Teacher's Girl (Aflyingwhale)

EMMA’s POV : For the first time in eight months, I typed his name into a google search.

A few things came up.

There was an article in The New Yorker about the gallery’s grand opening.

The article praised the exhibition, calling it a creative space for international contemporary art lovers.

There was also a picture of lan and Ally, standing together in front of the gallery with Mayor de Blasio.

They were smiling from ear to ear.

They sure made a great looking couple.

That was painful to see.

The article even called them ' the power duo’, New York's hottest art lovers.

I put my phone down and immediately regretted my decision.

I should have never googled an ex.

Ever.

But I was stubborn.

After my friends went back to the States, I was alone in my apartment again and I was forced to deal with my feelings.

There were still a few days left in the holiday, so I had no excuse to be busy with school or the internship.

In my desperate, boredom stage, I ended up googling his name again.

This time, I found Ally’s social media page.

lan had deleted his Instagram profile ages ago, right around when we started dating.

He wanted to keep himself and his activities hidden from the world.

He also never liked the idea of social media in the first place.

But finding Ally’s Instagram page was like finding a land mine.

Her page was filled with pictures of her and lan.

Ian looked...great, of course.

His hair was longer and his jaw was scruffier.

He wore a lot of suits now and he looked amazing in them.

His tattoos would peak out of his collar and I remembered how much I enjoyed running my fingers through his inked skin.

Ugh! I need to stop! We just entered a new year and this year my resolution was to stop pining over my long lost love.

Stalking his girlfriend’s instagram page wasn't gonna help my case.

I threw my stupid phone on the bed groaned into a pillow.

I'm so pathetic! I can’t keep living like this! I have to do something! Suddenly, I was hit with an idea.

I grabbed my phone again and stared blankly at the screen for a few seconds.

Not wanting to overthink things anymore, my finger tapped the screen several times and I got right to work.

This was probably not one of my brightest moments.

I just download Tinder.

For a while, all I did in that app was swipe people.

Swiping left, swiping right, it was just something to entertain myself.

I wasn’t in any mood to find love, especially not on Tinder in a foreign land.

I was just bored, honestly.

And looking at these guys’ faces on my screen was a safe way to remind myself that there are other people out there.

There could still be a future for me after lan Hayes.

Sometimes the guys I matched with would send me messages and they could be flattering.

They were a great confidence boost, and I would leave it at that.

But some days when I got super bored, I ended up replying to their messages.

I didn't think of much of it.

I only downloaded the app for fun anyway.

But after talking to several guys for a few weeks, the idea of meeting one of them seemed enticing.

"I don’t have to marry the guy, I’m just looking for friends,"

I said to myself.

So one day in early March, I agreed to go on a date with this guy, Olivier.

seemed like a sweet guy with beautiful eyes, and we bonded over our love

meet at this bar not too far from my apartment

learned was that

like a genuine guy on the phone, but as soon as we met that night, all he wanted to do was to shove his tongue

say, it wasn’t

into this date thinking that ms nA im his

for? No,

about the

France was more than an

art form, and French people were more than

that French men were

course, there were masculine French men in the city, but

side more openly than guys

men showing their feminine side were often considered gay

more vocal about their love for art and

about being too forward or mushy, they only

down my throat did not scream romance

I don't think this gonna

I pushed Olivier

confusion as I gathered my purse and

"Something wrong?"he asked.

gee, if you have to ask, I don’t even know where to begin.I smiled politely at

him to say another word, I turned to my heels and walked out of the bar in

like walking home alone, so I decided to get an

Uber in front of the bar, when suddenly a tall guy in messy dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes approached

"Tough night, eh?"he greeted.

"Excuse me?"

it, you could use some of this,"he lent out a pack of

good,

"You are an American?"

"Yes,"

are

"Georgia originally,"

you're from Tennessee.Because you're the

"Only ten I see?"

I laughed drily.

eyes met and we laughed at the lameness of that

was pretty good even

"What's your name?"he asked.

"Emma,"

Jacques,"he put his hand out to me and I took

pull away, however,

was tension in the air,

what do you for a

year of college.I'm on an exchange program,"I said,

mistake.I thought you

"Why?"

my eyes

I look

but laugh

"Are you always this...cheesy?"

You're the one

"What?"

you're looking Gouda

"Stop!"

rolled my eyes at

can keep going all

both said this joke in

met again and we smiled

like we both

my Uber pulled up in front of the bar and

my ride, I have to

"Wait, before you go,"

want me to take you out to dinner.Just smile for yes or kick me in the

funny

that, so I just said, "You're

of that night, I did agree on getting dinner with him and

weird meet-up with Olivier at that bar, I hadn't been on a proper date with

couldn't really count that as going on a

the last time I went out on a

a very

dinner at this

found out that he was

with teachers and me? Anyway, we took a walk along the river after dinner and we talked about everything from music to our

could hold my hand and

so nice about a twenty five year old guy asking to hold my hand instead

went to the

time we got to the garden, so the place looked extra

and when I confronted him about it, he calmly responded with,

did kiss that

garden

was just a

feeling I

third date, we took a day trip to Loire

beautiful area with a castle, historical towns,

a wine tasting in the vineyard and Elliott kept raving about this glass of wine

if I could try it and he proceeded with kissing me on the lips, parting my mouth open with the tip of his tongue, and a

was very