A Student for a Teacher

Chapter One

Three-thirty-one a.m.

School was soon to be in session again. This year Aspen with be in the eleventh grade of high school. A junior. Although he would prefer dropping out of school instead. With that regard, he couldn't sleep. He wanted school to be the last thing on his mind right now. But who doesn't think of school the day before it begins?

Behind Aspen's bed was a window. Outside of it stood still the moon in the sky. And through the window it's pale light illuminated Aspen's dreary room.

The covers and bed sheets were too warm. Too warm to crawl out of. They insulated Aspen's small body. But with reluctance and a sigh, Aspen pushed himself from the bed. The cold air instantly clung to his exposed arms.

After dressing himself, he lethargically made his way down to the kitchen. There he met with his younger sister, Sybil. Halfway out from the chair, she gawked at fireflies that she had trapped in a jar atop the table. Aspen gave a suppressed look, trying to ignore her the best he could. He grabbed a package of pop tarts out from the cupboard, then seated himself across the table from his sister. He took a bite out of one of the pop tarts and continued to neglect his sister.

"Your teeth are going to rot if you keep eating sweets like that," implied his sister, whose body was turned in the chair in such a way her back laid partway on the table with her head upside-down, staring at Aspen. She was very flexible.

Aspen stared back at her, dryly.

Sybil talked at an immature level. Although, somehow, she was still able to get straight A's in school despite what seemed to be her lack of education.

"Aspen! Look!" She held up the jar of fireflies in front of her brother's face. "They're called fireflies. Sevanna told me all about them. See? They light up! Isn't that cool?"

Stupid. That was all Aspen could think about most times he was with her. Other times, it was shocking to hear her ramble on about some piece of knowledge she wasn't expected to know so much about.

"You know they shut off their lights when someone ugly is around them? It's because they don't want to see their face in the light," Aspen commented.

"Oh. Sevanna told me it was to attract mates... You must be pretty ugly, Aspen."

Backfired. She made a smart remark without even knowing it.

Aspen frowned. He stood from his chair. "I'm going out for a bit. Don't tell dad."

"Okay! See you at school!"

He wanted to tell her to be quiet, but there was no point. Their father wasn't home, anyhow.

He left the house with no intention of coming back until school had ended the next day. Then he began to wonder why his sister was up so late - or so early. Again, it was pointless. He was already well on his way now.

Sven hadn't a clue why he agreed to go drinking with his friend. But nevertheless, he regretted it. With school being only hours away, time was running short. This will be his first year of his teaching, and already he had disappointed himself in doing what he felt was wrong: Staying up late at a bar before school had started. He wasn't drinking, but his friend, who was a teacher himself, drank carelessly.

Dimly lit were the lights that were in the bar. It could make one drowsy. Losing track of time was easy here. No clock was about. It wasn't there for a reason, Sven knew. He constantly had to check his watch.

"If you don't settle for a woman soon, I'd be happy to take you out." Sven's friend, Soren said, looking smug and drunk.

Sven glanced up at him from his watch and replied, "I didn't come here so you could try to convince me into going out with you, Soren. We're here to talk about what I should do as a new teacher once I get to school."

Soren frowned.

"What did you do?" Sven asked him, referring back to the time when Soren first began teaching.

"Not much. It's not anything to get excited about, Sven. Relax. Let everything come naturally."

"But you've already been teaching for a year... I just want to make sure that I can make a good enough impression for the students, so that they will be comfortable enough to ask me for help whenever they need it."

"You will. You don't give me a bad impression, Sven. I've always been comfortable with you."

Sven ringed his fingers and put his forehead to his hands, sighing. "Ah, I hope..."

Soren smiled and slid his glass of alcohol over to his friend, pressing it against his arm.

"No." Sven denied to drink it. He refused to drink it because he knew that that was what Soren wanted, and also because, simply, he just wasn't the drinking type. He thought of drinking as somewhat immoral - always trying to be the best person he could possibly be.

"Oh, come on, just one sip. Please?"

"No I am not getting drunk so you may be able to take advantage of me."

Darn. Sven had Soren. Sven knew his plan all along...

"You're no fun..."

Soren let his eyes drift off into space. He laid eyes on an underage boy - too young to drink. Soren thought he recognized the boy as a student.

"Hm. Looks like Aspen," he said.

