Okay so I’ll admit that I grievously overestimated the amount of time that Justin would have available on this tour. The schedule had them performing three nights in a row with a one to two day break in between. I figured that this would give me ample time to work with him and get him prepared for his first test, which I had planned for two weeks after our first meeting. I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

What I had failed to understand was that the group got up at five every morning to do radio interviews until about eight and then they have personal appearances and charity work that takes them through lunch. My days were spent just trying to keep up, car rides, bus trips and a lot of hurry up and wait. It was enough to make me dizzy. After lunch it’s sound check and rehearsal before the Meet and Greet and then the show which doesn’t have them back at the hotel until about eleven. And then they have to hit the club scene.

But Lynn put a stop to Justin's late night activities most directly, her fingers gripping her son’s ear painfully and dragging him to my hotel room door after a show in Camden, New Jersey saying he was ready to study. He had pecked her cheek obediently but scowled at her retreating form, looking at me wearily, rubbing the feeling back into his ear.

I found out quickly that trying to get him to focus after a show was virtually impossible. He is a ball of adrenaline, tapping his pencil manically against his paper while I’m speaking, legs fidgeting all over the place. After the third night of him standing up mid-discussion to stretch and dance across the room I called it quits, resigning instead to try and teach him whenever he had a free moment, usually on long bus rides or after sound checks.

Two weeks had passed and we were behind already but Justin was a quick learner and he never again came to me unprepared. After that first lesson he was eager to please, almost polite in a petulant kind of way. He would whine occasionally, but all it took was a weary glance from me and he straightened up, the memory of my outburst enough to keep his bitching in check. In fact, he was usually over prepared for our sessions, having a lot of the things from his hand outs memorized. He was very smart and often had eloquent things to say on the subject, his smile beaming bright whenever I praised him.

The passing of those two weeks also showed me a lot more of Khefren, his charming smile and “well, well if it isn’t Skylar the Scholar” being one of the high points of my day. Morning coffee became our ritual, me retrieving the cups from the catering room before making my way to the front of house booth. He would greet me warmly and take the cup from me, his fingers brushing mine, whether accidentally or deliberately I couldn't quite tell, but regardless, the shiver up my spine was the same. We would, of course, flirt shamelessly and we had even had lunch a few times. I’d spend most of my mornings learning about the sound equipment and swapping stories with him and while it was no dig for Mycenaean ruins, it was still not as bad as I had anticipated.

Today was no exception, joking and laughing with Khefren and Dale, waiting for Justin to get off the stage so we could go over the next section on near eastern art. I can’t even explain the feelings that I have for Khefren, watching him give Dale a soft punch on the shoulder, tugging his plush bottom lip between his teeth. His eyes catch mine, softening a little and ugh, my insides turn to mush. I really like him. Like I really like him.

“Sky, tell him I’m a prince!” Khefren says, standing next to me and crossing his arms over his chest glaring at Dale who is laughing.

“Well…” I trail, biting my lip and he looks over at me, raising an eyebrow. “He was named after one.”

“See I told you,” he says clapping his hands and pointing at Dale but throwing an arm around my shoulder.

I giggle a little as heat floods through me, the dry, spicy scent of him making me a little dizzy. I bring my hand up to lace through his fingers and look at him with a smile, his lips close to mine. He looks at me, his eyes, green with small flecks of gold, glittering in the dimly lit arena.

“Hey Sky!” Justin says bounding up to me and the spell is broken.

He’s smiling and a little out of breath and when I turn my head to him I notice his smile fade as he eyes Khefren, his brow furrowing in suspicion.

“Hey Little Man,” Khefren says, slipping his arm from around my shoulder and I have to fight my frown. Justin scowls at him before turning back to me.

“Did you see the sound check?” he asks me a little eagerly and I nod smiling at him.

“Yeah, it was nice,” I say even though I hadn’t been paying attention. He beams back at me.

“You ready to study?” he asks, eyes cutting to Khefren before settling back on me.

“Yeah, you go ahead and get set up and I’ll be back in a sec,” I say and he waits a beat before nodding and walking back toward the dressing rooms.

“Someone has a crush,” Khefren says laughing a little as he watches Justin’s retreating form.

“Oh, he does not,” I say laughing.

