Chapter Text
The first thing Bonnie noticed about the new gym teacher was the haircut.
The second thing she noticed was the arms.
“Good morning students, five laps around the field first. No excuses unless you’re dying.”
Okay. Maybe the voice too.
Bonnie stood by the second-floor corridor with her iced coffee in hand, watching the morning PE class down below like it was some sort of live drama specially produced for her entertainment.
The new teacher had only transferred in three days ago and already the entire school was talking about her.
Mostly the girls.
Especially the girls.
“She’s so handsome.”
“I heard she used to coach volleyball.”
“My cousin from her old school said she rejected like six teachers.”
“She definitely likes women.”
Bonnie sipped her coffee.
Exactly.
There was simply no way that woman was straight.
Not with that layered wolf cut hairstyle and those black track pants and the whistle hanging around her neck like she was starring in some university GL series.
Bonnie narrowed her eyes thoughtfully as the gym teacher blew the whistle again.
“Stop walking, Alex. This is not a funeral procession.”
The students burst into laughter.
The teacher herself looked completely serious.
Bonnie smiled.
Cute.
“Teacher Bonnie!”
Bonnie turned and saw one of her students running toward her with a sketchbook in hand.
“Can you help me check this before class starts?”
“Mm? Let me see.”
As Bonnie flipped through the pages, she could still hear the whistle downstairs.
Honestly… the woman was kinda loud.
Not annoying loud.
Just… gym teacher loud.
“You should darken the shading here,” Bonnie said gently, pointing at the drawing. “It’ll make the lighting look nicer.”
“Okay! Thank you, teacher!”
The student hurried away happily.
Bonnie leaned against the railing again.
Down below, the gym teacher had both hands on her hips while staring at a group of boys dramatically dying on the grass after two laps.
“You all act like I’m torturing you,” she said.
“Teacher Emi,” one of them wheezed. “I can see my ancestors.”
“You’ll see them faster if you fail PE.”
Bonnie snorted into her coffee.
Alright.
Maybe she was funny too.
This was becoming a problem.
By recess time, Bonnie knew three things.
One, Emi’s full name was Emi Thasorn Klinnium.
Two, Bonnie can't get her eyes off her.
And three…
The school’s female population had collectively lost their minds.
“She smiled at me today.”
“She literally asked me to drink more water.”
“She touched my shoulder.”
Bonnie listened to the girls gossiping in the teacher's lounge while pretending to mark assignments.
Honestly, these students were too easy.
Meanwhile the male teachers looked personally offended by Emi’s existence.
“She’s too strict.”
“Students nowadays only like teachers with looks.”
“She acts cool but actually just makes students run.”
Bonnie nearly laughed.
Jealousy was ugly.
The lounge door opened.
And there she was.
Black polo shirt. Black track pants. Hair slightly messy like she had been outside all morning.
Emi walked in carrying an entire carton of isotonic drinks.
“Oh,” she blinked. “There’s so many people.”
Bonnie immediately sat up straighter.
The principal himself stood from his seat.
“Ms. Thasorn! Need help?”
“No need,” Emi said easily. “I got it.”
The principal still followed her anyway.
Bonnie watched the interaction with narrowed eyes.
Hm.
Interesting.
Emi placed the drinks into the staff fridge before finally noticing Bonnie sitting by the corner table.
Their eyes met.
Bonnie smiled automatically.
Emi nodded politely.
Then looked away.
Bonnie froze.
Excuse me?
The woman did not even look flustered.
Usually people reacted a little when Bonnie smiled at them.
At the very least they stared for a second too long.
Emi just… nodded.
Like a government employee.
Bonnie stared at her in disbelief.
Was she immune?
“Maybe she’s shy,” View suggested later that afternoon.
Bonnie was currently lying face-down on the art room table while View helped paint props for the school festival.
“She is not shy,” Bonnie mumbled dramatically. “She yelled at a Form Five student for hiding in the toilet during PE.”
“Then maybe she’s not interested.”
Bonnie lifted her head immediately.
