Teacher's Girl (Aflyingwhale)

Chapter 61: Calling Card 

IAN’s POV :

It was a lousy Sunday.Lately, every day was a lousy day.The last time I saw her was at the end of senior trip.

She walked off with that kid Tyler and I actually followed them out to the beach.

She didn’t know, of course, I was just a creepy stalker.

The kid asked her to go to prom with him and she said yes.

I knew I lost her then and there.

We talked on the first night at the beach and she asked me if things really had to end between us, and as much as I wished I could say no, I said yes.

She deserved to have the life she wanted, to go to U Penn without anyone dragging her behind.

She deserved to go to the prom with this kid who was head over heels for her, even though she couldn't see it.

I was supposed to chaperone the prom, but I made some lame excuse and I got away with not doing it.

Principal Finn had been super chill with me lately.

Not only that he extended my contract for another year, but I also didn't have to spend as much as hours as I did before and still get paid the same amount.

At first I wasn’t gonna extend my contract because I wanted to focus on my art.

Principal Finn was having trouble finding my replacement, so he begged me to stay for another year.

The cut in hours was a bonus he threw in so I could still do what I wanted to do.

These were all great things, but I couldn’t be too excited about it.

Nothing was exciting to me anymore.

Not since the accident.

After that day, everything changed and I was numb on the inside.

I never gave my heart out to anyone before because I never wanted to feel pain or hurt.

I loved my dad so much and when he died, I couldn't function.

I never wanted to feel that way again, so I built my walls and I never let anyone in.

Because if they never got in, they could never leave.

And the one time I finally gave my heart and soul out to somebody, the universe decided to play a cruel joke on me.

She almost lost everything because of me.

I caused so much pain and suffering in her life.

She deserved much better.

"You're a coward for walking out on her like that, you know that? You don't deserve her,"

I remember her mom saying this at school at that time. I may be a coward for walking away, but I would be an even bigger asshole if I had stayed.

This way, she'd have a fair chance at a normal life.

She could date whoever she wants and go wherever she wants.

Still, that didn't mean I was gonna stop loving her.

I would always love her no matter what.

I just had to do it by the sidelines.

She never saw me, but I was always watching over her throughout that trip.

I followed her when she walked out to the beach at night.

I was still watching her the next day when she went out of the hotel with Tyler and went to the lighthouse.

It was ridiculous and embarrassing, but I just wanted to make sure she was safe.

This Tyler kid seemed alright.

I hated him, of course, but for all the wrong reasons.

He was kind to her and treated her right.

If she was gonna end up with anyone, might as well be him.

That didn’t mean I was gonna enjoy watching them be together.

That shit killed me.

That’s why I skipped the prom altogether.

I was hiding away in my apartment, getting drunk until I pass out with my mind off her.

There were only a couple of days of school left.

After this week, I wouldn't have an excuse to see Emma again.

I didn’t know what to feel about that.

It might make things easier for me to get on with my life, but I was gonna miss her so damn much.

Her leaving town would seal the deal on us.

She would get on with her life and forget all about me.

Everything that had happened between us would be nothing but distant memories.

Such a damn shame.

We almost had it all.

I was still lying in bed and I rolled my body lazily to the side.

Opening the bedside drawer next to me, I pulled out this little velvet box.

I opened the box and saw the ring perched inside.

Yeah, I had bought a ring.

After spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with her, I realized I wanted to do that for the rest of my life.

All through January, I went all around town looking for the perfect ring.

I finally found one and got it engraved.

I picked up that ring a couple of days before Valentine’s Day and I thought I was gonna propose to her then.

But what a fucking shit-show Valentine’s Day turned out to be.

"Lan!" suddenly I heard a loud yell and a knock at the door.

It was a girl’s voice.

I wasn’t expecting any company today, so that took me by surprise.

The knocking on the door persisted and I got up from the bed.

"lan! Open the door!"the voice said again.

My head was spinning from this crazy hangover as I pulled the door open.

To my absolute surprise, my little sister, Hailey, was standing at my door.

"Hey," she beamed, "Wow, you look like shit,"

"What are you doing here?"

I groaned and my hand went to rub my temples.

"I came to see you, of course,"she came right in and I closed the door behind her.

"What about school?"

"Summer break.Duh,"

"Why do you need to come see me?"Hailey paused for a second before answering.

She studied me from head to toe and said, "You don't look so good.Let me make you some coffee,"

"I don't need coffee.I just want my bed and Aspirin,"

I staggered back towards my room and raided my drawer for an Aspirin.

I looked like an absolute train wreck because all I did was drink until I fell asleep.

Hailey stood at my doorframe and watched as I lay back on the bed.

"Speak, Hailey.What do you want?"

I said with my eyes on the ceiling.

"I came here because I want your blessing,"

"My blessing for what?"

"For this,"she stepped closer and put her hand in front of my face.

