The English Teacher ➳ Emison

Chapter 6 | Distance

The days passed slowly for Alison, each one a torturous reminder of what had happened with Emily. It had been a few weeks, and though she tried to keep herself busy, nothing seemed to help. She poured herself into her job at first, planning lessons far in advance, but that didn't help when Emily was there, every day, a walking reminder of what she was trying to forget.

Their contact had dwindled down to almost nothing. Emily still sat in her English class, but their after-school sessions had quietly come to an end. It wasn't something that was talked about between them, it was just some sort of unanimous understanding. Alison even started leaving school grounds during lunch, just to avoid spending more time in those halls, in proximity to the girl who occupied her every thought.

Outside of work, she let Cece and her endless energy fill the void. She even made the drive up to Philly a few times to meet up with some of her college friends, anything to distract herself. But no matter how hard she tried, Emily was always there—lingering in her thoughts, sneaking into her dreams, even appearing in the pages of her journal. Not to mention, she still had to grade Emily's schoolwork, and it was getting a little tiring having her heart leap out of her chest whenever she saw the brunette's name was on the next essay.

She didn't know if she could go on like this until the end of the year. She had even sniffed around Administrations to see the capacity of the other senior English classes, just to prepare herself for the chance that Emily might take the initiative and move out of her class. They were all booked up though, so even if Emily did want to transfer, she couldn't. 

The two of them were stuck, and Alison couldn't even fathom where they could go from here. 

Now, as she watched her older sister open the door for her while they stepped together out of the restaurant where they had been eating dinner together, Alison let her thoughts wander again. Cece was always willing to show up for her whenever she was feeling down. The woman had detected her sour mood in a second and practically tried every trick in the book to make her laugh and smile but Alison's mind was just... Elsewhere.

So the younger blonde simply allowed her sister to go on, launching into stories about her various plans for her wedding next year and the many dramas between her employees at the boutique she ran.

Alison genuinely listened, because she appreciated the entertainment. In the past, back when she was a sassy teen, she hadn't been able to stand Cece's babbling, but these days, she quite enjoyed it. It was a welcomed distraction at the very least. 

As they walked toward Cece's car, parked along the square, her sister suddenly perked up. "Ooh, I want a drink from The Brew before we go."

Alison's heart dropped into her stomach. "Wait, don't go there," she blurted out, trying not to sound as panicked as she felt. Cece was already making a beeline toward the coffee shop.

It wasn't like Alison knew for certain that Emily would be there, but considering it was a mid-week night, it was a likely guess. The last thing she wanted was to run into the brunette when Cece was standing right next to her. Her sister would immediately know something was up.

"What? Why not?" Cece frowned, pausing mid-step.

"I just... I heard it's not that good, you know?" she bluffed, trying to appear nonchalant. It was a complete lie and she knew it. People raved about the quality of The Brew all the time.

"What are you talking about? They're the best coffee place in town. My employees always spend their entire breaks here," Cece responded in confusion. "They say everything on the menu is amazing."

"Well, either way, I don't want to be there because... My students all hang out there. It'll be too awkward to see them out in public like that," Alison scrambled for a believable excuse, painfully aware of the irony.