As Serena walked the halls of her high school, only one thought crossed her mind.
It was creepy. Did he ask everyone to leave? The halls were all dark with the exception of the faint glow coming from the music hallway. She still had five minutes, so she took her time. She could hear a beautiful baritone singing while playing the piano. There was such passion in his voice, whoever he was. She recognized the song as a popular song from The Phantom of the Opera entitled Music of the Night.
Softly, deftly music shall surround you
Feel it, hear it, closing in around you.
Open
up your mind, let your fantasies unwind
In this darkness which you know you cannot fight
The darkness of the music of the night.
Let your mind start to journey though a strange new world
Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before
Let your soul take you where you long to be!
Only
then can you belong to me...
Floating, falling; Sweet
intoxication,
Touch me, trust me; Savor each sensation.
Let
the dream begin, let your darker side give in.
To the power of
the music that I write,
The power of the music of the night!
She was so entranced by his voice. Alex would have called it…what was it? Right. Liquid sex. The music was so arousing and passionate. She let out an uncontrollable gasp.
This had snapped Erik out of his reverie. He was surprised at her reaction. He knew it was a passionate song, but to get such a reaction? He loved the sound, even if it was a simple gasp.
"Welcome Ms. Montgomery. I am pleased that you received my note." When his silky voice reached her ears, she didn't respond. She was too dazed. At her lack of response, he turned around for the first time. He saw a cleavage showing shirt and tight black pants that showed her curves.
He just gaped. When she suddenly realized that he stopped playing, Serena's eyes snapped open. She saw him staring at her and blushed.
"So…shall we start?" She asked nervously. He had walked over to her and was now standing an inch from her face. Her blush was never more prominent. In hopes of deterring this, Erik simply too her hand and led her to the bench.
"I thought that we would start with the scales." He hit a key. "Do you know what key that is?" He wanted to know of her knowledge of pianos.
"A natural." She knew pianos backwards and forwards.
"Good. Start from there." His fingers grazed the keys as he played. Serena's soft voice permeated the silence as she sang. "Alright, fix your posture. It will help." He placed his hand on the small of her back and pushed, wanting her to sit straight.
The sudden touch caused her to jump up and fall off of the bench, but she never met the floor. Erik caught her. But not gracefully. He just wrapped his hands around the first thing he could grab. They just happened to be her breasts.
'Uh oh, here comes the slap.' Erik thought. But that never came either. The two of them stayed frozen in time, neither moving a muscle.
Serena had a completely different reaction compared to what Erik thought she would do. Instead of whipping around and slapping him, she leaned backwards into his chest. Her head rested on his chest and her eyes shut momentarily.
Erik was shocked. Well, shocked and pleased. He stroked her hair with his free hand and placed his chin atop of her head. When Serena felt his chin on her scalp, she snuggled closer.
Erik froze. 'This is wrong. I can't be getting comfortable with a student.' As much as he tried to command his body to get up, it wouldn't. Instead, he bent down to place his head on top of hers.
Serena pulled away first, by placing her hands on his well-toned chest. 'Mmm, nice chest.'
Erik groaned. Serena's hands felt great on him, but he had to stop. He placed his hand on her hips and easily lifted her off of him. When Erik stood up in the practice room, Serena had a hurt expression on her face.
"Erik, what's wrong?" She questioned, confused.
"This is wrong. I'm your teacher. We're in a school. You're a minor." She put her head down, ashamed. "We haven't even known each other for a day yet!"
"I know. I guess it was foolish, right." She laughed at herself.
"NO!' Erik's face was red. "Never think that."
Serena's shoulder's slumped. "I suppose so." She blushed at the recent event that had occurred.
Erik sighed and walked over to where she was sitting. "I don't know. But right now, let's continue with you're lessons." He gently patted her head and sat down at the bench.
……………………………………
'Hah! I knew there was something going on between those two!' Rachel's face was pink with excitement. She was watching from the window where she couldn't be seen. She knew that she shouldn't have followed Serena here, but it was too tempting. Erik must have been expecting something. The choir room was filled with vanilla scented candles.
'Aw, how romantic.'
……………………………………
It was Friday. And like every Friday, people were anxious to get out of class so they could enjoy the weekend. Not Serena. She wanted school to end so that she could talk with Erik about the night before. The final bell rang and she scurried off to the music wing after visiting her locker.
'Wow, there's no one here. I guess they all leave right after and don't hang around.' She peered into her second period classroom.
"Mr. Destler? Can we talk?" She was nervous. She had no idea what to expect.
"I've told you, Serena. When it is just the two of us, you may call me Erik."
"That's true. But there are still people at school and you may never know when a teacher or student might walk down this hall." She stood next to the organ he was playing at, afraid of what might happen if she was sitting next to him. "Listen, about last night. I know that we've only known each other for two days, and that it's improper for a teacher to court a student, but I think that the two of us can change that."
"Serena, what are you saying?"
