Author's Note: Since you asked, omgprepon, I'm in a double-post kind of mood. I owe it to you guys for the positive feedback-this one is short, but I hope you enjoy.
Over the next week, Alex was buried with her own school work, plus grading papers from three of her four high school classes. Piper wasn't as pushy as she'd been in prior weeks, and the brunette wondered if it had to do with her boyfriend, Ankit, who'd brought flowers to her at the beginning of class the other day. The other students oohed and ahhed over the kind gesture, but Piper kept her head down and quickly shoved the flowers under her desk.
Alex was thankful that Piper had a boyfriend if for no other reason than it kept her out of her hair. The two hadn't been alone since the night of the Homecoming football game, and that was perfectly fine with Alex.
"I didn't know if you'd be here," the blonde said from the train platform.
Alex smiled as she approached her. "I have class tonight. Of course I was going to be here."
Piper shrugged. "I thought maybe you'd take a different train."
"Why would I do that?" She smirked.
"I don't know…so you wouldn't be seen with me," the blonde stated as she prepared to board the train.
"We're not doing anything clandestine, Piper," she admitted as if she needed to convince herself, too. "I'm taking you to a graduate school class, so think of this little trip as an educational outing."
During the hour-long train ride, they talked about Alex's class, Murder Ink: Narratives of Crime, Discovery, and Identity. Alex explained the particulars of the class: they were studying the twentieth-century detective story, with particular attention to women writers and the genre of the female private eye. She handed Piper her used copy of The Woman in White and told her to read as much as she could in the time they had on the train.
"This was one of the first mystery novels ever published," the teacher commented.
"Wilkie Collins?" Piper flipped open the first page and read about the author. "Never heard of him."
"See, I am teaching you something," she replied with a wink.
"At the grad school level." Piper rolled her eyes. "Why don't you assign books like this in class?"
"I was handed a syllabus and asked to teach exactly what's on those pages," she explained.
"I don't mind most of what we read, but stuff like this is way cooler than fucking George Orwell."
"Watch your language, kid," Alex said as she pulled out a bottle of water from her bag. "And George Orwell is one of the best writers of all time. Just because you didn't like 1984 doesn't mean the man couldn't write."
"I guess," she replied. "Can I have a sip?"
Alex looked down at the water bottle, and then at her companion. She pushed it towards her on the small tray table. Piper wrapped her lips around the edge of the bottle and stared at her teacher. After two gulps of water, she licked her lips and handed the bottle back to Alex. It was the brunette's turn to swallow hard. She took the proffered bottle and raised it to her own mouth, hoping to taste a bit of Piper Chapman. As a drop of water trickled down her chin, Piper gently wiped it away with her thumb.
A woman with a thick New York accent came barreling down the aisle and hit Alex's elbow with her wide hips. "Snack cart, want anything?"
The dark haired woman whipped her head around. "No, thanks."
The two of them sat in silence for the next 15 minutes as Piper read part of The Woman in White. Alex glanced at her every other minute. She watched as she tapped her long index finger on the tray table with one hand and flipped the page with the other. Almost unconsciously, Piper tied her hair into a messy ponytail while trying to keep the novel open by using her elbows. It was as if the girl was in her own world as she read the book.
As the train stopped, Piper closed the novel and looked at her companion. "This is pretty good. Mind if I borrow it when you're done?"
Alex quickly looked away as if she was caught staring at the blonde's lips. "No…I mean yes, you can borrow it." She adjusted her glasses higher on her nose. "This is our stop, kid."
The classroom that evening was filled with about 50 students, so Piper's presence was inconspicuous. They sat towards the back of the room, and the girl's attention in the class was focused on whomever was speaking for the entire two-hour lesson. Alex spoke up twice, and she could see Piper's small smile out of the corner of her eye after giving her opinion about the novel.
When the class was over, the two walked back out to the street and had to zip up their jackets to protect them from the cold November air. They chatted about the class, and Piper had a hundred questions about the professor's point of view.
"I'm starving," she announced after walking down the street for 10 minutes.
"I could hear your stomach growling in class," Alex said with a smile. "Street meat?"
"What's that?" The blonde gave her a disgusted look.
"A hot dog from a street vendor," she replied. "Don't tell me you've never had a New York City hot dog!"
Piper shook her head.
"You're in for a treat, babe." As soon as the word came out of her mouth, she regretted it. "I meant kid, not babe." She flexed her jaw and looked away.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a smirk on Piper's face.
"I know what you meant."
They approached a hot dog vendor, and Alex ordered two dogs and two Cokes. She gave the man $10 and let him keep the change.
"Can we sit on that bench over there?"
"I have to get you back to school," the dark haired woman began. "Where did you tell people you were going tonight?"
Piper took a bite of the hot dog. "To meet a friend at Columbia and sit in on a class. It's not really a lie."
Alex regarded her. "What time is your curfew?"
"On school nights, it's 10 o'clock," the blonde replied around another bite. "But I've stayed out until 1 a.m. before. No one notices if I'm gone since I'm the chief RA and have a room down the quiet corridor."
"I'm not taking any chances," Alex said as she looked at her watch. "Besides, won't Ankit be looking for you?"
They made it to the train platform. "We don't typically hang out on Thursdays." Piper paused. "How do you know about me and Ankit?"
Alex shrugged as she boarded the train. "It's hard not to hear all the teenage drama. Plus I saw him bring you flowers earlier this week."
The blonde crumbled her foil wrapper and put it in the trash bin as she boarded the train. "He's not my boyfriend."
Alex gave her a questioning glare. "It's none of my business anyway."
"Maybe not, but just so you know." She sat in the window seat. "He's not my boyfriend."
Alex nodded and sat next to her student.
On the train ride home, Piper pulled out her homework and they debated about the value of calculus and physics versus the humanities. Although Alex did not enjoy math and science, she felt it was her duty to instill upon Piper the value of understanding those subjects.
The last 20 minutes of the ride, Piper fell asleep and her head landed on Alex's upper arm. The brunette's first reaction was to shove her pretty little head away, but when Piper's hand rested on her thigh, Alex allowed herself to drown in the comfort of another person's touch. It had been six months since she'd had physical relations with a woman—not that she was thinking that's where this was headed with Piper—that was impossible. But the comfort of the blonde's head on her arm and hand on her leg was too good to deny herself the pleasure.
As the train stopped, Piper lifted her head and wiped the drool coming out of her mouth. "Sorry. I guess I fell asleep."
Alex grinned. "It's ok. You're probably exhausted. Long day."
They got off the train at 9:40 p.m. and walked briskly towards the school. When they got to the gates, Alex handed her student her copy of The Woman in White. "Here you go, kid. Enjoy."
She took the novel. "Won't you need it for the next class?"
"We only spend one class talking about one book." She smiled. "The pace is the main difference in a graduate school course."
The blonde looked at the book in her hands. "Thanks."
"We should probably take two different paths back," Alex offered as she looked down at her feet.
"Tonight was amazing, Alex." She got on her tip toes and kissed her teacher on the cheek. "Thank you."
Alex's hand flew to her cheek and she jumped back a step. Her skin burned from the girl's lips. She figured if she made a big deal out of it, it would become a big deal—better to ignore the tiny gesture and move on. "You're welcome, Piper. Good night."