Chapter 38
TAYLOR
If there were a world record for the number of times someone could refresh their text messages, I was sure I’d broken it by now.
After checking—again—to see if Audrey had finally responded, I set down my phone.
“It’s been a pleasure teaching you all these past few months,” I told my mini writing class. “I hope you learned as much from me as I learned from you.”
They nodded and clapped, though most were already eyeing the pizza and gift bags.
When the bell rang, I stood by the desk and shook their hands one by one as they filed out of the room.
Emma lingered near the back, and I braced myself for one last inappropriate comment.
She slowly made her way toward me, unzipped her backpack, and pulled out two bright red gift bags.
“I decided to leave you with a huge token of my appreciation,” she said. “Even though you don’t deserve it on a personal level, you do deserve it on the professional teacher level.”
Okay, so maybe she’d finally gotten the point.
“Where’s Miss Parker?” she asked. “I made a gift for her too. A much better one than yours.”
“She, uh…” I paused. “She hasn’t been feeling well.”
“You said that yesterday and the day before.” Her brows drew together. “Is she in the hospital?”
“No, she’s…” I held out my hand. “You can leave the gift with me. I’ll make sure she gets it.”
“Can you also promise not to open it?”
“I promise.”
“It’s really sentimental, so you have to double promise.”
“Okay.” I smiled for the first time all week. “I double promise, Emma. I’ll only open mine.”
She eyed me suspiciously for several seconds, then scribbled something on a Post-it and tucked it inside Audrey’s bag. To make sure I wouldn’t snoop, she stapled it shut before handing it over.
“Thank you, Mr. Taylor!” she said brightly. “Have a good break!”
“You too, Emma.”
I waited for her to leave before collecting the last essays into a folder.
Audrey’s silent treatment would have to end this weekend, whether she liked it or not. I was breaking down her door and making her talk to me the second I got home.
“Oh, there you are, Taylor!” Dean Worthington stepped into the doorway before I could leave. “How are you doing today?”
“Good, sir. You?”
“Wonderful.” He smiled. “I know this is short notice, but the team’s agreed to give you an extra week to complete your thesis, since you’ve been handling final classroom duties alone this week.”
“I already finished my thesis.”
“Really?” He blinked. “Well, good for you! I guess you and Miss Parker are both set to overachiever mode. Anyway, with her being gone, I assumed you might need—”
“What do you mean she’s gone?”
“She withdrew from the program on Friday.” He tilted his head. “Didn’t she tell you?”
“No.” My jaw tightened. “She didn’t.”
“Well, whatever’s going on with her, it sounded serious, so don’t take it too personally.” He patted my shoulder. “If you don’t mind, could you check the apartment and box up any personal items she left behind? We’d like to mail them this weekend.”
I said nothing.
“I’ll send someone to pick it up Friday,” he added. “And that extra week is still yours if you want it.”
He left before I could respond.
I immediately pulled out my phone and called Audrey.
“Sorry! The user of this number has blocked your call from going through.”
She’s out of her fucking mind…
I sat back at my desk, staring at the two red gift bags Emma had left behind.
My name was scrawled across one. Audrey’s across the other—her name written in the same looping cursive Emma used for her essays.
I knew I wasn’t supposed to open Audrey’s but I couldn’t help it.
Inside was a framed photo—me and Audrey, laughing in class. The kind of picture that made it impossible to remember we’d ever hated each other.
A yellow Post-it was stuck to the corner:
I took this picture of you two this week.
If I can’t have Mr. Wolff, I GUESS you can…
For the first time since I’d heard she left, the reality of it hit me.
She left me without even saying goodbye.