“Did you see the daggers he was shooting at me,” Khefren asks and I roll my eyes. “He’s smitten.”

“Oh shut up,” I reply, pushing at his chest a little and he smiles warmly down at me.

Our eyes lock and I bite my lip. God, I just want him to kiss me. We’ve been dancing around in this little flirtation for nearly two weeks now. It’s about time one of us made a move. He leans in a little and I hold my breath but he must have lost his nerve because he backs away, smiling wryly at me. Or he could just be a tease.

“Better not keep loverboy waiting,” he grins, wiggling his eyebrows and I roll my eyes turning away from him, but I throw a smile over my shoulder as I leave.

Justin is sitting at the table in the dressing room, his book open in front of him, reading along silently. He really is kind of adorable in a boyish way. And I’m not the only one that thinks so. I made the mistake of walking to the bus with him one morning and nearly lost my hearing. The girls love him; absolutely, fucking adore the kid. They scream and cry and claw at him and he just smiles and signs autographs, thanking them politely for their marriage proposals and offers of bearing his children.

He glances up and sees me, his face breaking into a grin as he turns his body towards me, leg jiggling slightly. If he had been a puppy I'd expect his tail to be wagging or something. Jeez, maybe Khefren was right. He has a chair pulled up next to his and I grab it, dragging it a few feet over. He frowns a little and shit, maybe he really does have a crush on me. Great, just fucking great.

“Okay Justin, first things first,” I say and he holds up his finger, turning away from me to grab a cup on the other side of him.

“Here, I got this for you,” he says, handing it to me and I look at it wearily. “It’s hot chocolate.”

I can’t help but laugh a little, shaking my head at him to take it, feeling a little flustered. I jump a little when I grip the cup and his fingers move down and out of their way to brush mine intentionally. I never know how to act when guys have a crush on me. It just gets awkward and tense and I really don’t need that with a student. I move to pull back, and he lets go of the cup, the backs of his fingers brushing mine and I give him an astonished look because this time I have now doubt that it was intentional. Yeah, awkward and tense….fucking great. He smiles widely at me, watching me until I take a sip and then looking down at his book. Jeez, Khefren is never gonna let me live this down.

“Okay,” I say, setting the cup down and he looks at me attentively. “First, how’s your paper coming?”

His face falls a little and he looks away. Not a good sign.

“Justin,” I say slowly and he looks at me. “You have started your paper haven’t you?”

“Um…” he trails biting his bottom lip. I sigh. “I’m sorry!” he exclaims. “I’m just…we’ve just had so much stuff and…I’ll start to tonight…er…wait… tomorrow.”

He flinches a little, looking at me, his blue eyes large and apprehensive. He tugs his plush bottom lip between his teeth and I sigh. He wants to please me, worried I’ll be disappointed in him, and I am slightly, but I know the feeling. I’ve spent my entire life trying to please my instructors, striving to be the best, and it’s practically torture when you fall short of their expectations.

“Justin, it’s due the day after tomorrow.” I say gently but sternly, and he sighs nodding. “I don’t except late work. You get it done by midnight the day of or it’s a zero, okay?”

“Okay, I definitely will,” he says nodding. “Do you like the hot chocolate?”

“What?” I ask, and then I realize. “Oh…” I reach over and pick up the cup again, bringing it to my lips. “Yes, thank you.”

“Sooo…” he says, and I quirk an eyebrow at him. “You and Khefren are friends?”

Jesus Christ… “Yes.”

“You…like him?”

I nearly spray hot chocolate all over him. I swallow before saying, “What’s it to you?”

“I dunno,” he shrugs indifferently, eyes searching mine imploringly. “You just…you’re always with him.”

“No, I’m always with you.” I say flatly, rolling my eyes slightly but he doesn’t seem to notice, and I watch him inflate a little, biting his bottom lip to keep from smiling. I smile a little too because he really is cute sometimes.

He flips the pages in his book a little and jitters his leg. Okay, so he has a crush on me. But it may not be so bad. He’s doing the work, he’s quit being such a whiney bitch…what’s an innocent, little crush gonna hurt?

