When October Starts Read online

  The ferry came to a halt, and we walked onto the mainland while dark clouds moved over us. I pulled my hood over my head, and Ezra opened his umbrella to avoid getting wet. “I’ll see you on Monday. I had a great time with you, Juno,” he told me. I smiled, pulling the straps of my backpack over my shoulders.

  “Me too. Thanks for wanting to see what I was up to for school. I think it’s the first time I let a teacher in on my projects.”

  “Glad I was your first,” he replied. He was quiet while I unlocked my bike. Then, as I pulled it back to get on it, he spoke again. “Goodnight, Juno.”

  There was a certain undertone in his voice, and those simple words made me wish we could go back to the island. Just him and I. No one around us to tell us that we couldn’t hang out because it was wrong.

  Chapter Eight

  Ezra

  None of the students were listening to what I was saying. Math didn’t really appeal to me either, but it was one of five classes I had to teach. They were mandatory, even at a progressive school. But one lesson of math in a week was not so bad. You could tell the students were far more interested in other things.

  Gus, for example, was reading about astrology, and Pixie was coloring one of the sketches she was working on. Juno, on the other hand, was spaced out, staring at the blackboard I had written equations on with chalk.

  Th second the bell rang, all of them got up, interrupting what I was saying, and leaving the room without saying goodbye. “Thanks for listening,” I muttered, knowing that at a normal school, it would probably be worse than this.

  Juno grabbed her backpack off the floor and got up from the couch, then looked at me with a tired look. “You okay?” I asked. “You look like you’ve been up the whole night.”

  She stepped closer to me and shrugged. “I was looking at the footage I took on the island and tried to start with the editing. The videos turned out great,” she said with a smile.

  “Glad to hear,” I replied, watching the last student leave the classroom. School was over for today, and I intended on going home and just relaxing for the evening.

  “By the way,” Juno said, pulling her phone out. “Mom found this air-dry clay in our basement. It’s water-based, and easier to work with,” she explained, then held her phone up to my face to show me a picture.

  “I sculpted this last night. It’s supposed to represent Pixie. She was sitting right in front of me so I used her as inspiration.”

  I looked at the sculpture on the screen and could see a slight similarity to her best friend. “Does that mean you’re done with the sculpting and will concentrate on the movie from now on?” I asked, looking at her again. “Did you write the paper about your experience sculpting?”

  “I’ll do that this week. I was thinking of going back to the island. Take a few more videos and just…hang out,” she said in a lower voice. “Would you like to come with me?”

  We were standing by my desk, and I was leaning onto it with both hands. Juno wasn’t hesitant when it came to doing things she had on her mind. She simply reached out to touch my arm.

  I cleared my throat and looked at her hand, then slowly shook my head. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Juno.”

  She frowned. “But we hung out on the island on Saturday already. No one will know,” she whispered, making sure not to raise her voice.

  “It’s too risky. I enjoyed my time with you, but it can’t happen again.” I took a step back and crossed my arms. I had to put some distance between us. We already crossed the line by hanging out outside of school together, and I was starting to become paranoid. I didn’t want anyone to see us.

  “Stop frowning, Juno. You know we can’t do that again,” I told her quietly, hoping she wouldn’t get mad at me. Leaving school property with a student was a serious offense, and I didn’t want to break any more rules.

  “All right,” she sighed, pushing her phone back into her pocket. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” She turned on her heels and walked out of the classroom, leaving me standing there with guilt building up inside of me. But why was I feeling guilty? Shit, she was my student. How did I even let it go as far as hanging out with her?

  “We’re headed over to the bar. Coming with us?” Benji asked, sticking his head through the door.

  I turned to look at him. Going out with the teachers of Memphis might be a good way of clearing my head. I needed to get Juno out of there. “Yeah, coming.”

  *

  After a few beers and a beef sandwich, we left the bar to get home. It had gotten dark out, but it wasn’t that late yet. It was storming outside, and the trees were moving side to side, almost breaking because of the strong wind.

