Page 108 of Sex Ed

‘You’re here,’ I tell her, still winning with my smooth talk.

‘I’m not suspended anymore. I’m officially a teacher again.’

I beam. ‘That’s good news. I was thinking before how this prom felt wrong without you going through the buffet and stuffing food in your clutch.’

She laughs, exposing her neck, and her mouth wide open. I’ve missed that big loud laugh, too.

‘I just thought it doesn’t work without you here. Any of it really. Like you weren’t at sports day…’

‘Well, I might take a leave of absence every year if it gets me out of sports day. I heard you won a very important race.’

‘I got a sticker, too.’

‘Fancy.’

She walks up closer to me, and I can’t tell what urge is stronger, the one to wrap my arms around her or to try and kiss her. I put my hands in my pockets to stop them reaching out for her.

‘I’m sorry, Ed. I’m sorry I never told you about Caitlin when I found out,’ she tells me quietly.

‘And I’m sorry. I pushed you away when I probably needed you most. I know now what you did and why you did it and–’

‘I snapped her Alice band,’ she interrupts me. I didn’t know this detail, but this fills me with a strange sense of satisfaction.

‘You did that for me…’

‘For you…’

‘I… I…’ I don’t know what to say next. Please don’t leave me. Please stick around? I missed you?

But instead, she puts a finger to my mouth to tell me to shush, looking me in the eye. ‘I read your peer review.’

‘You weren’t supposed to see that.’

‘But I did. Did you mean it?’

I nod my head, unfeasibly emotional for some reason as I watch her eyes tear up. ‘You are the bestest teacher, ever.’

‘That’s not a word.’ she replies.

‘Yes, it is.’

‘I wrote you a peer review, too.’

‘You did? Did my department ask you for it?’ I ask worriedly.

She laughs. ‘I did it, just for fun.’

‘You did extra work, that’s very unlike you. What does it say?’

She shrugs and pulls out what is clearly a receipt from her clutch. ‘Best person I know. Great in bed. Makes excellent sandwiches. I think I’ve fallen in love with him.’

I stop. ‘Mia?’

She doesn’t reply but stands there letting those words hang in the air, waiting for a response.

‘Mia, I wrote at least one hundred and fifty words in my testimonial. That’s just lazy!’ I say, laughing.

She shakes her head and smiles. ‘What do you say? You and me? I think it could work, you know?’ I sense the nerves in her voice, the emotion in laying herself bare and it’s a Mia I don’t know at all.

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