“Can you help with this question please, Miss Cross?”
Lily sure hoped so, and she climbed to her feet. “What’s the problem?”
“I’m not sure if I’ve calculated molarity right.”
Lily breathed a sigh of relief—she could do molarity in her sleep.
A handful of other students asked her questions as the class progressed, and Lily found herself relaxing further with each one. By the end of the period, the board was scrawled with notes and explanations, and she was hopeful they’d all managed to learn something.
Her good mood plummeted, though, when the bell rang. Lily steeled herself for an encounter with Eva—her first, alone, since that fateful Monday morning. There was no avoiding it, though.
It was for Alisha, Lily told herself, as she knocked on the door. She was being a good person.
“What is it?” Eva called, and Lily realized, as she stepped inside, that Eva hadn’t glanced up to see who was there. She frowned at her computer screen, eyes hidden behind the frames of her glasses, and Lily wondered if she was struggling to cope with all the extra work that had been dumped in her lap.
Lily cleared her throat, and Eva turned her head, her jaw clenching when she realized it was Lily who had come to call. “I sorted the work for Alisha’s chemistry classes for the week,” Lily said, and it was a miracle she could form words under the weight of Eva’s gaze, directed at her for the first time in two months. “I printed everything the sub will need for today.”
Lily willed her legs to move, to propel her forward, to set the papers down on the corner of Eva’s pristine desk.
“Thank you.”
Lily blinked in surprise—she’d half-expected Eva to watch her go without uttering a word. Eva yanked off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, and Lily took the opportunity to drink in the sight of her in a way she hadn’t allowed herself to in weeks. Eva looked exhausted, but Lily doubted it was just from today. The bags under her eyes indicated many sleepless nights—was Eva losing sleep because of her?
Wishful thinking, maybe.
“Alisha and I were talking before she left,” Eva said, discarding her glasses on her desk. “We’re not sure how long she’ll be gone for. Might be a few days, might be longer, depending on how things look. If it is going to be a while, we were hoping you could take her AP class and get a sub to cover yours. What do you think about that?”
Lily wondered if she had a choice. Would Eva take the chance to wield the authority she’d been given? No matter—Lily had been thinking the same thing earlier, anyway.
“I’m okay with that.” It would mean extra work, having to set something for her own classes when she had to be in with Alisha’s, but if it would help, she was willing. No one could ever say Lily wasn’t a team player.
“Great. I’ll be in touch once I know more.”
There was a note of finality in Eva’s voice, but Lily hesitated. They’d managed to have a civil conversation—was there any way to bridge the gap between them? To turn things around? Get back to the way things were?
She’d take animosity over silence at this point.
Eva looked up, meeting her gaze, but Lily didn’t know what she could possibly say. She didn’t know how to fix this—and she knew Eva did not want her to try.
So, Lily turned on her heel and left, shutting the door behind her.
* * *
Alisha had been gone for two weeks, and Eva felt like she was barely staying afloat.
She didn’t know how Alisha managed to do so much—keep supplies in stock, fill orders, manage the budget, deal with behavior issues, attend meetings with the school board, and a dozen of other things Eva had always taken for granted—without breaking a sweat.
It didn’t help that spring was always a busy time for Eva anyway. She had to prepare her AP students for their exams, write finals for her other classes, and keep on top of everything she usually did.
Spring, with the end of the school year looming on the horizon, was also the time Greenfield High conducted its teacher evaluations. Alisha’s job, usually—but with her out of action for the foreseeable future, it had fallen onto Eva’s to-do list, instead.
Which was how she found herself sitting in the rear of Lily Cross’s classroom, back ramrod straight and a notebook balanced on her knee. It was, as Eva watched Lily wring her hands together at the front of the room, the first time she’d regretted taking on the role of second in department.
Bad enough, having to see Lily every day. Bad enough, having to check in on the progress of Alisha’s AP classes. Eva was forced to spend the following forty-five minutes observing a lesson on titrations, when she’d rather be anywhere else in the world.
Lily, for her part, looked just as uncomfortable. She hadn’t said a word since Eva had taken a seat, though her gaze darted over every few seconds as she waited for her students to arrive.
Eva was probably supposed to coddle or reassure her, but she’d done neither, stealing into the room with a sharp nod and a “pretend I’m not even here” like Lily would ever be able to manage it.