  I arrived home in a taxi, and after paying and stepping out of the car, I saw a yellow raincoat in the distance, walking in my direction. I knew it was Juno, and she was trying to hurry home by pushing her bike. It was a smart idea not riding the bike in this weather, but it was still dangerous.

  I stood under the awning in front of the door to my apartment building and waited for her to come closer. “Juno!” I called out as soon as she was close enough to hear me over the rain and thunder. She turned her head and looked at me surprised before stopping in her tracks.

  “Come inside! You’ll catch a cold or get hit by a damn tree!” In my defense, I knew she lived on the other side of town, and she was soaking wet.

  “Isn’t that against the rules?” she shot back, letting the rain fall on her. It didn’t look like she cared much about getting wet, or possibly getting hit by lightning. No, she looked like she was enjoying this horrendous weather.

  I rolled my eyes and motioned for her to come inside. “Jesus Christ, Juno. Get inside,” I ordered.

  She was hesitant for a second, then pushed her bike up the path and leaned it against the fence before walking my way. I stepped aside to let her in, then closed the door behind me.

  “You’re gonna get sick. You need to get out of these clothes,” I told her. She pulled the hood down and looked up at me, then raised a brow. “I don’t have anything to change into.”

  “I’ll give you something to put on until your clothes dry. Come on,” I said, nodding up the stairs. She followed me to my apartment which was on the second floor.

  “Have you been on the island until now?” I asked, unlocking my front door and pushing it open.

  “Yes” was her only response. She looked around my apartment but didn’t move. She stood there like a puppy waiting for their owner outside a store.

  “I’ll get you some clothes.” I went straight to my bedroom and pulled out a shirt, sweater, and a pair of boxers. When I walked back to Juno, I handed them over and pointed to my bathroom.

  “You can change in there. Take your time. Hang your clothes over the radiators in the bathroom,” I told her, and she nodded. Luckily, my apartment was old enough to still have radiators. This was an industrial building, and I like the brick walls surrounding me.

  “Can I give you my coat?” Juno asked, holding her raincoat in her hand after taking it off. I nodded, taking it from her and putting it on the clothing rack next to the front door.

  She was taking quite some time in there, so I went to my bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes, then went to the kitchen to make some tea. She must’ve been freezing, so a little something to warm her up seemed appropriate.

  Chapter Nine

  Juno

  The clothes he gave me were far too large on me. The shorts reached my knees, and I had to take off my panties too, since they were soaked as well. Not from looking at him, but from the rain.

  The shirt was soft, and the sweater covered the shorts because of its length. It didn’t bother me much, since it was warm and cozy. I could get used to wearing my teacher’s clothes, but he was doing this as a nice gesture.

  I gripped the ends of the sleeves in my hands and fisted them tightly, warming my hands before exiting the bathroom. His apartment wasn’t big, but thanks to the high ceilings
and open floor plan, it made it look like a large space.

  “Feeling a little warmer?” Ezra asked as he walked toward the couch with two cups in his hands. I nodded, then walked over to him and sat down on the couch. He handed me one cup, and I smiled as the warmth spread across my hands.

  “Thank you.”

  “Welcome,” he replied, then looked at my bare feet. “I’ll get you some socks,” he said, quickly walking back into his bedroom.

  “Are you sure you wanna have me here in your home? This crosses the line, doesn’t it?” I asked, watching him come back with a pair of socks in his hand. He handed them to me, and I quickly put them on before taking the cup into my hands again.

  “It’s an emergency. No one has to know, but this is the first and last time you’re here,” he told me, sounding slightly hurt by his own words. I studied his face closely, then carefully took a sip of my tea.

  “Who said I would wanna come here a second time anyway?” My brow was raised, and now he was mimicking my facial expression.

  “Right,” he said with a chuckle, grabbing his own cup and sitting next to me on the couch. He made sure to keep some distance between us, and I watched him as he sipped his tea.

