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“Ready?”
“Hell yeah.”
They bounced out the door after one last goodbye, leaving a very glum Brandon in my very capable hands. I’d already settled him down in front of the fireplace. Traded his latest attempt at sneaking a beer for a tall, frosty glass of water.
“Midterms,” I said sternly. “Remember?”
He nodded again, and we got to work. At first it was slow going. There were a lot of distractions; feeding the fire, answering the door to hand out candy, trying to keep Brandon’s attention focused on his work rather than our usual flirtatious banter. I tried keeping things serious though. For as long as I could, anyway.
“You’re definitely getting it,” I said after an hour and a half, “but I still think you’re going too quickly.”
Brandon groaned in frustration. We were laying side by side now, the fire roaring, the workbook between us.
Slow down,” I told him. “Read the questions. If you just take your time, you’ll realize exactly what answer they’re looking for.”
Another knock at the door. Another group of trick-or-treaters. They were showing up less frequently now that it was getting a little later, but they were still coming. And we were almost out of candy.
Brandon did his best to listen as I tutored him some more. Another hour went by, but somewhere around the forty-five minute mark he really started to understand. He started giving the right answers, and
showing the right work. It was like something in his head just clicked.
“That’s it!” I told him excitedly. “Just like that!”
He grinned with pure happiness, then leaned over in my direction. For a second I thought he was going to kiss me, but he only planted one on my cheek.
“You’re the best, you know that?”
“Well I am a professor,” I acknowledged.
“You’re a lot more than that,” Brandon swore. “Much more…”
Our heads were still close. Our lips, not all that far apart. I could picture us leaning in. Starting slowly, like two magnets giving in to the inevitable attraction.
Oh no…
I wanted so very badly for it to happen. Couldn’t allow it to happen…
Playfully, I clapped the book closed in his face.
“We deserve a break,” I grinned. “Let’s go!”
My latest student blinked in disbelief. “Go where?”
“Trick or treating, silly!”
Brandon still had no clue what I was talking about. I leapt to my feet.
“You’ve got a pirate costume upstairs too, right?”
“Well, yeah…”
“So go put it on! I’ll meet you back here in five minutes.”
I took the stairs two at a time, then rushed into my room. I didn’t own a costume, but scaring up a last-minute pirate wench couldn’t be all that hard. I could certainly improvise.
Brandon took five minutes to finish. I probably took ten. By the time I came back downstairs, his jaw hit the floor.
“Claudia!” he breathed. “Holy shit…”
