Over the days that followed, Jane descended into a rather unhappy place. Those around her wouldn't know though, that she made sure of.

In history class the following Friday, Jane was her usual self if, perhaps, a little quieter. It wasn't really something onlookers would notice. To be honest though, onlookers often don't take note of much at all. She used this to her advantage.
She sat with Vince and Frost, chatted a little and did her work, just like any other day.

Nearing the end of class, Miss Isles, who had not publicly responded to anything out of the ordinary from Jane so far, was walking up and down the aisles of the tables assisting students where help was needed. The class was working in near silence at this point, so any conversations she was having were quiet ones.
When she reached Jane, she gracefully bent down beside her and quietly said, "Would you mind staying a moment after class?"

A little shocked by the question, Jane just nodded politely in response, allowing Miss Isles to move on to the next student. Had you seen Jane's face at that point, you would have been witness to a widening of her dark eyes that made her feel very vulnerable.

"I'll meet you guys later," Jane said to Vince and Frost as they packed up their books and began shuffling out of the room with the other students.

"Um," she said shyly, "Yes, Miss?" She said as she approached the front of the classroom. It was becoming apparent that she could pretend to be a lot of different things for a lot of different people, but it was always a little bit harder with Miss Isles.

Miss Isles looked at the young girl before her and pressed her lips together despondently. She hated seeing any of her students like this. She tried to smile, and kindly asked, "Are you alright, Jane?"

"What?" She let out involuntarily in her usual, nearly snarky, tone. She didn't understand.

Miss Isles sighed softly and continued, "You don't seem yourself today." Her words were thoughtfully spoken and full of care.

Jane wasn't sure what she knew or how much she knew, so she tread carefully. "Yeah, why?" She said casually with a smile. She tried to be in control, but even she thought her tone was suspicious at the least.

Not surprised by her blatant deflection, she said, "You simply seem to be a little less involved in class today." She really did care for Jane and for her wellbeing.

Jane didn't quite see that though. She was still getting over their last study session and was unsure of how to take her words. She decided playing it cool was the safest option, and so she did. "Yeah," she forced a smile. "Just a little tired."

Miss Isles smiled disappointedly and relented, "Okay," despite her disbelief of the matter.

"Anyway," Jane said politely, "I should really go."

She watched the young girl leave her classroom and was saddened. She knew people like Jane, who would hide their emotions away from the world. Whether it was to protect those around them or protect themselves, she knew it almost always lead to damaging themselves. She knew something was off with Jane today and wanted to press her on it but saw that Jane had no interest in going into it. Miss Isles did consider her options during that conversation as it took place. She could have continued pushing, however she knew also knew how likely it was that she would be pushed away or hurt and that was certainly not something she would ever wish to do.
Unable to find a suitable way to encourage Jane, she decided that perhaps the best response, if not her only response, was to offer an apology. When discussing matters personal to her, she found that often what she wrote conflicted with what she felt. The delicate nature of this conversation made her even more overwhelmed by her thoughts.

To: Jane Rizzoli

Subject: History – That seems non-specific, but I don't know what else to call it that wouldn't appear inappropriate.

Good afternoon Jane,

I would like to apologise for earlier today. – I feel entirely awful. - It was not my intention to put you on the spot, but I suppose I knew the potential outcomes beforehand. –What am I saying? Hell, it was probably even likely. I guess I was just hoping you would feel comfortable opening up to me. You need to trust some, anyone. You need someone to lean on who won't run away or judge… *sigh* Do you even realise how much I want to be that person? I want to be a friend, not the enemy. Just someone who understands. - I am very sorry. – Please, brave girl: I'm so sorry!

If you would like to discuss this or anything else further, I will be in my office after school today. – I hope she comes… I hope more that she's okay. - Otherwise feel free to send an e-mail. – At the very least, let me know you don't hate me. Not just for my sake. I love talking to you; you're remarkable… I know what that feels like though. Society tends to associate that with goodness, but often forget that often what is positive can be equally negative.

No 'regards', not in this e-mail.

Miss Isles

She didn't really know how to feel after sending this e-mail. The logical part of herself tried to convince her that this was rationally all she could do, and that no amount of fretting or panicking would change Jane's response to it. The rest of her though wasn't having any of that calm nonsense. In stressful situations she would usually turn to meditation but, right now, she was saddened by the event and instead simply found herself wish it hadn't happened. That feeling was rapidly taking over her and she was struggling to fight it off.

She sat at her desk for a while quite lost in her own thoughts. It wasn't until her phone buzzed loudly against the wood of the table that she was pulled out of it. About ten minutes had passed since she had sent that e-mail and her state of mind at this point was dishevelled at the least. Unfortunately though, she had one more class to get through today and the students were due in less than half an hour. She knew she had to get on, and so she slowly and quite absent-mindedly began collecting her work and heading to her office to put some things down before her next class.

•••

Seriously? That's what she does?

Jane was overwhelmed with equal amounts of confusion and frustration.

First she goes and tells me we can't talk, then she says we can?

Jane wanted to understand it but she didn't and she hated that. More so though, she hated how much it was effecting her.
A part of her knew that what she was feeling wasn't entirely directed at Miss Isles, despite the fact that she very much wanted it to be. A large portion of it was aimed at herself for being vulnerable, for revealing her weakness to someone she barely knows in any sense other than 'they're good at history', and for not knowing why she still wanted to talk to Miss Isles after all this.

It's so stupid. Why? She's the one that caused all this, so why on earth do I still want to talk to her?

She paced back and forth in her room quite annoyed by the whole situation. For a lot of her life she didn't speak much of her feelings because of three reasons: one – she didn't see the point because it didn't make her feel better and it certainly didn't solve anything, two – they were nobodies else's problems, three – she didn't understand why she [and others] would often respond with seemingly unrelated emotions after different events.
These circumstances were no different, at least not really. Here she was, with a person whom she quite liked as both a teacher and friend who was sending some very confusing signals. As result, despite being annoyed with said person because of the signals, she wanted to go and seek comfort and approval from them. This wasn't really something she had felt before, and she wanted to know why. Not so much why she hadn't felt it previously, but more so why she was feeling it now.

By now Jane's frustration began fading as sadness took its place. She wasn't really angry, just confused. Ultimately, she wanted a solution whether that meant talking to Miss Isles or completely cutting her out. Either way, the situation could have closure and she could move on. She wasn't sure how to get to that point though, so she waited a couple of days before replying to the e-mail. Thankfully, it was the weekend, so it wasn't an issue she had to face right away.

Hey reader,

Thank you so much for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

I'd really love to hear any thoughts you might have (good or bad) about the story so far and the future of it.

Thank you again for reading and for being wonderful.

CC

PS: Sorry to anyone who read this before the update just now. There are sometimes issues when uploading documents, so the e-mail may have been difficult to read. Sorry!