***

This…this could be it. Seriously, it really could be. I can’t help but giggle a little as Khefren and I make our way back to my hotel room. He wants to know more about himself, as in the Egyptian pharaoh he’s named after. I’ve told him there isn’t much. He says he wants to see for himself.

This…this could be it. The butterflies in my stomach feel like they’re the size of mack trucks as I slip my key in the lock and allow him entry. His lanky frame slides past me, his chest brushing mine lightly as he passes.

 “Nice room,” he says, looking around and then kicking his legs out and falling onto the bed.

“Make yourself at home,” I laugh and he smiles brilliantly up at me, resting his head on his hand.

His eyes fall on the table, piled with books and papers. He quirks an eyebrow at me, pulling himself up to look through the pile of notes and research.

“What’s all this?” he asks, grabbing a book and flipping through the pages.

I sigh, stress creeping its way up my back and tensing my shoulders. “My thesis paper. On the regional art and history of ancient Greece and Macedonia.”

“Thesis?” he asks, snapping the book shut and examining the cover. “sounds… interesting.”

I laugh a little at him and his throwback to our very first meeting. He grins at me, setting the book back down on the table and falling onto the bed again.

I bite my bottom lip, eyes roving over his body all laid out across my bed. Long, denim clad legs, brown leather belt, and just a hint of skin peeking from under his soft cotton polo.

“Come’ere” he says softly, tugging his head back in a beckoning gesture.

I smile, dragging my feet a little and climb onto the bed, resting on my knees next to him, my palms flat on my cloth covered thighs. His hand reaches for mine, lacing our fingers together.

“Dinner was good,” he says, hazel eyes watching his fingers intertwine with mine. “Well, I guess it wasn’t really dinner. Midnight snack?”

I laugh. “Yeah your job kinda prevents the traditional dinner date doesn’t it?” I bite my lip. “It was good though,” I say softly, watching his face. God, he’s gorgeous.

“Would…” he trails, biting his lip and then taking a deep breath starts again. “Would it be forward of me to kiss you right now?”

My stomach does a summersault as I bite my lip and shake my head no. He grins slowly, propping himself up on his hand, locking his arm to come face to face with me. His nose brushes mine and I nuzzle back, both of us laughing a little, his breath warm against my lips. My tongue snakes out to wet my bottom lip and he mimics me, both of us grinning.

His head tilts and I close my eyes, waiting for the contact and then…

There’s a fucking knock at the door.

He pulls back, tucking his chin to his chest and sighing. I hang my head back and the knock comes again. I growl, pulling myself from the bed and stomping to the door. I swing it open and there’s Justin, notebook tucked under his arm. He smiles brightly at me and I fight the urge to glare at him.

“Hey,” he says a little breathlessly and I force a smile.

“Hey Justin,” I respond and he moves to walk in the door but I put out my arm, grabbing the door frame, baring his entry. “What do you need?”

His face falls. “Um, well this paper…you said it had to be in…” he pauses looking down at his assignment sheet, “emlah.” He looks back at me expectantly.

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me?” What the fuck is he talking about?

“Right here,” he says pointing to the assignment sheet and I lean in, tucking my hair behind my ear as I survey it, “emlah.” His voice is soft, right next to my ear as he leans in as well, his shoulder pressing into mine.

I sigh. “Justin, that’s MLA. It stands for Modern Language Association,” I say and he opens his mouth in a silent “oh” of comprehension and shakes his head.

“Oh…I…I get it,” he chuckles at himself a little and the look on his face tells me that he had it all along.

“Uh huh…” I say, looking at him skeptically and he grins kind of sheepishly.

“Yeah…it was…confusing.” He grins at me boyishly and even though I’m annoyed I smile at him. As much as I hate to admit it, he’s cute sometimes.

“Who is it, Sky?” Khefren’s voice calls from inside the room and Justin’s smile slides off his face immediately. He looks at me, his eyes showing hurt and confusion. “Oh hey little man!” Khefren says and I feel him step up behind me.

“Don’t call me that,” Justin scowls, hand going to his hair and adjusting it nervously. Khefren’s hand slides across my lower back and hugs me to his side.

“Was that all you needed?” I ask, feeling a little bad for him.

“Yeah, that was all,” he says dejectedly, turning to leave.

“Bye, Justin,” I say, watching him trudge away, feeling a small pang of guilt in my chest.

