3

Lexi's POV:

The following morning

As I hand Mia a hot cup of coffee she grins, "someone is up early today."

"I need to make sure I have time to get set up this morning. Today has to go better than yesterday did." I groan, joining my half-naked girlfriend in bed with her coffee.

"I'm sure it wan't that bad, Lexi. You're just being dramatic." Her eyes roll and she sips the steaming drink carefully. "What do you have to set up, anyway?"

"I'm having the students start a project today, so I have to get some documents uploaded on the website and make copies." I explain, going through my game-plan in my head.

"I'm sure that lady across the hall would help. She seemed sort of nice." Mia says.

Without thinking, I let out a sarcastic laugh and shake my head, "ha, I am not asking Evan for help... of all people." Once the words come out my heart speeds up. I should not have said that.

Of course, Mia's eyebrows furrow, "you say that like you two are close or something. Did you know her before yesterday?" She asks me.

I press my hands together tight and try to keep my composure in my face, "no, I just- she doesn't seem like the type." I lie... straight to her face.

I can't tell Mia about Evan and I's past. That is something I don't talk about with anyone. What happened with Evan had a big impact on me. Mia knows I had a rough experience with a past lover, but over the months I have known her, that is all I have said.

I wouldn't dare divulge the details of Evan and I's relationship, mainly because I am scared that if I talk about it and acknowledge it, the feelings will resurface along with the memories. That's now an even bigger concern seeing as that she works with me.

"I have to get going, I'll text you when I get there." I say to Mia, ready to leave. "Have a good day."

She kisses my lips quickly and I leave the apartment.

I arrive at the school and make it to my classroom without issue. From my desk, I see Evan fumbling with her keys at the door. She drops them and picks them up quickly, her (still) immaculate calf muscles flexing when she does so.

I didn't forget what I saw yesterday afternoon. She was watching- no, lurking. My only question was why?

I check the time on my watch and see that I have a good half-hour before I see any students, so I wander across the hall to Evan's room.

"I like your room. It's very...you." I say, leaning against the door with my arms folded while examining the classroom.

Her head snaps around quickly, "gosh, you scared me." She gasps. "But thanks... though I am not sure you have the right to claim you know what is 'me.'" She grins, organizing papers on her desk.

I bite my lower lip and nod slowly, "right." I take a breath and step into the room and close the door quietly. The sound of the latch clicking makes Evan's head snap to me again.

"What are you doing? Open that door, Lex." She sighs. Lex.

I hold my palms up in surrender, "I'd rather not have the entire school hear the conversation."

"Any conversation we have here is game for the school to hear." She reminds me, giving me a look.

"I need to talk to you, Evan." I say softly, my eyes fixated on her face.

The (now not-so-dirty) blonde sighs and takes a breath, leaving me in agonizing silence for several seconds. "Fine. If it's that serious, we can talk after school today. Late lunch?"

My lip curls a bit and I nod, "I can live with that arrangement." I pause and think for a moment, "you don't have to pick the kids up after school?"

Her hands stop moving at my question and she glances up at me with a blank expression, "after school then."

Uh oh. That can't be good. Did she really lose her kids over her relationship with me? I can't live with myself knowing that. I know how much she loves her kids. Her sleeping with me years ago isn't a good enough reason to strip a mother of her children... is it?

I leave the classroom on that thought-provoking note and chew at my cheek nervously.

* * *

Evan's POV:

"Day three... do I need to repeat myself?" I question as I strut over to a student's desk while he is texting his thumbs away.

The obnoxious teen looks up at me and shows no sign of remorse, "maybe. I'd like to hear you say it again, honestly." He smarts off, eventually cracking a flirtatious grin.

I narrow my eyes and nod my head, "we can go this route if you'd like... write-up and three days of in-school-suspension sounds easier for me anyway."

His face changes instantly and he puts the device away, "n-no ma'am. I'll put it up!" He growls.

I nod my head and walk away from his desk. I hate having to be the bad guy, but I have found that's the only way to get some students to listen and take me seriously. Especially horny teenage boys with one thing on their mind.

I proceed with class, giving instructions to individually read articles online. No more than three minutes later, I hear mumbled discussion in the back of the class.

"Jackson, do you know what the world individual means?" I sigh, palms pressed flat to my desk.

The boy nods slowly.

"So please explain to me why you are conversing with other students? That is not what individual means, now is it?" I smart. "Please, fill the class in on what is so important."

All eyes turn to the blushing teen and he licks his lips and clears his throat. "I- we were just talking about the new teacher across the hall from us."

