* * *
Sitting on a blanket in front of the bonfire, Guy extended a plastic cup to Josie, which contained a mysterious, bubbling, liquid.
"Here, Josie, drink this," Guy murmured.
Fighting her gut reaction not to drink it, she slowly accepted it, putting the cup to her lips and letting the bubbling liquid slide down her throat. Suddenly, she was no longer sitting next to Guy on the beach, but she was instead standing before him in a darkened hotel room, just the two of them. Looking down at herself, she realized that for some reason, all she had on was her red slip.
"Josie, I know you've never really kissed a guy. But tonight, all of that changes." Guy took the cup from her hand and placed it on the table that appeared next to them. Moving in closer, he slid his hand into her blond hair and pulled her toward him before she could stop him.
Just before their lips met, she heard a voice whisper, "Josie."
She opened her eyes and turned to see who was there. Standing in the shadows with his arms folded across his chest was Sam. He casually leaned against the wall and was wearing nothing but a small towel wrapped around his waist. He looked incredible: Long, lean, and muscular with a light sprinkling of hair on his chest, arms, and legs. If it weren't for the towel (which, frankly, left very little to the imagination), he could have been Michelangelo's David come to life.
Feeling her mouth to dry and her heart rate accelerate, she turned back to gauge Guy's reaction to Sam's presence, but Guy had disappeared.
Josie was confused. Why was Sam there? Why was he wearing a towel? What happened to Guy?
"Josie," Sam whispered again, beckoning to come to him as his piercing green eyes met her gaze. She slowly and sluggishly tried to walk toward the man she loved. She felt as though she was walking through water and her legs weighed two hundred pounds. As she tried to move closer, for some reason he seemed to get farther away.
Getting frustrated and more determined to be with Sam, she tried running toward him. Suddenly, the closet door opened, and Lara emerged, dressed as Gueniviere. She walked up to Sam, put her arms around him, and they began kissing passionately.
"Nooooo!!!!" Josie yelled.
* * *
Josie woke up with a start and her heart was pounding furiously. Or was it her head? Something wasn't right. Her eyelids were stuck together and when she tried to swallow, there was a dry lump in her throat.
"Josie," the voice from her dream whispered again. Prying one eye open slightly, she slowly turned her head and in her blurred vision saw a framed portrait of a woman with blond hair looking back at her. Opening her other eye, she focused on the image and saw that it wasn't just any woman. It was Lara!
Josie's eyes flew wide open and looked up to see Sam standing over her. He was wearing a black t-shirt and khaki shorts and his hair was sticking straight up in places. His face was covered with a thin layer of stubble.
What kind of dream was this? 'Certainly the strangest dream I've ever had�' she thought in dismay. She lifted her heavy arm up and brought her hand to her face and pinched her cheek. "Wake up," she said to herself. This had to be some kind of nightmare.
Sam looked down at Josie and felt a pang of guilt, knowing that this was the most awkward situation they had ever been in. She obviously had no idea where she was and he would have to explain it to her. He had anticipated that when she saw him in the morning she would be confused, unsure, and who knew what else. Gazing into Josie's big, beautiful but bloodshot eyes, he knew his assumptions were correct. Josie looked downright scared.
To make the situation even worse, Sam watched as Josie slowly pulled the blanket up higher so it was up to her neck.
"Where... where am I?" her voice cracked. "What am I doing here... with you?"
Sam took a deep breath. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. Taking a nervous step closer, he decided that maybe it was better to keep his distance, so he took a step backward and folded his arms in front of him.
"Josie," he began in a soothing tone, "everything's okay. You're at my apartment." Her eyes were still locked on Sam and her frightened expression didn't change. "Do you remember anything about last night?" he continued. He looked deep into her eyes, trying to calm her fears.
Competing with the throbbing pulse of her migraine, Josie closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think back to last night. Prom. Prom!
In a flash, Josie remembered seeing Sam and Lara. She remembered going to the beach with Guy, sitting around the bonfire, sipping wine coolers. She remembered... what else? Why couldn't she remember anything else?
Opening her eyes, Josie brought her hand to her forehead as an effort to stop the throbbing. She slowly sat up, which caused the blanket fell down from her neck into her lap, and the strap of her slip to slide down her right shoulder. When she looked down, she instantly recognized that not only was she in Sam's bed, but she was wearing only her red slip.
But she didn't have time to ponder about it because at that moment, the room began to spin and a wave of nausea rolled through her body.
Sam watched in distress as Josie's face turned green.
"I think... " Josie gulped "... I think I'm going to be sick!"
