Page 92 of Troublemaker: The Big Picture Edition

So Mrs. Woodard has Googled Alex Vega.

She realizes her mistake in saying that. “Yes. I’ve broken my own unofficial no-Googling rule. But to be fair—I have met him. And he’s very cute.”

“Yes.” I sigh. “He is.”

I keep staring at my hands. I can’t look at her. And I don’t know how I’d survive if I don’t get to look at Alex Vega’s cute face every day for five months.

She clears her throat. I have no idea how long I blanked out for.

“I’m sorry if I’ve disappointed you, Mrs. Woodard. It wasn’t my intention to cause any trouble. We certainly tried to be discreet.”

“I’m not reprimanding you here, Emilia. I’m just hoping to offset any possible situation where I might have to in the future.”

For a brief, crazy moment, I have a vision of myself telling the principal that I quit, storming out of here and head-butting Miss Farrell, and then driving straight to Alex’s house to curl up in his arms for the rest of my life.

But unfortunately, I’m not crazy.

And I wouldn’t be happy ever after if I couldn’t teach.

And so, I nod, look her straight in the eye, and say, “I appreciate it. I will deal with this. This won’t be a problem.”

It will be shitty and sad and unbearable, but it won’t be a problem.

“I always want to do what’s best for my students,” I continue with a shaky voice. “I hope you know that.”

“I do. It sucks that what’s best for the students isn’t also best for our vaginas. But that’s life.” She waves me away. “Go on. Deal with it, and then take a nice hot bath or something.”

“Yeah.”

I trudge out of her office, hearing nothing but the pounding of my breaking heart and theCinema Paradisotheme in my head for some reason.

I’ll go home, call Alex, take a nice hot bath, watch the end ofCinema Paradiso,and then drink a bottle of Jägermeister and sleep until June.

CHAPTER 36

ALEX

Just as I’m pulling my phone out of my pocket to text Emilia to ask when she’ll get here, I have an incoming call from her.

“Bad news,” I say as soon as I answer. “I didn’t have time to make paella because my meeting ran long. But I will order from wherever you want me to. As long as you want pizza, because I just promised Ryder we’d have that tonight.”

She doesn’t laugh, which is weird. “Are you…um. Are you with Ryder now? Can you go somewhere private? So we can talk for a bit?”

“Ohhhh. I didn’t realize it wasthatkind of call. Give me a minute.”

I hear sniffling from her end as I leave Ryder in the kitchen and go down the hall to my office. “You getting a cold?”

She makes a sound like a hiccup.

I shut the door to my office. “Okay. I’m in private. Are you naked and lying down?”

“Alex…”

“Topless and standing up?”

She sniffles again. And I’m now realizing it’s not because she has a cold. “I don’t know if there’s a good way to say this. Ora better way to say it. I can’t tell you this if I’m looking at you because…”

Shit. This can’t be good.