What if Alex did bring it up, and Emily was like, yeah, that’s a good point. Let’s take a step back. Take a break for a week or two and see where things are then?
That might have been the most sensible and responsible thing to do, but it was the last thing Alex wanted.
But she also hated this limbo she was in, because she couldn’t tell her friends. She spotted Diana up ahead. She was a part-time student who was in her late thirties, and they hit it off when they sat down beside each other for their first class three years ago. Alex didn’t think she could tell Diana. What would she even say?
‘Hey, I’m seeing this woman. She’s great. We’re great. But we’re not really dating. She’s leaving in a year so… But yeah, I’m really happy, and it’s fine. It’ll all work out.’
Alex shook off those thoughts as she gave Diana a wave, both of them heading for a class that Alex was looking forward to:Hidden Histories: Revealing the Untold Stories of LGBTQ+ Communities.
Alex’s eyes were drawn to a brunette at the end of the hall, probably because she looked an awful lot like Emily, but then she laughed at something the man across from her said, shaking her head as she did, and Alex didn’t need to take a second look to know that it was in fact Emily.
Alex’s heart skipped a beat, her mind reeling as she kept her head down and ducked into her classroom, barely able to think as she took a seat in the back.
Alex left her bag at her feet and sat back, her hand over her mouth. She knew Emily was a teacher. But here? At her college?
Her hand flew to her pocket to slide out her phone, bringing up her schedule and class list for the semester, her eyes scanning the page for ‘Grayden,’ a sigh of relief escaping her lips when she didn’t see Emily’s last name.
The room started to fill up, but Alex was struggling to process this new information, because she didn’t know what was more shocking. That Emily was a teacher here or that Alex hadn’t known?
They’d spent so much time together these last few weeks. How had that not come up? They did talk. They didn’t spend all their time in bed.
Alex put her phone away, trying to forget about it for now. She’d talk to Emily later. Hopefully, that wouldn’t change anything between them.
Alex’s train of thought completely faltered as her body stiffened and a soft gasp escaped her lips, her eyes following Emily as she strode across the front of the lecture hall, her charcoal pants hugging her hips, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail.
Alex slid down in her seat, stunned.
She stared at Emily as she got the class’s attention, picking up one of the markers and writing her name on the board as she spoke, Alex barely registering the words over her pounding heart.
“I know the syllabus says, ‘Dr. West,’ but that’s an error. My name is Dr. Emily Grayden. Please, unless you want to darken my mood, don’t ever call me Dr. West,” she said with a hint of a smile, and a few students laughed.
Emily went on to talk about her plans for the class and how she planned on assessing them, but towards the end of her explanation, her voice trailed off, and Alex looked up to see Emily’s eyes drilling into her.
Emily faltered but recovered quickly as she directed them to the slideshow that she was putting up.
Just as Alex’s heart rate had started to recover, it soared again, her breathing shallow, a knot forming in her stomach.
If she thought she had problems before, wondering about what kind of future she had with Emily, this would almost certainly shake things up between them.
15
Emily made it back to the desk at the front of the class on wobbly legs, her head nearly spinning, but thankfully, she’d only discovered Alex sitting at the back of the class with ten minutes left.
She did her best to cover up the fact that Alex was the very last person she expected to see in her class.
Alex had said something about college, but Emily assumed she’d graduated already. And Alex hadn’t said what she was studying.
Emily managed to wrap up the class, letting them go five minutes early, and she didn’t look up from her laptop to see if Alex was watching her or if she was thinking about coming over. Because Emily couldn’t handle that right now.
Her mind was racing. She had an hour off before her next class, and she almost wished that she didn’t.
This was the third class of the day, and she was just starting to get comfortable, to feel like this had been the right move for her not just personally but professionally.
But Emily had no idea how she was going to get through the rest of her day.
Her stomach twisted, a cold knot forming as the shock wore off, and she started to really process what was happening.
And that inevitably brought up thoughts of Melissa, and how Emily managed to find herself in the same situation.