Sven raised his head. "What?" He followed Soren's gaze until he, too, was looking at the boy. "What the - that kid is way too young to be drinking." He gave an irritable look.

"Ah, what can you do?" Soren shrugged with his glass in hand.

Sven rose from his chair to join the boy at his table. "How did you get in here?"

The boy, Aspen, looked up at Sven. "Huh? You are?"

"It doesn't matter." Sven poked the table several times as if to justify a point. He still wore an irritable look. "You're an underage drinker. Stop it." He grabbed the glass of alcohol from Aspen's hand.

"What do you care? Give it back." Aspen reached for the glass Sven was now holding back from him.

In a way to end the fight, Sven drank the alcohol. "There. Now you've got nothing to drink." He smiled.

Aspen paused, raising an eyebrow. "You going to tell on me now?"

"No. How did you even make it in here?"

Aspen pressed back in his seat, crossing his arms behind his head, smiling. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes. I would. Tell me."

"Buy me another drink and I will."

"What? I got rid of that last one for a reason. Do you really think-"

"Ugh... I don't feel so good..." Aspen held his stomach, lowering his head onto the table.

"You better not throw up. Where do you live? I'll take you home."

"I don't know..."

"Yes you do. Tell me because I'm not going to let you go out this late at night. Especially if you drive."

Aspen gave no response.

"Well?" Sven asked. He waited several seconds before he lifted Aspen's head by his hair, realizing that he had passed-out.

Great.

He put his face in his hands.

Soren came over to inspect what was going on. "What's up?"

"The kid passed out," Sven answered. "I'm... Going to take him home until he wakes up to tell me where he lives..."

A funny thought came to mind. Soren put his hands to his hips, smiling. "That's kidnapping."

"Well what else am I suppose to do in this predicament?" Sven snapped, shooting a glare towards Soren.

"I don't know. But that's definitely kidnapping."

"It's the best I can do...," Sven grumbled. He stood and picked Aspen up - much like as if he were a bride. "You're coming too," he told Soren.

"Do I have a choice? You did drive me here in your car," Soren pointed out with a smirk.

"... Shut up..."

Sven, now holding Aspen in his arms, carried him outside with Soren to shortly follow from behind.

Sven and Soren's conversation continued in the car. Sven drove and Soren sat in the passenger's seat. Aspen? He was laying on the backseats.

"You think his parents will notice him gone?" Soren asked.

"At this hour, who knows...," Sven replied. "If they do, he'll have to explain himself when he gets home. I just hope they don't get the wrong idea and think I'm some sort of kidnapper, like you said."

"I hope they do."

"Why?"

"Because then maybe you'll get fired from your job and have to move in with me."

"Oh, thanks...," Sven said sarcastically.

Aspen was fast asleep in the backseat of the car. He didn't even look like he had passed-out. He looked, in fact, rather content.

Soren turned in his seat to check on him. "I've never noticed it before, but Aspen's pretty cute."

"Who's that?"

"The kid. Don't you think he's cute?"

Sven stopped at a red light and gave his friend a weird look. "What the - What are you? A pedophile? No I don't think he's cute."

"Mm!" Soren fussed. "You were suppose to get jealous!" He crossed his arms, sinking in the seat - having a fit.

That sort of response seemed to have relieved Sven. "Oh. So that was what that was about."

The light turned green and he began to drive again. "I'm dropping you off soon. Do you have everything?"

"I didn't bring anything..."

There came a brief moment of silence.

"But really, don't you think he's cute?" Soren finally asked.

Sven stopped the car abruptly before Soren's house. "No! You were serious?" Now he was angry.

"Why not? Look at his face. It's adorable. But don't worry. It's still not enough to replace yours, Sven. You'll always come first."

He sighed and put his head to his hand. "Get out..." He pointed with his other hand to the car door Soren was sitting next to.

Soren got out of the car, lastly saying, "Have fun with him in bed."

He liked teasing Sven.

"That's not going to happen!" Sven rose his voice angrily.

And that was it. His first day as a teacher was going to be the worst. He'll be too tired to think at all because of what had happened tonight. Fortunately, he won't have a hangover, at least. But he regretted, somewhat, not leaving Aspen at the bar. But his modestly just wouldn't allow it. Maybe taking him home was the wrong thing to do...

When he got home and set Aspen to his own bed and room, it was four-twenty-three.