Page 115 of Exactly What I Needed
“Nothing’s wrong with you. This again isn’t about you and me in that way. I’m not doing what I used to do. So, let me…explain everything before you…say anything.”
“Then what the f—” The bell rang, cutting him off, and my eyes widened in shock.
“Shit. Shit,” I stammered.
“What’s shit?” He looked so confused and hurt and absolutely thrown onto a rollercoaster. Which I couldn’t blame him for. The timing was terrible.
“You need to leave. We can talk later. Like after school.” I tried to shove him toward the door. “I have a class coming.”
He didn’t budge. “And you want me to leave through the same door that they’re going to be coming through?”
I stopped pushing him. “Right. You’ve got to hide.” I snatched his wrist as a small smile spread across his lips, and he followed me around my desk. “Why are you smiling?”
“Because this feels a little familiar,” he teased as I reached the small, narrow, coat closet propped up against the far wall.
I grimaced as the doorknob to my classroom turned. “Get inside.” I ripped the door open.
“It’s so small.” He ducked, smacking his head on the back of a coat hanger before bending awkwardly around some supplies. “Fuck, that hurt.” He groaned, and I slammed the coffee-colored door shut.
“Ow,” he whined, his voice muffled as my classroom door flew open and in came the first wave of kids. I leaned my head back against the closet, relieved that we weren’t caught.
I glanced back at my desk in horror. There was a blank space, perfectly cut out from the rest of my mess, where I’d been sitting with a very sexy man, making out with him.
Why had I ever run away in—
Right. Dumb Cosette, very dumb.
“Hey, Miss Cosi!” Aaron called out, jumping and hitting the door frame before finding his seat. “You heard, right? Obviously you heard, I mean you’re the music teacher for f—” He paused and sat down, pursing his lips.
I lifted a brow in caution as I quickly jogged back over to my desk and messed with the papers, hiding the blank space.
“Excuse me.” He cleared his throat. “You’re the music teacher for goodness sake, so you obviously heard about the first concert our little town will be having in like a decade!”
“Yes, I have heard,” I replied as the last few stragglers danced into the room right before the second bell rang. Aurora and Luna both sat in the front row, looking extra smug. Luna pulled her purple hair back into a ponytail and leaned against the chair.
“So, you’ve obviously planned our lesson around that for today, right? I mean, voice lessons for a genre of music we’ve not touched yet, is amazing!” he finished in a sing-songy way.
“And also a very difficult vocal technique to learn,” I began as my class quieted down, settling into place. “So no, I am not qualified to teach you that.”
“What about the music theory behind the genre?” he pushed, and several murmured agreements passed around the classroom.
“Look, this metalcore genre is something that I don’t feel comfortable diving into. I’m not—”
“Asher Stone?” Luna stated, rolling her eyes.
“Yes, exactly.”
My entire class sat forward. “Youdoknow who he is. You totally know this genre.” Aurora gasped, and I took in a sharp breath. Dumb.
Brain, you need to switch on and get to work, because they’ve only been at this for five minutes, and I’m already slipping.
“Well, yes. His band is playing this weekend at our little stadium. And, as you’ve all clearly pointed out, as your music teacher, I should know,” I replied.
Well done, Cosette.
“Then teach us something,” Aaron pressed again.
My classroom door swung open, interrupting the conversation, and in popped the face of someone I really didn’t want to see right now. Though I loved her, once again, the timing of everything today was horrendous as I was in the middle of trying to get my very talented seniors to focus on something that wasn’t Asher.
