by Bee Daniels
But for Abigail, it wasn't at all.
She shook her hips as she walked back over to Melanie with a cup in hand. A few of the boys there tried to stop her in her tracks, but as Abigail danced to the music, she waved them off with flirtatious winks. That was the thing about Abigail. No matter how many years past, she was still a young woman at heart. It also helped that she looked young as well too. The years that passed by since their college years hadn’t aged her. She still had the same honey brown skin, and wild brown curly hair that couldn’t be tamed. They were definitely older than everyone there, but they weren't that old. And with the way Abigail was moving, she easily blended in with the crowd.
On the other hand, Melanie was completely different. To say the least, she was stiff as she mimicked a coat stand while standing propped against the wall. There had been a few times that people accidentally bumped into her because they didn't notice her. Melanie couldn't blame them, no matter how many annoying elbows she took that she would surely feel when she went to sleep tonight. Right now, she was trying to stay out of the sight of any of the students she knew. She did not want to hear any giggles while she tried to lecture on Monday because they were laughing at the fact that their professor was hanging out at a college party.
To hell with this. She would leave now while she still had her dignity. Just as she stepped forward, an arm curled around her waist, pulling her back.
"And where do you think you're going, Mel?"
Noah's voice was slurred just enough for her to know he was either slightly tipsy, high, or just drunk on the happiness of the night. And when she turned around, dislodging his arm from her waist, she could immediately tell it was happiness. He was in the spot she had been before, slouched against the wall with his legs spread apart, leaving a place for her to stand. He looked at her beneath his lashes with a lazy grin on his face. A cup was in his hand, and when Melanie peered inside, she frowned.
"What is that?" she asked, frowning. Noah brought it closer to her, and immediately, the strong scent of alcohol made her recoil. The color of it looked murky, and unlike any alcohol she had seen before.
"I came over to bring you some, but, instead, you're trying to run off on me," he said, making a mock face of hurt. "I thought you were supposed to help me celebrate my win."
"You have over a hundred students here who are helping you celebrate," Melanie said. "You don't need me here."
"I only want to celebrate with you."
And there it was again; that feeling in her chest that shouldn't be there. It was a feeling Melanie had felt at certain points in her life, so she was able to discern it with ease; when she made out with Will, her high school boyfriend at the time, in his car the night after prom. When her unrequited crush, Davis, had to do a project with her for a class and she felt her heart race like crazy even though she knew he had no idea what her name was, and, still, till this day, probably never knew who she was despite them taking several classes together. And here she was, a twenty-seven-year-old woman with a doctorate, at a college party, having her heart race because a fucking twenty-year-old, or possibly nineteen-year-old, but she prayed he wasn’t, boy told her that he only wants to celebrate his win with her. She really needed to get herself together and find herself a man because if she had one, she probably wouldn't feel like this. Maybe that guy Damon could be the solution because clearly, she was losing her mind because her heart didn't know who to race for anymore. Soon, she'll see a puppy, and she'll get that same feeling.
"We've celebrated," Melanie said, ignoring the feeling in her heart. "And, again, congratulations. You were really great on the ice."
"You've got to say that again," he said, raising his voice. "I can't hear you over the music."
This time she tried to say it louder, but Noah shook his head, showing that he couldn't hear her. Melanie sighed and leaned in closer, bringing her lips to his ear. "You were really great on the ice, Noah."
She didn't have to look at him. She could practically feel his shit-eating grin against the side of her cheek, and suddenly she realized just how close they were and that now, she stood between his legs.
Melanie jumped back, gulping deeply. She was losing her fucking mind. She needed to leave.
"I think I'm going to go—"
"Oh, you're not going anywhere!" Abigail yelled, finally making her way over to them. She had two cups in her hand, passing one to Melanie and keeping one for herself. When Melanie looked inside the cup, she saw the same foul looking liquid in Noah's cup that reminded her of a potion inside a cauldron. What the hell were these kids drinking now and days?
