The Sun and The Stars

She’d never gotten very teary-eyed when it came to the end of the school year, and this time was no exception. No matter how many students she saw running up to their teachers or friends with waterfall faces, she just couldn’t relate to how they felt. Summer was supposed to be a time full of freedom, a time to get away from their teachers, and even if they never ended up seeing each other again, it wasn’t like they’d be gone forever.

Before she could convince herself further of how idiotic everyone was acting, though, she felt the wind getting knocked out of her, taking a step back from the force that suddenly collided with her stomach. She gritted her teeth, trying not to glare, but that was easier said than done with her abdomen still in pain after the surprise attack from one of the freshmen at CHS.

“Miss Shimmer! I’m gonna miss you so muuuuuuuch!”

“Easy, Flurry,” the woman said, trying to pry the freshman’s constricting grip away from her waist, to no avail. “I’m not going anywhere. It’s not like you won’t see me again next year.”

“I know,” Flurry Heart said with a sniffle, wiping a tear from her eye once she finally released her death grip. “It’s just, you’ve been the best teacher I’ve ever had! What am I going to do next year? I’m gonna have Miss Cheerilee! No one ever comes out of her class alive!”

Sunset put her hands to her hips with a sigh. “Relax. I don’t know what Pumpkin Cake told you about her, but she’s actually really good! Did I ever tell you that she was my teacher at one point too?”

The freshman cringed. “Seriously? How old even are you?”

“Hey! It was only a few years ago! I’m not that old!”

Flurry Heart suddenly stepped back, holding her hands up in defense. “Th-that’s not what I meant! I wasn’t calling you old! I was only calling her old! You still look fresh as a daisy!”

Then, with a long-winded sigh, Sunset placed her hand to her face and calmly said, “Get outta here, Flurry. Go enjoy your summer. I’ll see you in three months.”

The freshman smiled again, giving her teacher one last wave before turning her shoulders towards the school entrance. “OK. Bye, Miss Shimmer! See you next year!”

Just as Sunset lifted her hand to wave back, Flurry Heart was already skipping away giddily, making the teacher crack a smile that she was trying to hold back. It really only had been a few years since she was a student at this school herself. She never acted like that when was a student, did she?

Beep, beep!

“Hmm?”

Again, just as Sunset found herself going off on a mental tangent, she found herself being pulled back to earth from someone she knew. Once she pulled out her phone and saw who was messaging her in the first place, however, she realized that “knew” wouldn’t exactly be the right word to use here. The teacher then walked to the door of her classroom, turned the lights off, and locked the door behind her. She’d be back the next day, just like all the other teachers were forced to do the day after the last day of school, but she still felt like she was saying goodbye to a lot more than an empty classroom.

“Jeez. What am I even thinking?”

Then, shaking her head, Sunset began walking towards the school entrance, breathing a sigh of relief that she was able to finish another long school year, even if this time she was on the other side. Thankfully, it looked like all the students had gone home by this point, which meant that there wouldn’t be any fishy rumors going around when she returned next fall. Of course, the initial rumors would probably be right, but somehow, those damn teenagers always found a way to distort the truth and turn them into weird accusations that would land the victim into heaps of trouble if Principal Celestia ever overheard.

The moment she stepped outside, however, she had to hold her arm over her face to block out the sunlight that engulfed her vision. “You always did prefer sunsets over sunrises. Or, the sun in general, really.”

It took a moment for her pupils to adjust, but once they did, she saw a woman about her age standing in front of her with her arms folded, wearing her signature beanie and dark vest. Sunset rolled her eyes, grinning wider than she wanted as she approached the person speaking to her.

“Oh, please,” Sunset spat back. “Don’t act like you know me so well.”

The teacher had to do one more quick look around the area to make sure there weren’t any students passing by, and once she was sure they were alone, Sunset wrapped her arms around the woman and placed a soft kiss against her lips. The two held each other for a whole minute, practically begging to get caught by a teacher ready to start their own summer vacation. Once she felt Starlight’s hands around her waist, though, it felt nearly impossible to be the one to let go.

“I’ve missed you, baby,” the purple-haired woman said, finally releasing the other with a blush on her face. “You about ready to get out of here and catch up?”

Sunset scoffed. “Trust me, I’ve been waiting to get out of here for nine whole months. Did you have anywhere in mind?”

The purple-haired woman put her finger to her lip as she thought. “How about one of those drive-in movie things you’ve told me about? I’m still not exactly sure what a movie is, but from what you say, they sound pretty fun!”

“Sure. Just… give me one sec.”

Just as Starlight grabbed the other woman’s hand to lead her away from the school, however, Sunset turned to face the school again, staring at the entrance for longer than she initially anticipated. Seriously, it wasn’t like school wasn’t just going to start up again in a couple weeks anyway. What was even the point of getting emotional about it?

“Sunset?”

“Huh?” The teacher suddenly shook her head before looking into Starlight’s curious eyes. “Oh, sorry. Let’s just get out of here.”

“It’s hard to let go, isn’t it? All the seniors graduating, all the kids who will move away before the end of the summer. Who would have thought that the two of us would end up as educators, huh?”

Sunset groaned, using the hand that wasn’t holding Starlight’s to dig through her pocket for her car keys. “Don’t be stupid. I’m not going to miss any of those snotty kids.”

“Ohhhhh?” Sunset continued to face forward, even though she could see her girlfriend’s smug grin out of her peripheral vision. “I dunno, babe. I think you’ve grown a soft spot for them.”

“Ugh. Don’t project yourself onto me. This is only my first year teaching. Of course I’m going to wonder if I did a good job.”

Once she managed to pull her keys out of her pocket, she quickly unlocked the door to her Toyota Celica and threw her purse in indignantly, which somehow only made Starlight’s grin grow wider. The two of them quickly got in and pulled their seatbelts over their shoulders, but just as Sunset was about to place her keys in the ignition, her girlfriend suddenly appeared in front of her face again, planting another passionate kiss on the woman’s lips. Now that they were at least out of sight from the general public, Sunset could be a little more dangerous, pulling onto the back of Starlight’s head and pulling their mouths in harder. The moment her tongue slid into Starlight’s mouth, however, the purple-haired woman pulled her face away and wiped the saliva from her mouth, facing forward with a feminine smile.

“You know, I miss my kids already,” Starlight began, eliciting an eyeroll from Sunset as she started up her car. “I never realized how rewarding it can be just to give them confidence before they go out into the real world.”

“Sounds like you got some good ones.”

As Sunlight placed her hand on the back of Starlight’s seat to back out, she unfortunately noticed a curious eyebrow rising. “And you’re telling me that none of yours were good ones?”

“Meh, they were OK. I just don’t know if I like being a teacher as much as I thought I would.”

Finally, once she managed to pull her car out of her parking space, she shifted her car into drive and began skidding out of the teachers’ lot, trying to ignore Starlight as much as she could. Then, with her hand falling onto Sunset’s leg, Starlight quietly muttered, “Suuuure you don’t.”