Monday

Monday morning and I have never been so excited and nervous about going to school. It was just after 6, sleep had not gone well. Part of me missed Amy but another was anticipating what would happen at school. Mom, dad and I had fun when we went to the bed store and picked the most beautiful bed I had ever seen. I had tried to find a cheaper one, but I could not stop looking at this lovely wooden bed. It was beautifully crafted; the headboard had flowers engraved into it. My dad joked when he paid for it that I could consider it an early wedding present; part of me believed that what he said was true, but I did let him buy it for us. Mom also purchased some new bedding. So now after a rough night of sleep, the day I had dreaded for the last few days was here. I got showered, brushed my teeth and was soon dressed for school. I picked up my backpack and headed downstairs. I could hear movement in the kitchen so went to investigate. Mom was making breakfast, dad was reading the morning paper. A place was set for me along with the phone.

"Morning pumpkin, how did you sleep," asked dad.

"Not well, pretty nervous about today," I replied. Mom served me some granola which I usually have for breakfast before school, where as mom and dad like a fry up, which I have on weekends.

"Whatever happens today, happens. You both have our numbers if you need either of us," said mom.

"Thanks mom and thanks dad, I'm sure I am just worrying about nothing, it's just the unknown of it all."

"Sophie, you are over thinking things again. I think you need to take time to just start living life. It is good that you study hard and like to understand things better. But as you found with Amy, you have missed certain aspects of growing up, maybe when you find some friends and start to live a little as a teenager should, you may start to worry less.

"Life is about learning from your mistakes, to learn to pick up after yourself better, to cope with the harshness of what life may deal you. Over analyzing everything will make you question every decision you make. I mean look at you and Amy, you had a moment, and you took it and kissed for the first time. Now look where you are, you have a wonderful partner, we have a wonderful new daughter and you are going to live together, then marry. All the stuff that you should have analyzed after you fell in love, like that fact she was your teacher or that when you had when you were underage, you ignored all of that and just lived it, because it was too important to ignore.

"Love is a powerful emotion and it will be your love for Amy that will get you through this period of adjustment." Well I listened to all that and you know what, I wasn't worried anymore. Mom is right and Amy has been telling me the same thing. We just need to continue as normal, and no matter what, things will happen as they happen. We cannot control how things will turn out. So now I just wanted to go to school, see Amy, and just continue as we should; when at school, she is my teacher.

"Thank you mom, that was good advice, I think I just have to remember that at school, Amy is simply Miss Taylor, and as long as I remember that, school should just be a normal place and I have a great teacher 3 times a week."

"I am so happy I could help, well enjoy breakfast, your dad and I are off to work now, have fun at school." Mom and dad both kissed my cheek as they left. It was just after 7 and Amy would hopefully ring soon.

Ring.

"Hello"

"Hi honey, it so good to hear your voice."

"Yours too Amy, I miss you and I must tell you I love you so much."

"Missing you too Sophie. How did you sleep because I just couldn't settle?"

"The same, but I had a talk with mom this morning; she said that I should just not worry about today and just treat it as any other school day. As long as I remember that at school you are just my teacher, Miss Taylor."

"She is right, but it still doesn't count for the fact that after 3 days I can't sleep properly now without you by my side. Well I have packed my stuff and after work I will go to my house, pack the car and be at home for about 7pm."

"Wait till you see the bed, it's beautiful, dad said it was a future wedding present."

"Sounds nice, can't wait to see it, and I especially can't wait to see you. I want to kiss you so much, but I will be counting the hours until tonight."

"I can just feel your lips on me now, but I need the real thing so much. I will see you in class, I love you Amy."

"Love you too Sophie, will see you later." She kissed down the phone, as did I in reply and the call was over.

