Here's a double update, so check out Chapter 8 if you haven't already!


"This'll be a quick one considering I don't have one bad critique about your daughter," Alex begins with a chuckle, feeling nervous given the near unimpressed glares she's receiving from opposite the table. "Piper moved into the top class this year and certainly isn't out of place. She's consistently been getting the highest grades among the group, which will definitely help with her college application or whatever steps she'll take moving forward."

"Did you take English at College?" Carol asks, seemingly ignoring most of what Alex had just said.

"Yes, I did. I have a Masters too."

"What sort of money can that get you in life?" the older blonde goes on to ask, causing Alex to clear her throat and prop herself up in her seat out of surprise.

"Well that depends on what you want to do with your degree."

"I can imagine your wages through teaching don't equate to much."

"Mom!" Piper warns through a clenched jaw, embarrassed by her mother's actions.

"Mrs Chapman, I don't think now is the appropriate time to be discussing my wages if there ever is one. I'd like to focus on your daughter and her progress if that's okay with you?" Alex asks, irritated by the woman before her, yet trying to remain calm for Piper.

"Sorry, please carry on," the blonde's father chimes in, allowing Alex to guess he actually cares about his daughter's education.

"Piper is an exceptional student and with her ability, any college or institution would be lucky to have her. She's been getting straight As, and her coursework project seems to be along the lines of some of her best work yet," Alex mentions, flickering between Piper's parents' eyes with a smile on her face.

"Do you have any questions about anything?" the brunette asks, and in seeing Carol open her mouth to voice something, she makes an addition, "About Piper."

The older blonde's mouth pauses in motion, and the older grey-haired man voices that they're content with what they've heard and have no questions.

"I'll let you all get going then," Alex says while she attempts to bring the conversation to a close, standing up from her chair to again shake Piper's parents' hands.

"Thank you," Bill says while shaking the brunette's hand, adding through a whisper and smile: "Sorry about her."

"Don't mention it," Alex chuckles. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, Piper," she adds, looking to the right to make eye contact with the blonde.

"See you then, Miss Vause," Piper replies before making a swift exit with her parents' to see her next teacher, not wanting to subject Alex to another second with her family.


Sitting at the dinner table with her family, Piper is zoning out, tired of her mother's monologue about how studying English at college won't open enough doors in the future. In hearing a snark comment come out of her mother's mouth about the 'tall brunette with the glasses' being 'condescending', Piper snaps, finally unable to let herself be a victim of her mother's expectations.

"You're being the condescending one, Mom," the young blonde voices, to which Carol stops mid-sentence to look over at her daughter.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, come on, Mom. I get it - you don't want me to take English at college because it won't make me enough money to find a suiting husband, but guess what: I'm going to do what I want because it seems like I'm the only person that has my best interests at heart," Piper shouts, loudly pushing back from the table onto her feet.

"Piper Elizabeth Chapman! What on earth is the matter with you?" Carol retorts, shocked by her daughter's sudden outburst.

"What's the matter with me?" the blonde shouts in question. "You need to take a look at yourself, Mom," she adds while turning to walk out the dining room and upstairs, "and I don't need a fucking husband."

When she eventually reaches her room, making sure the door is locked, Piper flops onto her bed face-first into a pillow. Tired of the stress of her home life; tired of the stress of her school life; tired of the stress of her love life, the young blonde lets out her emotions, allowing herself - for what feels like the first time - to break down and cry.

All she's ever wanted was her family's approval. From a young age, Piper looked up to her parents, and it wasn't until the age of 16 that that all started to fall apart. From their daily arguments and their lack of physical attentiveness, the young blonde finds herself at times feeling isolated within her own home - burdened by expectation.

Bringing Alex into the equation only makes matters worse. Piper knows her feelings for the taller brunette are growing with the more time they spend together, yet knows their current position leaves them in a stalemate. She couldn't even think about what her parents would do if they found out she was somewhat romantically involved with a woman, nevermind her teacher, and its in this moment that she knows she needs to speak to Alex, tell her what's on her mind.

