Page 8 of When October Starts

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.

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