since my night with Mace, but it already felt like it had happened a million years ago. Actually, it almost felt like it was just a dream.

  I didn’t know if it was because I was so far away or because I had spent time with my family, but that night almost didn’t seem real.

  And, while I didn’t regret what had happened—not entirely anyway—I knew it was something that could never happen again. Quite honestly, I couldn’t believe I had done it in the first place. It was out of character for me to do something so reckless as to sleep with a student.

  “Ooh … who are those hot guys with Becca?” Dana asked from beside me.

  Becca had come home with me from college a few times, so all my friends had met her.

  “The one on the right is Connor. He’s a fellow teacher and the assistant football coach. Becca and he are dating.”

  “Way to go, Becca.”

  “I want to see,” Laurel said.

  “Me, too,” Stephanie chimed in.

  I turned my phone around to show Laurel and quickly showed Stephanie at the red light we were stopped at.

  “Dana’s right. Go, Becca,” Stephanie said as the light turned green.

  “Does that mean the other guy is single?” Stephanie asked.

  “Yes. That’s Connor’s cousin, Mace. But he’s a senior in high school.”

  “Boo,” Laurel said.

  “That’s a lady-boner killer,” Dana said.

  Stephanie shrugged. “I’d still do him.”

  “Stephanie,” Laurel said in shock.

  “What?” Stephanie looked at me through the rearview mirror. “Is he eighteen?”

  “Yes.”

  Stephanie looked at Laurel. “See, he’s old enough.”

  Laurel shook her head and laughed. “You’re so bad.”

  Stephanie grinned. “I know.” She leaned up to look at me again. “You should totally hit that.”

  I laughed at her joke, but inside, all I could think was, I already did.

  I threw my luggage in the back of Becca’s car and slammed the trunk.

  “So … how was the trip?” she asked as I sank down into my seat.

  I glared her way. “I am never traveling over the holidays again.”

  Last night had been fun with my friends, and I had made it home before one in the morning. I got up and had breakfast with my parents before we said our tearful good-byes, and then I was on my way.

  Or at least, I was supposed to be. I got to the airport early, as usual, but then my first flight was late because wherever the plane was coming from had gotten bad weather. I sat in the airport for over four hours.

  By the time I got on the first flight, I knew I was going to miss my layover. I used the plane’s Wi-Fi and watched the flight take off as I was still in the air.

  When I’d gotten to my layover destination, I’d had to be put on standby for a flight that didn’t leave for five more hours. It was now after midnight, and to say I was unhappy would be an understatement.

  I was already low on sleep from New Year’s Eve, and I’d barely slept on the plane. I was going to be so tired at work tomorrow.

  “I am so sorry you had to pick me up so late,” I said to Becca as she pulled away from the curb.

  “Don’t worry too much about me. When you warned me you’d be late, I took a nap this afternoon.”

  I laid my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes. “Did you have fun last night?”

  “Yeah. I met some of Connor’s family for dinner, which is when I sent you the picture, and then the two of us spent the rest of the night together.”

  I opened my eyes and turned my head toward her. “Who all was there?” I asked.

  “Connor’s grandparents, his parents, his uncle, his sister and her husband with their two kids, and Mace.”

  “That’s a lot of family. Sounds like it’s getting serious.”

  Becca shrugged, but she was trying not to smile too big. “I think it is. We decided Christmas was too personal and early to meet each other’s families, but when they invited me to dinner, we thought, Why not?”

  “Do you like them? Did you get along with them?”

  “Yes. They were all nice, and I didn’t know Mace was so fun. You’ve never said anything about him in class.”

  I cleared my throat. “Well, I’m sure he’s different with his family than he is at school.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. I’m excited to have him in my class this semester.” She tilted her head. “Although it could have been the beer he was drinking. Maybe he won’t be as fun at school.” She looked at me. “Did you know that he drinks in front of his family at restaurants, and nobody bats an eye?”

  “Yes.” Mistake! “No. I mean, it doesn’t surprise me.” Quick, deflect. “Don’t all you Texans worship football players? At least you do in all the movies. Varsity Blues, Friday Night Lights, The Blind Side. I could go on.”

  Becca scoffed. “Yeah, because movies are real life. And The Blind Side took place in Tennessee.”

  I grinned at her. “I know.”

  “You’re such a snot.”

  “I know.”

  We both laughed.

  “I’m seriously happy for you and Connor.”

  “Thanks, Eden.” She glanced at me and back at the road. �
��Have you talked to Adam yet?”

  “No. He sent me a Merry Christmas text, but I told him I wasn’t ready.”

  “Are you still mad?”

  “I don’t know if I was ever really mad. I felt more betrayed. And my feelings aren’t as strong, but I’m still hurt.” I sighed. “And, honestly, I don’t know what to say to him.”

  “Yeah, there’s not exactly a how-to book on what to do when your ex comes out of the closet.”

  I laughed.

  “But you’ll know what to say when the time comes.”

  “Thanks, Becca.”

  We rode the rest of the way in silence with just music filling the car. I dozed off for a bit and woke up when we got home.

  “Hey, my car.”

  That was something else I’d been dreading. I had decided to leave my car at the school over vacation since it was in a safe place. I had known I’d have to go and get the tire changed tomorrow after school, and it was already going to be a long day.

  “Yeah, it showed up two days ago while I was gone.” She pulled the key from the ignition and turned to look at me. “You mean, you didn’t call someone to take care of it for you?”

  I shook my head. “No. I was going to do it tomorrow.”

  “That’s kind of weird.”

  I opened the door and got out. “It is.”

  I walked over to my car and inspected it. I crouched down and used my phone’s flashlight. I couldn’t see that well, but it looked like a brand-new tire.

  How did this happen?

  I stood and walked back over to Becca’s car where she’d popped the trunk.

  “Did you see anything?”

  “No. No note, bill, or anything.” I pulled my suitcase out of the back and shut the trunk. “I’ll have to figure it out tomorrow though because, right now, I’m super tired.”

  We entered the house, and I went straight to my room. I turned on my light and stared at my bed. It was still a mess from the morning I’d left it. I hadn’t had time to make it before I left, and all I could think about was Mace and how he’d fucked me from behind as I screamed into my pillow.

  Jeez. Now was not the time to think about Mace or sex or anything but going to bed.

  I pushed my suitcase to the corner and went to get ready for bed.