Amari and Dev helped me reach out to the seniors who had taken AP Chem with Dr. Williams last year. It took us all day to coordinate with everyone involved, but, by sixth period, we managed to collect nearly three hundred notes and cards for Dr. Williams. They were practically bursting out my backpack, and my shoulders were a bit sore from lugging around the extra poundage all day.

Zac pulled up in a shiny black sports car at exactly 3:39 PM in front of the math building. I was relieved to see him. Running over, I opened the front passenger door of his BMW and stepped inside to remove my heavy backpack.

Wincing, I rubbed my shoulders and glanced at Zac. "You're on time."

"Didn't have a choice," he said with a raised eyebrow. "A mean and scary girl told me not to be late."

"At least, she's hot," I offered breezily.

"At least, she's hot," he agreed with a smile.

I pulled out my phone and searched for directions to the coffee shop where Dr. Williams agreed to meet me. "Take a right on Grove, then a left on Central."

"Got it."

We pulled out of the school parking lot and drove in silence for several street lights. The car felt uncomfortably small as I tried not to be so aware of his closeness. Even though we sat next to each other in AP History everyday, I was able to distract myself from his annoyingly good looks in class. There was nothing to distract me at the moment. Nat was right. High school guys weren't supposed to look this good. I struggled not to openly stare at his perfectly symmetrical features or his hard muscles or his sexy tats or his badass piercings...

Zac cleared his throat.

I quickly averted my gaze.

Without taking his eyes off the road, he asked, "What's in the bag? Looks like it's gonna explode."

I relaxed slightly. Good. He hadn't caught me staring. "Just some notes and cards. To let Dr. Williams know that most of us actually like her and want her around at Ashton Wellesley."

Zac rolled his eyes at me. "You're such a fucking teacher's pet."

"Maybe I wouldn't have to be such a suck up if somebody didn't air Brit's dirty laundry all over the internet for Dr. Williams to see."

"You still think I did it?" he challenged.

"Did you?" I countered.

His expression became unreadable. "What would you do if I did?"

I paused and mulled over the matter. Then, I answered honestly, "Probably... nothing. As long as you're not fucking things up for me."

"You wouldn't try to turn me in? Tie me up? Lock me in a dungeon and throw away the key?"

"Well, maybe. If anyone deserves to be tossed in a dungeon, it's probably you."

He winked. "I wouldn't mind being in your dungeon."

I smiled in spite of myself and tried to play it off with a dose of sarcasm, "You better hope Dr. Williams comes back soon from this leave of absence. Otherwise, I'm gonna have your head on a spike."

He grimaced slightly.

"What?" I prodded.

"Nothing. Just trying to think of a way to prevent this mean and scary girl I know from taking my head and putting it on a stick."

I chuckled darkly as Zac pulled up to the coffee shop and parked his car.

He said, "I'll wait for you out here."

Half-jokingly, I asked, "How do I know you won't drive off and leave me stranded here?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, offering it to me. "Here. Take this. Now you know I won't be going anywhere."

I gave him a baffled look. "Are you being serious? You're trusting me with your phone?"

Zac smirked. "I thought you were trustworthy? Don't tell me you're gonna hack into all of my dirty secrets and post them on Sassy."

I rolled my eyes and snatched his phone away. "On second thought, let me hold onto this for safekeeping. You're the one who can't be trusted."

***

As I walked into the coffee shop with my backpack brimming with goodwill, I saw Dr. Williams sitting at a booth waiting for me. The corners of my mouth twitched in amusement. Even on her day off, the woman still looked like she was about to teach a class. Dr. Williams' natural curls were neatly styled in its usual pixie afro, and she had on an Ashton Wellesley's staff polo paired with khakis.

I waved. She waved back, unsmiling. I don't think she was unhappy to see me. The woman simply never smiled.

"Hi, Dr. Williams."

"Hello, Cate."

"How are you holding up?"

She replied in clipped tones, "As well as a person can expect under the circumstances."

