Exams started meaning both me and Rachel were under a lot of pressure. I had about a million tests to check and grade, while also dealing with family issues. I hadn't seen Rachel in over a week. She was under a lot of stress so I wanted to let her be.

"Okay guys, I want absolute silence. You have 90 minutes to finish the test. When you're done, hand in your papers and quietly leave the room. Don't even try to cheat, I'm gonna keep an eye on every single one of you. Good luck, you may start now."

I let my head rest on the palm of my hand as I watched my class work on their exams. I should be paying attention but my mind drifted off to a million different things.

Sitting here in front of students Rachel's age made me wonder what I was doing. I was a grown woman with many years lived, dating a 19 year old. Thinking about it made me cringe. It should feel wrong, but there was never a moment with her where I felt like I was doing something wrong. For once in my life it felt right and healthy, even though it lawfully wasn't.

I loved her, so much, and I wanted to be there for her at any given moment, but I was starting to wonder if I was the right person for her. Not only was I her teacher, I was also way older than her and I caught myself going to extreme lengths to be there for her.

When the police wasn't there to help her with James I felt like I needed to do something to help her myself. I come from a powerful family and in a panic mode I asked my cousin for help. He's known to deal with situations like this so I told him what James had done to her, and he assured me he would take care of it. When Rachel told me James was in the hospital I knew it was by the hands of Samuel.

I had never gone this far for anyone, but I found myself doing it for Rachel without any hesitation or regret. It was a stupid thing to do, knowing it could backfire and get us both in trouble.

James was out of the hospital, and it was only a matter of time he found out what had happened. I didn't understand why I put Samuel, myself and Rachel in such a risky position. James wasn't someone to play around with.

But even considering everything, I didn't even want to think of letting Rachel go. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me, even with all the risks i was taking. She's worth it, and she'll always be worth it.

"Miss? I'm done with my test." A sudden voice suddenly whispered in front of me.

I looked up. "Ah, Tom. Great how did it go?" I quietly asked.

"Très bien."

I laughed. "I hope you know this is spanish , not french."

He chuckled. "It went well, I think. Have a good day miss."

"Have a good day Tom." I took his exam from him and placed it in a folder.

With my mind still fixated on Rachel I decided to send her a text.

A: Hi beautiful girl. I know you're busy but would you like to come over for dinner tonight? I'll cook and I can help you study after. Xx

She almost immediately replied.

R: I would love that. Your place around 6? x

A: Perfect

I smiled knowing I was going to see Rachel later. She made every worry go away.

I turned my attention back to the class and watched as the students worked on their exam.

I got home around 5pm and quickly started working on dinner. I knew Rachel always got hungry fast so I didn't want her to have to wait too long when she got here, and counting on her to help me cook was probably going to result in food poisoning.

She liked sushi, so with my best cooking skills I made some sushi with a salad on the side. I was going to pour us some wine but I remember she had some studying to do so I decided against it.

The door bell rang. I opened the door to two beautiful brown eyes greeting mine.

"Hey mama." She said.

"Mama? Do you want me to kick your ass?"

She grinned. "I'm kidding. Hi babe."

I gave her a kiss on her lips. Oh, those soft lips. "Hi baby."

We both walked inside to the living room and sat down on the sofa. "How did math go today?" I asked her.

"Oh don't even get me started. It would be a miracle if I passed because that shit was terrible."

I chuckled. "Oh God, I hope you somehow passed anyway. What subject do you have tomorrow?"

"English, so it's not too bad, I just suck at grammar."

"Oh easy." I replied. "I'll help you study."

"Oh you're too good to me." She gave me a kiss on me cheek. "So, what did you cook for me?"

"Well, don't expect too much. I tried to make sushi myself, it looks good but I don't know how it will taste."

"Look at my chef girlfriend."

My heart stopped for a second when I heard what she said. We never defined our relationship, so I was a little taken back by her calling me her girlfriend.

"Oh, shit I am sorry I didn't mean-"

I cut her off. "No, I like it. Girlfriend sounds good actually."

I saw her face turn red. "Are you sure?"

I pulled her in for a kiss. "I'm sure, girlfriend."

She giggled. "I like how that sounds."

I winked at her. "Ready to eat my amazing sushi?"

"I rather eat something else." She grinned.

"Oh young lady, shut up and sit down." I laughed.

We sat down to eat. "It tastes good." Rachel said. "You keep surprising me with your cooking skills."

"Well thank you, can't say the same about your cooking skills."

"Oh shut up, I can't be good at everything."

"Name one thing you're good at." I jokingly said.

"You're a bitch, do you know that?"

"Don't act like you don't love it."

"Hmm, you got me there." She said.

After 20 minutes we were finished with dinner and cuddled up on the sofa.

"So, I never asked but what are your plans for after high school?"

"I'm not sure yet, I really want to travel before going off to college. I want to visit Europe and Asia so bad." Rachel replied.

"That's sounds like fun." I replied. "Do you have anything planned?"

"Not really. I don't want to go alone, but all my friends are going to college so maybe I'd have to."

