Teacher's Girl

EMMA’s POV:“No!” I yelped and pulled away in an instant.That was so close!Suddenly it dawned on me that I was about to kiss a random stranger in a bar. What the hell was I thinking? I should not be doing this! I needed to be with Zach!I knew that second glass of beer was a bad idea.Meanwhile, the guy looked at me, bewildered and confused. He was also still breathless from all the dancing. That look in his eyes, I couldn’t tell if he was angry or disappointed. Or both.“I’m sorry. I have to go,” I said and turned to my heels as fast as I could.“Hey—“ I could hear him calling after me several times, but I didn’t want to turn back.I spotted Tiff making out with Steve and I wasn’t gonna cock-block her, so I left her alone. Carrie was still with the sorority girls, so I pulled her to the side and quickly told her my plan.“Carrie, hey,”“Hey, Em, where you’ve been?”“I was dancing… but listen, I’m gonna go, okay? I’m gonna wait in Zach’s dorm room. He said he’ll be home soon,” I had

EMMA’s POV:“I can’t believe Zach cheated on you!” Carrie gasped in anger.“I can’t believe you had sex with a random guy in the back of a bar,” Tiff followed.This morning, I woke up sleeping inside my car. I didn’t even remember driving it. I was parked at a Walmart parking lot, I didn’t even know there was a Walmart around.I checked my phone to find dozens of messages and missed calls from Tiff and Carrie. I called them up and we decided to meet at a diner nearby. Tiff had spent the night with that guy, Steve, and Carrie stayed over the sorority house.After we met up and I chugged an entire mug of coffee, I was finally able to tell my friends everything that happened last night. Or, the parts that I remembered at least.“Damn, girl,” Tiff paused for a moment before saying, “Hey, I’m sorry I wasn’t there last night. I didn’t know it was gonna go down like that,”“It’s okay. It’s not you guys’ fault,”“How do you feel now?” Carrie asked.“I don’t know. I’m still processing everythi

EMMA’s POV:The next day at school, I was avoiding Mr. Hayes at all costs. It was the right thing to do. I just needed to get him out of my system so I could function normally again. A Mr. Hayes detox, I called it.I was doing well since Mr. Hayes mostly stayed in his art studio and I didn’t have that class today. I chose to focus my energies on my friends and studies instead. Tiff, Carrie, Mark, and I were having lunch in the quad. It was still September, so the weather was warm and nice.Mark was telling us gossips he heard from the teachers’ lounge. Something about Ms. Diaz, our Spanish teacher, was being set up on a date with Mr. Hayes. I rolled my eyes as soon as I heard his name. The detox was gonna be harder than I thought.“Why would Mr. Hayes go out with Ms. Diaz?” Tiff asked as she took a bite of her sandwich.“Why not? She’s hot. He’s hot. They’re both single,” Carrie replied.Carrie had a point. Ms. Diaz had the body of Jennifer Lopez and the face of Penelope Cruz. She was

EMMA’s POV:“I don’t think I’m ready for a full-on date yet. I get all nervous just thinking about it,”I groaned into my pillow and threw my head back on the bed. Tiff and Carrie were sitting next to me. It was a typical Thursday night for us girls. We were binge-watching Sex and the City for the gazillionth time when I got a text from Ryan. He was asking if we could go out tomorrow night.“We can all go as a group? Maybe that’ll take your mind off things,” Carrie suggested.“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” my body shot up in response.If we were all going out as friends, it might even be fun.“And I know just the thing. There’s a party tomorrow night at Madison Davis’ lake house. Everyone will be there. It’ll be perfect,” Tiff made a good point.“That’s a great idea, Tiff. And Em, if the date turns out to be sucky, you can always hang with us,” Carrie added.I nodded at their suggestions. Not wasting any more time, I replied to Ryan’s text, asking him about going to the party at M

EMMA’s POV:“Emma?”Mr. Hayes’ voice kept ringing in my ears and I was rendered mute. My brain and body were too tired from the party that I thought I was sleepwalking.“Mr. Hayes…?” my small voice croaked as I squinted my eyes to get a better look at him.“What are you doing here?” Mr. Hayes’ tone was serious and demanding.“I’m… walking home,” I replied casually.He looked at me up and down, and somehow he looked pissed off… or worried?“Get in, I’ll give you a ride,” he said in a commanding voice.I was honestly glad that someone was willing to offer me a ride home. After telling Ryan that I needed some time alone, I went back to the party to look for my friends, but they weren’t anywhere to be found. After failing to reach them on their phones, I gave up and decided to walk home. I actually thought six miles was a walk-able distance.But then again, if I got into a car with Mr. Hayes, it would just be super awkward and terribly weird. So I quickly shook my head at him.“No thanks,