“Thank you.” Lily took one last look before stepping back into the hall, the door clicking shut behind her.
“Know your way out?”
“I think so.”
“Hope your session goes okay.”
“Thanks.” Lily made her way back to the stairwell as Kate disappeared down the hall, some of her nervous energy dissipating with every step. The sun was shining, and she had an hour to kill—time to find Paige, eat lunch, and then blow the kids minds with advanced chemistry.
* * *
Eva paused on the way to Kate’s office, staring at a closed door that had once belonged to her.
Her name plaque had been stripped away, but no new one lay in its place, and Eva tried the handle.
It was unlocked, the inside bare aside from the chair and desk, her old desktop gathering dust on top of it. Eva sighed, knowing that in another life, if things were different, she’d be sitting behind that desk right now.
Nostalgia was one hell of a drug, but Eva knew this time of year was busy. If she were still a professor, she’d be drowning under a pile of grading and preparing for the upcoming semester, while as a teacher, things were starting to wind down.
Eva didn’t begrudge her mother a thing, but she couldn’t deny that she missed this place more than she could say.
Tearing herself away, Eva retreated further down the hall and knocked lightly on Kate’s ajar door.
“Intruder alert,” Kate said, lips curving into a smile when she glanced away from her computer. “I told them to change the locks. Shouldn’t you be out having lunch with the people you work with?”
Eva wrinkled her nose and sat in the chair on the other side of Kate’s desk. “No, thank you.”
“You’re so antisocial.”
“I’m being sociable right now.”
“Yeah, with someone who lives seven hundred miles away.”
“All the more reason for me to be here,” Eva said, crossing one leg over the other. “I’m leaving tomorrow, remember? I’ve got to take advantage of the time we’ve got left. Especially as you’re abandoning me tonight.”
Something Eva wasn’t looking forward to. She’d have to be creative to avoid Lily that evening. Although the teachers usually had a get-together on the last night—maybe Lily would go to that, offering Eva a reprieve.
Kate rolled her eyes. “Having dinner with my sister is hardly abandoning you. And don’t pretend you usually spend this much time with me—last year I barely saw you.”
“Is it a crime to want to spend time with my newly-divorced friend?”
“Ouch.” Kate pressed a hand to her chest. “We both know that has nothing to do with why you’re acting like my shadow. It’s because you’re avoiding that pretty blonde thing.”
“I am not—wait.” Eva frowned. “I never told you she was blonde.”
Kate pursed her lips. “Didn’t you? My mistake. Must have assumed.”
Eva narrowed her eyes; she could always tell when Kate was lying. “What did you do?”
“Nothing!”
“Kate…”
“Okay, fine. I ran into her earlier.”
“Ran into her,” Eva said, her voice flat. “By accident, I’m sure.”
“Quite,” Kate said, her smile innocent.
