Teacher's Girl (Aflyingwhale)
Chapter 38: Social Distancing

Chapter 38: Social Distancing 

EMMA’s POV:

Normally, I hate Mondays.But, not this year.

This year, Mondays meant that I could see my boyfriend around the school, so how could I not lookforward to it? I had a spring in my step as I made my way to school.

Walking down the hallways, I noticed that people’s eyes were on me.It was a weird feeling to benoticed like this, but I couldn’t blame them.

I may have gone a little bit too overboard with my new wardrobe.I was wearing this off-shouldersweater dress that was kind of short.

Usually, I'd wear a pair of leggings with them, but not anymore.I paired it with some tall knee- lengthboots instead.

"Whoa, who are you and what have you done to my sweet, innocent Emma?"Carrie said, stopping mytracks.

"Well, I don’t know who she is but I love her!"Tiff followed suit.

"I'm pretty sure this isn’t up to snuff to our school’s dress code,"Mark added.

"We have a dress code?"I asked.

"Morally, I guess?"Mark shrugged.

"Guys, chill, it’s just an outfit,"

I laughed at their overly dramatic reactions.

"Oh, we are chill.I'm just not sure he is,"

Tiff whispered to my ears and motioned to the direction of some teachers walking by.lan was walkingwith Coach Pullman and Mr.Hawthorn.

lan was usually quiet and he kept to himself, he never hung out with the other teachers.

But today, they looked really friendly with each other.Must be because of their outing last night.Whenhe saw me standing there in my outfit, lan almost spat the coffee in his hand.He shot me an ‘are youcrazy’ look and I just smiled innocently.

"Good morning, Mr.Hayes,"I said when he was an arm's length away.

He stopped his tracks and said, "Good morning...Ms.Sinclair,"

That's funny.

Normally he’d call me by my first name.

He was about to walk away, but I quickly said, "I was just about to return that book I borrowedyesterday,"

"Just leave them on my desk,"he said coolly and rejoined the other two teachers.

"Oh, okay,"I muttered under my breath.

He didn’t even bother looking back, and he just kept going.

What the hell was that?

Throughout the rest of the day, I had a feeling that lan was avoiding me.

I couldn't replace him anywhere, and when I finally did, he wouldn't even look at me.

By last period, I couldn't take it anymore.

I took a hallway pass and marched to the art studio.I made sure that he was completely alone in thatclassroom before entering the room.

"Hey, I've been looking for you everywhere,"

I couldn't hide the excitement on my face when I could finally be alone with him.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in class,"he was sitting on his desk and he looked upat me in shock.

"Yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?"I bit my lip seductively and made my way over to him.

I put my hands on his desk and leaned down, purposefully showing off my cleavage.

He swallowed hard and sucked in a deep breath before saying, "Emma, you can't be doing things likethese around school,"

"Why? Because if you’re mad, you can always punish me later,"I said shamelessly, egging him on.

"Oh, I will punish you,"he said through gritted teeth.

"But it's not safe here.People might start asking questions.We have to be careful, alright?"

I was about to lean closer to him, but he quickly moved away.His eyes darted to the door, as if he wasafraid someone could just barge right in.

"What people?"I asked.

"The other teachers are — never mind,"he sighed and raked his hair in frustration.

"Just, stop this, whatever you're doing.You understand me?"he sounded like was annoyed.

I thought he was joking at first, but the more I studied his face, the more I realized that he was serious.

"Emma, I need you to tell me that you understand,"he said again in that cold, flat tone.

"Understand what exactly?"I sighed.

"That you're being very juvenile right now,"Juvenile? Last time I checked, he enjoyed my little show justas much as I did.

What gives? I backed away and scoffed, "You were fine with it yesterday, but now I’m acting like a kid?"

"I don't think you realize the gravity of the situation here,"He didn’t say no, so he agreed.

He thought I was acting like a child.He was talking down on me, and I didn't like that.

He didn’t think I was taking this seriously, did he?

"Everything is fine, lan.Stop overreacting,"I tried to reason with him.

"Emma, don't call me that in school,"he hissed.

This was weird.

I didn’t know what was going on with him, but this was not the normal lan that I knew.

His eyes darted to the door again, looking out nervously.

"Whatever, I gotta get back to class,"I shook my head and turned to my heels.

If we were gonna be able to have an honest talk, it wouldn't be in here.

He was being too paranoid for no reason at all.

"Hey, wait a second —"he was trying to stop me, but I was quicker.

I had made it out the door and I was walking down the empty hallway when I heard someone called myname.

"Hey, Emma,"I turned around, expecting it to be lan.

But turns out, it was Tyler.

"Tyler, hey,"

"Nice...I would say outfit, but then I can also say ‘lack thereof," he joked when he noticed what I waswearing.

"Not you too,"

I rolled my eyes and sighed dramatically,

"Fine.Okay, I'll wear a jacket,"

I made my way to my locker, which luckily was only a couple of steps away.

I fished out a cheerleading jacket I always store inside and quickly put it on.

