P.S. Stomach virus. Why didn’t I think of that?
Second: Taylor was a common enough name. I sure didn’t imagine that, out of all the schools in and surrounding the state of New York, his son would just so happen to be the guy working in mine. Also, it just occurred to me that I hadn’t had a clue where Miles hailed from. I’m sure I must have known at some point, but I suppose when one is trying their best to avoid the annoyingly attractive new teacher, one tends to forget those minor details.
Miles was smiling and talking to Chloe as she gestured wildly with her hands. He moved a bit closer. Any minute now, she would be pointing me out to him. I had to move. Now. Chloe’s back was to me, but if Miles looked my way, we would lock eyes for sure.
I scanned the room and found a door to the side of me. It looked like it could lead into a hallway of some sort.
That was my target.
To Ben, I said, “I have to use the bathroom.”
His brow furrowed as I stood up. “Listen, I don’t need a play-by-play—“
I was already gone. Once standing, I made a beeline for the door, not looking back, feeling like I had a million eyes trained on me, waiting to pounce.
I was so close to my target. The end was in sight, and then I would fake a brilliant illness and go home.
Once behind the safety of the doors, I found myself in a hallway. Praise the heavens. I took a few calming breaths and peered through a crack in the doorway, trying to see Miles and Chloe, but the angle wasn’t right. The dark hallway meandered toward the entrance. I crept closer to the exit—the door that would also put me closer to Miles and Chloe inside the large room. Not ideal. But I didn’t know any other way to escape. I’d have to risk it.
I slowed my steps as I got closer to the door, peering through the crack, and was startled to see how close Miles and Chloe were to me. Just on the other side. Now was my chance to escape.
“That’s so crazy your name is Miles. I’m hearing that name everywhere all of a sudden.”
Chloe’s muffled words drifted to my ears, and without consulting my mind, my body halted, edging closer to listen.
“Oh yeah?” Miles’s voice seemed deep and friendly. “The secret’s out, I guess.”
Chloe laughed. “My sister is actually dating a guy named Miles.”
“I told ya, it’s a good name.”
Seriously, Chloe, get off the name thing. It’s getting weird.
“Alright, well, I’ll leave you alone. You just looked so much like an old friend from college I had to double-check.”
I at least had to be grateful she didn’t use the butter excuse.
He laughed. “No problem. It was nice to meet you.”
She turned to head back to the table, and I was just about ready to breathe a sigh of relief when she stopped suddenly and turned back to Miles. “Wait. Where are you from?”
My eyes went bug-eyed. No. NO. Chloe! Your conversation is over. Go back to your children. To your husband.
“I’m from here. My parents own this place. But I live in Stanton now.”
I was dead. Floating away. From the crack in the door, I saw Chloe’s face cloud over in a puzzle. Miles was starting to edge toward the door—my door—probably to get away from this psychopathic married woman who wouldn’t leave him alone, when Chloe’s voice put the final nail in my coffin.
“New York?” Chloe asked while I bit down on my knuckles and went into full-blown panic mode.
“Yeah.”
“Wait. Miles? From Stanton? That’s where my sister lives. What do you do there?”
“I teach English at the high school.”
My hands flew to cover my mouth in horror. I had no idea how to stop this freight train from splattering me all over the tracks.
“My sister teaches English at the high school there.”
There was a pause before Miles said, “Wait. Your sister is Olive Wilson?”
For the first time, I found myself wishing that he didn’t know my real name. I’d happily answer to Celery Stick for the rest of my life if it would get me out of this absolute catastrophe. Still, I couldn’t deny feeling a splash of warmth heating my frozen tundra of a body as my name fell from his lips. It was a mystery as to why, but I had no time to break the code before Chloe struck again.
She laughed. “Yeah.” Her eyes brightened suddenly, her voice low as she said, “Are you here to surprise her? She acted like she wouldn’t be seeing you during the break.”
At what I can only assume was a very confused look on Miles’s face, Chloe chuckled again. “Sorry. She told me you guys were dating. I hope that’s ok? But I feel like she didn’t have any idea that you’d be here, or else she would have told me.”
Again. Long pause. I could feel Miles calculating his answer. As for me…my body turned into a frigid hunk of ice, one strong wind away from toppling over and shattering.
“Yeah.” His voice was low with a scheming edge. “I definitely came here to surprise her. How long did she tell you we’d been dating?”
“A few weeks.” Chloe’s eyes widened. “Why? Has it been longer? She’s been annoyingly close-lipped about this whole thing.”
“No. That sounds about right.”
“Omigosh, can I please watch you surprise her? She’s going to freak out.” Chloe turned her head suddenly, her focus probably going to her confused husband and children. “Where’d she go?”
Miles’s head snapped over to where she was looking. “She’s here?” Why did his voice go up two excited octaves?
“She was…” Chloe’s voice trailed off as she searched the crowd. “Honestly, I thought she was lying about dating you, so I was messing with her by pretending to try and set her up with somebody. I don’t think she realized it was you.”
Another low chuckle. “Oh, she might have.”
She smiled at him playfully. “Should I do my overbearing-sister warning now or later?”
Miles was scanning the room. I knew he was. Santa came early this year, and he had a present to torture. He seemed distracted when he answered her, “Your what?”
“My speech. The one where I tell you if you hurt her, I’ll kill you. Because up until yesterday, all I had heard about was how terrible you were.”
He chuckled again, seeming to snap back into the real Miles. “Let’s see how this week goes. What cabin is she in?”
I shot daggers into Chloe’s head, using telepathy to force her to NOT TELL HIM, though I was aware he could probably very easily find out from his mother where we were staying.
“Seven. With us. She’s on the pull-out. We had another cabin rented for her, but we gave it up so my parents’ friends could come—Olive’s ex-boyfriend and his parents, to be exact.” She gave him a meaningful look.
Was there NO girl code of honor anymore? She could never resist throwing down some drama if an opportunity presented itself.
“Hey, Chloe, it was nice to meet you, but I just remembered something I need to take care of.”
That was my cue. I knew what Miles was about, and I flew into a panic. He would be coming to find me, and I needed to be G-O-N-E.
My intentions were semi-honorable.