Black Velvet

"Hey Mr. Way," I said, trying to sound calm and collected but instead sounding like I had a sore throat.

"Everything okay?" Mr. Way questioned, eyebrow slightly raised, "You look lost," he added, resting one of his hands on my table and looking at my empty mug.

"I'm meeting Alex and Marnie and stuff," I swallowed, "well I was meeting them forty five minutes ago." I swallowed again, feeling ever so slightly embarrassed. Mr. Way looked at me sympathetically before patting my shoulder.

"Hi! Can I get you guys anything?" One of the waitresses suddenly offered, her glossy red lips moving quickly. I looked at Mr. Way and he looked at me before turning to the waitress who then looked at him.

"I'll have a black coffee, no sugar and one of the hot chocolates?" he ordered.

"Cream? Marshmallows? Sprinkles?" the waitress asked, turning to me with her pen at the ready. I shook my head but smiled anxiously as Mr. Way put himself on the chair opposite me.

"Sweet enough already huh?" Mr. Way commented lowly, "the drink I mean," he then added, a boyish grin on his face. I looked down at the table and tried to contain the grin that was coming to my own cheeks. We stayed in a relatively awkward silence, I checked my phone a few times and every time I did Mr. Way would get this pitying look in his eyes. Our drinks came and I thanked him quietly, taking a sip even though the hot liquid burnt the tip of my tongue.

"Why are you here?" I asked him, looking up at him for the first time since he'd sat opposite me. He stared at me, breathing in deeply. Soft music and people chattering played in the background, making his long pause less awkward.

"Well, actually I'm a little sad myself right now," he admitted, "My wife and I had a fight, I wanted some time out of the house," he continued. I nodded understandingly.

"That must suck, what did you fight about? ...if you don't mind me asking?" I questioned.

"What didn't we fight about is the question these days," he replied, this time I looked at him sympathetically. He made an 'ugh' sound at the back of his throat and shook his head, "you'll get all this when you're older," he sighed. I felt wounded, instantly defending myself.

"I'm not a kid you know," I told him nervously, part of me worried as I said it. Although the conversation we were having wasn't a typical conversation to be having with a teacher it crosses my mind that he may switch back into teacher mode.

"No... I know you're not," he smiled warmly and lent back in his seat.

We stayed silent for a while, glancing back and forth at each other occasionally. The silence was anything but comfortable but in a strange way Mr. Way made me feel secure. After another half an hour I got a long apologetic text from Alex explaining how she'd gone to one of her older brothers parties and her phone had died and her ex had been there so it had taken her a while to find someone's phone to text me from. Something about Alex made me soften as soon as she apologised. In my head I knew that was how she able to get so popular in the first place but I didn't feel like I was able to say anything to her.

"You going to go to the party with her?" Mr. Way asked almost suspiciously.

"No, I'll head home I think she's hooking up with some guy so I think I'd be a bit of a third wheel," I explained awkwardly, shuffling in my seat. He looked at me for a second before shrugging and fiddling with his coffee cup. His face hard to read in the low glow of the cafe light.

"You don't want to hook up with any guys?" he then asked curiously, his eyes flashing up at mine. My cheeks turned pink and I stared at him. Taken off guard I tried to stutter out an answer, "sorry, sorry.... I don't know why I even asked that," he murmured shaking his head.

"No it's fine," I chuckled nervously, "I don't know maybe I'll be cooler next week and hook up with some guys," I teased bravely, making him laugh out loud and shake his head again. He looked down at his mug with a childish grin on his face.

"Most guys your age don't even know what they're doing anyway," he said in a sing-song voice whilst smirking, his head still shaking like he knew he shouldn't be saying what he was saying. I opened my mouth in shock but couldn't stop myself from giggling as well, "Shh, this is not an appropriate conversation to be having!" he snickered, mocking himself from earlier, "I should really get going, I'll put you on the bus," he finished with another shake of his head.

I got up from my seat, pushing my chair back as I did so. I followed Mr. Way obediently down the road towards the bus stop. The roads were damp with rain that had poured down previously, a light trickle still hitting the concrete. A group of guys were standing close to the bus stop. They were joking and laughing, lumbering around and clearly drunk. They all stopped as Mr. Way and I approached. I tried to avoid their leering gaze and Mr. Way stared at them with an emotionless face. The bus pulled up slowly, full of passengers trying to avoid the spits of rain. The small crowd of boys got on first, continuing with their conversation loudly, pushing and shoving each other as they did so.

"Where do you live?" Mr. Way asked me, his eyes following the guys suspiciously.

"I get off at Medlands, my house is just round the corner." I replied.

"I'll get on the bus with you then, I live a ten minute walk from there," he decided as he walked towards the bus, once again I followed, both of us having to stand because all the seats were taken. The windows were steamy and I rested my hand on the pane of it, making it leave a wet imprint. Mr. Way stood behind me, holding onto the same ceiling handle as me when the bus started to move, his thumb rested on mine. I didn't know if he even noticed but it was driving me insane. I could feel his body heat against my back, I kept my body tense, worried I would accidentally knock into him. I could smell his cologne and the coffee on his breath and it made the downy hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

The bus only took ten minutes to get to Medland's and my body stayed tense the entire ride. As the bus shuddered to halt outside my bus stop Mr. Way tipped forwards, his body pressing into mine momentarily. My breath hitched in my throat and I closed my eyes, feeling his hand on my hip when he tried to steady himself.

"Sorry," he muttered, stepping back as the bus doors opened shakily. We both walked off the bus and towards the corner of the street where my house was. The air was cold outside and the rain was slowly getting heavier, the loud bustle of the guys on the bus becoming silent when the doors shut. "I'll wait here, make sure you get into your house," Mr. Way said, tucking his now sodden hair behind his ears.

"Okay, thanks, I'll see you on Monday," I said, watching a droplet of rain dribble down his clean shaven cheek.

"See you Monday, Amelia," he smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. I walked down my road, aware of his eyes on me. I got to the bottom of my drive and turned around, giving him a small wave before quickly turning and trotting up the drive quickly.

Notes

hope you're all enjoying!