My interest is sparked, to say the least. "And what about Ms. Brewer is so fascinating to you, Jackson?"

"I- We just think she's hot." He says, embarrassed. I can't say I disagree.

The comment solicits a giggle from the class and I shake my head, "get to work. Now."

The day drags on and I try to keep my focus on teaching my classroom full of students rather than who is across the hall from me.

I'm nervous for my late lunch with Lexi for obvious reasons, but I'm also very excited. I'm excited to talk to her and find out what she's been up to... see how much she's grown and changed. I'm proud of her for coming to this point. At her age, I never imagined being at a school like this one teaching.

Lexi's always been determined to have what she wants... clearly.

* * *

Lexi's POV:

I close the door to my classroom and lock it, my phone pinned to my ear by my shoulder.

"I'm heading to dinner now, I'll be home after that!" I explain to Mia, who has been waiting on my return all day.

She was less than thrilled to find out my homecoming would be delayed even more due to dinner plans.

Despite the unpleasant tone in my girlfriend's voice, I leave the school and drive to the restaurant Evan instructed me to meet her at... ten minutes ago.

I rush inside and smile at the hostess, "hey, I am meeting someone here. I'm a bit late." I explain.

"Name of the party?" She asks with a grin.

"Cope- I mean, Johnson. Blonde girl, really pretty..?" I shrug, trying to speed the process.

She nods and happily escorts me to a two-person booth and Evan raises her brows, "you've still not gotten past the whole 'being late' thing, have you?"

I sigh and sink into the leather booth, "can't be perfect."

"Punctuality is important for teachers, Lex." She grins, swirling the red wine in her class around.

I eye the glass and nod, "I'm aware." Memories flood my head at the mere sight of the wine. The last time I even tasted red wine was on Evan's lips.

"What was so urgent? Why'd you say we need to talk?" Evan asks, being very casual. Nothing about this situation is casual.

"Ev, I-" I pause and bite my lip, taking a moment to collect my thoughts. She watches me intently and I shake my head, "I don't think I can do this. I can't sit across the hall from you for an entire school year and act like we don't have the history we do." I explain.

She sinks back into her seat and looks down.

"What happened?" I ask her.

Her eyes snap back up to mine, "you're seriously asking me that?" Her tone is low and almost a whisper.

"Yes, I am. Because all I know right now is what I see. And I'm not seeing a whole lot, Ms. Johnson." I mutter and give her a look.

Evan's eyes do a dramatic flutter and she tilts her glass again. She swallows a large gulp and lays her hands on the table. With this action, I'm able to see that her left hand bares no wedding ring. "What would you like to know, Lexi?"

"The divorce... the kids. How did that unfold?" I ask her, hesitant but curious.

Her eyes close and she shoves her hands through her hair, "Jesus, Lexi. Starting off easy, huh?" She takes another breath and looks up at me. "The divorce was ugly... and expensive. I basically had to give into Scott's demands because he had the funds and blackmail to make me do so."

"Evan-"

"Let me talk, dammit. You ask and I answer. That's how this works." She hisses. "Obviously Scott knew about what happened between us thanks to your wonderful mother. He used that against me in every way he could. I wanted custody, obviously, and he did too. So, he blackmailed me. He agreed to keep his mouth shut about my relationship with you if I gave him the larger chunk of custody. I had no choice to agree to his terms because he had the better lawyer, and he could ruin me and my future as a teacher entirely with that one piece of information. Turns out fucking a student at the school you work at has larger repercussions than you'd think."

My heart breaks along with Evan's voice. It's clear how much this hurt her. "Evan, I'm so sorry. I-"

"Don't." She cuts me off. "I've accepted responsibility for my actions and the consequences."

"But that's your-"

"Kids. Yes, my kids. You think I don't know that? It hurts. It hurts every day that I wake up and I don't have them with me. I don't have them because I had you, and that tears me apart. I love them more than anything, Lexi." She explains.

I slide my hand across the table and grab her hand, "it's not fair. Fuck Scott." I hiss.

Evan pulls her hand away from mine and clears her throat, "I couldn't agree more with the last part, but hopefully things are going to change soon. Scott's been working a lot out of town, so he mentioned some changes regarding custody. I mean, I see the kids every other weekend as it is, but he isn't even there half the time when they're with him. They're reaching an age where they want to see me and have more attention.... So I think I'll be getting them a lot more often soon."

"That- that's great, Ev. Do you think-"

"I'd rather not talk about it. There are a lot of 'ifs.'" Evan says and shakes her head. "Too many. Makes my head spin."