"All I'm saying is same time, same place?" And with that, she left the room to catch her bus.
'What the hell am I going to do?' Erik wondered.
……………………………………
As Serena sat down next to Alex on the bus, Kathy and Rachel sat behind them. Rachel leaned over and whispered in Serena's ear. "I know what you did last night with Mr. Destler." Serena froze.
"You saw?"
"Yep. Aw, you two are so cute together." Kathy's head popped up.
"Who's cute together?"
"Serena and Mr. Destler." Rachel was positively bouncing.
'Uh oh.' Serena knew what was going to happen next. Kathy was the biggest gossip in school. 'I am so screwed. Erik's going to kill me.' Within minutes, the entire bus knew. All the girls were giving here evil glares, except her three friends. They had their own boyfriends, so they didn't care. They wanted Serena to finally get out there. She hadn't dated in ages.
Serena spent the remainder of the smooth bus ride home sketching in her fashion pad. She had sheets of designs. And they weren't half bad. Most of them were evening wear designs, but she had some everyday patterns too. The bus was slowing down, so she brushed the eraser bits from her white jeans and emerald shirt and packed up.
The moment the bus came to a halt, she fled the bus and ran to her house up to her room. She needed to avoid her parents for as long as possible. Her mom was on the PTA, so she was bound to hear of Serena's 'secret affair' from another parent. She grabbed a duffel bag and threw in her dark blue jeans and a few shirts. She ran down the stairs.
"Dad! I'm spending the weekend at a friend's house!" He gave his okay and she walked to Alex's house. She lived a few blocks away and was the quietest of the three friends she had. She knew that Alex wouldn't tell a soul.
Ding dong. Alex answered the door. "Hey, Ren. What are you doing here?"
"I need a place to crash for the weekend, is that okay?" Alex nodded.
"Sure. Hey, are you going back to school? You know, for your 'lessons?'" Her eyes were filled with mirth.
"Yes I am. I need to talk to Erik about the gossip that will be around the entire school by first period Monday."
"Oh, Erik. You're now of first name basis?" Serena shook her head and sat down at the table in the living room. She pulled open her bag and sifted through her books. She had finished her Calculus, English, and French homework during lunch and free period. So all she had left was Physics.
"Oh come on, Serena. You always do your homework right after school. Have a life."
"I intend to. If I get it all done now, I have the rest of the weekend to relax."
……………………………………
It was almost seven o'clock. Erik was preparing for Serena's arrival. He had reset the candles and was now sitting at his organ, waiting for her.
Serena walked to the door. "Um, Erik? We need to talk." Her eyes were glazed at the site of him in a muscle shirt, exposing the toning of his chest.
"Yes we do." He led her down to the same bench. She placed her head in her hands and heaved a sigh. What she said next came out in an avalanche of words.
"Rachel saw us last night. And because she is so loud, Kathy heard. Kathy's the biggest gossip, so the whole bus found out. Now the entire school's going to hate me." This all came out in a rush. Her eyes turned red and she started to whimper.
'Well, that's just fabulous. I found a job I like, and I'm going to get fired on my third day. Just wonderful.' He turned to her. "We'll be fine. I'll find a way to fix this. Perhaps we should cancel lessons. It would just look worse." He made a motion to stand up.
"No! You shouldn't have to leave. Stay." She looked up at him. "Please?"
Erik handed her a bottle of water. "Please don't do this. I don't want to see you cry." Serena gulped down the liquid and slowed down her breathing.
"I'm sorry," she finally stated, after a long silence. "I just feel so bad. You know, you've only been here a total of two day sand I'm worried that this will affect your reputation."
'So, she's thinking the same way as me.' Erik then handed Serena a tissue box from the small desk next to the piano. "Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself. You've been in this school for three years. Don't let me ruin your senior year." He turned to the piano again. "Shall we?"
…………………………………………………
Kathy waited patiently for Serena to come back from school. For two weeks, now, Serena and Erik had been meeting at the school at night for private lessons. Kathy, Alex and Rachel took turns covering for her, though it was hard. There were only so many 'projects' a girl could make up!
But the minute Serena entered, Kathy pounced on her. "Where the hell have you been? I've been worried sick!"
"Um, I'm only three minutes late. Calm down Kathy." Serena walked into the bathroom her trademark black duffel to change. When she came out, she was wearing light pink pants with dark pink and blue stars scattered on them with a matching pink camisole. Kathy shook her head.
"How can you wear a tank-top on the middle of November?"
"You know very well that I don't get cold when I sleep. So why dress warm?" She followed Kathy up to her room. It was only eight o'clock, so they decided to watch A Walk to Remember. They were nearing the end of the movie, when Landon proposes to Jamie on the balcony. Kathy started crying profusely.
"Why are you crying? You've seen this movie a hundred times, yet you never stop crying." Serena asked. "Never mind, I'm going to sleep." She crawled into the small bed next to Kathy's and snuggled under the coverlet, letting sleep overcome her.