“He so has a thing for you,” Khefren says laughing, his nose nuzzling my ear, breath fanning against my hair. “Then again… so do I,” he adds, swinging the door shut

***

I can’t stop grinning. I’m practically skipping to the coffee cart in the catering room. He likes me! He really does actually like me. Yes, we kissed last night, for hours we just kissed and kissed and kissed like we were fucking teenagers. And then we talked. Jesus we talked and he told me about how he grew up in Michigan, raised by his grandmother, how he had three sisters but wasn’t sure where they were anymore. How he played trombone in middle school and how he always loved music he was just shit at it. But he had a good ear. How he loved his job. How he was really glad that I was here.

And I told him about how I was an only child of parents still married. I told him about growing up in West Virginia and my father’s job as a pharmaceutical drug rep, my mother’s life as a housewife. About my passion for history and art, how I love the steadfastness of dates and the timelessness of art. How I can’t draw to save my life. How I initially hated being stuck on this stupid tour…but now not so much.

And then we kissed some more. He didn’t leave my room until four o’clock in the morning, kissing me sweetly and chastely, making me wish he wasn’t leaving. Wanting him to stay…for us to go further. But I knew we should take it slow. We need to not rush this…we need to savor it. I woke up this morning, or should I say this afternoon, his taste still on my lips along with a smile, his face creeping into my mind. I remembered the way his hands skimmed up my body, touching and feeling tentatively, learning me as I did the same to him. We need to savor this, but not for too long…

I’m practically dancing into the arena of the Hershey Park Stadium as I scuttle my way to the front of house booth. I can’t wait to see him. I walk up, setting his coffee on the side of the booth, fully prepared to smile cheekily at him….

But he’s nowhere around. The booth is empty. I check my watch. 1:36. He’s usually back from lunch by now…

“Hey Sky,” Dale says, brushing past me. He looks harassed and disgruntled.

“Hey Dale,” I reply, watching him fiddle with knobs and buttons, doing what Khefren usually does. “Where’s Khefren?”

Dale sighs, turning to look wearily at me.

“He was fired this morning,” Dale says with a sigh and it’s all I can do to not let my Styrofoam cup of coffee fall to the floor.

“W-what?” I stutter, my mind jamming, not understanding

“Yeah,” Dale replies, sighing tiredly. “They sent him home this morning.”

“I-I-I don’t understand,” I stutter, breath coming in pants. “Fired?”

“Apparently,” Dale says bitterly, “One of the guys had a serious issue with the way the show sounded last night.”

“What?” I ask, astounded.

This doesn’t make any sense. Khefren was good at his job and strove for perfection at every show. It was absurd to think that one of the group was… Wait a minute…

“Which one of the guys had the issue?” I ask, rage already starting to bubble inside me.

“I dunno. Their manager was waiting here when we got in this morning. Said he had to let him go,” Dale replies. “Look, I’m sorry Sky I gotta go. I’m doing his and my work both for this show.”

I watch him make his way across the arena, disappearing backstage, anger rooting me to the spot. Oh, I know exactly which one of the guys it was that had him fired and it had nothing to do with how the show sounded last night, and everything to do with a so-called innocent crush. I’m so mad I’m shaking all over, as I stomp back to the dressing rooms.

I tear down the hallway, breezing past security as I tear towards the room I know he’s in. I stop in the doorway, chest heaving with repressed anger. He’s sitting at the vanity, book open in front of him, cutting out photocopied images of art pieces and architecture and pasting them to index cards. He has his first test next week. He looks up at me and seeing me in the doorway he looks back down to what he’s doing, throwing out a distracted “hey.”

“Did you fire Khefren?” I ask angrily, hands fisting at my sides.

He glances up at me again, his jaw clenched, eyes triumphant. He does a poor job of repressing his smile as he looks back down at the scissors in his hands.

“Who said it was me?” he asks and I clench my teeth.

“I know it was you, Justin,” I growl. “Why would you do that? He was good at what he did. The shows sounded great-”

“And how would you know?” he asks, looking up at me, eyes cold. “It’s not like you’ve ever been to one.”

My jaw drops a little. I had indeed never attended a show, but Khefren was such a perfectionist, and the sound check’s always sounded amazing.

