A dull sky was showing through Simone’s window. The weather seemed to agree with their mood. Later on, Simone would arrive to her beach house, alone. Annabelle and she had briefly talked about where they wanted to live, and though she agreed it was the only choice available after her graduation, Annabelle didn’t want to live in the beach house. Simone remembered her saying that it was too full of ghosts and pain they didn’t need around. She had agreed. They talked about finding a place together as soon as they would set foot out of the school. But with Simone’s resignation, they wouldn’t leave together, so maybe she’ll start looking alone.

Even though it was hard for her to leave Annabelle for two weeks as she turned out to be unable to walk away from her, Simone didn’t regret leaving the school. This place had oppressed her for so long, she was thankful Annabelle had given her the chance to escape it. Now what would she do? She didn’t care. She had enough money to be comfortable for at least a year. So maybe she’d take a year off just being with Annabelle. She had never been able to wake up peacefully with Annabelle, have her the whole night, the whole morning, the whole afternoon, the whole evening, the whole day. She longed to taste the infinite pleasure waking up in her arms would be, not having anyone to fear.

Of course, there still was one person she feared; The Senator Tillman. Annabelle told her she was going to tell her mom as soon as Simone wasn’t her teacher anymore. Well, that pretty much was now. What would she say or do? Simone didn’t really care. By the time, Simone would be out of law’s reach as Annabelle wouldn’t be her student anymore. Sexual majority was supposed to be reached at sixteen in the state. Of course, morality should say that a thirty year old and a seventeen year old together would be highly wrong. But then again, if Simone had been seventeen too, morality would still pin them as wrong.

"Thank you." Annabelle said kicking Simone out of her thoughts.

"For what?"

"Not leaving. Me I mean."

Simone paused a moment "Well… I think I would have come back to you anyway… I don’t think I would have been able to stay away from you for too long. I’m not even sure I would have made it outside the grounds without knowing I’d see and be with you again."

"Good answer. You just escaped another slap." Annabelle smiled and added "I’m sorry about that by the way. I just couldn’t let you mourn over something that wasn’t finished yet. I needed to wake you up."

"You sure did…"

The bell rang, announcing Annabelle’s next class. Their four eyes suddenly filled with tears, they looked at each other. Getting up, they didn’t break their stare before holding each other tight, both of them letting their tears escape on the other’s back. Endless ‘I love you’ and ‘I’ll miss you’s’ were thrown from both of them. Kissing for the last time before the next, too long weeks later, they absorbed each other’s sorrow and love in a deep and passionate kiss.

Taking her hand in hers, Simone slowly walked Annabelle to the door. One last hug. One last kiss. One last look. But most of all, one last goodbye.