"It's getting late," Melanie said, wanting to leave now.
"You're talking like an old person, Mel," Abigail said, rolling her eyes. "We're not even in our thirties yet. Live a li—"
"Girl, if you finish that line," Melanie warned her with a hard glare. Living a little didn't mean making a fool of herself.
"Come on, Mel," Noah said, taking a sip of his drink. "I dare you to drink it."
"I don't do dares with college students," Melanie said.
"Then do them with your favorite student," Noah said as he pushed himself off the wall, cornering her space. "Right, Abi?"
"Right, Noah," Abigail said, giggling.
"You know this is a form of peer pressure, right?" Melanie looked at the offensive liquid inside of the cup. What did it matter? The place was dark enough that none of her students would be able to spot her unless they looked hard enough. And what else was she going to do? Go back home and watch Netflix?
Melanie sighed, letting go of her apprehension, and taking three big gulps. She would definitely be drunk by the end of the night. Abigail looked at her like a proud mama as she lumped herself against her, hugging her tightly, while Noah flashed her a lazy grin, his blue eyes shining with delight that made her happy that she was, at least, making him happy. After all, he deserved it for playing so well tonight.
***
Whatever liquid was in that cup was enough to leave Melanie's mind in a fog, her speech slurred, and her body feeling good. There was a boy talking to Abigail about something very animatedly with many hand gestures, and though Melanie didn't know what the hell he was talking about, and she suspected Abigail didn't either, she couldn't stop laughing along with Abigail as they giggled like young children. With the way she felt right now, she would have thought she ate a whole pan of marijuana brownies, and not just one cup of liquor. She had never been good with alcohol.
"Noah! Noah! Noah! Noah!"
In the middle of the room, everyone cheered for Noah, who drunkenly stood on a counter, chugging down beer from the side of the can. Once he finished it, he crushed it under his boot before kicking it clear across the room. Everyone burst out in cheers and claps caught on the high of the night, and Melanie was taken away by it, no longer worrying about why she shouldn't be here, and instead, living in the moment, as Abigail would say.
Noah hopped off the counter, hi-fiving a few people before the crowds' attention turned to someone else. Noah swaggered his way over to her, and when he reached her, he lifted her up, twirling her around. If Melanie was in her right mind and wasn't drunk off whatever potion juice she had drunk, she would have told him to put her down and not to cross boundaries like that again. But Melanie wasn't in her right mind. She was drunk and happy, and quite frankly, couldn't use any of her brain cells to bother to care. So, she giggled instead until she was put back down.
"You're really drunk," Melanie told Noah looking at his flushed cheeks.
Noah grinned. "And what about you?"
"I'm tipsy," she slurred out, and Noah laughed at her attempt to speak.
"No, you're really drunk," Noah said. "Maybe we should get you home."
"You're trying to get rid of me?" Melanie asked, feeling an ache in her chest. She thought he wanted her here to celebrate. Why did he want her to go?
"No, it's not that," Noah said, laughing. "If it was u
p to me, you would stay. But look at you right now."
"What?" Melanie asked frowning. She blinked rapidly to grasp her surroundings, and after a few attempts, she was able to understand what was going on. First of all, when had she started laying her head against Noah's chest? What the hell was she doing? Second, where did her blazer go? She remembered feeling hot, but she didn't remember taking it off.
"It's hot," Melanie said, losing her train of thought. "And you're being mean."
When she tried to walk away, Noah grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to him. "I'm not trying to get rid of you, Mel. It's just that you're drunk off your ass right now. I didn't even think that was possible, to be honest. I wanted to get you to loosen up, not for you to be this drunk."
"I'm not drunk," Melanie mumbled.
Noah laughed. "Let's go up and talk. You need some air anyway."
As Noah tugged her up to the second floor of the house, Melanie looked behind, vaguely remembering Abigail, to make sure she was safe, and there she was on the floor dancing with some guy. Melanie and Noah traveled up the stairs, and he knocked on a few doors until they finally found an empty room.
