Back to friendly territory

It didn’t take long for you to meet up with Rebecca and you were back in front of her office in no time at all. All three of you were cautious when you passed by the principal’s office but once you were safely behind closed doors, a wave of relief washed over everyone and you felt like you could finally relax.

Rebecca went behind her desk and took off her blazer jacket before taking a seat, while Emma sat in the chair opposite her. The same one you had sat on earlier when marking the papers.

You remained standing and went to lock the door behind you but given the situation, Emma and Rebecca didn’t see that as out of the ordinary, only grateful that there was yet another layer of protection between you and the outside world. With the danger gone however, it seemed to dawn on both of them that you were now all alone together and them facing each other in their seats only seemed to amplify the tension.

You obviously wanted something to happen with the three of you but with the way things were going, they were both too worried about something going wrong for anything to actually happen.

“So I’ve told Emma about the meal on Tuesday night” you announced, starting a topic everyone could contribute to as you moved to stand at the side of the desk between them.

“Yeah! We can both try and take attention away from you if it's needed but I don’t think it will be as bad as you think. It wasn’t when I went round for the first time after I ‘officially’ became Max’s girlfriend” Emma added, at first excited to have something to talk about before she went to reassure Rebecca.

“Everyone had known you for a long time before that right? I’m still basically a stranger to everyone” Rebecca asked anxiously.

“They had but I was still pretty nervous going over there just like you probably are. As long as you find a way to tell stories about Max then everyone will jump at the chance to tease him” Emma joked, getting a smile out of Rebecca for the first time since you had entered the office.

“As much as I hate to say it, that's probably true. I’d like to avoid anything too bad if you can find it in your heart to spare me some embarrassment” you requested, wanting Rebecca to feel calmer about the meal but not wanting the whole evening to be at your expense if you could help it.

“Oh we can do a trial run!” Emma suggested before she carried on, “I’m sure you can imagine some of the questions and don’t want them to sound like you planned every word ahead of time but it can’t hurt to at least try. And trust me, no matter what you say or how strange it might sound in your head, there's nothing that could scare me away. I mean I’d be happy to watch you blow him right at the dinner table if he asked you” Emma continued, getting carried away with her idea and blurting out whatever came to mind.

Only after did she realise her over-enthusiasm and start to blush at what she had revealed.

“What she means to say in more appropriate words is that everyone there knows we have been intimate but they don’t have a leg to stand as they’re in the exact same position. Emma is in the unique position that she currently enjoys watching and hearing about those intimate details just as much as participating so there isn’t an ounce of judgment in anything that you could tell her” you explained, getting a shy nod from Emma as she recovered from her outburst.

Rebecca paused at your revised explanation and drummed her fingers against the arm rest as she considered doing a trial run, her fingers coming to a stop when she had made up her mind.

“Alright ask me anything. And don’t hold back, I’d rather be overprepared for this than under” Rebecca replied, sounding more confident now that Emma had revealed more than she wanted,

You gave a look to Emma who still had a slight blush on her face to make sure she was okay. You knew she had been worried about coming into the office now that her level 4 was active and while you knew this was just Emma getting over-excited about helping out Rebecca, you wanted to make sure she thought the same.

The look you gave her seemed to let some sort of understanding pass between you and she gave a small nod before taking a couple of deep breaths, regaining her composure with Rebecca being none the wiser.

Emma straightened up in her chair and did her best to act imposing, the smirk on Rebecca’s face telling you that she wasn’t doing a good job.

“So Rebecca, this is your first year teaching isn’t it?” Emma asked, getting herself into the role.

“It sure is. I’ve been training and was a teaching assistant for a year before this but it’s the first year I’ve had the classroom to myself. Couldn’t have picked a nicer place to start off with in my opinion” Rebecca answered.

“And did they teach you to go after the first good looking student you could find or was that your own initiative?” Emma questioned, not being able to hide her own feelings about the harsh wording and looking apologetic for even asking.

Rebecca gave a smile to Emma when she could see there was no malice in the question, only a desire to prepare her for the worst case scenario.

“I don’t think I ever expected to get as close to a student as I did Max, if that's what you are asking. And he was the one who started flirting first, enough to charm me and I assume enough to charm all of you” Rebecca said back, deflecting the question back to the imaginary table, surprising you at how quickly she managed to hit back with that.

“And you don’t think it's wrong? A teacher and her student?” Emma pushed, bringing up a sore spot that you and Rebecca had avoided really talking about.

“...I think about that a lot actually but… Max is 18 and he’s shown me that he’s mature enough to make his own decisions… And I don’t think I’d enjoy going to work as much anymore if he didn’t come to visit me” Rebecca replied, taking slightly longer to answer that one.

It seemed her answer wasn’t something she had to think on but revealing her feelings while you were there was what held her up, the quick glances in your direction bring a smile to your face.

“Okay, I don’t think you need a trial run at all anymore. Even I couldn’t answer on the spot like that and I’ve known them for years” Emma admitted, sinking back into her chair as she admitted defeat.

“I’m sure I’ll slip up at some point during the actual night” Rebecca responded, still unsure of herself.

There had only been two questions but Rebecca had clearly got her point across quicker and more persuasively than you could have done, making you speak up before she insulted herself further.

Author's note: I haven't been too sentimental so far with milestones but with chapter 300 coming up at almost the same time as a 2-year anniversary of when I started, I thought I could maybe do something here on Chyoa.

The idea I had was a Q/A but from the perspective of the characters so anyone could ask them questions. Say if you wanted to know Max's thoughts on a topic I haven't covered or even just a random student's opinion. Any character, any question(within reason).

I won't be doing a regular chapter this Sunday but if anyone has questions they would like to ask then feel free to write a comment on this chapter with the name of the character you want an answer from and the question itself.

e.g. Emma, What's your favourite ice cream flavour?

Emma: Mint choc chip! But I hate that Max and my mom have somehow found out that they can both tease me with that. I need to get him back for that!

Chapter 300 is available on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/KDKFiction

So feel free to view this early if you want to take a look :)