Ever After Drake (9 page)

“
I will be
there.”

Hand in hand, we walk into the
stands.

CHAPTER
EIGHT

“
Good morning, Mr.
McCain,” I say Monday morning. He and I walk side by side, having
arrived at the school at exactly the same time. The morning is
chilly and misty. The school grounds are quiet and just starting to
get light.

“
Good morning, Miss Ray,”
he says while giving me a side look and a smile.

Drake holds the front door open for me
and we step into the silent halls.

“
So, what do we do if he’s
not okay with this?” I ask quietly. My heart is racing and
threatens to beat out of my chest. My palms feel sweaty and I swear
my vision is failing. I’ve just barely gotten this teaching job. If
I screw this up this early and get fired, no other school is going
to ever want to hire me again.

“
We’ll run away together
and live somewhere far, far away,” Drake says in a tone that sounds
dead serious.

It brings a little bit of a smile to
my face. But I’m still scared out of my mind.

The walk to the office feels very long
and all too short at the same time. Suddenly, finally, we are
outside the doors. Drake stops and turns to me before he opens
it.

“
Whatever happens in
there, I want you to know it’s been worth it,” he says seriously.
He takes my hands in his and my heart is now in a dead sprint. But
unlike just a moment before, my vision is crystal clear and all I
can see is this incredible man who has made my life amazing. “I
have zero regrets.”

“
Me either,” I say, a
full-fledged smile cracking on my face, and the words are so true.
It means everything that Drake cares enough to risk this, and that
I would do the same for him. I lean forward and he meets me half
way, his lips assuring me that even if I do lose my job, this is
right where I am supposed to be.

“
Come on,” he says,
backing away reluctantly. He opens the door and we both step
inside.

Principle Riker is sitting at his
desk, scrawling something on the pages before him. He doesn’t look
up when we come in, but he does wave us in to sit down. With
shaking hands, I sink into a seat across from him. I may look like
I still belong in high school, but for the first time in years, I
feel like I’m in high school again. Sitting before him, about to
confess to him that I’ve done something wrong.

Drake and I sit before him for two
very long minutes before he finally puts his pencil down and looks
up at us.

“
Good morning,” he says
with a smile that I can’t tell if it is friendly or annoyed. I’m
not sure about much of anything at this moment.

“
Morning,” I mutter
quietly.

“
Thanks for meeting with
us, Sam,” Drake says. His voice sounds nervous, but at least it’s
working. Unlike mine. “I know it’s early and you’re
busy.”

“
Not a problem,” he says,
even though he’s looking back down at his papers, gathering them up
and stacking them into a neat pile. “I always have time for my
teachers.”

“
Well,” Drake says with an
uncomfortable courtesy laugh. “We appreciate it.”

“
So, what’s this about?”
he says, setting the papers aside and folding his arms on the
desk.

“
Uh,” Drake says, that
surprised, caught red-handed look of his crossing his face. “We,
uh, Miss Ray and I wanted to talk to you about something
personal.”

“
He and I are dating,” I
suddenly blurt. It takes me half a second to realize I actually
vocalized the words and that I didn’t just say them in my head. I
slap my hands down around my mouth.

Drake looks at me in horror for a
second, and I just stare back at him wide eyed. And then Drake
breaks out into a very awkward sounding chuckle.

“
Uh, yeah,” he says even
more uncomfortably, looking back at Principle Riker. “That’s what
we wanted to meet with you about. Kaylee, Miss Ray and I, we’ve
recently started up a personal relationship and we wanted to make
you aware of that.”

I’m quite sure I still have a look of
complete humiliation on my face. Sam has a look on his own face
that I’m not sure if it’s boredom, annoyance, anger, or complete
disinterest. He looks from me to Drake, and back again.

“
I think so long as the
two of you know how to keep your personal interest out of the
school and off school grounds, you two know how to be adults,” he
finally says after what must be the longest thirty seconds in the
history of mankind. “Keep it to yourselves and I don’t really care
what you do outside of class, so long as you never reflect poorly
on Woodinville High School.”

“
Really?” I say, my voice
high-pitched and breathy.

Now both he and Drake laugh. Sam nods
his head. “Really.”

I slouch back into my seat, which I’ve
been perched on the edge of up until this point, and heave a huge
breath. I prop my head up with the heel of my hand and rest my
elbow on the arm of the chair.

“
You look like you’ve been
dreading this conversation, Miss Ray,” Principal Riker
teases.

“
I have,” I admit with a
chuckle. “I really didn’t want to get fired.”

“
We’ll have none of that,”
he says kindly. “Not when we’ve been getting such good feedback
from our students about you, and such good grades from your
classes.”

A smile pulls on my lips and I sit
myself up again. “Thank you.”

“
Yes,” Drake pipes in.
“Thanks for understanding. We’ll keep this on the down
low.”

“
I expect you to,” Sam
says with a nod of his head. He is serious and stern, but I can see
the corner of his lips trying not to smile. I wonder if he has ever
felt the way I do when I’m with Drake. Maybe Sam has. Maybe that’s
why he’s giving his blessing. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some
things to take care of.”

“
Of course,” Drake says
and he and I both stand. Without another word, we walk out of the
office.

We don’t get more than half a dozen
steps away when Drake wraps his arms around me, picking me up clean
off the ground and twirling me in a circle. I barely manage to
contain the delighted squeal that wants to erupt from my
lips.

Our eyes lock and he sets me down
slowly. My lips ascend to his and linger for a brief but sweet
moment.

