cheeks. “You were, I just…forget it, please, just forget I said anything.”
He sighs, and I get up to throw away my trash, not wanting him to see how humiliated I am.
I'm on my way back to the table when a small cluster of girls in black open the glass door.
That one behind the others, that's not-- shit. It is.
"Hi, Chase!" Luna exclaims, and to his credit, he recovers quickly enough that I don't think she saw the streak of panic that flickered in his eyes. "With my non-writer peeps today."
The other girls in black look awestruck by Chase as he greets them politely. I can't help rolling my eyes, but inwardly, I'm calculating how to get the hell out of here. The restroom is on the other side of the restaurant, and I can't get there without walking straight in front of Luna. And naturally, they're hovering around the door. Short of crouching underneath a booth, I don't have anywhere to go.
Luna's black-rimmed eyes peel away from Chase and survey the place, stopping on me. Her face registers confusion, but she doesn't know I'm here with Chase... does she?
I decide to pretend I’m getting ice cream.
"Hey," I say, my legs somehow carrying me back toward the counter and past the booth I was just sitting in. "How's it going?"
Luna's eyes flick from me to Chase. "Lucky Chase, running into two of his students on his day off."
"Lucky Chase," I repeat. I give Chase the friendliest smile I can muster. "Good to see you."
Chase understands my silent message, offering me a quick wave as gathers up his own trash and heads for the door. "Good running into you, too. See you in class."
I order the ice cream, all thumbs as I nearly drop my wallet, and watch Chase's Range Rover pull away out of the corner of my eye. And then I get to sit down and listen to bits of Luna's conversation with her friends waft over for half an hour until they're done eating. I read a text from Chase.
Let me know when they're gone and I'll come get you.
I play on my phone for awhile, willing Luna and her group to leave, and when they finally do, she glances at me on her way out. I wave, but she just gives me a curt nod.
"How could I have been so dumb?" I wail when Chase returns a few minutes later. I shut the car door and fasten my seat belt. "Anyplace that's anti-Noland, or anti-anything? Luna's going to be all over it."
Chase's voice is tense, but he pats my leg. "I think we're okay. We left separately."
"Jesus," I mutter. "I can't believe I thought Drake's would be safe."
"We're all right." Chase is the picture of confidence as he changes lanes. "We're just fine. Don't worry about it."
The worry is there for both of us, though, and for the first time in, well, since I've known him, Chase doesn't try to make out with me while we're watching TV.
My heart is thudding when I enter our classroom on Tuesday afternoon. It's been drizzling all day, and my sweatshirt hood is pulled up over my head, but it can't hide my face. I don't look at Luna as I sit down, and I will myself to act cool. I also will Chase to act cool.
And he does. He doesn't miss a beat as he leads us into another session, delving deeper into characterization, and getting a discussion going on memorable characters.
When it's my turn to read, I almost chirp "No!" But I'm true to the story I'm writing, and if I try to read something different, I'll be questioned. I also don't have anything different. "I knew I could never catch up with him," I read. "He was so experienced, and I felt like some sort of failed nun sitting there with him on that leather couch. How many women had he fucked on this leather couch? I had no way of knowing, and he probably didn't either."
"She seems so flattered that he pays attention to her, even after they've done it multiple times," Emme observes. "I think that's good. You can make her build her self-esteem over the course of the story. But after how many times will that start to happen?"
"I, uh, haven't gotten that far yet."
"That's okay," Tommy
He sighs, and I get up to throw away my trash, not wanting him to see how humiliated I am.
I'm on my way back to the table when a small cluster of girls in black open the glass door.
That one behind the others, that's not-- shit. It is.
"Hi, Chase!" Luna exclaims, and to his credit, he recovers quickly enough that I don't think she saw the streak of panic that flickered in his eyes. "With my non-writer peeps today."
The other girls in black look awestruck by Chase as he greets them politely. I can't help rolling my eyes, but inwardly, I'm calculating how to get the hell out of here. The restroom is on the other side of the restaurant, and I can't get there without walking straight in front of Luna. And naturally, they're hovering around the door. Short of crouching underneath a booth, I don't have anywhere to go.
Luna's black-rimmed eyes peel away from Chase and survey the place, stopping on me. Her face registers confusion, but she doesn't know I'm here with Chase... does she?
I decide to pretend I’m getting ice cream.
"Hey," I say, my legs somehow carrying me back toward the counter and past the booth I was just sitting in. "How's it going?"
Luna's eyes flick from me to Chase. "Lucky Chase, running into two of his students on his day off."
"Lucky Chase," I repeat. I give Chase the friendliest smile I can muster. "Good to see you."
Chase understands my silent message, offering me a quick wave as gathers up his own trash and heads for the door. "Good running into you, too. See you in class."
I order the ice cream, all thumbs as I nearly drop my wallet, and watch Chase's Range Rover pull away out of the corner of my eye. And then I get to sit down and listen to bits of Luna's conversation with her friends waft over for half an hour until they're done eating. I read a text from Chase.
Let me know when they're gone and I'll come get you.
I play on my phone for awhile, willing Luna and her group to leave, and when they finally do, she glances at me on her way out. I wave, but she just gives me a curt nod.
"How could I have been so dumb?" I wail when Chase returns a few minutes later. I shut the car door and fasten my seat belt. "Anyplace that's anti-Noland, or anti-anything? Luna's going to be all over it."
Chase's voice is tense, but he pats my leg. "I think we're okay. We left separately."
"Jesus," I mutter. "I can't believe I thought Drake's would be safe."
"We're all right." Chase is the picture of confidence as he changes lanes. "We're just fine. Don't worry about it."
The worry is there for both of us, though, and for the first time in, well, since I've known him, Chase doesn't try to make out with me while we're watching TV.
My heart is thudding when I enter our classroom on Tuesday afternoon. It's been drizzling all day, and my sweatshirt hood is pulled up over my head, but it can't hide my face. I don't look at Luna as I sit down, and I will myself to act cool. I also will Chase to act cool.
And he does. He doesn't miss a beat as he leads us into another session, delving deeper into characterization, and getting a discussion going on memorable characters.
When it's my turn to read, I almost chirp "No!" But I'm true to the story I'm writing, and if I try to read something different, I'll be questioned. I also don't have anything different. "I knew I could never catch up with him," I read. "He was so experienced, and I felt like some sort of failed nun sitting there with him on that leather couch. How many women had he fucked on this leather couch? I had no way of knowing, and he probably didn't either."
"She seems so flattered that he pays attention to her, even after they've done it multiple times," Emme observes. "I think that's good. You can make her build her self-esteem over the course of the story. But after how many times will that start to happen?"
"I, uh, haven't gotten that far yet."
"That's okay," Tommy
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