  “How long will it take for my clothes to dry?” I asked, leaning back and holding my cup in my lap.

  “Normally it takes about two hours,” he said, puckering his lips as he realized that I probably couldn’t stay that long. Wasn’t a good idea.

  “Maybe…you can tell your moms that you’re at Pixie’s,” he suggested. “I’m sure they’re worrying about you.”

  “I told them I was on my way home when I was on the ferry.” I reached for my backpack and pulled out my phone, then unlocked it to open our family chat. “I’m at Pixie’s until the storm’s over,” I said into the phone to record a voice message.

  I put the phone down on the coffee table, then took another sip of my tea. “This is gonna be fun,” I pointed out, looking over at Ezra. He was quiet, studying my face while I warmed up inside.

  “Your sarcasm can get annoying sometimes, you know that?” he said with a smirk, putting his cup down on the coffee table. He leaned back as well, but his eyes stayed on mine.

  “I know. It’s my defense mechanism when there’s times I don’t wanna talk to people,” I explained.

  “So you want me to just be quiet and not say a word until your clothes are dry?” he asked amused.

  “No. I kinda like talking to you. I was just thinking about this afternoon when you told me that we shouldn’t cross a line by hanging out together. This is a tad bit contradicting, isn’t it?”

  “How did Benji not kick you out of school with that attitude of yours?” he asked, keeping his grin in place.

  I rolled my eyes and chuckled, not giving him an answer to his question. After finishing my tea, I put the cup down and pulled my legs underneath me to keep them warm.

  “Here, this will keep you warm,” he said, grabbing the blanket sitting on the armrest of the couch. I pulled it over my legs and snuggled into it, then looked back into his eyes.

  “What do you do on an evening like this?” I asked.

  “Not much. I usually watch tv. There’s a show I’m trying to keep up with, but I tend to just record it and then watch all the episodes at once on a weekend.”

  “You know there’s Netflix and Hulu to watch series and movies. You’re not that old. You should have those subscriptions,” I mocked.

  “And fall down that rabbit hole like every other person on this planet? No, thanks. I’d like to stay sane.”

  I laughed softly, then reached for the remote and turned the tv on. “All right, Mr. Lame. Let’s watch that series of yours then.” I held the remote to him and he took it to switch to a channel I’ve never in my life heard of.

  “What type of series is it?”

  “Uh, it’s about true crime. They tell two stories parallel to each other, switching between the two every ten minutes or so. It’s interesting and it sucks you in right away.”

  “You’re into true crime?” I asked surprised. “You have no idea how many videos on YouTube I’ve watched about true crime stories last summer to pass the time. I’ve watched so many I could easily investigate a crime scene on my own.”

  Ezra chuckled. “Glad we’re on the same page when it comes to murderers.”

  Chapter Ten

  Ezra

  We were just watching tv. Nothing wrong about that. Well, it would’ve been at least somewhat okay if her head weren’t on my shoulder, and our arms wouldn’t be touching.

  Almost two hours had passed, and Juno had fallen asleep a few minutes ago. I didn’t want to wake her, but it was nine-thirty, and I was worried her parents were looking for her. The storm had also stopped, and the rain wasn’t pouring down anymore.

  I lowered the volume of the tv, then pulled the blanket over her upper body to make sure she stayed warm. Her clothes must’ve been dry already, but I didn’t want to get up and risk waking her.

  Her hand was close to my thigh, and although I shouldn’t have, I reached for it and pulled in onto my lap. Her fingers were ice cold, and the tips red. I ran my fingers along hers, feeling her soft skin on mine for the first time.

  Just from that simple touch I felt my dick throb in my pants. But instead of pushing those thoughts aside and letting go of her hand, I slid my fingers through hers. Her hand fit perfectly into mine, so small and delicate.

  Her hand was covered in faded freckles, and I wanted to kiss each and every one of them. What would her skin look like in the summer? When she had less clothes on, and when the sun made her pale skin expose all those little spots?