"I'm not saying it's bad,"

Tyler followed me to my lockers, "You can wear a potato sack and you'll still look great,"

"Ha-ha," I laughed drily,

"Thanks,"

"So, yesterday was kinda fun, huh?"he said as I closed my locker shut.

"Sure, if fun meant picking up trash for three hours straight.My back was hurting me,"

"No, I meant talking to you was fun,"

"Oh,"

Then on the corner of my eye, I noticed lan was standing a couple of feet away from us.

He must have followed me outside.

"So, um, can I ask you something?"Tyler was speaking to me, but my attention was focusedsomewhere else.

"Yeah, what's up?"

I tried my best to stay engaged in our conversation, but I could tell lan was waiting."You know, thehomecoming dance is coming up,"

"Yeah,"

"Are you going with anyone?"

"Just with my friends,"

Of course I was.

Carrie and Tiff wouldn't stop going on and on about our last homecoming dance as seniors.

Carrie was going with Mark and Tiff wanted to ask out this hot new guy she met at Target.

"I know it’s a long shot, but uh, do you think you'd go to the dance with me?"

Tyler said and this time, he had my full attention.

"I transferred here last year and I don’t have that many friends.I just thought it'd be fun if you'd go withme,"

"Oh...Tyler...you're so sweet, but um...I...I don’t know..."my eyes darted between him and the wallbehind him, where lan was standing.

"Yeah, I know we just met.Before yesterday you don't even know I exist,"he laughed nervously, puttinghis hands in his pocket, he said, "I get it.It's okay if you don’t have an answer right now.You can thinkabout it,"

"Sure..."

"Take your time.You can tell me your answer whenever.Just, preferably before the actual dance,"

"Right,"

"Okay, I'll see you at the community garden then?"

"Okay...See you,"

As soon as Tyler walked away, I let out a sigh of relief.

Tyler was very sweet, and if the circumstances were different, I wouldn't mind going to the dance withhim.

My eyes went back to lan who was watching me like a hawk.

I walked over to him as he didn't seem to be moving.

"So, that’s Tyler,"

I said cautiously, gauging his reaction.

He remained quiet and stoic, I didn’t know what to make of that.

"You don't have to worry about the dance.I’m gonna tell him I’m going with my friends,"I said again.

lan took a deep breath before letting out a long sigh.

Finally, his gaze went down and he said lowly, "I think you should go with him,"

"What?"

"He seems like a good kid.And it’s a high school dance.You should be able to enjoy it with yourfriends,"

"What are you saying?"

"Just don’t kiss him.Don't flirt with him,"he paused for a second before continuing, "But go ahead,"

Before I could say anything else, the last period bell rang aloud and we heard the sound of doorsopening and students racing out.

We both took a step away awkwardly as students started filling in the hallway.

I still wanted to talk to him, but lan turned away and walked off without another word.

I had another community garden session that day after school.I tried calling lan before I went for myhours, but he wasn't picking up.Frustrated, I started thinking again about what he said.

Maybe something happened last night when he was out with the other teachers? Maybe he was feelingthe pressure of this relationship and it was too much for him to handle? Maybe he was secondguessing his decision to be with me? These were all terrible thoughts.

I decided I had to go see him tonight after going to the community garden.I at least deserved anexplanation for his sudden change in behavior.

I was dreading the hours that I had to spend in that garden.

Time couldn't pass slower.

Tyler was around, helping me with sorting out the trash we picked up yesterday.

He liked to talk and tell jokes, and if this was yesterday, I would have been enjoying it.

But today, I couldn't do much except sighing and letting out dry laughs.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Tyler said when he noticed I was staring blankly into space.

"Yeah, it's nothing.I'm fine,"I muttered quickly.

He looked down, raking his hair with his hand, he then said, "Emma, I hope me asking you to thedance is not gonna make things awkward between us.

You can just say no if you don’t wanna go,"

"Oh, no.It's not that I don’t wanna go.You're really sweet to ask but..."

"But you're already going with someone else?"

"Not exactly.I don’t have a date or anything, I was just planning to go with friends..."

"So, what is it? You don’t wanna go with me?"He was such a sweet person and I felt like we could begood friends.

So, I gave him a small smile and I decided to be honest with him.

"Look, Tyler, you’re a great guy and you're fun to talk to.But I kinda like someone else,"

"Oh..."he mouthed.

He looked disappointed, but he managed to remain smiling, "And you want to go with him?"

"Well...he’s...away, so I can't,"I sighed.

Why do things have to be so complicated?

"So, Tyler, listen,"

I paused for a second before saying,

"I will go with you to the dance, just as friends, if you want to.I'll introduce you to my other friendstoo.We can all have a good time.But I just don't want to think that I’m leading you on,"

"Oh, no, I understand,"he nodded quickly.

"So, yeah.You still wanna go to the dance with me?"

"Absolutely!"he replied without waiting for another second.

"Are you sure?"I half-laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Totally.It'll be fun,"he nodded furiously before picking up a sack of trash.

"A lot more fun than this, that’s for sure,"

"Yeah," I laughed in agreement.