Without caring where she was or how she was dressed at the moment, she pulled the covers aside, got out of the bed and ran hurriedly out of the room.
Luckily, she found the bathroom right outside and got there just in time.
* * *
Sam stood helpless in his bedroom, staring at the now empty bed while he heard the sound of Josie retching in his bathroom. This was just about the worst possible scenario that he could have imagined happening this morning. He covered his face in his hands and closed his eyes while taking in a deep breath.
In the light of day, the situation looked even worse than it did last night. His seventeen year old student, whom he had fallen in love with, had stayed overnight in his apartment, had slept in his bed, was half-naked and now hung over and sick in his bathroom. He knew this was all his fault.
* * *
"Are you here to settle up your bill, ma'am?" the front desk clerk at the Four Seasons asked Lara.
"Actually, no. Not just yet. I'll be staying another couple of days. I hope that won't be a problem?" Lara asked while smiling softly to make her request more effective.
"No problem at all," the young man smiled back.
* * *
Kneeling on the cold tile floor of Sam's bathroom, Josie leaned her head against her arm resting on the lid of the toilet and shivered. She had never gotten sick from drinking before and this experience told her she never would again.
After a moment, Josie raised her head and looked up toward the ceiling. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. What had she done? How could she have lost control like this? And what in God's name was she doing in Sam's apartment�in his bed? There was only one way to find out, and she wasn't looking forward to it: she had to talk to Sam to find out what had happened.
Lost in her thoughts, Josie barely heard the soft knocking on the bathroom door. "Josie," Sam said quietly from the other side of the door, "are you okay in there?"
Josie paused for a moment before answering. "I'll be out in just a minute," she said in a hoarse voice. Wiping the tears off her face, she stood up and turned on the faucet to splash cold water on her face and rinse her mouth. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and almost began crying again when she saw what a mess she was. Her eyes and nose were puffy and red from crying, her hair looked like a rat's nest, and she was wearing lingerie that no one was meant to see. If there were any way possible to stay in that bathroom and never come out, she would have done it. But she knew Sam was out there and there was no escape.
Josie hesitated a moment as her hand rested on the doorknob. She looked down at her slip and felt naked. But her clothes were somewhere out there, and to get them, she'd have to face Sam.
Knowing she had to get this over with, she opened the door and was startled when she saw Sam standing in front of it. His eyes were politely cast downward and he was proffering a navy blue and red striped terrycloth robe.
"I thought you might like this," he said in almost a whisper. He looked just as uncomfortable and embarrassed by their current situation as she did. Josie looked up at him momentarily before taking the robe. She slid both arms into it and tied the belt. Although it was way too big on her, she immediately felt more comfortable having covered up. Looking up at Sam, her eyes told him how grateful she was for his understanding.
"Are you okay now, Josie?"
Not knowing what 'okay' was, she nodded slowly and looked down at the floor.
"Why don't we go into the kitchen? I'll make some coffee. Maybe that will help." Sam watched as Josie's gaze remained fixated on the floor. "I think we need to talk."
Immediately, she shifted her attention from the floor to Sam and her teary eyes connected with his own. He thought the site of her would break his heart. Trying to lighten things up, he smiled and added, "Well, you've seen the bedroom and the bathroom� Allow me to give you the grand tour. The kitchen is this way."
Josie followed Sam down the hallway leading into the family room. She glanced around, not quite believing that she was actually here, in Sam's apartment, wearing his robe, not knowing or remembering what happened last night. She spotted a well-worn, leather recliner in front of a bookcase and imagined that Sam probably did most of his reading in this comfortable, cozy spot. Looking around a bit more, she saw his collection of literature on a bookcase standing next to an antique desk, a worn out plaid sofa, and a poster of Chris Chelios from the Chicago Blackhawks.
"Josie," Sam interrupted her trance, "why don't you sit at the table and I'll put on some coffee. Then we can talk, okay?"
"Okay," she barely whispered back. She followed Sam to the kitchen table and sat down. What was she going to say? Where would she begin? With last night, or from her first day at South Glen? Maybe she would let Sam do most of the talking.
As Sam measured the coffee and put four scoopfuls into the filter, out of the corner of his eye he watched Josie fidgeting with the belt of his robe. He wondered who was more nervous, Josie or himself. Pouring the water into the top of the coffee maker, he flipped the power button to on and walked over to the table to sit across from Josie. She was still fidgeting with the robe and was looking down at her hands.
Sam cleared his throat nervously. "Josie," Sam started, "We need to talk about last night."
She continued playing with the belt, not looking up at him.
"Josie, look at me," Sam urged.
