Derek's POV:
The day was finally over, and I met Ayden at the exit of the high school after picking up the copies for the next math class. The real classes would begin tomorrow, but for that, I needed to focus and think about anything other than his teary green eyes and the taste of his soft, salty lips.
Just thinking about it made my chest tighten for a moment. I had crossed a line I should never have crossed.
"So, the first day!" Ayden exclaimed as he joined me in the parking lot. "I bet you spent your time being hit on by the students."
"You can talk. I've heard about the handsome, sexy gym teacher!" I retorted.
"Sophie is waiting for us at the bar for your first day of work. Don't worry, I didn't tell her anything. I only told her that I would pass the message to you." He laughed. "She'll never believe it."
It was obvious that Sophie would be surprised to hear that I had finally become a math teacher, although she knew how much I loved the subject. And since we finished early, I had time to work on my motorcycle.
We joined Sophie at the bar, where she was already seated and flipping through some files. She lifted her gaze when she noticed us arriving and looked at me, startled by my outfit.
"Wait, did you hit your head after boxing that jerk or what?" She started to laugh.
"I knew you'd like me this way," I said to him with a sly smile, placing a soft kiss on his cheek.
"You'll never guess what he does for a living," Ayden told her as he sat down and called the server over.
Sophie leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and studied me for a moment while the server came to take our order. I loosened the buttons on my shirt and rolled up the sleeves. I could finally breathe a little better.
"Wait, I know." She leaned forward on the table and gave me a sly smile in return. "You've become a gigolo."
Ayden and she burst out laughing, and I rolled my eyes at the wild idea she came up with, even if, honestly, I could have pulled it off.
"You're far from the truth," Ayden remarked as I lit a cigarette. "Derek is the new math teacher at my high school."
"No way, you're kidding!" she said to me, astonished. "You, a teacher!"
She started laughing like a madwoman, and I took a sip of my beer, giving her a hard look. I still did not understand what she found so funny. There was nothing wrong with becoming a math teacher. It was just like when she announced that she wanted to become a lawyer, although she had a solid motivation for that choice.
Sophie's POV:
I looked at Derek and could not help laughing at the idea that he had become a math teacher. This was the same guy who slept through half the classes, but honestly, he never needed to study with the IQ he had.
"Since when do we dress up in suits to teach a class?" I asked with a mischievous smile.
Derek gave me a charming smile.
"I had to stand out to the headmaster, didn't I?" he said this while brushing his thumb against his lip.
"Don't tell me that you..." I said, feeling a little disgusted.
"You really think I'm a gigolo. You're becoming insulting," he responded coldly.
I smiled, fully aware that none of this was serious. Even if he liked to flirt as much as I did, he was simply a natural charmer who enjoyed every little moment.
As we chatted about random things with Ayden, Derek looked distant, his thumb back on his lips, his eyes completely lost in thought.
"By the way, did you manage to see that girl? Wait, how does it go again..." Ayden started.
I glanced at Derek, who still seemed lost in his thoughts.
"Oh yes, Stevens!" Ayden exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "Alix Stevens, right?"
Derek's eyes met mine as soon as I reacted to the name, and the look on his face told me everything. The surprise in his expression matched my own. Seeing how troubled he became at that moment, I realized it was indeed the girl from that night.
"You're kidding!" I exclaimed. "Is this girl at your school?"
Derek leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his beer, avoiding my gaze. I did not need Ayden's confirmation to know the truth. There was no way I could be mistaken. I remembered the way he had looked at that girl, remembered the emotion in his eyes. I knew exactly what he felt.
Derek's POV:
Ayden talked too much, and judging by the furious look Sophie was throwing at me, I needed to be very convincing if she ever suspected what I had done today. She would actually kill me.
But she would not be wrong either. Even I did not understand what came over me. When I saw that paper in her hands and her tears falling in front of me, I could not resist those magnificent, shining green eyes. The pain I felt in that moment, the distress she sent through her gaze, left me unsure of how to comfort her or calm my own heart.
"Stop it, Sophie, Derek isn't stupid," Ayden said. "He won't risk his future for a seventeen-year-old girl when there are so many beautiful women just waiting for him."
But Sophie did not look away. Her stare stayed fixed on me the entire time, right up until her phone rang.
