Page 107 of Ex Marks the Spot

“You’re telling me. I still haven’t told them where I plan on going, but they know I’m heading out once we’re done with the jobs on our schedule.”

A smile slowly takes over his face. “If you’re done by Thanksgiving and the finale is December seventh, that means?—”

“I’ll be there on December eighth.”

CHAPTER 22

COURT

Leg eight aired last night, which means anyone who came to the PTA’s weekly fundraiser-slash-viewing party in the gym watched me land on a drop zone and kiss Hartley on a forty-foot screen. Ella said the PTA chair had to pause the show to wait for the cheering to die down.

I watched from my living room with Rhett’s moral support, which was mostly him clapping me on the shoulder while saying, “Atta boy!” and “It’s about fucking time!”

It’s not like I didn’t know this episode was coming. I just didn’t account for Blake Thompson’s knee taking a crap on him in the dairy section of the Piggly Wiggly after the Argentina episode aired. That left his history class in need of a substitute for his two-month recovery from surgery.

Rather than continuing with my plan of hiding out in my office of Studs N Suds, I was dropped into the middle of the gossip mill otherwise known as Green Valley High School right after the New Zealand leg aired.

Here’s the thing about high schoolers: When they’re invested in something, there’s no half-assing it. By the end of that first day, there was a #TeamHartbreak sign stuck to Blake’s door and I’d been added to a “Protect Him At All Costs” list. Since then, my students have decreed Hartley to be my one true love. For the record, I’ve continued my I-can’t-discuss-anything stance, but that didn’t stop them from creating a mood board, whatever that is, to gather ideas for our eventual wedding.

The teachers have been just as invested. At lunch on Fridays, the lounge becomes a situation room to discuss the latest episode, and there’s even a lineitem on the weekly staff meeting agenda where Janet Holstrom, an armchair body language expert in the English department, shares her analysis.

And the thing is, I really do appreciate their support. It’s been fun to watch the show through their perspective, it’s just getting harder to keep my expression in check while I dodge their questions and comments—which brings me back to today and the dilemma I’m currently facing: it’s Friday and I need a microwave.

“I hear you get better results when you turn it,” Nick Easton says of the doorknob for the lounge.

I breathe out a laugh. “With wisdom like that, we’re sure to win the state championship this year.”

“That’s the plan. But seriously, are you going in, or...”

“Trying to decide if having hot lasagna is worth all of that.” I circle my finger, indicating the lively voices on the other side of the door.

“You’re telling me you jumped out of an airplane and you’re scared of a few teachers?”

“No, but?—”

“Exactly.” He turns the knob and nudges me through the open door.

The lounge falls to a hush for a whole three seconds before Clara Hill, Ally Dalbotten, and Mari Mitchell launch into a round of applause.

“Thanks, Nick.” I fire a mock glare at his back as he laughs his way to the vending machine.

“So,” Clara says, leaning forward on the table and resting her chin in her hands, “that was an intense episode.”

Smirking, Mari adds, “It looked like things were getting a little hot in Greece.”

I uncover my lasagna and toss it in the microwave. “It was about ninety degrees if I remember correctly.”

“Outside or in the hotel room?” Ally waggles her brows. “And was that your only kiss that day?”

I almost snort laugh, but instead, I respond with, “I appreciate your questions and I’m looking forward to discussing them?—”

“—after the finale airs on December seventh at eight p.m. Eastern,” they say in unison, laughing.

“One more month,” I say with a placating smile.

I’m spared from further questioning when my phone buzzes in my pocket.

Jessica: My mom has apparently known who you are since episode two.

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