Chapter 7: Lucid Dreaming
Chapter 7: Lucid Dreaming
EMMA’'s POV :
I woke up that morning to a weird sensation coming from under me.
I pried my eyes open slightly and I saw that both my hands were stuck inside my underwear.
Two of my fingers were still inside of me, the pathetic remains of last night.
"Gah, I'm so stupid,"I rolled my eyes and slammed my head against the pillow.
It was all just a dream.
Of course, it was.
What was I thinking? Did I actually believe that Mr.Hayes would find me in my room at night and f u c k me senseless? But somehow...I wished that he did.
After pulling myself together for a quick shower and breakfast, I made my way to school.
Carrying the heavy books on my hand, I was walking mindlessly towards my first period Chemistry class when I saw Ryan striding over to me.
He smiled real wide as soon as our eyes met.
He was wearing his usual red football jacket and I didn’t know why I hadn‘t noticed this sooner, but he was low-key kind of cute.
"Hey Emma,"he greeted.
"Hey Ryan,"I replied.
"You got chemistry with Mr.Gallagher?"
"Yeah, you too?"I asked.
"No.I got chemistry with you,"he grinned.
Okay, yeah, that was high-key very cute.
"Smooth,"I muttered and rolled my eyes.
Turning to my heels, I made my way inside the classroom and Ryan followed right behind me.
I took an empty seat by the window and Ryan naturally took the chair next to it.
To be very honest, I didn't want to come to school today.
I didn’t want to be in the same building as Mr.Hayes, I had anxiety every time I turn a corner.
But being with Ryan, somehow I forgot about all of that.
First period chemistry class turned out to be a lot of fun.
Ryan and I were cracking jokes the whole time and I was laughing my butt off as Ryan did a mean John Mulaney impression.
Mr.Gallagher had to shush us repeatedly and even threatened to change our seats.
I wanted to be a goodie-goodie and focus on his lectures, but Ryan was very distracting.
By the end of class, Mr.Gallagher gave us both detention.
"I'm sorry you got detention because of me,"Ryan said as we walked out of first period.
"It's fine, it was worth it,"
"I still owe you for falling on you yesterday, and now this.You must let me make it up to you," he was being as smooth as butter.
"Well, what do you have in mind?"
"Wanna go out with me? Like on a date?"
My breath was caught in my throat as I didn’t see expect this at all.
"Oh..."
I was trying to find the words to say when I heard the second bell rang.
"We could go see a movie? And there’s this new Mexican place that just opened, the reviews are pretty good," he asked again.
"I...guess —"
"The second bell had rung.You two need to get to class," suddenly I heard a familiar voice spoke loudly, drowning my voice.
I spin my head around and saw Mr. Hayes standing in the middle of the hallway.
His gaze was dark and serious. Too serious for my liking.
"Alright, I'll talk to you later?"
Ryan quickly said as he moved a couple of steps away.
"Yeah.See you later,"
Ryan waved goodbye as he headed to his second period class.
Mr.Hayes was still standing there, at the same spot, keeping his eyes on me.
"What?" I asked him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You need to get to class, Miss Sinclair," he said sternly.
Rolling my eyes at him, I stomped my feet and headed for second period.
When I passed by him, I caught his familiar delicious scent and my breath hitched.
"You're really acting your age now," he said suddenly when I was a few feet away from him.
"What does that supposed to mean?" I narrowed my eyes athim.
"Nothing," he muttered and walked away.
What the hell was that?
"Ryan Russo asked you out? Dude, what did you say?"
Tiff almost blurted out her pepperoni pizza when I told her what happened with Ryan in first period.
Tiff, Carrie, Mark, and I were sitting at our usual spot in the quad, enjoying pizza day for lunch.
"I haven't said anything yet," I answered her.
I couldn't. I was interrupted by the mean, staring eyes of Mr. Hayes.
"Well, do you wanna go out with him?" Carrie asked.
"I don’t know," I sighed.
"I just broke up with Zach a few weeks ago. It feels too soon,"
"Girl, listen.The best and fastest way to get over someone is to get with someone.Trust me, it's a proven fact,"
Tiff stated. "Zach’s a total ass.I heard about what he did to you.Man, you deserve someone better,"Mark added.
My friends had some good points.
I could easily have said yes to Ryan this morning, but somehow I didn’t.
It was like something was holding me back.
At first, I thought it was my breakup with Zach, but now I was thinking it might be something else entirely.
My eyes darted to the large window where I saw Mr.Hayes stood yesterday.
It was the window to the art studio.
Wait, was I looking for him?I thought I wanted to stay away from Mr.Hayes.
I thought I needed to avoid him at all costs.
Which was why I never even took a step anywhere near the art studio.
I'd purposefully took the long way around to get to my classes so I wouldn't have to face the awkwardness that was Mr.Hayes.