I nod slowly and bite my cheek, thinking of what to say next. I figure that steering towards a less-heavily weighted subject is in my best interest. "You dyed your hair."

Evan raises her brows and snickers, "you're still observant, huh?"

"And you changed your last name..." I continue, putting myself right back on the very tense path I just stepped off of.

"Yeah, well I had more than enough reasons to." Evan scoffs, tracing her fingertip around the wine glass.

Before I can respond the waiter comes and takes both our orders, refilling Evan's wine glass while he's there.

"Uh, can I just get spaghetti?" I ask, closing the menu and listening to Evan's giggle.

The waiter nods and leaves the table, but Evan's eyes don't leave me. She shakes her head, "never changed your eating habits, huh?"

"Guess not. Why'd you change your last name?" I ponder, not letting the question slip away from me.

Her eyes cut me and she sighs, "you are relentless. I changed my name because I hate Scott, and because the affair I had with a student who attended my school was associated with the last name Copeland." Evan flashes a sarcastic grin.

I nod and chew my bottom lip nervously. "So, no one knows...?"

"No, Lexi. That's the whole point of moving to a new city. I never wanted a connection to be made, but now here we are... the girl herself plopped into the classroom across from me. Convenient, right?" Evan growls.

I giggle a little and shake my head at the situation, "what are the odds of this happening?"

"Clearly not too slim, because it's happening, Lexi." She scoffs.

"Touché." I sigh. "Are you upset I'm here?"

Evan shakes her head slowly, "upset isn't a good word choice. I know you didn't deliberately come to Cliffview because you knew I was teaching there. I'm just- I'm frustrated that it had to be you of all people, Lexi. The one thing I am trying to keep my distance from, the one part of my past that I do not want dug up... and you're here."

Evan's comment is sincere and makes me feel a bit guilty. She's right, I didn't know she was a teacher at the school when I accepted the job, but I feel like I am intruding.

"However, I am proud of you. I'm glad to see that you overcame the bullshit that I know you were subjected to after graduation and made something of yourself. Cliffview is a good school to teach at, and they only hire good teachers. So, it makes me happy to see you on the same playing field as me." Evan's smile appears for the first time in a while and my heart warms up again.

"Thank you, Ev." I nod. "Despite how fucked the situation is, I couldn't ask for a better across-the-hall mate." I grin.

Her eyes roll and she shakes her head, "mmm, see if you say that by the end of the year."

* * *

Evan's POV:

"You don't need to do that!" I hiss, reaching over the table to snatch the bill from Lexi's grip.

She refuses and inserts her credit card instead. "It's the least I can do."

I roll my eyes for the millionth time and sigh, "well... thank you. I appreciate you paying for dinner."

She nods and I collect my keys and my purse, getting ready to leave.

"How're you getting home?" She asks me.

"Uber. Don't worry, I didn't get stupid over these past few years... I still don't drink and drive." I wink at her.

She grins, "glad to know that. Let me take you... save you a few bucks on an Uber." Lexi offers.

I hesitate for obvious reasons, but I'm not drunk (meaning I won't make and stupid decisions) and she doesn't seem to have any other intentions. Why the hell not?

"Okay." I nod.

Once she signs the bill Lexi escorts me to her car, even opening the door for me and helping me in.

She starts the drive to my home and I grin to myself before I make a comment. "How'd Mia feel if she knew you were taking me home?" I joke.

Lexi glares at me and rolls her eyes, "she wouldn't care because all you are is my coworker. She is encouraging me to 'befriend' you anyway." She sighs, using air quotes.

"You've done far more than befriend me." I mumble, looking though the window. "Mia have a job?"

After a diluted laugh, Lexi answers. "Not at the moment. We just got an apartment and all that, so we're still working on getting her a new job."

I nod, listening. "You two are cute together."

"You'd know since you watched us from the hallway, right?" Lexi smarts off.

"Mm, still have the same smart-ass mouth I see." I laugh and shake my head. Our relationship feels so much like it used to.

"Like you said, some things never change, Ev." She giggles. We arrive outside of my home and Lexi looks over at me. "Thank you for sitting down with me. I know you put yourself on the line for me back then."

"It was... necessary." I admit. "I just hope we're on the same page now..." I shrug.

Lexi nods her head and leans over the console, hugging me pretty tight. Her scent fills my nostrils and her embrace warms my core. I haven't felt that in... a while.

"Goodnight, Lex." I mutter and pull away from her.

Her smile forms, "goodnight, Ms. Johnson. See you tomorrow."