On Wednesday, Emily walked into class with a little more confidence, because, this time, she had Hanna to lean on. When Paige said hi, Emily was able to say hi back with a feeble wave, although she was hunched over slightly and clutching her notebook for protection, still unable to look at Paige when she said it.

She and Hanna sat together, a couple of rows back from the front.

It might have been Emily's paranoid imagination, but she was certain that Paige kept scanning the class to see who looked guilty about having left the note in her box. It seemed that Paige kept standing with her left leg in front of her right, self-consciously protecting her tattoo from leering eyes. Emily was sure that she was being paranoid. After all, she didn't know how often Paige checked her box - it was over half full when she dropped off the card, so she may not even have seen the card yet. Also, Emily hadn't put anything on the card to indicate that it had been left by a student - other than the apple and that, Emily reasoned, was pretty subtle. But, if Paige had caught her staring at the tattoo on that first day of class, she feared that she would be Paige's number one suspect.

Emily decided that she needed to get an unbiased opinion. She hadn't told Hanna about the card, so Hanna wouldn't have been looking out for unusual behavior from Paige McCullers. After class, Emily asked her, "Did Paige seem to be acting a little strange today?"

"Yeah," Hanna replied enthusiastically, "strangely hot!" Emily rolled her eyes. "What's the matter, Em? Are you worried that Paige knows about your little crush?"

Emily was about to deny her crush, but, instead, she nodded, taking the lifeline that Hanna was dangling. Yes. That's exactly what I'm worried about. Not the fact that I left a card her box because I'm too chicken to talk to her.

"Well, if she does know, Em, that's a good thing! Be brave! Take a chance!"

Emily smiled and nodded her head. It would be good if Paige knew that she was the one behind the card. Eventually.

She decided that Paige would get a card every week. She would be brave, but in her way and in her time.

"So," Paige started, as she slid into the booth for her weekly coffee with her friend, Shana.

"So," Shana echoed, smiling.

"So, are you the one I have to thank for that card that was in my box this morning?"

"What card?"

"Oh, I guess it wasn't you, then," Paige laughed, retrieving the card from her bag. She handed it to Shana, who read it with a smile.

"Cute," she said. "You don't know who put it in there?"

"Someone who knows that I went to Penn State?"

Shana rolled her eyes. "So, basically, anyone who's seen your office. Or your car. Or your backpack. Or anyplace else where you've plastered that damned Penn State logo."

Paige chuckled nervously. "Yeah, but… It's not just any Penn State logo. Is it just a coincidence that it's the paw-print that I have tattooed on my calf?"

Shana tilted her head back in realization. "Ohhhh! So, you think that you have a stalker!"

"I'm not going to make that leap just yet. I mean, it's a pretty recognizable logo. I'm just going to treat it as a friendly coincidence until…"

"Until you're face to face with some guy in a hockey mask with a meat cleaver?"

Paige shook her head with a sigh. "Until I have a reason to suspect otherwise, I'm going to hope for the best."

"Uh huh." Shana smiled knowingly. "And, by 'the best,' I take it you mean your gorgeous freshman?"

Paige couldn't help smile. "Well, I'd be lying if I said that the thought hadn't crossed my mind. But it hardly seems likely. I mean, she's never seen me outside of the classroom, so she wouldn't know that I went to Penn State."

"Unless she was checking you out."

"Please," Paige laughed. "The girl can't even look at me. She stares at the ground whenever I say anything to her, or when I even look in her direction."

"Yeah. And your tattoo is where?"

"Whatever, Shana," Paige sighed. "As much as I'd like to think that she's the one responsible, I'd have to put her at the bottom of my list of suspects."

"So, who are your other suspects?"

Paige sighed, leaning her head back. "Anyone except Emily? Basically…"

Shana laughed. "What's with the apple?" she asked, pointing to the watermark on the card.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that, too. I figured whoever it was just thought that it was cute stationery."

Shana shook her head. "Nah, Paige. This isn't stationery. Whoever this was printed it up special."

"Yeah. So, why an apple?"

"Maybe it's a Robin Hood thing and your stalker is going to come after you with a bow and arrow."

"Maybe it is Emily, and, you know – apple for the teacher."

"Oh, please, Paige. How old is this girl?"

"Maybe she watches old movies? You never know."

"Is this your brain talking or your heart? Or maybe somewhere lower on your anatomy?"

"So, what are you going to do about your little crush?"

Emily's face broke into a guilty smile. "What crush?" she said, back to feigning ignorance.

Hanna groaned. "Paige McHottie? You're not going to deny the way that you drool all over her during class!"

"Hanna," Emily said trying to be patient. "I'm not going to deny that she's hot, but that doesn't mean that I have a crush on her." Emily was going to be more bold, but that didn't mean that she had to bare her soul to her best friend about this. Not until she had more of a reason to, at least.

She wasn't ready to admit anything to Hanna, but Emily actually was planning to do something about her crush. She set herself the goal of maintaining eye contact with Paige during class; not looking away whenever Paige glanced in her direction. After all, there was nothing unusual about looking at the TA while she taught the class. Emily ended up giving herself a C+ on that one, and an E for effort. She had tried her best to keep her head up, but it only made sense, she rationalized, that she should look down at her notebook to take notes. Which she did every time Paige McCullers looked anywhere near Emily's direction.

But Emily decided to hold to her commitment to be bold and communicate with Paige McCullers, even if she could only do so anonymously. It had been a dreary Monday, but she had hopes of better weather on Tuesday. She put the cheery text, "Rainbows follow rain" on the card, with a picture of a rain cloud in the lower left corner with an "X" through it, and a rainbow in the lower right. She didn't think about the symbolism of the rainbow until after she had printed the card, but she shrugged it off. It was an appropriate symbol. If it screamed, "Gay Crush," so be it.

