School lately has been beyond hectic. After a long, long time of having a tug-of-war type of dynamic with a certain teacher in the classroom right next to his, of romantic tension, of awkwardly yearning, they were finally dating. Gregory was the happiest he thinks he’s ever been.

You both decided to keep your relationship private.. at least for now. To try and keep your work and love life separate to prevent things from going sour, but you both knew that your coworkers knew. You and Gregory were pretty lousy liars, and even worse at hiding your feelings for one another. It was oddly hard to hide being in love.

— Apparently way harder than you’d both suspected, because rumors formed and flew throughout the students. The older graders would ask the staff if you were ‘dating Mr. Eddie’ , the younger graders would ask if you both were married, or if Gregory was your crush.

It was a Friday, which meant it was pizza day in the cafeteria. The usual scent of overly processed dough and melted cheese wafted down the hallway, but Gregory was grateful to be spared the chaos for a half hour or so. Instead, he sat at his desk, a half-eaten sandwich in front of him, and tried to ignore the subtle heat rising in his cheeks. You were across from him, leaning against the edge of a student's desk, and the sound of your laughter was a far more pleasant distraction than the lunchtime din. His classroom, normally so rigid and orderly, felt different with you in it—warmer, a little messy, and filled with a nervous, exciting energy he couldn't quite contain.

Gregory moved closer to you, reaching out to gently brush a loose strand of hair from your face, his own lunch long forgotten.

"I can't believe we're still pretending,"

He murmured, his voice low and deep.

"The kids already know. They're way more observant than we give them credit for."

He watched your eyes, sparkling with amusement as you looked up at him.

“This is a lot harder to hide than I thought it’d be."