I decided to go to school and try and make friends, I am sure it could not be that hard, so I just had to wait and see what happened. But I was going to start in the library, because I should at least try to make friends with people who felt learning was important. I saw a few people that I recognised as regulars, there was one I saw who I noticed a lot in the library. Her name was Melissa, she was in some of the same classes, but not Miss Taylor's. So she seemed the perfect candidate. She seemed nice, was an inch taller than me, with jet black hair. She was a great student like me, but also seemed like a loner. I approached her cautiously, I do think I wanted to be friends anyway with her, but I also had my ulterior motive.

"Hi." She looked around then at me; I was smiling kindly at her. "Do you mind if I sit here?" And I pointed to the chair next to her. She was reading a book but I could not see the cover. She just shrugged her shoulders, which I assumed meant ok and sat down. "My name is Sophie, and your's is Melissa isn't it."

"I know who you are." It sounded dark the way she said it but at least she spoke to me. It's at least a start.

"You do, how do you know me?" I was trying my best to get her to engage in conversation.

"I just know who you are, didn't mean nothing by it."

"Well I was just trying to talk if you want. I have seen you around the library a lot and so you seemed like an interesting person to get to know."

"Why would you want to know about me, what have you heard?" Now she was being very defensive. This intrigued me, obviously she had misgivings about people and it seemed like she needed a friend, so I was going to try my hardest to help her.

"I have heard nothing about you, but from observations, I know that you are very bright, especially at maths; in fact you are a lot better at maths than me. And that you come to the library and like reading books. I like reading, what are you reading at the moment?"

"Look what do you want?"

"Well I am honest, so I will tell you the truth. I have no friends my own age at school and my mom suggested that I start to make friends. I have never needed a friend because I felt I never needed one, I just wanted to do my own thing and concentrate on school, getting good grades. But my mom is correct, people need friends, it is a way of learning about life. So what do you think, can we be friends."

"Well people have never bothered before, so why should I be interested in being friends with you."

"I can't answer that, but if you have never had a real friend, how do you know that not having one will be good for you."

"I don't know and I don't care." Well this was certainly more difficult than originally anticipated. Just then I felt someone looking at me, I looked up and spotted Amy, she was looking at me. She looked so beautiful, wearing a summer dress with a cardigan hanging off her shoulders. She was wearing her glasses and was smiling brightly. I smiled back, nudged my head towards the girl I was talking too, to indicate I was making a friend, she nodded slightly to continue.

"Well, Melissa, I do care about people, even though I have never tried to make friends, I am the type to help whenever I can. Now it sounds like you are very careful about letting people too close to you, it seems to me that a friend is just what you need."

"Well I don't Sophie, so please go away."

"Please let me say this last thing. Trust is a very hard thing to earn and to give. It seems people close to you have hurt you, and you are bitter towards anybody that gets close. I just want to be your friend, I too need to trust more people myself, and I need someone to confide in and to be there for me when I need a friend. You sound like you're bottling up a lot of anger and have no one to talk to about it. I would like to be that person, it would be nice to help someone and just be relied upon, and it is the one thing I have been missing in my life. I learnt that from talking to my mom and dad this weekend, I needed someone my own age to talk to, because I was keeping secrets from them, and I did not know how to deal with it."

"You really want to me my friend?" I could see a smile forming, giving her gentler appearance.

"Yes, I mean if you want we could start by helping each other at school or we could just talk if there is anything you want to say or tell me. I am happy to just listen, I can't make you trust me or believe what I say, there is nothing you could tell me that I would ever tell anyone else. I want to be your confidant, because I have seen first hand the effects of what happens when people don't talk about their thoughts and feelings. My sister died a few years ago, and she had led a very secretive life and it was only on her deathbed that she talked to me and my family. She told me that we have to be who we are and to be honest. So I will be honest with you and hopefully you can learn to trust me."

"I have never really had a friend before. So what you are telling me is that because of something this weekend you told your parents, you now want to make friends?"

"Yes, I do."

"Will you tell me that secret too?"