"Answer me, I have nothing to be ashamed of," I said coldly. "I'm not leaving."
Sophie stood up and stepped outside the bar to answer the call.
"What's her problem?" Ayden asked me. "She knows you'd never do something like that, so why is she getting defensive?"
"You know Sophie. She always has to imagine things," I replied, trying to sound indifferent.
Sophie's POV:
"Hello?"
"Hello, this is Bellevue Hospital. We've been trying to reach Miss Stevens for days without success. You have been listed as a contact for her, and it's imperative that she comes in for follow-up examinations."
I paced back and forth while listening to the woman speak. That girl was unbelievably reckless. She should not avoid the hospital, especially after everything she went through.
"I'll do what's necessary to bring her to you," I said before hanging up.
As if I did not already have enough work, now I had to play big sister to this kid.
I walked back into the bar, grabbed my bag, and finished my glass of wine in one breath.
"I have an emergency, but you! You better behave yourself!" I snapped at Derek under Ayden's questioning gaze.
Marina's POV:
I arrived at Alix's apartment, and she greeted me wearing her usual long black cardigan.
"At least you open the door for me," I threw at her, still annoyed that she had stood me up at the high school.
"Sorry, but it was too hard for me," she said it quietly, before turning back toward her room.
While she closed her sketchbook, I caught a glimpse of part of a face on the page, but nothing more.
"Here are your lessons to copy for tomorrow." The French teacher had already scheduled a test for tomorrow. What a pain!
Alix took the papers and placed them on her desk without even looking at them.
"By the way, did you see the handsome math teacher in the end?"
Alix froze for a moment and avoided my gaze as she walked over to sit by the window.
"Yes, he wants to give me math lessons during gym class since I don't participate."
"Wow, great! Go for it. It's a chance for you to spend time with the tattooed man," I exclaimed. "After all, this way you can study his tattoo details even more."
Alix did not answer me. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on them while staring out the window. I let my eyes wander across the drawings on her wall, including the ones of our new math teacher's tattoos.
"You should consider enrolling in the drawing class. I find your drawings are becoming more and more beautiful and incredibly detailed," I admitted.
"I'm not inventive enough. They're just copies," Alix murmured as she leaned her face closer to mine.
"But you drew them from memory," I said, joining her by the window. "Imagine what you could create if you used your imagination. The drawings would be amazing. I think you should go for it."
Alix's POV:
Maybe Marina wasn't wrong, and deep down, I had always wanted to draw like my father. But right now, the only things I could bring myself to draw were his tattoos. Whenever I tried to sketch anything else, my mind went straight back to that alley, and I was thrown into the horror of that night all over again. The only thing that calmed me was thinking about him, his intense gaze, his tattoos, that promise, and now that kiss. I ran my finger over my lips under Marina's questioning gaze.
I turned my face away and stood up from the window, embarrassed.
"You're right, I have nothing to lose by going. I'll go register tomorrow during lunch," I said.
After all, I needed to do my best so he wouldn't worry even more.
Her face and eyes when I came out of the restroom had been so full of sadness that it felt like my heart would break.
I really wanted to make an effort for her.
"Great idea! I recognize you well there," Marina said as she pulled me into her arms.
I was truly lucky to have her as a friend. Despite the way I had behaved since that night, she never asked questions or pushed me to go out.
I needed to pull myself together, no matter what. I could not let the people around me keep worrying about me. Tomorrow would be a fresh start.
The apartment doorbell rang. I stepped out of Marina's arms and went to answer it, relieved to feel that I had regained even a little control.
"Are you planning to keep avoiding calls from the hospital?"
I opened the door to a furious Sophie.
I stared at her, stunned to see her standing there as she marched into the apartment, still furious, and then turned toward me with a glare so sharp it felt like it could cut through me.
"Do you think you can just forget what happened that night by not responding?" she shouted at me sternly. "Do you really believe you're going to get away with this!"
I could not bring myself to explain that I had never received any calls from the hospital because I had not given them my mobile number. She was so furious, so terrifying in that moment, that the words refused to leave my throat.
"Why would the hospital call you, and why must you forget that night?"
I froze, suddenly remembering that Marina was still in my room.