When Melanie saw a bed, she couldn't help but drop on it and lay her head down. It felt good. Suddenly, a feeling of tiredness that wasn't there before took over her. She was ready to take a deep sleep.
Suddenly, Melanie giggled.
"What's so funny?" Noah asked as he dropped on the bed next to her. The top of his head touched hers as they both laid down, looking at the ceiling. Even with the door closed, the loud music along with the chatter could still be heard, but not nearly as loud as it had been before. It sounded muffled like they were closed off in a gigantic bubble all of their own. And the thought of that made Melanie happy. Now, she could think, maybe not coherent thoughts, but at least she could hear her own thoughts.
"I'm thinking about Dale's pale ass when he ran into that pool naked," Melanie said, giggling more. Never did Melanie ever think she would see one of her students naked, but what could she expect when she attended a college party. It was like realizing that your child was having sex, even though you were once a teenager doing the same things they were doing.
"He did look pretty stupid," Noah said, laughing himself before he flipped on his side, and for some reason, Melanie flipped on her side to be just like him too. Through bleary eyes, because right now, it felt like a task to even keep her eyes open, she looked at Noah's blue eyes. He didn't look as nearly as drunk as her, and that made her jealous.
"Why am I'm the only one drunk? You drunk more than me." Noah laughed.
"You're a lightweight," he said, and Melanie sluggishly slapped his arm, amusing him more. "My body mass is more than yours anyway, so of course, I can handle more alcohol than you."
"You should be drunk like me too," Melanie said, and she tried to get up. "Let's get you something to drink."
Noah grabbed her wrist, stopping her from moving. "Nah, I'm good. I came up here because I wanted to talk to you anyway."
"Talk to me?" Melanie blinked, confused, her hazy mind trying to think, but it was hard to. "I thought you wanted to party."
"I did," Noah said, "But I also wanted to spend time with you. That's why I asked you to come, Mel. I wanted to spend my night with you."
If she heard that while sober, all of her alarms would go off. It was something about what he said that bothered her but made her happy all the same. It was intimate, maybe even too intimate. He was a college student who could be spending his night getting drunk, hanging out with his boys, and picking up the many girls who tried to get him to dance with them the whole night. But instead, he was spending his time with her. Instead, he wanted to talk to her. It wasn't normal. It wasn't something that Noah should have wanted, and it wasn't something that Melanie should have accepted. But right now, she was too drunk to worry about those things, and she found herself lying back down as she stared into his blue eyes, feeling warm, incredibly warm. She would have been much warmer in his arms, though.
"You had a really good game," Melanie said, hoping that she didn't sound as funny as she did to her ears, but when Noah grinned, she knew she did. "It almost made me feel bad for nearly failing you."
"As you should," Noah said, and Melanie pinched his arm to his amusement. "The ice would be nothing without me on it."
"Do you know that you're really arrogant? Like really really extremely arrogant. That's what I didn't like about you at first," Melanie said as she unconsciously rubbed her hand up and down his arm. He had really nice biceps. She didn't even know student-athletes had to work out this hard for hockey. Then again, some of her other students who played hockey didn't look like this. They didn't look as strong as Noah did like he could pick her up like a dumbbell and work out with her.
"So, you admit that you were out to get me?" Noah asked. "I knew it."
Melanie rolled her eyes. "No one was out to get you. You did that to yourself coming to my classroom two weeks late and not doing my work. But you were very arrogant."
When Melanie realized she was still rubbing Noah's arm, she tried to pull her hand away, but Noah stopped her, bringing it back. What the fuck were they really doing right now? Melanie blinked, feeling Noah's warm hand on top of her own. They shouldn't be doing this. She should really go home.
"It's funny that you thought I was arrogant because I thought you were too, Professor Bryant." He said her name in a sing-song tone that shouldn't have sounded as good as it did coming from his lips. All of her students, except for Noah, called her that, and it never sounded the way Noah made it sound— dirty, sinful, sexual. Why was it so hot in here?