  Juno moved next to me, but she didn’t wake up. I turned my head to look at her face. Her long lashes brushed her cheekbones, and her lips were slightly parted while she breathed quietly through her nose.

  She was calm and serene while she slept, which automatically made me feel the same. Having her in my apartment could make me forget about all the horrible fights I had with Olivia. Living with her was rough, especially in an apartment with no doors except the one to the bathroom.

  Juno’s eyes slowly opened, and they looked straight at our hands. She didn’t move, but she squeezed my hand before a soft smile appeared on her lips.

  “Did I wake you?” I whispered with my lips close to her head.

  “No,” she replied softly. Her thumb caressed my skin, and I moved my gaze to watch her fingers untangle from mine. But instead of letting go of my hand, she placed the palm of hers on mine, making me grip her hand carefully. I moved my thumb along the back of her fingers, and I got lost in my thoughts while we sat there close to each other without saying a word.

  Minutes passed, and while she kept her hand in mine, she sat up and looked into my eyes. “I’m sorry I fell asleep on you. I should probably go home,” she suggested, and I quickly nodded.

  I could tell she didn’t want to get up and let go of my hand, but she needed to go home and I couldn’t hold her back. “Go put your clothes on,” I told her in a low voice, and she gave me a nod before her hand left mine.

  I watched her walk into the bathroom, and after five minutes, she was back in the living room wearing her own clothes. She had folded mine perfectly and set them next to me on the couch. “Thanks for letting me stay. It was fun,” she said, grabbing her phone from the coffee table.

  “Of course,” I replied, finally getting up from the couch myself. I picked up her backpack and walked her to the front door.

  As she put on her raincoat, I leaned against the wall and watched her get ready to go outside. “Juno?”

  “Hm?”

  “This…” I said, pointing at myself and then at her. “You can’t tell anyone about this.”

  She looked at me with big, dark-blue eyes, then nodded with a soft smile. “I won’t tell anyone, Ezra. I don’t want you to lose your job, you know?” she said with a sarcastic undertone.

  I chuckled. “Glad you’re taking it seriou
sly.”

  She grinned, then pulled the straps of her backpack over her shoulders and pulled her hood up over her head. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, and after hesitating just a little, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek, close to the corner of my mouth.

  My body tensed, and I wished our situation was easier. It wasn’t just me being her teacher, but also her being underage. She’s young, and I had to be careful.

  “See you tomorrow,” I replied.

  With one last smile she waved at me, then left my apartment to go downstairs to her bike.

  I felt immediate emptiness surrounding me, and I wished she could’ve stayed here. I was scared to go to work tomorrow. I was attracted to Juno, not just because of her looks, but also her soul. I had to get her out of my head, but the smell of her still lingered.

  Chapter Eleven

  Juno

  “Mom and Dad want me to stay home this week to help with the van. But we can go to the island on the weekend. Saturday and Sunday, deal?” Pixie asked. We were comfortably sitting on the couch in the classroom, waiting for the bell to ring and release us from today’s learning.

  “Deal,” I replied, keeping my eyes on Ezra who was talking to Gus. They were discussing something about Gus’ topic.

  Last night felt like a dream. No matter how wrong it was, I liked being close to him. I guess for me it wasn’t such a big deal, but his whole job was on the line, and spending time with each other shouldn’t become a habit. I couldn’t get close to him, but I wanted to so damn badly.

  “Are you staring at Gus?” Pixie asked with an amused grin, and I blinked to get my eyes off Ezra.

  “Uh, yeah. No, I was staring at his tie. It’s…colorful today,” I pointed out.

  “I think he’s gay. I mean, he was gushing over Ezra the other day. Very enthusiastic about having him as a teacher.”

  I chuckled, knowing that Ezra definitely didn’t play on the same team as Gus. The bell rang, and we packed our stuff to leave school. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Dad is probably already waiting.”