Teacher's Girl (Aflyingwhale)

Chapter 86: Pure Imagination

EMMA’s POV :

I had a really weird dream last night.

I was walking through a field with tall grass and I was looking for someone.

I could hear my name being called, but when I looked around, I didn’t see anybody there.

So I kept walking and walking until the sun was setting.

It was getting dark and if I didn’t get out of the field soon, I would get lost in there.

So I ran faster and faster, looking for a way out.

I tried to follow the voice, but it let me nowhere.

Until finally, I woke up the sound of the alarm clock ringing. Sighing to myself, I checked the time and it was 7.30 in the morning.

I had an early class today, so as much as I wished I could stay in bed, I had to get up.

I grabbed my phone on the bedside table and I stared at the black screen for a while.

I turned it off last night in a fit of impulse and confusion.

lan was being weird and angry, and all I wanted was a moment to think for myself.

I was caught off guard by what had happened.

I never intended for lan to read that email.

So, I panicked.

After my shower and a cup of coffee, I was feeling a lot calmer.

I decided to turn on my phone and checked the messages.

There was nothing from lan.

I was the one that told him to give me some space.

Why was I now looking for him? Shaking my head at my own silliness, I left the phone on and got ready for class.

I had my Feature Writing class with Tristan today, and we had to do a presentation.

Normally I would just wear a hoodie and sweatpants for school, but since it was presentation day, I decided to dress up a bit.

I curled my hair, put on some make up, and wore a simple black dress and a blazer.

By 8.30 AM, I walked out of my room and found Tristan already waiting for me in the living room.

He was looking sharp in a suit.

"Wow, you look ready for presentation day,"he beamed when he saw me.

"So do you.And nice tie,"I laughed when I saw his tie.

It was a ducky tie like the one Barney wore in How I Met Your Mother.

"Laugh all you want, but it’s my lucky tie.We're acing that presentation,"he said as he got up to his feet and sauntered to the door.

I couldn't stop laughing all the way to campus.

Public speaking was always nerve wrecking.

But when I was confident about the topic at hand, I could talk for hours.

Tristan did a good job on his research, so our presentation was rock solid.

Tristan himself wasn’t much of a public speaker, but we made a great team because I could do the talking for the both of us.

At the end of our presentation, Professor Thomas complimented us.

It was a lot coming from him.

He was known as a killer professor, very stingy with grades too.

The fact that he complimented us meant we did something right.

"I think Professor Thomas really liked our presentation.Your research was spot on,"

I said to Tristan as we walked out of the classroom that afternoon.

Feature Writing class was done for the day and I had some time to kill before my next class at 3 PM.

"I told you, it’s the tie.This thing’s never failed me,"

Tristan kissed the tip of his ducky tie proudly.

"I'd say we got an A for sure at the very the least,"

"You think so?"

"Yeah, you totally killed it.Especially on the Q & A section.Man, your back must be hurting from carrying all the weight,"he said and he started rubbing my back, giving me a massage.

"Nah, you did great too,"I laughed.

"Anyway, I’m just glad it's over.That's one less thing I have to worry about this semester,"

"Speaking of, have you decided on the Paris program yet?"

"Oh my gosh, I have to tell you about it!"

I grabbed Tristan by the hand and pulled him to an empty bench on the quad.

We sat down and I immediately gave him the rundown on everything that happened last night.

The whole nine yards.

I told him about the pros and cons list and how I meant to send it to him, but stupidly I sent it to lan instead.

I told him about our awful talk on the phone and how I asked for some space.

"Oh damn,"Tristan winced.

"Yeah, so now we're not speaking at all.I mean, it's only been a day but it feels like ages,"I sighed as I pulled my phone out.

No new notifications.No calls or texts from lan.Not even a good morning or anything.

"Let me see that list," Tristan said as he rubbed his chin.

I pulled up the email I sent last night and opened the attached document.

Tristan took the phone from me and he studied the list intently.

He didn’t say anything for a while.

Once he was done reading it, he gave me my phone back and let out a long sigh. Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

"What do you think?"I asked.

"I think you should go for it,"he said firmly.

"Apply for the program.You know it’s what you wanna do,"

"Yeah, but..." adding, "Alone?"