Drake holds me close, in danger of
breaking the deal we made just moments ago, but that look on his
face tells me he doesn’t care one bit. His eyes stare into mine and
I feel all those beautiful emotions he evokes in me wake to
life.

“
How’d I ever have a life
without you?” he whispers. He brings his hand up to brush his
fingertips lightly over my cheek.

“
I don’t think we were
ever supposed to exist without each other.” I close my eyes and
press my forehead to his chest.

We get to stand like that for five
blissful seconds before Drake’s phone dings with a text message. We
step apart just as the first two students come through the front
doors.

“
Ugh,” Drake grunts as he
looks down at his phone. “Again?”

“
What is it?” I ask,
concern on my face as we start walking in the direction of our
classrooms.

“
About three weeks before
school started my ex and I broke up,” he says, sliding his phone
into his pocket and looking forward. “Diana and I were together for
about six weeks. It was pretty rocky the whole time. She’s been
texting me on and off the last few weeks. She just said she wants
to talk.”

Jealousy instantly roars up in me and
my entire body stiffens.

Drake must notice because he grabs my
hand and pulls me to a stop. “I don’t want to talk to her. Things
are and were done over a month and a half ago. You really, really
don’t have to worry about this. And I’m sorry I didn’t say anything
about it before. I just figured she’d go away.”

I take a deep breath as Drake drops my
hand because he has to. I nod my head and try to calm the million
angry fire ants that have suddenly replaced my blood. “Yeah. Sorry.
I just instantly got a little possessive there.”

This brings that lopsided smile to
Drake’s face. “You have no idea how bad I want to kiss you right
now. You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“
Shut up,” I say, giving a
big shove to his chest. He rocks back, off balance, but that’s the
extent of my damage. “Get to class, Mr. McCain.”

CHAPTER
NINE

The first week of October rolls in,
bringing cooler weather, changing leaves, and rain every third
day.

Finally, after trying to get ahold of
Armando for a week, he knocks on my door one Saturday
afternoon.

“
Where have you been?” I
say with a glare as I let him into the apartment. “I’ve been
calling and texting. Has work really been
that
bad?”

“
Oh, Kaylee,” he says
wistfully as he dramatically flops down on my couch. “I’ve had the
most amazing eight days of my life.”

I do a melodramatic intake of breath
and sit on the coffee table in front of the couch. “You met
someone!”

“
I did,” he says with a
sigh as his eyes slide closed. “His name is Anthony. He’s sweet,
and sophisticated, and beautiful. We’ve just had the most wonderful
week together.”

“
No wonder you never
answered any of my calls or texts,” I tease him. “You were
otherwise preoccupied.”

“
Was I ever,” he says with
a shake of his head, his eyes still closed.

“
Picture?”

He reaches into his pocket and opens
his eyes a small slit while he scrolls through, looking for a
picture. Finally, he turns the phone and hands it to me.

The man is attractive. He’s got
redish-brown hair done up in a dramatic faux hawk. Freckles dot his
cheeks and he smiles with brilliantly white teeth.

“
I take it you’re happy
then?” I hand his phone back to him.

“
More than that,” he says
as his eyes flash wide open and he stares up at my ceiling with a
foolish grin on his face. “I think I’m in love.”

“
I’m happy for you,” I
say, smacking his arm lightly. “You deserve to find someone
perfect.”

Armando looks over at me and finally
sits up. He drapes his arms across the back of the couch and
crosses his legs. “How about you, Ray of Kaylee? Have you found
someone perfect? Have you found your Prince Eric?”

The idiotic grin spreads from his face
to mine and instantly I feel warm inside.

“
It’s so bad and so good
at the same time,” I confess. “I’m just so deliriously happy when
I’m with him. It’s been the best four weeks of my life.
Easy.”

“
Are you saying you’re in
love?” he taunts.

I didn’t think it was possible, but my
smile grows bigger. “I won’t say it for the first time unless it’s
to his actual face. But…”

“
As if he can’t already
tell,” Armando grins. “Sweetheart, you’ve been glowing nonstop
since you met that man. If you’re not in love with this man, there
is absolutely no hope for the rest of us to ever know what that
word means.”

My phone dings and I look down to see
a text from my mom.

Please,
she says.
I have to go
out of town again in five days. Can we please meet and
talk?

She’s been texting and trying to call.
She keeps asking me to meet her. She says she’s sorry for our fight
the other day. And lately she’s been saying I need to forgive her
and move on from all this.

Like it’s no big deal.

I sigh and look up at Armando. “What
do you think? Do I act nice and talk to my mom?”

Armando’s nose crinkles. “Absolutely
not. That woman needs to learn what her priorities are.”

“
Yeah,” I say as I look
back down at my phone. “I don’t think she’s going to get that
though until someone very specifically spells it out for
her.”

Fine,
I text back.
Meet me at Stanolli’s
at seven.

We both stare at our food
and silently eat. We’ve said little more than
hi
and
how
are you
since we arrived at the
restaurant. We ordered, got our food, and now we’re avoiding any
real conversation.

I’ve never really been close with my
mom. She was always there, but she didn’t really see me. She always
took care of my needs, I was an idea that needed to be constantly
addressed. But me, actual Kaylee? I was invisible.

I’m still not sure she’s seeing me.
I’ve upset her and she wants to set this right. But am I more than
an idea that needs to be addressed? Does she see Kaylee sitting in
front of her? A girl who believes in fairy tales, who gets flirted
with by students every other day, a girl who loves summer time and
rocking out to any good song that comes on the radio in her
car?