"One day, but you have to earn my trust, but that is not to say I will not tell you other things, my secret, was for family only and it took a year to talk about it, so I hope I trust you enough one day to tell you."

"I have secrets too, but no one to tell them too." The bitterness had left and now it seemed she wanted to make an effort to be my friend.

"Well if you want any advice you can ask me."

"Why did you wait a year? Do your parents scare you?"

"No, it was just that I wanted to understand myself better before I was truthful with them. I was always going to tell them, I just wanted to understand it better, that is why my mom said I should have had a friend, it may have been easier."

"Oh, it sounds like your parents really care, mine treat me like shit. I only study so I can stay out of there way, or I read."

"I am sorry to hear that, maybe one day you can hope your parents will care or at least they do notice your grades."

"I hope one day they do to, I suppose hope is an emotion I am lacking a lot of lately. Do you really want to be my friend?"

"Yes Melissa, I really do, I hope you can believe that, you said you know who I am, so you must know that I have no other friends, that I study and work hard and that I would not be the type of person to come up to people and lie about making friends with them."

"I do, but part of me doesn't trust you."

"I do not expect you to trust me, which is earned as I said earlier. But if you are at least willing to try and be my friend, it is a very good start."

"I am really sorry I was such a bitch earlier, I just get shit on by most people."

"It seems that you have a lot of issues with people, but as friends we can help each other to overcome your fears."

"I would like that, thank you Sophie." She held out her hand, but I felt a hug moment, so I did just that.

"I would like that too, but friends hug." I let her go after a moment. "I read that human contact is important for people. It helps heal all wounds. So if you ever need one, I am here." She was crying. So I opened my arms and she hugged me. She cried for only a few minutes. But it did wonders for her smile. "I am sorry I upset you, but you seem happier."

"I am, I feel happier than I have in a long time. I cannot believe how nice you have been. Just being with you has helped me feel better."

"Were friends now, this is how it is; we support each other and try to make each other happy."

"So do you want to do something together or do you need help with homework or anything?"

"I usually eat lunch alone, maybe we could sit together?"

"I bring my own lunch, so I sit outside. But I suppose I could sit with you in the canteen."

"I could get a sandwich and take it outside, what do you want to do?"

"Well it looks like it is a nice day and it might be more private to talk, would that be ok?"

"Fine, we have the same maths class before lunch, so afterwards you could come with me to get a sandwich and then you can take me to your spot."

"I will see you later then, Sophie. Thank you again, it has been lovely to make friends with you." And with that she left to go to class. I waited a few minutes to think about everything that had happened. Melissa was a really great person once she had someone to talk to who cared; it made me happy that I brought a smile to her face. I smiled to myself, I felt wonderful, and maybe having a friend will mean more than a distraction. Not that I had forgotten about Amy, but I realised I was looking forward to lunchtime, rather than watching the clock tick away to 7pm when I could be alone with Amy. I picked up my backpack and headed towards English class with Miss Taylor.

I entered the classroom, our eyes met briefly before we both turned away and I headed to the back of the class to take my seat. I took out my books and equipment needed for the lesson, and then looked, as discreetly as possible, at Miss Taylor. She was reading something, probably notes for the class. I could not help but think about her naked, but also I saw my teacher. It was a weird feeling to look at someone you love and have been intimate with, but try and ignore that and just simply see them as nothing more than a teacher. A person you are not meant to have any personal attachment with. She sometimes looked up to scan the room, check who was at their seat, but it also seemed she wanted the chance to look at me. Our eyes met a few times, unable to convey much to each other, but enough to help us through the next hour, our silent support. She started the class once the bell rang, and things went really well. I was distracted by the work assigned to us by Miss Taylor, while she was distracted by answering student's questions and checking over peoples work as she went around the room. Near the end of the lesson, she approached my desk.

"How are things going Sophie?" I passed her my book and she gave it a brief read. She seemed satisfied and closed the book and passed it back.

