I sipped delicately at my morning coffee in the teacher's lounge, trying to send out telepathic messages to Will. There was an empty seat next to me, absolutely screaming for him to sit by me.
It was useless, I know, my crush; it had been foolish and unrequited for a year now. He was married. Rumors were going around that he and his wife were trying to have a baby. But still, I was hung up like a thirteen year old, wishing for him to sit next to me, to say hi in the hallway.
These thoughts melted swiftly away the second he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and sauntered sexily over, pulling out the chair. Yes! Hahaha!
I smiled in a way that I hoped was demure, praying that my hair was neat.
"Good morning, Will. How are you?" He grinned wide at me. My tummy did little flip flops.
"Great, Emma. Glee club is going fantastic, the kids are awesome. Real good singers, and Rachel's riding me about new songs we can practice. How are you?" I giggled a little.
"I'm good, you know, giving guidance to kids and stuff." I cringed inwardly at the blandness to my statement. And the stuttering whilst delivering it. He laughed.
"Oy, I have no idea how you do your job. I would go nuts trying to fix other people's problems all day." He sighed. "I can barely figure out my own." I made a sympathetic face.
"That's why you're not the guidance counselor, Will. And, you know, um, I'm always free to have a chat… that is, if you think you need someone to talk to." He looked directly at me; the eye contact made my face flood with heat.
"I'd love to talk to you. That is, if you wanted to listen." Wanted to? Mon dieu, Mr. Schue.
"Of course. It's my job." I gave a light laugh. He smiled gratefully at me. Suddenly, he focused on my lips.
"Um, you've got a little…" He pointed at my upper lip, his finger rather close to my face. I felt my heartbeat accelerating.
"Oh…" I rubbed a bit at where he was pointing. Apparently I missed, because his finger gently brushed my lip. He wiped a little clump of foamed milk onto a napkin. I blinked rapidly.
"Th-thanks." The morning bell rang sharply in the background, followed by a chorus of chairs scraping as teachers stood, hasty to get to their classes. He looked up at the clock, then back at me.
"Have a good one, Em. I'll talk to you later." He gave me one last dazzling smile, then got up and left for Spanish A.
It took me a few seconds to gather myself before I left for my office; another day of solving adolescent problems, with no time to think about my own.