“He is.” Lily wouldn’t dream of saying a student wasn’t. “But he refuses to apply himself. As I’ve said, I’m more than happy to run sessions after school, but I can’t force him to turn up. Maybe you could have a word with him about it. Ask him why he’s chosen not to.” Before he started accusing Lily of doing a shitty job.
“Very well.”
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“No, thank you.” He hung up, and Lily rolled her eyes as she let the phone clatter back onto the hook.
“Why do parents always want to blame us for their kids doing badly, when it’s the kids who can’t be bothered to make the effort? What do they want me to do? Spoon-feed them the answers?”
“Obviously.” Mei fished a Pop-Tart out of the toaster. “It’s never the kids fault. Who was it?”
“Kayden Kane’s dad.”
Mei winced. “Oh, yeah. You’re not the first to have a run-in with him. Pop-Tart?” Mei shook the box at her. “Proven to fix even the worst of days.”
“Are they?”
Mei shrugged. “Works for me.”
“I’m guessing you’re having a rough day, too, then?”
“I had to keep my whole class behind for fifteen minutes because they wouldn’t stop messing around, and I have mid-terms to grade and finals papers to write.”
“So, in short: yes.”
Mei put another Pop-Tart into the toaster for good measure.
“And don’t remind me about finals papers. I don’t even know where to start.” Lily hadn’t been entrusted to do it when she’d been training.
“I can help you,” Mei said. “Show you where to find questions.”
“Thanks.” Lily was about to ask something else when the door opened once more, but the words died in her throat when Eva strode into view.
Eva’s eyes landed on her, and Lily swallowed, wondering if the room felt like it had gone ten degrees colder to anyone else. She half-expected Eva to turn around and walk back out, but she glanced at Mei and seemed to steel herself, grabbing an apple and a bottle of water from inside the refrigerator before retreating.
It had been weeks since Winter Formal, weeks of no contact, weeks of complete avoidance except where necessary, and still, Lily felt like she was breathing in quicksand whenever they saw one another.
“Okay,” Mei said, glancing between Lily and the closed door. “I’ve bitten my tongue for long enough. What the hell is going on between you two?”
Lily let out an indignant squeak. “What? Nothing.”
“Something. There’s a weird vibe whenever you’re around each other. And that day I walked in on you arguing? You looked like you couldn’t decide whether you wanted to rip her throat out or her clothes off.”
Lily cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks burn, mortified Mei was right. She’d never wanted things with Eva to spill out beyond the walls of her classroom, but there Mei was, staring at her expectantly.
“So, tell me,” Mei said, eyes on Lily’s face. “Do you like her?”
“Uhm, have you met Eva?” The Eva she showed at work, anyway. The one behind closed doors was a different persona entirely.
“Uhm, have you ever heard of avoiding the question?”
“I don’t like her.” Lily pushed away the traitorous voice in her head that screamed that was a lie. “And there’s nothing there.”
Mei looked like she was itching to press, eyes narrowing as they took in Lily’s expression. Lily prayed Mei wouldn’t. Mei might be her closest friend in town, and she hated lying to her, but the alternative… it didn’t bear thinking about.
“If you say so,” Mei said eventually, shoulders lifting in a shrug, and Lily breathed a sigh of relief. “Sure you don’t want a Pop-Tart? Last chance.”
“No, thank you.”