“What does that have to do with anything?” I spit, but its weak and even he can see that.

He gives a perturbed sigh before looking up at me and condescendingly replying, “Look, Sky, it was business, okay. I’m sorry you lost your little boyfriend but this tour isn’t about your love life.”

He gives a wave of his hand, sighing annoyedly and rage boils in me. This whiney little bitch is treating me like some love sick teenager, like one of his stupid fans. I grind my teeth and step inside slamming the door behind me. He looks up at me startled.

“Put your stuff away,” I growl and he looks at me perplexed.

“Why?” he asks suspiciously.

“Because you’re taking your test right now.”

His eyes widen and his jaw drops.

“What?” he asks, his voice jumping an octave. “You said it wasn’t until next week!”

“Well, you’re taking it now. Take out some notebook paper and a pencil and put your other shit away.”

I’m so livid I can barely even see straight. He scoffs, frozen in his seat unmoving.

“That’s not fair!” he whines. “You haven’t even given me any time to study! I don’t know any of the dates!”

“Put your stuff away now or you get an automatic zero.”

He scowls deeply, dropping all his things to the floor and kicking it violently under the vanity, pulling out a pencil and a page of notebook paper.

“Your test will consist of four essay questions-”

“Essay questions!” he exclaims and I give him a menacing look and he shuts up immediately.

“You will need to have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Spelling and grammar will be taken into account.”

“Skylar you can’t be-”

“Question number one!” I say over him and he sighs, defeated. “Describe in detail the function, iconography, symbolism, religious meaning, and explain the significance of the Ancient Egyptian Shawabti. Be sure to cite specific pieces. ”

“Wait…what?” he asks looking at me confused. “We didn’t cover that-”

“Names, dates, and locations are required.” I sigh, falling into a chair and he looks at me, completely lost.

“Wait so-”

“This is an exam, Justin,” I reply coldly. “There’s no need to talk.”

He sighs, putting his pencil to paper and writing, brow furrowed in confusion. I almost feel bad for him as I spout out three more graduate level essay questions at him, watching his scowl deepen, feeling the satisfaction of revenge. Everything was going so well. I was finally not hating this stupid job. I was finally dating a guy who respected me and had his act together. And Justin just had to screw all of that up. He’s gritting his teeth the entire time, and I can tell he’s holding back his smart ass remarks, forcing down his whines of protest.

“Times up,” I say, looking down at my watch, having given him only twenty minutes on his last essay, and I can tell that he just can’t take it anymore.

“Are you fucking serious?” he exclaims and I walk over and snatch up his papers, before going back over to my chair.

“You forgot your name,” I said, pulling my red pen out of my bag. “That’s ten points off.” His eyes widen.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

“And you didn’t indent your paragraphs; that’s another five points.”

“Skylar!” he exclaims, his eyes pleading with me and I feel a small pang of guilt. “God dammit this is fucking stupid. You can’t be that pissed off about losing some stupid guy. I mean Jesus I heard girls went batshit crazy after giving a guy some pussy but this is ridiculous.”

Guilt. Gone.

“You selfish, spoiled prick. What the hell would you know about it? You’re a fucking virgin!” I spat and he scowls deeply at me, opening his mouth to retort but I lean forward, dropping my voice to a throaty whisper. “And you wish you could get a taste of this pussy.” I watch his eyes widen and he sucks in his breath, eye wide as he scans my face. “That’s the reason you fired Khefren right? You figured with him out of the way you’d get this little snatch all to yourself, well three words, Justin.” I say relishing in the shocked look on his face, falling back against my chair again. “Never. Gonna. Happen.”

“You are such a cold hearted bitch,” he grits out, clenching his fists that are resting on the vanity and I sigh in satisfaction.

“And keeping with that theme,” I say. “You are to write me a ten page research paper on the Apollo of Veii, Italy.”

“Ten pages!” he exclaims, jaw dropping.

“Due in one week.”

“One week!

“You need five sources aside from your book.”

“Where am I going to get the time to-”

“You wanted my attention, Justin!” I say cutting him off harshly, “you got it. I’m gonna ride you so hard you’ll feel it for days. And I’m not talking in a way you might enjoy.”