I sat down beside her and took out the giant bag of well wishes from my fellow classmates. Proudly, I placed them on the table for her to sift through. "Dr. Williams, I know Brit and a few others said some really horrible things about you, but most of us at school don't feel that way at all. My friends and I spent some time today to collect these from your past and current students. Every single one of us wanted to let you know that, even though we complain about your class and how tough you can be, deep down we know you're an amazing teacher, and we feel very lucky to have you."

Dr. Williams' mouth parted with shock. Her brown eyes grew a little misty behind her glasses as she started looking through the cards and notes in front of her. This was probably the strongest display of emotion I'd ever seen from her.

In a quiet voice, she said, "Cate... this is... this is very kind of you. All of you are too kind."

I beamed. "Think nothing of it, Dr. Williams! Honestly, it was the least we could do."

She was reading through a note from Rowena Ma with a wry smile on her lips. Dr. Williams glanced up at me with delight on her face. "Rowena has such a way with words, doesn't she?"

I laughed. "Yeah, she can't wait for you to come back. Actually, all of us are dying for you to come back. The sub today was awful!"

Hesitantly, she said, "Oh, about that..."

"Yes, Dr. Williams?"

"I'm not planning to go back to Ashton Wellesley this year."

My heart stopped for a moment, not sure if I heard her correctly. "What do you mean you're not coming back?"

"Last year, I applied to a teacher exchange program in Hamburg. The school initially turned down my application, but they recently reached out to me again with an offer. I wasn't planning to take them up on it since I'd already committed to Ashton Wellesley for this school year, but, after the whole fiasco with Brittany, I felt like it was a sign from the universe for me to try something new."

I stared at her, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "But... you can't go! We need you here! Who's gonna help us prep for the AP exam in May? Don't you have a binding contract with Ashton Wellesley or something?"

"Contracts can be renegotiated, you know, and I'll be sure to help Principal Pratt find a qualified replacement for me. Knowing you, Cate, you'll do just fine on the exam even without anyone's help."

The thought of Dr. Williams leaving Ashton Wellesley was a shock to my system. For some reason, I felt like crying, and I didn't know why. I managed to blink away the tears, but I couldn't stop the quiver from entering my voice.

"I just d-don't think it's very professional of you to do this to your students. We're counting on you, Dr. Williams."

"Cate," she said firmly but gently, "you have a gifted mind, but there's still a lot of learning left for you to do. Our lives aren't meant to be solid matter. It's liquid. Always in flux and, once you leave school and enter the real world, you'll begin to see that the best-laid plans rarely go as expected, and people won't treat you with the respect you deserve, and, yet, somehow you still have to remain good and make peace with all the indignities that try to bring you down."

I frowned deeply. "Damn, Dr. Williams, excuse my language, but that sounds so fucking depressing."

She laughed. It was the first time I'd ever heard her laugh. The sound of it was lovely. "Why don't I give you my private email, Cate? You can message me anytime you have a question about chemistry."

My eyes brightened. "Really? Yes, please! That would be amazing!"

As I fumbled in my pocket for my phone, I accidentally took out Zac's phone instead. His screen caught my eye.

Weird.

Instead of being blacked out on sleep mode, there seemed to be a weird app running on loop. I tapped out of the app for him and then proceeded to switch out his phone for mine.

Eagerly, I exchanged emails with Dr. Williams. Afterwards, we rose from our booth to leave. Right as we reached the door, I moved forward to give her a hug. She froze but reciprocated with a few awkward pats on the back.

I said to her, "I hope you have the best time in Hamburg, those German students don't know how lucky they are to have snatched you from us!"

"Yes, I'm sure," Dr. Williams said stiffly as she reverted back to her regular robot-like demeanor. "I'll miss you, Cate, and don't hesitate to email me."

"Oh, don't worry, Dr. Williams, you'll be hearing from me all the time!"

We said our goodbyes, and I smiled at her even though sadness continued to weigh on my chest. Dr. Williams' unexpected decision to leave Ashton Wellesley had triggered something in me. Even though I knew her time in Hamburg wouldn't last forever, I felt devastated by the reality of having to let Dr. Williams go, nonetheless. I sucked at goodbyes. They always left an ache in the chest that felt like I was bleeding from the inside. Maybe it was because I understood all too well that not all separations were like commas. Some were irreversible periods.

Like Mamma's death.