She looked up at him with her questioning, blue eyes and it took his breath away. Even hung over, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
"Last night, when we were dancing at Prom, there is something I wanted to tell you before we were interrupted."
In response, Josie sighed deeply, remembering the painful memory, but continued to meet Sam's gaze.
"After�that�I was looking everywhere for you, but your friend Rob told me that you had already left with Guy."
Josie's heart fluttered just slightly at the idea that he had tried to find her.
"You were with Lara," she said in half a whisper, "I didn't want to be in the way."
"Josie," he said firmly, "you were not in the way! Lara..." he broke off. How would he say it? "Well, that's part of what I wanted to tell you. We... our relationship�" Sam took a breath. "We're through."
Josie felt as though a bolt of lightening had just shot through her body. How could that be? Just before she had left with Guy, she remembered seeing Lara and Sam dancing cheek to cheek. She couldn't have read that wrong.
"I don't understand," Josie responded. "You looked like you were together last night, Mr. Coulson."
Mr. Coulson. Sam grinned slightly at the recognition that Josie didn't know how to address him. "Josie, I think after last night, you can call me Sam."
Immediately after he said it, he knew that it came out wrong. Josie's eyes widened in shock.
Backpedaling, he quickly clarified, "I meant, seeing as though you stayed at my place� I think you can call me Sam. Just promise not to call me that in class." He made a week attempt to smile at her, but her expression told him she was just as uncomfortable as he was.
Josie wanted to ask him exactly what did happen last night, but she couldn't bring herself to ask yet.
In his awkwardness, Sam took this opportunity to take a break from the conversation he was dreading. "Let me get you some coffee. It looks like it's about finished," he said as he got up. He returned moments later with two steaming hot mugs of coffee. He handed one to her and sat down across from her once again.
"I'm sorry," Josie said as she slowly shifted her gaze to the table and shook her head, "I don't really remember much about what happened last night. After prom," she added.
"Well, like I was saying," he took a quick sip of his coffee and swallowed hard, "I tried to talk to you after that dance but you had already left. So I went to find you."
"You went to find me?" Josie was totally confused. None of this made any sense.
"I had to explain. The way Lara treated you last night..." he closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. "She was very cruel and I was worried that she's hurt you, and I know that she probably did."
Josie's migraine, which only dully ached at this point, was still getting in the way of absorbing what Sam was saying. "Mr. C�I mean Sam� I don't understand�"
"Josie," Sam cut her off, "what I wanted to tell you last night is, well..." Sam looked down at his mug of coffee and blurted out, "you mean a lot to me�" Hearing how that sounded, he quickly backtracked, "as a student, I mean. And," as he stammered he looked up to see Josie's reaction to what he was saying. "I ..."
I love you, he thought to himself.
"I care about you." Her eyes blinked rapidly as she looked at him. "And I never meant for you to get hurt," he added as he looked down to his coffee mug once again. He knew it was a cop out. Under the circumstances, telling her his true feelings was much more difficult than he ever imagined it would be.
Josie did not hear what Sam was trying to say, however. While Sam was trying to tell her how much he cared and didn't want anyone to hurt her, to Josie, it sounded as if he were trying to politely spurn a teenager with a crush on him.
Before Josie could respond, Sam continued. "After prom ended, I went to the beach, because I heard that's where people go afterwards." He nervously looped his fingers through the handle of his mug and looked into it. "I guess I had just missed you."
"I remember being there," Josie admitted, still feeling an overwhelming sense of anxiousness from what he had just told her. "I just don't remember leaving."
"There's a reason for that," he said slowly. "I overheard some of the guys talking, and, well," he looked up into her eyes. "Do you remember how much you had to drink?"
"I'm not a big drinker!" she said, with a bit more emphasis than she intended. "I only had a couple wine coolers� So that's why I don't understand..."
"Josie," Sam interrupted, "those weren't wine coolers."
A look of complete confusion flashed across her face once again.
"Well... what were they then?" she asked naively. "It tasted like a wine cooler."
"From what they were saying, it was probably some really cheap wine with a higher than normal alcohol content. When I was in college, they used to buy that stuff all the time for frat parties. Just a little bit goes a long way, if you know what I mean."
Josie felt hot tears begin to sting her eyes. How could she be so stupid? She had lost control of herself and the situation. "I didn't know," she said hoarsely, as she felt the tears streaming down her face.
"Josie, I'm sorry!" Sam's guilt was increasing by the moment as he watched tears pour down her face. "Don't cry. Please. It's okay." Without thinking, he reached over and with his thumb, gently brushed her teary cheek. Catching himself, he pulled his hand away as if her tears had burned him.
