Jonna's life as a teacher is all routine, until she receives an online invitation from a near stranger, Zachary, and drops everything for a weekend of fun.
As the weekend evolves into much more, Jonna explores many facets of herself, with another s...
Jonna hit send on her phone, then continued staring at the lines of the feather outlined on her hand.
Her brother and Ola had freaked when Jonna had peeled away the square bandage. Once they'd calmed, they'd grabbed her shoulders, hollering about how they wanted to go with next time.
She hadn't been able to stop staring at the tattoo for five days. It had also been five days since she'd seen Laney. Though, they had texted non-stop, with a few dirty pic exchanges along the way. Luckily, she hadn't heard from Shane. Much.
There was a long list of work-type things she had to do, but mustering up the muster to do them was hard. Every time she saw the tattoo, she could only think of when she could get another one.
Ding! Her phone flashed, indicating a new message from Laney.
-Nothing going on today. What's up?
Jonna glanced at the time. She had class in an hour. Briefly, she considered canceling. Then sanity returned, along with an idea.
-Meet me in room MPR 343 in an hour.
-Sounds good ;-)
The winky emoji pulled a smile from Jonna. It was so very Laney.
~*~
An hour later, Jonna scribbled an itinerary on the front board of the classroom. She found it helped her keep on track with lecture notes and group activities.
Behind her, students settled into seats that were too small, with collapsible desktops prone to falling off. She encouraged them to space the seats out, as the rows were often clumped together. The University wasn't lacking in funds. Rather, Jonna had seen this type of set-up for English classes on plenty of campuses. It seemed to her that the students were used to it, too.
"Tasha, can you dim the front lights?" Jonna turned to ask, noticing a blonde figure ducking into a back row seat.
Once settled, the figure grinned and waved.
Jonna smiled back. Wisps of blonde locks framed Laney's face, surrounded by her pink hoodie.
Ding!
Jonna hurried to her phone. A message from Shane beckoned, but she ignored it, putting the phone on silent.
Knowing that he had contacted her threw her. Even Laney's adorable face did little to dispell her sense of disquiet. She began addressing the class, but fumbled over what she wanted to say. Jonna took a deep breath, smiled, then shared her stock phrase:
"Words are hard."
The students grumbled in agreement.
"Now, please take out your rough drafts so we can start peer review."
~*~
"---use the peer feedback to strengthen your final draft. See you next week!"
After Jonna dismissed the class, the students packed up and rushed for the door. Amid the low-grade chaos, one person remained in their seat. Jonna pretended not to notice as she wiped the front board.
Then the room was empty. She and Laney were alone.
Arms wrapped around her waist from behind.
"Hey there, teach."
Jonna laughed. "Did you like my style?"
"Very interactive," Laney breathed in her ear, and a delicious shiver ran over Jonna.
She carefully spun to face Laney. For one moment, she assessed the amazing woman in front of her: small upturned nose, tan, bright-eyed, and angled cheeks.
Jonna sighed in contentment. "I'm lucky to know you."
"Ditto."
Laney leaned in and their lips met. She also cupped Jonna's face, deepening the intensity kiss.
Small fireworks went off in Jonna's head. Quickly, she broke away and ducked under Laney's arms, stumbling away.
"It's not that I don't want to, but I can't do that in a classroom."
Ding!
The phone sounded from the desk, and Jonna hurried to it as she had earlier. The screen displayed several incoming messages, some from Shane and one from Ola.
"Could swear I put this on silent," Jonna said.
"You're very into those messages," Laney remarked.
Not looking up from the screen, Jonna lied, "Not really."
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