"How was I arrogant?" Melanie asked as she continued to rub Noah's arm in hope that he would remove his hand, but he didn't. He couldn't look at her with those blue eyes that made her feel like putty in his gaze. She was in his domain now and there was nothing she could do about it.
"You were arrogant because you were a know-it-all who made everything more difficult than it had to be. Do you know you're known as one of the hardest professors on campus? Have you seen your score on Rate My Professor?"
Melanie shrugged, though she had checked it once before after some professors mentioned looking at theirs. Melanie wasn't surprised to see that she didn't have the best ratings. Majority of the students complained about her class being too hard and impossible to pass, while a few of her students said they learned a lot because of how hard her class was.
"You ranked low in a lot of things, but on the rating of your level of hotness you had an A."
Melanie blushed. "I'm not hot," she said. Well, right now, she was definitely hot because of the temperature in the room that made her want to peel a few of her clothes off along with Noah's as well too. Because if she got naked, why should she be the only one?
"Melanie, I thought you were a student," Noah said, laughing. "You're definitely hot. You're more than hot. You're beautiful."
Melanie's heart raced in her chest. Noah was much closer than he had been before. Who was moving? Was it him or her? She couldn't tell, but that didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that there was little space between them, and she could feel his breath against her lips. They were so close. If she moved just a little closer, their lips would touch. She wanted to kiss him badly right now. She knew she shouldn't. Even deep in her foggy mind right now, she knew she shouldn't, but she wanted too badly. And she almost would have if she hadn't heard the sound of giggling students coming directly to the room they were in secluded at the end of the hall.
What if they were one of her students? What if they saw her like this? What would they think?
Within seconds, Melanie popped off the bed as if someone lit fire in her ass and jumped inside of the closet where no one could see her or find her. She closed the door behind herself, and once it was closed, she giggled at how stupid she was being and how drunk she felt until the door opened again with Noah staring at her with a lazy frown.
"What are you doing?"
At the same time, she heard the door open, and she pulled Noah inside the closet and closed it.
"Hey! Is anyone in here— Oh, good."
Immediately, those giggles turned into kissing sounds, and when Melanie peeked through the slats of the closet door, she saw one of her students from her second-period course making out with a boy. Melanie sighed in relief.
"Why did you come in here?" Noah whispered.
"It's one of my students," Melanie said. "What if they see me in here? Uh, Noah, I shouldn't have let you take me here," she whined. Now, she wasn't feeling so good anymore, and she really wanted to be back in her bed to sleep off the headache she knew would come. She was never good with liquor. She should have never drunk alcohol even if she was under pressure by her supposed friends.
"It's fine," Noah said, pulling her to him as he rubbed her shoulders. "Don't be mad at me."
"I'm very mad," Melanie said, pouting as she removed her head from his chest to look up at him. Big mistake. Now, she could only notice how handsome he was and how close they were. Noah was really handsome. He looked down at her and smiled. Wait. Did she say that out loud?
"I didn't mean that," she started, but Noah brought his finger to her lip.
"You've got to whisper," he said. "So, we don't get caught."
And then Melanie remembered they were hiding in a closet and took notice of the groans and moans that were being made. It was a little too erotic and made the room hotter than what it needed to be. She looked at Noah under her lashes, wondering if he was taking note of the heat in the room, and surely, he was looking down at her with a lazy grin.
"You really are beautiful," he whispered as he leaned down and pressed a kiss against her temple. Butterflies swarmed her stomach at an impossible rate.
"Don't do that," Melanie said as she lightly slapped his chest.
"My bad," he slurred. "I think I'm drunker than I thought."
"Me too," Melanie mumbled as she leaned her head against his chest, hugging him. He hugged her back and continued to rub her shoulder as they both waited, ignoring the heavy moans and panting.