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.

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

to meet at this bar not too far from my apartment

that I quickly learned

the phone, but as soon as we met that night, all he

it

thinking that ms nA im

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

talking about

was more than an

art form, and French people were more than willing to indulge in them in

that French

in the city, but I was

their feminine side more openly than guys

side

were more vocal about their love for art

didn’t care about being too forward or mushy, they only did what they

uninvited tongue down my throat

no, sorry, I

pushed

at me in confusion as I gathered my purse and stood

"Something wrong?"he asked.

to begin.I smiled politely at him and said,

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

feel like walking home alone, so I decided

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

"Tough night, eh?"he greeted.

"Excuse me?"

of this,"he lent

I’m good,

"You are an American?"

"Yes,"

are

"Georgia originally,"

thought you're from Tennessee.Because you're the

"Only ten I see?"

I laughed drily.

eyes met and we laughed at the

pretty good even though his accent

"What's your name?"he asked.

"Emma,"

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

I was about to pull away, however, he held

was tension in

tell me, aside from being drop-dead gorgeous, what do

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

mistake.I thought you are a

"Why?"

my eyes at

time I look at you, everyone else

help but laugh

"Are you always this...cheesy?"

the one who's

"What?"

looking Gouda tonight!"he

"Stop!"

my

I can keep going all

both said this joke in

and we smiled

like

up in front of the

I

"Wait, before you go,"

pausing for a second before saying, "Don’t tell me if you want me to take you out to dinner.Just smile for yes or kick me in the nuts for

funny yet

that, so I just said, "You're

at the end of that night, I did agree on getting dinner

bar, I hadn't been on a proper date with a guy other than

again, I couldn't really count that as going on a date since

last time

surprisingly a

we got dinner at this romantic

were having dinner, I found out that he was actually a

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

if he could hold my hand and I

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

date, Elliott and I went to the Carnavalet Museum and took a walk around

got to the garden, so the place

noticed he was looking at my face a lot throughout the day and when I confronted him about it, he calmly responded with, "I keep

did kiss that

garden at

was just a

a feeling I wouldn't

third date, we took a day trip to

a beautiful area with a

and Elliott kept raving about this

could try it and he proceeded with kissing me on the lips, parting

very smooth with