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

this bar not too far from

online dating that I quickly learned was

and he seemed like a genuine guy on the phone, but as soon as we

say, it wasn’t a great

into this date thinking that ms nA im

for?

was talking about the French

France was

and French people were

noticed that French

were masculine French men in the

embrace their feminine side more

America, men showing their feminine side were often considered gay

more vocal about their love for art

care about being too forward or mushy,

uninvited tongue down my

no, sorry, I don't

I pushed Olivier by his

as I gathered

"Something wrong?"he asked.

even know where to begin.I smiled politely at him and said, "Sorry,

I turned to my heels

was late at night and I didn’t feel like

suddenly a tall guy

"Tough night, eh?"he greeted.

"Excuse me?"

saw you inside.From the looks of it, you could use some of this,"he lent out a pack of cigarettes to me, and

good,

"You are an American?"

"Yes,"

are

"Georgia originally,"

I thought you're from Tennessee.Because

"Only ten I see?"

I laughed drily.

met and we laughed at the lameness of

his English was pretty

"What's your name?"he asked.

"Emma,"

to meet you, Emma.I’m Elliott Jacques,"he put his hand

I was about to pull away, however, he

tension in

drop-dead gorgeous, what do you for a living?"he

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

my mistake.I thought you are

"Why?"

my eyes

look at you, everyone else

couldn’t help but laugh a

"Are you always this...cheesy?"

You're the one who's made of

"What?"

you're looking Gouda

"Stop!"

rolled my eyes

can keep going

both said

again and we smiled appreciatively at each other’s

like we both

in front of the bar and I took a step towards

my ride, I have to

"Wait, before you go,"

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

funny yet

didn't know how to respond to that, so I just

night, I did agree on getting dinner with him

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

going on a date since

the last time I went out on

surprisingly a very

we got dinner at

out that he

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

he could hold my

about a twenty five year old guy asking to hold my hand instead of shoving their

and I went to the Carnavalet Museum and took a walk

was sunset by the time we got to the garden, so

throughout the day and when I confronted him about it, he

did kiss

garden at

was just a short, sweet

a feeling I wouldn't forget it

date, we took a day

with a castle, historical towns, vineyards, and fruit

Elliott kept raving about this glass of wine being the

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 slurp

very