THE TEACHER

Chapter five

The dim lights inside the pub forced Abigail to squint her eyes in the dark to adjust to it, and actively search around for Alex's figure amongst the others. The place Alex had chosen for their date was very particular, with a very street style paired with more classy details. There was a bar with wooden stools that faced the ligneous table, all round and made of a dark wood, with some of them being close to the windows and having a bench instead of regular chairs, and were all occupied by friends having some fries while chatting over a nice, cold beer.

Finally, after turning her head left and right quite a few times, she saw her date sitting at a small wooden table a bit far away from the others, playing around with her fingers without once looking up.

Before Abby could even approach her, Alex somehow felt her presence and tilted her head up, locking eyes with the girl and smiling as a way to tell her to come over.

"Hey," smiled Abby, sitting down on the chair next to her. "Sorry, my parents locked me in."

"What happened?"

"They found out that I've been having... problems, per say, with the school recently."

"Can I do anything to help you?"

"I guess that asking you to commit a crime wouldn't be very fair of me, would it?"

"I guess not," she chuckled. "Can I get you anything? A beer, perhaps?"

"We can't drink, we're underage," pointed out Abigail.

"My godfather runs this place. So, beer?"

"I've got swimming practice, it's better if I hold back... I've got a meet in a couple of weeks."

"A meet? What the hell is that?"

"It's a swimming competition."

She nodded understandingly, and they didn't mention swimming again that night. Instead, Alex started talking about herself and her day, all while carelessly taking sips from her pint of beer, and reaching out to touch Abigail's hand from time to time.

While around them the people kept coming and going, they stayed put all night, telling each other stories and anecdotes from their childhoods. Abby, without realizing, was opening up to Alex in a way she had never before: she was always careful when hanging out for the first time with new people, but with Alex she felt so calm and comfortable that she didn't need to hide her true self.

"Want to play a game?" proposed Alex, leaning a little bit on the table to get closer to her date. "Twenty questions."

"I suppose we could. You start. Be gentle."

"Always, dear," winked Alex. "Favorite color?"

"Red. Favorite singer?" questioned Abby.

"Green Day. I'm guessing yours is Taylor Swift."

Abby rolled her eyes in fake annoyance, but had to nod in acceptance.

"Favorite place on Earth?" Alex kept going.

"The swimming pool. Favorite movie?"

"The minions. Yours?"

"The imitation game."

"Are you pretending to sound smart or are you really?"

"I think I am," Abby straightened up. "Nice way to waste a question, by the way."

"I was very curious, to be honest."

Their game went on for a long time, and they completely lost track of how many questions they had asked. They were so interested in each other's words, that neither of them wanted the night to end.