Ugh? Excuse me? I, the girlfriend, am literally standing right here.

"I'll be right back,"

Tristan said to me before getting up to his feet.

"I'll be here," I reminded him.

Tristan and Monique stepped away and she started talking.

She was giggling and smiling, and she put her hand on Tristan’s chest several times, playfully shoving him.

Tristan stood there with a polite smile, he was so oblivious to what was happening.

Meanwhile, Monique’s group of minions were sneering at me and giving the stink eye.

Ugh.This is worse than high school.

"What did she want?"

I asked as soon as Tristan sat back down on the bench next to me.

Monique had gone back to her minions, but they didn’t leave.They were standing around, chit chatting.

"She just invited me to her birthday party at the sorority house.I said no, of course,"

Tristan replied.

His eyes darted to Monique before returning back to me.

"Are you kidding me?"I glared at him.

"What?"

"I know we're just pretending here, but do you have to check out her ass in front of me?"I scoffed, smacking his elbow.

"I did no such thing,"he said defensively.

"You totally did.You suck T, you need to do a lot better than that if you wanna convince her that you're over her,"

"I didn't do it, I swear!"he said reassuringly, "I was just looking at the gum stuck under her shoe,"

"You were?"

"Yeah.Why would I look at any other girl’s ass when I have you?"he smirked playfully, pulling me into a hug.

"Aw, you're so full of it," I rolled my eyes and shoved him away.

"I'm serious, I mean, look at you,"he was grinning as his hand motioned around my body.

That got me blushing a little.

"Whatever, let's go get some food,"

I was about to get up, but Tristan pulled me back down.I ended up falling into his lap.

"Oh, come on, don’t go.Monique's still watching us,"he whispered to my ears.

My eyes darted to Monique and her minions and they were watching us.

Monique's eyes were filled with raging jealousy as Tristan snaked his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to his chest.

I gave Monique a sassy smile as I returned Tristan’s hug.

"Tristan, what are you doing?" I said when I felt his nose snuggling the crook of my neck.

"You're the one that said I need to be more convincing," his breath was fanning my skin and I let out a gasp when I felt his lips on my neck. "Tristan, you're tickling me!"

I tried squirming away, but his grip around me was too strong.

"So you are ticklish, huh?" he chuckled and he started blowing raspberries onto my skin, causing me to laugh harder.

"Stop,"I pleaded in between laughs.

I tried pushing him away again, but it was a futile effort.

"Stop it, Tristan, you're gonna make me pee my pants,"

"That would be fun to see,"

"Tristan, seriously, stop!"

I was moving around so much, I didn’t realize how close our lips were to each other.

We stopped moving immediately as soon as we saw how my lips stood directly in front of his.

They almost touched each other, barely.

For a second there, we were frozen in an awkward shock.

On the corner of my eyes, I noticed that Monique and her minions had left the premises.

I pulled away abruptly and moved back to my original seat.

"Okay, I think she’s gone now," I breathed.

"Yeah..." Tristan coughed awkwardly, pulling his composure.

"You should’ve seen her face. It was hilarious,"

I said as my eyes darted around the quad, looking for signs of her.

I didn't see her, but I noticed a familiar figure standing by a tree on the other side of the quad.

I had to do a double look because I thought he looked a lot like lan.

But when I looked back, the person was gone.

No way, that can’t be him. He’s miles and miles away in New York City.

I must be imagining things.

"Emma? What is it?"

Tristan asked as he followed my gaze "I thought I saw..."

"What?"

"Ah, nothing.Never mind,"

I shook my head quickly.

My stupid head must be playing tricks on me.

This whole taking space away from lan thing was a lot harder than I thought.

"So, you still wanna get lunch? I totally owe you one," Tristan asked.

"Sure," I said.

My eyes were still scanning around the quad, just to make sure one more time.

"Let's go then," Tristan got up and lent his hand out to me.

I did a double look on all the corners of the quad and I didn't see anything else.

Letting out a small sigh, I took Tristan’s hand and we headed out of the quad.

I felt weirdly uneasy as I walked out of the quad, but quickly I shook it off and ignored it.

I was probably too hungry.

It must be my imagination.

Ha -ha.

Silly me.