Every one knows that high students often have crushes on their teachers, especially if the teacher is not bad looking and is sympathetic to their adolescent problems. And the crushes can go both ways, even all three ways. Female students may have a crush on their male teachers. Male students may have a crush on their female teachers. Or even a student of one sex may have a crush on a teacher of the same sex.
What is less commonly known is that often teachers also have crushes on their students, especially the more appealing and likeable ones. Naturally, the teaching code expects that you do not express this crush in any way, but it still can be there. I doubt that there is a male or female teacher anywhere in America who has not fantasized at one time or another about the idea of having sex with one of their more attractive and appealing students. As an English teacher in a New England high school, I had fantasized about that idea from time to time, but naturally I never acted upon it.
My best fantasy was about Katherine Comby. She came from a well-to-do family and was a striking beauty as well as highly intelligent. She was about five-eight with long blonde hair that hung to the middle of her back, the traditional blue eyes, and a lovely figure that filled out only 110 pounds. She also had the most engaging sweet smile. Her breasts appeared to be on the smallish size, but they fit her frame.
There was no question my fondness for Kathy was returned. While she was one of the smartest students in the senior class, she used to come to my room nearly every day after school to get my input on essays she had written for other classes. She hardly needed advice, so I assumed that was just an excuse to get together and talk.
One of the things we liked to talk about was travel. Travel was my passion, and since I was a widower, during the summer break, I would travel to some exotic spot, such as Paris, London, Rome, Vienna, etc. for a couple of weeks. Despite Kathy's tender age, she also had been to London, Rome, and Vienna, thanks to her grandfather, also a widower, who took her on one distant summer vacation every year as long as she got good grades in school. I also suspected he got a thrill at the idea of having a beautiful young woman on his arm. Let people think what they would; he probably enjoyed it.
But the one place she said she had always wanted to go to was Paris, which I had been to a number of times. She said she envied me—and definitely wanted to go there someday.
I was saddened when Kathy graduated and prepared to go off to a university in Boston to study for Broadcast Journalism. She graduated at the age of 17, but would turn 18 during the summer. Her high school boyfriend Ryan was going to the same school for pre-Law, and it was my understanding that they would be living together. Sigh. What a lucky man.
But I was also to run into her during the summer before she left. Some friends were visiting me from out of state, so I took them to dinner at one of the area's finer restaurants. I was surprised to find that Kathy was our waitress. I stood up to greet her, and we exchanged hugs, which I guess was allowed now since she was no longer my student.
"So you're working here during the summer?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"And how is Ryan?"
She frowned. "We're not going together anymore," she replied, "He wanted to get married right away and start to have a big family instead of going to school. But I'm not ready for that yet—so we've split up."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I guess it's for the best if that's the way you feel. Where is your grandfather going to take you this year? Paris?"
Her face darkened. "My grandpa died about a month ago."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear about that as well."
"So I guess I won't be going anywhere for awhile. I can't afford it while I'm going to school."
"Well, you'll get there someday. In the meantime, good luck in school."
"Thanks."
We embraced again, and I returned to my table of friends. "That was a former student of mine," I explained.
"She looked more like a former girlfriend from that hug," friend Don said.
"Don't be silly. Not having an affair with the students is the number one rule of teaching."
But after the dinner, when I was sitting at home having a glass of wine, I began to think about it.
While I was not planning another trip to Paris right away, there was no reason why I could NOT take one. And Paris in the month of December was one of my favorite times to go there. Airfare was cheap, hotel rooms were easy and inexpensive to get, and restaurants were always uncrowded.
I knew that Kathy would be off school for a couple of weeks during the Christmas period. What if I asked her if she would like to go with me to Paris for a week? I would simply be her escort. She would be expected to pay for her own portion of the airfare, but not right away; it could be done in installments. And the hotel room would cost the same if it was one or two persons, so I could take care of that. I could get one room but ask for double beds (Yeah, right.) And as far as meals went, I would be happy to pay for her meal just for the pleasure of her companionship and conversation.
Naturally, I would tell her that it would be strictly a platonic arrangement, in case she wanted to tell her parents about the trip, and nothing unseemly would be expected of her. (Yeah, right.)
I found out what time she started to work at the restaurant, so I visited there at the beginning of her shift, when I knew she would not be too busy.
"Hi!" she greeted.
"I have something to ask you. Do you have a couple of minutes?"
"Sure." She sat down at a table, and I sat opposite her.
"I'm planning a trip to Paris in the middle of December, and I wondered if you would like to come along. I could be your guide."
Here eyes grew wide. "Are you kidding me?!"
"No, I'm not kidding."
I explained the details to her and how it would work. She would be expected to pay me back for the airfare, which I could take care of initially, but she could do it over a period of time.
"I would love to go to Paris!" she cried.
"You're sure your parents would not object?"
"Of course not. They know you were my teacher, and even if they did, I would go anyway. I'm eighteen, you know."
Yes, I did know that, and it was an important factor. I was 52 and in good physical shape and surely not too old for an 18-year-old? I assumed since she had been dating Ryan for more than two years that she was no longer a virgin. You know kids today.
"It's a deal then," I replied, "I'll like to get the tickets for leaving from Logan Airport on the December sixteenth and then back on the twenty-third. Would that be okay?"
"It would be very okay. I could pay you for about half of my airfare right away and the rest over a couple of months, if that would be okay."
"Of course. Then your only expense would be if you wanted to buy anything there."
"Which I would," she replied with a big smile.
I was able to get the tickets from American Airlines for $450 RT for each of us and was able to make a reservation at a little French hotel I had always liked on the Rue Ste. Honore, not far from the Arc du Triomph. I made sure that it was a front room with a view of the Eiffel Tower—and that it had a double bed.
I don't know whether Kathy ever actually did tell her parents or not, but I picked her up at her dorm in Boston on the last day before Christmas recess and drove her out to Logan International. At my suggestion, she was carrying only one small suitcase. We were able to have dinner at a restaurant at Logan while waiting for the 7 p.m. flight. I ordered a carafe of white wine to go with it. I don't know what the drinking age was in Mass., but I assumed I could get away with it.
"I guess since you're eighteen and no longer a student of mine, I can offer you a glass of wine," I said.
"Of course."
I poured for her. "Good way to start the trip," I said.
She raised her glass. "To Paris."
"Yes, to Paris." I joined the toast.