The English Teacher ➳ Emison

Chapter 25 | New Normal

The next morning, Emily stood by her open locker, her hands skimming the contents of it in frustration. She couldn't find her History textbook for the life of her, not in the locker and not in her purse. She didn't know why it occurred to her that it would magically appear the third time she was searching her locker, but that wasn't the case, either way.

She was completely off today, having slept approximately three and a half hours the previous night. She could already tell it was going to be difficult to get through the classes. She could even hear Spencer's voice lecturing her during lunch about proper sleep habits and 'maximizing each day'.

The major challenge was getting through first period, since it was the most boring subject of them all. It seemed like it wasn't a guaranteed promise, considering her History teacher enjoyed humiliating students who came into class without their equipment, something that happened on a daily basis. This year's textbook was massive and expensive, so the school only ordered one per student, and the teacher deemed it immensely irresponsible for a student to forget it.

She huffed discontentedly as she rummaged through her locker once more, already mentally preparing herself to get shouted at.

"Isn't it a little early for you to be terrorizing your locker?"

She recognized the teasing voice and her hands lowered from the locker as she turned to find Alison wearing a humored grin.

She loved the mornings when she got to see Alison before first period, but it was still so surprising to her that they were now able to revert back to speaking in public again. She almost felt like she needed to keep a ten-eye lookout down the hall, but then quickly reminded herself that it wasn't necessary anymore.

"Is it?" she replied wryly, glancing at her open locker. "Because I can't find my History textbook anywhere and Mr. Williams is really strict on that. He gets so mad if somebody comes to class without it."

"Oh," Alison nodded in acknowledgment, glancing around the relatively free hallway for a moment before lowering her tone. "Okay, you didn't hear this from me, but he has a single extra copy of that textbook in the library, behind the World War II section," she revealed, and Emily's ears perked immediately, her eyes nearly bulging out. "It's the kind of things you hear when you sit next to him long enough in the teachers' lounge."

Emily couldn't help her shocked gaping, which seemed to amuse Alison to no end. The brunette shook her head in awe, hushing lowly, "I seriously love you right now."

"Only right now?" Alison smiled tauntingly.

"I meant always," Emily secretly nudged her side, causing Alison's grin to widen. "Do I just take the book?" she questioned hesitantly.

"Yeah, but put it back there after class or he'll know someone blabbed," Alison advised.

"Yeah, you're right," Emily agreed, grateful. "Thank you."

"Of course," Alison replied peacefully. "So, how was last night when you got home?"

"Uh... you mean before or after my mom gave me a verbal lashing for twenty minutes straight without taking a breath in the middle?" Emily asked rhetorically with a miserable smile.

Alison grimaced. It sounded awful. "Sorry," she uttered.

"Not your fault, we both fell asleep," Emily placated.

"That coffee probably kept you up for a while, huh?" Alison asked knowingly, not oblivious to the recent dark circles under Emily's eyes.

"Yeah," Emily confirmed tiredly, turning to look at the small mirror tacked onto her locker door. "Every time I wake up after not getting enough sleep, one of my eyes is bigger than the other," she uttered distractedly.