Yet now I was wondering where he was? As if on cue, a tall figure appeared at the corner of the window.
I tilted my head to the side to get a closer look.
The figure looked a lot like Mr.Hayes, but I wasn't sure.
It looked like he was talking to somebody.
"Hello? Earth to Emma? Hey, what are you looking at?"
Carrie’s voice broke my daydream.
"Oh, nothing,"I muttered quickly and looked away.
"Hey! Is that Mr.Hayes and Ms.Diaz in the art room?"Mark was practically yelling.
My eyes shot up instantly and I saw it.
The two of them.They were talking.
She was laughing, a lot.
Somehow this made my stomach twist in an unpleasant way. "Holy cow! Is it happening? Are they actually dating?"Tiff squeaked.
"They look mighty comfortable with each other,"Carrie commented.
"Is the school even okay with this?"I found myself being salty all of a sudden.
"There are no rules against it,"Mark wasn’t being helpful.
"I bet they’d make cute babies,"Tiff said and I wanted to gag.
"Ew, Tiff,"
"What? It’s true,"
Tiff defended herself, "you two are so lucky you picked the art elective.I wish I'd done that.Now instead of having Jamie Dornan as my teacher, I'm stuck in drama class making wigs with Mrs.Applebaum,"
Carrie and Mark started laughing, but I couldn’t bring myself to laugh.
My mind was still stuck on Ms.Diaz and her perfect rack talking to Mr.Hayes.
Why does that even matter, you moron? He's your teacher and he’s a free man.
He can do whatever wants and talk to whoever he wants!
"Em? Are you okay? You seem pretty out of it," Carrie said as she waved her hand in front of me.
"Uh? Yeah, no, I’m good.I just need to go to the bathroom real quick," I said as I stood up.
"Want me to go with you?" Tiff offered.
"Nah, I’m good.You guys stay here,"
I made my way through the long corridor and debated whether or not I should do what I was about to do.
I lied about the bathroom, obviously.
I was making strides over to the art studio, the one place I swore I would not come near.
"Oh, lan, you're hilarious"
I heard Ms.Diaz's cheery laugh as I neared the art studio’s door.
The door wasn't closed all the way, so I made sure that I was standing at the perfect spot where they wouldn't see me.
"They're playing that film you know, down at the McGee Theater," she said again.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, we should go check it out,"
"Sure.When is it?"
"How’s Friday night for you? We can also get dinner?" she asked.
"Yeah, that sounds great,"he replied.
It didn’t even take him one second to think about his response.
Then I heard Ms.Diaz's giggling grew louder, and all of a sudden the door swung open.
I was frozen in shock as both Ms.Diaz and Mr.Hayes were standing at the doorframe, looking right at me.
"Emma? Are you okay, dear?"Ms.Diaz said.
"Um, yeah..."I was scrambling for an excuse, "I just have some questions to ask Mr.
Hayes about the AP art portfolio,"
"Oh, okay,"she said and turned her head back to Mr.Hayes, "I'll see you later, then?"
Mr.Hayes smiled and nodded.
Ms.Diaz was glowing in confidence as she strode away, leaving the two of us alone.
"You have something to ask me?"
Mr.Hayes’ gaze sharply turned to me.
"I...uh, was wondering if I could borrow some...chisel for my art piece,"
The chisel was the first thing I saw when my eyes darted into the room for help.
"Sure, just sign your name and make sure you return it,"he gestured to the sign-in sheet on the desk.
"Okay,"
I made my way into the classroom awkwardly, grabbed a chisel from the cabinet, and wrote my name on the sheet.
All the while, Mr.Hayes was just standing there, leaning against the doorframe, looking at me with dark, brooding eyes.
I got everything I needed and I was about to walk out the classroom, but I couldn't help myself and my mouth blurted out, "So, I guess the rumors are true.Are you going out with Ms.Diaz?"
Mr.Hayes looked taken aback by this question.
Cocking his head to the side, he studied my face and said, "What I do with Erica Diaz is none of your concern, Emma," Original content from NôvelDrama.Org.
"Right..."I trailed.
"I didn’t say anything about you and that jock-kid,"he sneered.
Jock-kid? Did he mean Ryan? Oh, so he heard us this morning.
We looked at each other for a while as our eyes were narrowed sharply at each other.
There was this unspoken tension in the air and it was getting uncomfortable.
“Whatever, this is pointless.You're right.I'm sorry I even said anything," I said finally, breaking off the staring contest.
Mr.Hayes didn't say a word in response, so I decided to walk away.
"Enjoy your date," he said suddenly and it made me stop my tracks.
His words sounded bitter.Or maybe I was the bitter one.
Without turning around, I breathed out, "You too, Mr.Hayes,"