"So, I'm going to guess that your choice of that slightly tight, slightly short dress officially has nothing to do with your non-crush on Paige McHottie?"

"Hanna! Stop calling her that!" Emily barked, to give herself a moment to come up with an excuse for the fact that she had gotten all dressed up. It struck her that she really should have come up with an excuse for Hanna in advance.

"Don't try to change the subject! Just admit it: You're all dressed up for the hot TA!"

"No, Hanna. I dressed up because it's been raining and dreary all week, and I just need something bright and cheery to pull me out of my mood." And if I can be Paige McHottie's little rainbow, that's just a bonus! Emily thought, chastising herself for thinking Hanna's nickname.

"Whatever you say, Em. So, we're sitting in the front row, I take it?"

Emily sighed, grabbing Hanna's arm and steering them towards two desks in the third row. Of course, she had dressed up for Paige McCullers, but she didn't want to throw it out there like some brazen tramp. And she didn't want to admit to Hanna that she actually had dressed up for her hot TA. It was too soon. It would be too embarrassing if she found out that Paige was straight. Or involved with someone. Or just plain not looking for a relationship with a freshman.

Emily's goal for the day was to go up and ask Paige a question - any question - after class, just to show Paige (and herself) that she was actually capable of making coherent conversation. She thought that the dress would give her extra confidence: look good, feel good, as the saying goes. In the end, though, she had to give herself an F on that goal. She was just about to open her mouth to tell Hanna to go on ahead, because she was going to stay behind and ask Paige McCullers something, but then she noticed all of the people already lined up waiting to talk to Paige. Seriously? Emily thought. What could those kids possibly have to talk to her about? Oh. Emily realized that were all lined up with the same intention that she had. There was no way that she could compete with all of them, she thought. And, even if she could, she wouldn't want to burden Paige with more unsought attention. She suddenly felt stupid for having worn that dress.

Paige slid into the booth where Shana was sitting and put her head down on the table, clasping her hands on top of it. "I have no business being a TA," she sighed.

"Oh, shit, McCullers. What did you do?" Shana reached a comforting hand over on top of Paige's hands.

Paige sat up, leaning her back against the back of the booth, her legs spread wide in defeat and vulnerability. She sighed again before speaking slowly and hesitantly, embarrassed at what she was about to admit. "Emily showed up for class today in this... short little number. Her legs are just... " Paige stared at the ceiling and shook her head at the memory. "And I lost it. I couldn't stop my eyes from wandering over to her. And I couldn't concentrate. I have no idea what I even talked about for the entire 50 minutes of class. It's no wonder that half of my students were lined up with questions for me after the bell rang!"

"So, she's dressing up for you now?" Shana smirked.

"Dressing up for somebody, maybe, but not me." Shana wasn't buying it. "What? First of all, even assuming that she likes girls, she's way out of my league."

"So, you're saying that she's hotter than me? Because we dated, remember?" Shana joked, pointing her index finger between the two of them.

"Nobody's hotter than you, Fring," Paige played along. "But you and I had common ground. I didn't just meet you at a bar and start talking to you. How long did we swim together before I asked you out?"

"Don't wait so long on this one, McCullers. Somebody else will come and scoop her up! Hell, I might even scoop her up!"

"Please do," Paige bit back. "Then, when she dumps your sorry ass, I can swoop in and clean up the rebound!"

Shana grabbed Paige's hand. "Seriously, though. You'd better take your shot."

"I can't just hit on her, Shana. I need some kind of set-up. An act of fate."

"You're going to 'fate' yourself all the way to a lonely life and a house full of cats, McCullers!"

Emily was trying her best not to be disappointed. What did I expect, she thought. It wasn't as if Paige would stop class and ask her out on a date, or something. Still, it would have been nice, she thought, if she had gotten some reaction from her TA. As it was, Emily felt like an idiot. Paige must have known that she was basically throwing herself at her; who dresses like that for class? She was sure that Paige thought of her as just some silly little freshman girl with a silly little freshman crush.

Emily groaned when she heard the doorbell. Hanna. They had made plans for Hanna to come over to study and have dinner, but Emily wasn't in the mood anymore. She heard her mother open the door and send Hanna upstairs, so she steeled herself for their study time, determined not to allow herself to be distracted or depressed about Paige McCullers.

"Okay, you're not allowed to dress like that for Lit anymore," Hanna said, without so much as a hello.

"Don't worry, Han. That's the last time that I'm wearing that dress to class." Emily's tone was sad and self-conscious.

"Well, good." Hanna was a bit surprised that Emily had caved so quickly. Still, she couldn't let it go. "Seriously, Em, what are you trying to do to that poor woman?"

"What poor woman?" Emily was genuinely confused.

"Uh - Paige McHottie! You can't tell me that you didn't notice?"

"Notice what?" Emily sat up, her mood starting to improve at the thought that her dress had made an impression, although she still didn't know what Hanna was talking about.

"The way that she kept stopping in the middle of class and blatantly checking you out!" Hanna paused, but Emily still looked as clueless and confused as she had at the start. "Seriously? Em, she would start to say something, then she'd see your legs, and she would be all 'um, uh, yeah, so,'" she mimicked in deadpan.

Emily rolled her eyes, but her smile was giving her away. She really wanted to believe Hanna, but how could that have happened without her noticing? Still, why would Hanna make it up? "Come on, Hanna," Emily smiled, "we're here to study, not talk about Paige McCullers!"