In Love With the Teacher by Sharon Cummin

I had just turned eighteen and graduation was only a few weeks away. I was in the home stretch. It was so close, I could feel it. My mom had been on my back for four long years. I had been the perfect daughter and student that she’d expected me to be. It was my job to make her proud. That was what she told me anyway.

I was getting tired of living my life for her. All I had to do was get through graduation and then summer, and I would be more free than I had ever been before. The college I’d chosen was only an hour away, and I was fine with that. It was just far enough that she couldn’t dictate every moment of my days.
It was Friday night, and my mom was out with her new man. I wasn’t happy with her. My dad had passed away only a year before, and I wasn’t thrilled that she had already moved on. My best friend Sally called to see if I wanted to go to a party with her. She knew I was going to say no, but when she found out that my mom was gone for the night, there was no way she was going to let me out of it. She’d been invited by some guy she had just met. I knew she didn’t want to go alone, and I was worried about her. One party couldn’t hurt, right?

When we pulled up to a frat house at the college I was going to attend the following year, I was pissed. She’d led me to believe it was a high school party we were going to. I should have known better.
As soon as we walked through the door, she ditched me, and I had no idea what I was going to do. I went outside and found a place to sit. It was nice out, and the stars were sparkling in the sky. I was at a place filled with fun, and all I could do was sit alone, thinking about my mom. She spent every moment of my life telling me what to do, and when I voiced my opinion on one thing I felt strongly about, she wouldn’t even listen.

When an extremely gorgeous guy walked up to talk to me, shivers ran through my body. That was when I decided that Sally was right. I deserved one fun night before graduation. It was time to enjoy myself for a change. My mom had been doing it for as long as I could remember. Why couldn’t I? I could go right back to my boring life the next morning. It wasn’t like it would hurt anything. I’d never see him again anyway.
The night was definitely fun, but it was also one I’d never forget, not even if I wanted to.
One shocking surprise turned into two and then into three, and I quickly learned that my one night of fun had changed the course of my life forever.