Rolling over onto her back, taking her phone out of her pocket, Piper searches her contacts list, selecting 'Alex', having decided saving the brunette's number as 'Miss Vause' in her phone would not have been a smart idea.

After typing and deleting several long-winded messages, Piper settles for a simple message, reading: Can I call you?, and hits send.

The reply comes a few minutes later - a response she was expecting, given the older woman didn't have her mobile number: Who is this?.

Piper, the blonde replies, and after seeing that Alex had read the message, she calls the number before she can even receive a reply.

"Hello," Alex says, having picked up on the second ring, and in hearing the deep, husky voice, Piper feels tense.

"Hey," the blonde breathes out in reply.

"I didn't realise we were calling each other now. Are you okay?"

"Just needed to hear your voice."

"Piper - if something's up you know you can tell me. Is it about this evening?"

Piper sighs into the phone, feeling drained. "Yeah. I argued with my mom about my future. It's like she doesn't even care about what I want. I mean all I'm trying to do is be a good daughter and live up to expectations, but no. Apparently that's something else I'm shit at in their eyes," she rants down the phone, feeling her levels of anger rise again.

"Slow down there, kid," Alex says, interrupting the blonde's flow of argument. "I know I don't know you as well as they do, but I know that you're not shit at anything. You're funny, you're smart, you're thoughtful."

"I'm just struggling to manage it all."

"What do you mean?"

"My life. My family. Work. You."

"Am… am I worrying you?" Alex asks, not wanting to press the blonde too far.

"No, Alex, of course not. I worry myself."

"You can't let other people's expectations get the better of you, Pipes."

"I know," the blonde quietly voices down the phone, letting out a sniffle - an indication that she's crying.

"What do you really mean to say?"

"I don't think I can keep doing this, Alex. Seeing you in the day and having to pretend that there's nothing more going on between us. It's driving me crazy."

"I know, but it's not like we can run around holding hands and everything," Alex huffs, feeling herself becoming emotional as she predicts what's about to come next.

"I just think we should keep things platonic until the end of the year," Piper struggles to get out, not wanting the brunette to hear her breakdown.

"You're the one who keeps saying about how right everything feels, and now all of a sudden you're the one calling the shots. What about what I want?"

"Al-"

"No, you don't get to 'Al' me right now," Alex interrupts, and a silence echoes down the phone.

"It doesn't change the way I feel about you," Piper whispers into the phone, voice cracking. "I just need some time to figure out what I want right now - for my future, Alex, without anything having the opportunity of getting in the way of that."

"What if you realise that I'm not involved in those plans?" Alex asks, not wanting to seem desperate, but eager to know.

"That's not why I'm doing this. I want to find the version of me that doesn't have to rely on what others think - a better version of me."

"The current version of you is perfect, Piper."

The blonde, still lying on her back, can no longer fight back the tears, as she unleashes the pent-up flood of emotion that's been weighing her down as of recent.

"I'm sorry," she eventually manages to get out. "Alex, I'm so sorry, but I can't be doing this right now."

"So what do you want?"

"I want this to stop. Just until I get my shit sorted out."

"And you expect me to wait around for you?"

"I'm not expecting anything from you."

"Piper - you're basically telling me to fuck off, but you want me to still be around when you're done with your drama," Alex says, her rage increasing at the sudden change in events between them. "You're the one who gets jealous over nothing; you're the one comes into my office even though you don't need help; you're the one who invited me into your house and nearly had sex with me!"

"I know I am," Piper too increases the volume of her voice, "but I'm also a human being with feelings. Ones of which I'm struggling to balance right now," she adds, sounding defeated.

"Okay. I get it," Alex says into the phone, her voice - fluctuating with emotion - lets the blonde know how badly she's taking the information.

"It won't be like this forever, Alex."

"Miss Vause. That's my name. I am your teacher and you are my student, Piper," Alex corrects with a stern voice. "Delete my number."

"Please, Alex," Piper pleads down the phone, evidently crying, "This is only temporary… I lov-"

The phone line is cut off as the brunette ends the call, hanging up the phone.

The blonde stretches her arms out to the side, letting go of her device, and lets the tears fall as she stares into the abyss of her white ceiling.