I raised my eyebrow. "And you didn't even think to ask me? Your girlfriend?"

She looked at me with confusion written all over her face. "But you're a teacher, how would you even have the time to spend months traveling with me?"

I chuckled. "You couldn't know because I haven't told you yet but I was actually thinking of quitting my job."

She removed herself from my embrace to face me. "Wait really? Why?"

I sat back up. "Well, I just simply haven't been enjoying teaching lately as much as I used to. I don't do it for the money so I figured maybe taking a break would be better."

She nodded. "Yes that makes sense, I understand that."

"So yeah, I think after exams are done I'm going to hand in my resignation."

I could tell she was a little at lost for words. "Wow I did not see that coming. That's fast."

I nodded. "Yes, it is, but I've thought about it and this is what I want to do."

She smiled. "That's good, I'm happy for you."

I blew her a kiss. "You're a sweetheart."

"So, eh." I could tell she was nervous from the way she was playing with her fingers. "Would you actually go with me, if I were to travel?"

I grabbed her hands and slowly stroked her thumb. "I would love to."

"Really?" Her face lit up.

"Really." I laughed.

"That's amazing." She said, her face overwhelmed with joy. "Where do we want to go? God I should start planning."

I chuckled. "Hush baby, first your exams. We'll start planning after."

"Okay okay." She pouted. "Will you help me with my english?"

"Ofcourse, grab your books."

I watched as Rachel got up to get her stuff. Just seeing her and looking at her made me feel happier. Even though she had been through hell and back she was a bundle of joy and she had the ability to light up a whole room with just her presence.

"I'm ready." She stood infront of me with her book opened.

"Okay, let's go. What exactly are you struggling with?" I asked her.

"I'm struggling with prepositions. For some reason I can never get them right."

I sat down closer to her to read the page in front of me. I put on my glasses to get a better view.

"Well, Prepositions tell us where or when something is in relation to something else. When for example monsters are approaching, it's good to have these special words to tell us where those monsters are. Are they behind us or in front of us? Will they be arriving in three seconds or at midnight?"

She nodded.

"Prepositions often tell us where one noun is in relation to—" I got cut off by someone ringing the door bell.

I sighed. "That must be my neighbor. Lately he has been complaining about every single thing. I'll be right back."

I walked up to the front door to open it, wondering what he had to complain about this time.

I opened the door to a man I didn't know. Although he seemed somewhat familiar I couldn't quite recognize him.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Oh I think you do. Remember when I ended up in the hospital because of you?"

My stomach turned as I realized who the man in front of me was.

"How do you—"

I caught my breath as he stepped inside, closing the distance between us.

"I have my ways too, you know."

Panic immediately took over. I wasn't sure why he was here but I was going to do everything in my power to not let him get to Rachel.

I gulped. "Why are you here?"

He looked at me with a dark look in his eyes that scared me to my very core. Before I could even really understand what was happening, I felt a big hand tightly grabbing my throat.

"I'm here for you, bitch. You're not getting away with it that easy. Did you really think I wasn't going to find out you send that guy to me? Now you'll both pay."

The panic I had felt earlier quickly turned into fear as his grip around my throat tightened.

"Please." I squeaked. "I'm sorry, I never meant to—"

"Shut up, I don't want to hear any of it."

He moved his other hand over my face, slowly stroking my cheeks as he seemed to study every part of my body.

"I get what Rachel sees in you." He said. My body stiffed out of anger and fear.

"Don't you dare—"

His grip around me tightened, making it almost impossible for me to get any words out.

"Ava?" I heard Rachel calling from the living room. "Is everything okay?"

James his eyes widened at the sound of Rachel's voice. All I could do was hope he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Please." I tried to mouth to him.

"Don't worry, I'm not here for her."

I felt a sense of relief but that was quickly taken away when his grip tightened even more. I could feel my airways closing to the point where I was unable to breathe.

I could feel myself starting to get dizzy. I tried to do everything to break away from his grip but nothing seemed to work. It didn't take long before I had no strength to even fight him at all.

As my vision slowly started to fade, my whole body relaxed. I couldn't move or do anything. I felt his grip loosen as my body fell to the floor.

"That's for what you did to me." I heard him say as he disappeared into the background. I could hear his footsteps leaving my apartment.

"Ava?" I heard in the distance. I wanted to reply but I couldn't move or breathe. I could only feel myself fall deeper into unconsciousness.

"Oh my god, Ava?" I heard Rachel scream. This time closer to me. I tried, with everything I had left in me to move or talk, anything, but without succes. Rachel's voice slowly disappeared into nothingness and my vision slowly faded into complete darkness.

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Hi guys! So I started on a new book I'm really excited about! (Don't worry I'm going to finish this book too!) It's a teacherxstudent book but it's a boarding school one!! I'm really excited about it so if you want to read it, i'd love to hear what you guys think!! the title is 'stuck together' and the first chapter is out now :))) it's going to be a little different. You can read in the book description what it's about!! If you decide to read it let me know what you think!!!

And as always, thank you so much for all your support/votes/comments, it means the world to me! 💗💗💗