Unrequited Love

2

"Can I stay home today?"

Novel sighed for the third time that morning, they had been having these back and forth for a week. "No honey. You're going to school today."

"I really don't want to go to school, I feel sick."

Novel eyed her daughter suspiciously. "For someone who's sick you stayed on your phone late last night giggling over some boy with your friends at home."

"You're such a stalker mom!" Jane whined. "Who does that? I was just talking to my friends-"

"Till two in the morning." Novel pin pointed.

"Does it matter?"

"It doesn't" Novel double checked the items in her bag making sure not to forget anything. "Let's go."

"What? No" Jane sank down onto a chair. "I really don't want to go anywhere."

"Get your ass out of that chair and into that car in one minute or I'm leaving you behind."

"Sounds like a good deal to m-"

"You'll also give up your phone, laptop, ip-"

"I'm up, I'm up."

The short drive to Jane's school was surprisingly quiet, Novel had to check the rearview mirror multiple times to know she was there.

"We're here" Novel announced, dragging Jane out from whatever wonderland she had wandered to.

"Thanks." She said dryly.

"Are you okay baby?" Novel asked. "Is there a problem? You know you can come to me for anything right?"

Jane stared at her mother for a few seconds, opened her mouth to say something then clamped it shut. "Yeah I know, I'm alright."

"Are you sure?" Novel pushed.

"I am." Jane opened the car door, "Have a great day at work"

Novel smiled at her daughter and watched her walk into the school, contemplating whether it really was a mistake to take her so far away from home.

•

"Good morning class"

Several murmurs of 'good morning' floated round. 

"I can see we all slept very well and would love to enjoy this boring topic for another two hours." Novel joked making everyone laugh. "Let's get our Monday started."

Novel spent the next two hours breaking down a topic about ancient Egypt, some students shared her enthusiasm, others not so much. 

Novel mapped out the semester in her head, ticking off a day in the distant future where her students would be reduced to half of what it was now, the joys of teaching went far beyond the abundance of students. It was just that 'one' student, the one student who will look back at the moment you imparted their life and go on to do very great things, or better still steal with your husband.

Novel's daydream crashed and burned violently leaving a scowl on her face, blinking away the fog of annoyance she realized her class wasn't over yet, her students stared at her in confusion and others with a bored look on their face.

Clearing her throat loudly, Novel continued from where she hoped she stopped, her personal thoughts would have to come later,

She could fight her demons better when she was alone, not in front of a hundred students.

•

The end of a day was always tagged 'Successful' in a professors mental notebook and Novel checked the box eagerly. It was getting dark out so Novel decided to order food seeing as she was too tired to cook or concoct anything.