The English Teacher ➳ Emison

Chapter 14 | Precise Intuition

Alison walked out of the vice-principal's office, stepping into the busy hall. She just barely resisted slamming the door behind her with a frustrated huff, instead choosing to fake a smile to her superior over her shoulder before she politely shut the door.

She couldn't believe her bad luck when it came to school-related responsibilities. First, she was the Homecoming chaperone, now – Hackett had assigned her with yet another lovely task that had nothing to do with her. She couldn't fathom why he was automatically choosing to pry on her like this out of all of the teachers, but Debby once explained to her that it was what he did to all first-years. Alison didn't appreciate this sort of initiation, considering she had enough work of her own these days, especially because she was a new teacher. Then again, what could she do? It wasn't like she could refuse the obligation.

She wasn't going to lie – every time Hackett called her into his office, she was always concerned, and rightfully so. Though they tried to be as secretive as possible, she was constantly scared that Hackett would catch her about Emily, but he never did. Actually, he seemed to have a weird fondness for her, even though he barely knew her. He always told her a different literary joke every time she talked to him, which was internally not very entertaining for her, but externally, she obviously laughed. He was still her boss.

Alison was sure that if the old version of her had seen her in one of those conversations with Hackett, she would've gagged and proceeded to mock how lame teacher-Alison was.

She walked over to the cafeteria, where most students were in the midst of their lunch hour. Every time she finished one of those meetings, she craved something salty, as though to appease her mood. She walked past the table of teachers at the entrance, nodding in greeting to the few there that she actually cared about, before continuing on to the line of vending machines on the other side of the room.

She was scanning the lines of snacks in contemplation when someone stopped at the machine by her side. She didn't even need to look to know who it was. She found out she could recognize Emily's proximity without question.

"Hey," the girl greeted lightly.

"Hi," Alison said back with a sigh, glancing at her. Trust Emily to look gorgeous in the simplest black jeans and a burgundy sweater.

Emily giggled under her breath, teasing, "What's gotten you in a mood?"

"What makes you think I'm in a mood?" Alison returned easily, her eyes aimed forward.

"Well, your face doesn't usually have a frown on it," Emily shrugged, still pretending to choose something from the machine.

Alison acknowledged the truthful saying with a wry chuckle. "It's nothing. It's just that I've been assigned to manage the Senior field trip to the historical Philadelphia theaters that's coming up, so I have to start coordinating all the details."

"Ouch," Emily winced, realizing that sounded like a real burden. She looked at Alison with a mischievous grin, "Is it overnight?"

"No," Alison retorted, but had trouble hiding her grin at Emily's faux-innocent inquiry. She knew what was going on in the girl's mind when she asked that. "And even if it was, you wouldn't have any reason to be excited."

"Why not?" Emily questioned. She looked around them before lowering her tone playfully, "Would you have not let me into your room after lights out?"

Alison smothered her smirk as she lowered her face, still feeling Emily's eyes on her. "Not when there are other teachers and students down the hall, no."

"Even if I came up with a secret knock?" Emily quipped.

"Even then," Alison affirmed, not resisting from adding quietly with a taunting grin, "but who needs a cheap hotel room on a field trip when we've already got a whole house for that right here in Rosewood?"