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.

beautiful eyes, and we bonded over our love of Harry

bar not

learned was

guy on the phone, but as

say, it wasn’t a

going into this date thinking

about it, what is France famous for? No, not the French fries, they

talking about the French

in France was more

were more than willing

that French

in the city, but I

to embrace their feminine side more openly than

showing their feminine side were

France, guys were more vocal about their love for

or mushy, they

their uninvited tongue down my throat did not scream romance to

yeah, okay, no, sorry, I

as I pushed Olivier by

in confusion as I gathered my purse and stood up

"Something wrong?"he asked.

if you have to ask, I don’t even know where to begin.I smiled politely at him and said, "Sorry, I'm just not into

word, I turned to my heels and walked out of the

at night and I didn’t feel like

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

"Tough night, eh?"he greeted.

"Excuse me?"

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

I’m good, thank

"You are an American?"

"Yes,"

state are

"Georgia originally,"

thought you're from Tennessee.Because you're

"Only ten I see?"

I laughed drily.

met and we laughed at the lameness of that pick-up

his English was pretty good

"What's your name?"he asked.

"Emma,"

you, Emma.I’m Elliott Jacques,"he put his hand out to me and I took

about to pull away, however, he held onto it a

in the

do you for a living?"he said

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

mistake.I thought

"Why?"

my eyes at

time I look at

couldn’t help but laugh

"Are you always this...cheesy?"

You're the one who's made

"What?"

you're looking

"Stop!"

rolled my eyes at

keep going all night

she said,"we both said this joke

we smiled appreciatively at each

moment, like we both somehow

that moment, my Uber pulled up in front of the bar

my ride, I have to

"Wait, before you go,"

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

was funny yet

know how to respond to that, so I just said, "You're so

did agree on getting dinner with him and he did

with Olivier at that bar, I hadn't been on a proper date with a guy other

going on a date since we mostly stayed in his apartment and

couldn't remember the last time I went out on a

a very sweet

date, we got dinner at this romantic

dinner, I found out

took a walk along the

if he could hold my hand and I

old guy asking to hold my hand

our second date, Elliott and I went to the Carnavalet Museum and took a

time we got to the garden,

he was looking at my face a lot throughout the day and when I confronted him about it, he calmly responded with, "I keep looking at your because it’s so beautiful and

did kiss that

garden

just a short, sweet

a feeling I wouldn't

took a day

area with a castle, historical towns, vineyards, and fruit

Elliott kept raving about this glass

with kissing me on the lips, parting my mouth open with the tip of his tongue, and a slurp of

very smooth with