"Very good, some of your grammar needs a little revision but it looks like very good work as normal." She gave my shoulder a brief touch and headed back to the front of the class. I opened up my book to revise what I had written so far and to see where changes could be made. I noticed a piece of folded paper inside the pages. I looked up to make sure nobody can see what I am doing and unfolded it. It was from Amy, she must have slipped it in when she read my work.

Sophie,

Today went well, you and I both seemed to cope well with the distance we have to create in order to hide our feelings for each other. I love you and miss your touch and closeness so much. I can't wait until tonight to be wrapped in your arms, in our new bed. I hope everything went well this morning, it is nice to see you trying to finally make friends with someone. I hope she is someone you have things in common with and that she is someone you can build a very good friendship with. You can tell me all about it tonight, if you want to?

Love

Amy

Do I detect a hint of jealousy, maybe we should have another talk about this, but now all I can see is a very sneaky woman. I hid the note in my backpack as I packed away my stuff. The bell riang and again I am the last one out. I caught Amy's eye and winked at her before leaving. My next class went well also, I had a test that I studied briefly for last night. It went well I think. Then I had a quick break before going to Maths which is where I would see Melissa again since this morning. I saw her as I entered, gave her smile and a quick wave, which she nicely returned, before taking my seat at the back as normal. We did not sit close enough to talk or anything, but we would try and catch each others eye occasionally through class and give each other a friendly smile. Once class ended, Melissa waited for me outside. She followed me to the canteen so I could grab a sandwich, then we headed to her personal grassy knoll. We chatted about school and homework, nothing too personal, but it was still nice to just talk to someone about stuff. Her house was on the same route as the one I walked. So we agreed to meet after school at the front gates and walk home together.

The final bell rang and I made my way towards the school gates. Melissa was not there just yet so I waited. I waited about 10 minutes before she arrived.

"I am so sorry Sophie for the delay, my teacher wanted to talk to me. I am very happy that you waited, and sorry if it was an inconvenience." She was very worried.

"Melissa, I don't mind waiting really. I was sure you had a reason if you didn't show. I was going to give you another 10 minutes then head home. Have you got a mobile?"

"Yes."

"Well if we exchange numbers, we could text each other, if anything ever comes up, or just to talk or whatever, friends do that I think if you don't mind?"

"I don't mind at all." She replied happily and we exchanged numbers and then headed to our respective homes. We talked about school again but she was beginning to relax and we began to exchange more personal information, likes and dislikes. It was only a 20 minute walk, but we learned some things about each other, we had a lot of things in common and I enjoyed talking to Melissa immensely. We eventually reached her house and said goodbye to each other, including a hug. I suggested I meet her at her house in the morning and we walk to school together. She agreed to meet at 7.45, but asked that I just stand outside the gate and not to come to the door. I respected her wishes, left and waved her goodbye. It was nearly 5 when I got home. Mom and dad were not home yet. So I decided to get changed ready for Amy's arrival and try and get as much homework finished as possible. The time flew by with brief shouts of hello from mom and dad. I was so lost in getting my work finished I did not notice the door open. It was a few minutes later I heard the slight cough alerting me to their presence. I turned to see Amy leaning against the doorframe.

"Busy?"

"Never for you." And I jumped out my chair, ran to her, and then joined our lips in a passionate kiss. Wow, if you are in love as much as I was, you could imagine the type of kiss we had, when you have been anticipating it for the last 24 hours. We were breathing very heavily when we parted.

"God I missed you so much," I panted.

"Me too. I need to sit down now." So I guided her to the new bed. We sat down together, but ended up layed side by side. My head on her shoulder, while her arms were around mine, my hand was resting on her stomach.

"Like the bed?" I asked

"Very nice, looks very well made, the designs on the headboard are beautiful. I am so relaxed and comfortable."

"I know what you mean, it is too big for one person, so I can't wait to share it with you."