Josie's heart was beating rapidly from Sam's gesture but then returned with a lurch when she saw the naked guilt in his eyes. It seemed more and more evident by the moment that Sam thought her just a foolish teenager, and he felt guilty, thinking that he had in some way led her on.
"Josie, please let me tell you about last night. I can see that you're scared and it's important that you know what happened and how you ended up here."
She nodded in response.
"So, as I was saying," Sam looked down at his coffee which was now lukewarm, "I went to the beach and saw you weren't there, but I overheard Tommy saying that you were really drunk because you had no idea what you were drinking." He looked up at Josie and continued. "He also said that Guy was taking you to a room at the Four Seasons." As expected, she flinched.
"I didn't want you to get hurt, Josie." Sam admitted. "I know it's probably not common for high school teachers to go following their students after prom," Sam rationalized, trying to keep in perspective that he was still Josie's teacher and she was still his student, "but like I said, I care about you and I don't want to see you get hurt. And..." he looked down at the table again. "I felt partially responsible."
There, he'd said it. He actually admitted that he felt responsible for her obviously irresponsible behavior last night. Josie closed her eyes, not wanted to see the pity she assumed would be in his. "You?" Josie asked harshly, angry now that Sam would pity her. "Why would you feel responsible? It was my fault! I let my guard down... I went to that beach... I lost control!" Josie shook her head and covered her face with her hands and let out a deep sigh.
"Josie," Sam reached over and pulled her hands away from her face. "The way Lara treated you... the way I let it happen... it was wrong." He still held her hand in his. 'If only I could have told you how I really feel', he thought to himself. Before letting his emotions carry him away, he looked up at her and slowly let go of her hand.
"So I went to the Four Seasons to find you, to make sure you were all right."
Josie could barely believe what she was hearing. If she was interpreting what Sam was saying correctly, her high school teacher who believed she was seventeen years old had defended her to his girlfriend of five years, had looked for her at the beach after prom to apologize, and had followed her to the hotel to make sure she was okay. Even if his concern was misplaced, Sam certainly did care. It must have torn him up to do all that, thinking he was following around one of his students. He had done all that for her and all she could do in return was betray him with her silence.
"So," Josie found herself interjecting, "How is it that I ended up�here?"
"I went to the hotel and as it turned out, they wouldn't tell me what room you were in. But thankfully, while I was waiting in the lobby, I saw you stumble out of the elevator." He decided that she didn't need to know about Lara's presence.
"Josie," Sam looked up at her again. "I... I don't know what really happened with you and Guy. I wasn't there," his face turned red as he blushed. "I guess only you and Guy know what happened. But I did ask you last night if he hurt you and you told me that nothing happened... which, you know, I guess is none of my business, really," he stammered, "but I just wanted to make sure that didn't take advantage of you in your condition."
Josie tried and tried but she couldn't remember a thing about being in the hotel room with Guy or anything else that took place after the beach. Then, she remembered her dream.
"That would explain my weird dream," she muttered to herself.
"Oh really?" Sam's face was still red. "What dream was that?"
"It was the weirdest thing," she recounted, "I was drinking at the beach and suddenly I was in a hotel room with Guy. But you were there too, wearing a..." she broke off, realizing what she was about to say and how it would sound�just like the lovesick teen he apparently thought she was.
"Wearing a what?" Sam inquired.
Josie didn't answer, but her face turned bright red.
From the expression on Josie's face, it wasn't hard for Sam to guess. "A towel?" he finished for her, feeling a flush cover his face as well.
Josie looked up at him, completely shocked. "Yeah," she breathed, "how did you know?"
His face turned a deeper shade of red. Clearing his throat, he admitted, "Well, I had thought you were asleep, and I'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes into the bathroom for after my shower� You were sort of�sleepwalking, I guess. I�um�didn't think you'd remember that."
"Um, yeah, well, the dream was pretty fuzzy. You know how dreams are," she said quickly. "So, how did I end up here?"
"Well, you were in pretty bad shape in the lobby. I didn't think you were going to make it, so I was planning on driving you home." He took a sip of his now cold coffee. "When we got to the car," he paused, and decided there was no reason to make her feel more uncomfortable by telling her how she responded to him or touched him. 'My little secret', he thought to himself. "When we got to the car you fell asleep and since I don't know where you live, I took you back here. All very innocent, really. I promise."
Josie was stunned. She couldn't believe he had done all of this for her.
"And speaking of where you live� I saw your license Josie." His face turned serious. "Is there something you would like to tell me?"
* * *