"Holy shit is that a ring?"my eyes jolted at the sight.

She was wearing a diamond ring on her ring finger.

"lan, I'm engaged...to AJ,"she said.

"AJ who? Wait — not my AJ?"my body jerked up instantly.

My head was still throbbing but this completely blew my mind.

"Yes,"she stated.

"What? What the fuck?!"

"We've been dating for a while now.We didn’t wanna tell you because —"

"Because what?!"I yelled.

"Because you'll overreact.Like this!"she yelled back.

"What the hell, Hailey?"

I raked my hair in frustration and said, "Oh, I’m gonna fucking kill AJ,"

"Please don't kill my fiancée,"

"Please stop saying that,"

I put my hands over my ears because this conversation was too unbearable.

Hailey took a seat on the bed and grabbed my hands with hers.

"lan, I really love him.And he loves me too,"

"He doesn't love anyone but his own dick,"I spat.

"That's what I thought too at first.That’s what I thought about you too, but then you met Emma and you changed.People change, lan," Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

This was the first time in a while I heard someone else said her name out loud to me.

I felt my rage calming down just at the mention of her.

"How long?"I said slowly.

"Almost a year now,"she replied.

"Shit,"I muttered, pausing for a beat before saying, "Was that why he came over for Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah,"she grinned sheepishly.

"I knew it.He doesn’t celebrate holidays and shit,"

"Emma knew about us too.She saw us, but then I asked her to keep it a secret,"

"She what?"I was completely floored.

"Please don't be mad at her, I sort of blackmailed her...

I found out about you two, that she’s a student at your school..."

"Hold the fuck up, what —"

"Don't worry, I didn’t tell anyone,"she said quickly, "Not mom and not AJ, no one.But I told Emma not to tell you about AJ and I and I will keep her secret too,"

She was saying so many things all at once.

I was having trouble keeping up.

To summarize, she came in out of the blue and told me she was engaged to my best friend, and while he was my best friend, he was was also a pig around women.

Then she said that Emma knew about this but she blackmailed Emma not to tell me because she found out that I was Emma’s high school teacher...

"Fuck, Hailey!"I cussed.

"I know, I'm sorry.I did that on a whim.It's not her fault, please don’t blame her,"she pleaded.

Here I was, thinking it was gonna be another slow lousy day.

All of a sudden, Hailey came and turned everything upside down.

I didn’t know which piece of information I needed to deal with first.

"Emma's a great girl, please don’t be mad at her,"she said again.

I took a deep breath and sighed.I didn’t realize that hearing her name out loud was so triggering.

"Emma and I aren't together anymore,"I said finally.

"What?"Hailey gasped in shock.

"We broke up,"

"What? What did youdo?!"

"Why do you think it’s my fault?"

"Is it not?"she asked challengingly.

"It's...more complicated than that,"

"Well, no wonder you look like this,"she eyed me from head to toe again.

I threw my gaze down at the ground and replayed everything in my head.

Even though it was for her, I was the one that ended things with her.

She didn't want it but I was the one who made that choice.

And I had to stick by it no matter how hard things get.

"I know you'll hate getting love advice from your little sister, especially that I'm happily engaged to your best friend, but please hear me out,"

Hailey said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "I've never seen you so happy before.She brings out the best in you, lan.Don't let go of something that special,"

"I don’t wanna let go of her either, but the situation is just too hard,""Fight harder then.Do whatever it takes to make it work!"

"You don’t know what you're talking about,"I scoffed.

"You think AJ and I had it easy? No, we don’t.We did long distance and we had to sneak around behind your back.But we dealt with it and we worked it out,"

She did it again, she brought up her relationship with AJ.

I wasn't done with this topic either.

I loved my best friend, sure, but I wasn’t gonna let him mess around with my sister.

Hell to the no.

"Does AJ know you're here?"I asked.

"Yeah, he’s on the next flight over.I wanna tell you first because I’m your sister and then I'm gonna hide all the knives and sharp objects around the house,"she smiled sarcastically.

"Like that's gonna stop me from killing him," I rolled my eyes at her.

"lan,"she scolded.

"What?"

"Is that a ring?"she pointed to the small velvet box inside the open drawer.

The box was still open and the ring sat inside it.

"It's whatever,"I closed the drawer shut abruptly.

Hailey cocked her head to the side and let out a long sigh.

"Hey, if you really love her, you get her back,"she said.

"It's too late for that now,"

"It's never too late,"

"Hailey, you don’t understand.I can't..."

"Why not? What else do you need? A sign from the universe?"

Right before I could say anything else, my phone rang and the sound pierced the air.

I grabbed the phone and my eyes shot up instantly.

"Can we talk? - Emma."

Hailey peeked into my screen and she was grinning from ear to ear when she read that message.

"Well, it looks like the universe is giving you a sign after all,"she said