Page 33 of Troublemaker: The Big Picture Edition
FROM: ALEX VEGA
Yes.
I agree.
I’m not happy about it, but I agree.
Like I said—I’ll see you in a few weeks.
Or sooner, if you change your mind.
Best,
Alex
ALEX VEGA INSPIRATION JOURNAL – OCTOBER
– Current mood… horny. Filled with anticipation. But also, strangely calm. Ready.
–La La Land. All of it. Fuck you for making the movie I wish I’d made, Damien. But also, good for you, bro. You nailed it. I just haven’t been in the right place to make a love story yet.
I will be. Maybe even sooner than I thought.
– Listening to “I’m God,” Clams Casino and Imogen Heap.
Fucking gorgeous, dreamy, emotive music. It complements this feeling in my chest. The one that’s finally replaced the closed-off heaviness. There’s movement. Something’s swaying and circling around in there, ready to take flight.
– Autumn is my favorite season in LA. This really is an ugly town filled with beautiful people. The fall here isn’t anywhere near as gorgeous as it is out east, but the diffused light now in early October makes it easier to really see people. I am so fucking ready to see Emilia Stiles again. I’m ready to see what the Santa Ana winds are going to blow in. I’m ready to fall again.
CHAPTER 12
EMILIA
“Stop. Stop panicking.” Franklin is squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose. This is what he always does when faced with my closet. “Nobody has a fashion emergency before going to work at an elementary school at seven o’clock in the morning. That’s not a thing. Why must I be awake?!”
“It is all kinds of emergency when the guy I made out with at that club is going on the field trip with me.”
His eyelids fly open and he shakes his head like Atticus after I’ve given him a bath. “Which guy?”
“Theoneguy I made out with at a club—before I vomited and he disappeared.”
“Three questions. One—did you just find out that this guy is going to be going on the field trip with you this morning? Two—if you did not, then why am I just hearing about it now? Three—please tell me this guy isn’t a seven-year-old or a school bus driver.”
“He is neither a seven-year-old nor a bus driver. He’s a hot divorced dad director with sexy earlobes and a mouth that I want on my mouth, but I can’t kiss him again because his son is in my class.”
Franklin blinks at me once. “Whyis this the first I’m hearing about this? We’ve had nine hundred conversations about Baby Yoda and how annoyed you are that Brent hasn’t texted you again even though you never texted him back, but we could have been talking about sexy club vomit guy?”
“Eww. Don’t call him that.”
“Why, Hermione? Why did you not tell me?”
“Because! If I had told you about Sexy Single Dad, you’d just tell me to date him. And I can’t. So I’ve been trying not to think about him. Even though I’m mildly anxious about the fact that he hasn’t tried to ask me out again, even though he’s respecting my wishes. Because what if he’s dating someone else now? I mean, why wouldn’t he? But now I have to think about him because I’m going to see him today and I need you to help me choose something to wear. Something that says, ‘Hi. I’m a responsible teacher who is also an attractive young woman with overpowering physical needs that she can’t satisfy with you right now even though she really, really wants to and hopefully you aren’t satisfying your physical needs with anyone else either.’”
“I could just have that printed on a T-shirt real quick.”
I punch him in the arm. “Is this really going to be the only time in my life that youaren’tgoing to tell me what to wear to look less teacher-y?”
He claps his hands together, waking up my dog. “Nope. I’m on it. My brain has caught up. I just need more information. Where are you going, and do you mean youcan’tkiss him or you can’t kiss himduring sex, like a prostitute?”
