THE TEACHER

Chapter ten

Teacher brunches were an easy tradition to get used to: once every two months, every teacher at the high school was invited to Marta's giant house with some horrible excuse to celebrate. The teachers already were few, and since most of them had families to spend time with, the real number of people that showed up was always smaller, which made the whole evening more easygoing and less chaotic, to Melissa's happiness.

Marta's brunch was planned for the first Saturday after New Year's, the same week classes would have resumed, and Abby was excited to see all her colleagues again.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Melissa, fixing her clothes in front of the mirror. "They already have suspicions on their own, isn't it gonna be obvious?"

"I know you don't really care if they find out or not, you just don't wanna go," rolled her eyes Abigail, lacing up her shoes.

"Well, what if only you go as a representative for the both of us and I stay here?" fake-smiled her girlfriend, clearly nervous. "I already don't like these functions, and I know I will spoil it for you. What if they start asking me questions?"

"Then lie! You can do that, can't you?"

"I can, but I won't be able to."

"Babe, everything will be okay. I promise," reassured her Abigail, patting her on the shoulder. "Remember to smile."

"Ew, why would I do that?" she scrunched her nose. "Just a waste of energy."

Abigail chuckled, shaking her head, while she caressed Pyto.

"I already fucking hate this," Melissa complained one last time, before getting out of the house.

"Can you please hold off your complaints? At least for three hours."

"Three hours!? That's forever!"

"It'll be four if you don't shut the fuck up," jokingly replied Abby, getting in the driver's seat.

"A kiss, then I'll shut up."

They leant in and left a soft, quick kiss on each other's lips, before hitting the road.

"Have I already told you how beautiful you are?" suddenly asked Melissa, turning her head towards her girlfriend and taking a small break from staring out the window.

"You haven't, but thank you," Abigail got shy, blushing. "You also look incredible. I can't believe that somehow I've managed to have you."

"Sorry, but I feel like I did all the work! I fell for you five years ago and never moved on," exclaimed the oldest. "I was hopeless for half a decade, missy."

"I've fallen for you first!"

"I've fallen harder!"

Their childish bickering came to end when Abigail stopped the car in front of Marta's house, and all of Melissa's worries and anxiousness about the dreaded brunch hit her again, taking up all the space in her mind.

"I promise, it's gonna be fine."

"I hope you're right, or this is gonna be hella awkward."

Some teachers were already drinking some wine, and everyone was busy having a passionate conversation about the subject they taught, trying to convince the others that their field was the better one. In the corner Marta was fixing the last meals on the table, while Renée kept talking about her time in France, describing her days in Paris as the most magical of her life.

"You came!" exclaimed Marta, referring mostly to Melissa.

"Hey," she smiled back, waving a little to come off as friendlier.

Marta took Abigail's plate of appetizers and placed it on the table, but while she was discussing with them about her work and life, Melissa's mind drifted off to another dimension. She was too worried and nervous to pay attention to anything that wasn't her girlfriend, as her mind kept adding to the list of consequences of people finding about them. Not only were they colleagues, but they were two women; it was an unusual situation, and she didn't know how people were gonna react. They knew that Abby had had relationships with girls before, but they knew nothing about her own. The more she thought about it, the more her skin became pale, and started regretting her choice.

"Are you okay, Mel?" asked Marta, noticing her blank expression, replacing her usual uncomfortable one.

"I'm fine, thanks. Perhaps I just need some fresh air," she fake-smiled, fixing her hair a bit.

"Let me come with you," said Abigail, already making her way to the door to the backyard.

"No, please. Stay here, I'll manage."

The older woman disappeared, leaving Abigail with a very confused look on her face, as she stood in the middle of the room trying to understand her girlfriend.

"Is everything okay?" thoughtfully asked Marta. "She's weird."

"She's just... more uncomfortable than usual," sighed Abby, squeezing a little the glass she had in her hand.

"Can I talk to you? Away from everyone."

The two went to the bedroom upstairs, leaving behind the chaos of the brunch, to have a more intimate and heart-to-heart conversation.

"What is it?"

"I know that you and Melissa are both trying to hide it, but it's pretty obvious that something big is going on. We don't want you to not be able to express who you are, which is exactly why we've invited you here."

"You know about me and Melissa?"

"With all due respect, but you're not hiding it that well," she chuckled. "You disappear together, then come back with huge smiles... you look at each other the same way I look at my husband..."

"Wow... I guess I never realized."

"I'm sorry that you felt like you had to hide it from us."

"Oh, please, it's not your fault. I guess that Melissa and I have just been used to hiding our feelings, and really scared about opening up about them," she shrugged her shoulders. "But she will be absolutely thrilled to know this."

With a look of both respect and relief, the two went back downstairs, one of them with the only aim to find Melissa amongst everyone else.

"Hey love," smiled Abby, reaching out for a hug.

"Wha-"

"I just talked to Marta, and she said that we don't have to hide our feelings anymore because everyone already kinda knows about us."

Trying to understand if Abby was just messing with her, Melissa looked around in shock, only to find approving nods from the other colleagues surrounding them.

"Then I guess we can be girlfriend and girlfriend," she smiled, proudly putting her arm around Abigail's waist. "I'm glad."