“That’s impossible.”
View burst out laughing.
“Oh my God. Your ego.”
Bonnie tossed a paintbrush at her.
“It’s not ego. It’s facts.”
“Uh-huh.”
Bonnie crossed her arms.
“Listen. That woman has lesbian haircut syndrome.”
“That is not a real thing.”
“It is.”
View continued painting calmly. “Maybe she’s straight.”
Bonnie gasped like she had just been insulted personally.
“No.”
“You don’t even know her.”
“I know vibes.”
“You once thought the chemistry teacher was gay because she had short nails”
“She WAS gay.”
“She was married to a man.”
“She divorced him.”
View stared at her.
Bonnie pointed proudly. “Exactly.”
The opportunity came three days later.
Because of course it did.
Pretty privilege had always worked suspiciously well for Bonnie.
“Ms. Pattraphus,” the principal said kindly, “we’re short on teachers for the sports festival committee. Can you help?”
Bonnie pretended to hesitate.
“Ah… but I’m already busy with the art exhibition decorations.”
Before the principal could respond, Emi walked past the office door carrying a stack of cones.
The principal immediately called out.
“Ms. Thasorn!”
Emi stopped.
“Yes?”
“Can Ms. Pattraphus help your committee?”
Bonnie hid her smile.
Emi looked at Bonnie.
Bonnie gave her sweetest smile possible.
The one that usually got her free drinks and deadline extensions.
Emi blinked once.
Then nodded.
“Sure.”
That was it.
Sure.
No flustered expression.
No awkwardness.
No gay panic.
Bonnie was starting to get offended.
Their first official committee meeting lasted exactly twenty-seven minutes before Bonnie decided Emi was either:
A) the densest person alive
or
B) genuinely straight.
Neither option pleased her.
“Khun Bonnie?”
Bonnie snapped out of her trance.
Emi was standing beside her chair.
“You okay?”
“Hm?”
“You’ve been staring at me for like five minutes.”
Bonnie nearly choked.
Oh.
So she DID notice things.
“I was thinking,” Bonnie recovered smoothly.
“Dangerous activity.”
Bonnie blinked.
Then laughed despite herself.
Emi looked faintly pleased with that.
Cute.
Dangerously cute.
“You’re different from what I imagined,” Bonnie admitted.
Emi sat on the edge of a nearby table. “Good different or bad different?”
Bonnie tilted her head.
“I thought you’d be cooler.”
Emi looked genuinely confused. “Cooler?”
“Like mysterious. Quiet. Brooding.”
“I teach teenagers how to stretch properly.”
“That can still be mysterious.”
Emi laughed.
Actually laughed.
Not loudly. Just soft and sudden.
And Bonnie’s stupid heart did something weird.
Oh no.
The woman was prettier when she laughed.
This was becoming serious.
Over the next two weeks, Bonnie developed several extremely important observations about Emi.
Number one:
Emi was annoyingly nice.
She helped students carry heavy things without being asked.
She bought extra bread during recess because “the football boys are always hungry.”
She remembered every student’s medical condition somehow.
Number two:
Emi was unbelievably oblivious.
One girl literally confessed to her after PE class.
Emi smiled and said, “Thank you for appreciating my teaching.”
Teaching.
TEACHING.
Bonnie had to physically walk away after hearing that.
And number three…
Emi treated Bonnie differently.
Not in an obvious way.
Just small things.
She saved Bonnie a seat during meetings.
Bought her favorite drink without asking after seeing her order it once.
Waited for her after school when it rained.
Tiny things.
Domestic things.
Things that made Bonnie’s brain short-circuit because this woman was somehow both attentive and completely unaware she was flirting.
Which meant…
“She’s definitely gay,” Bonnie declared dramatically.
View looked exhausted already. “We are not having this conversation again.”
“She bought me strawberry milk.”
“She bought everyone drinks.”
“She remembered I hate eggs.”
“You complained about eggs for twenty minutes.”
“She listens to me.”
View sighed.
“You like her.”
Bonnie froze.
“…No.”
“You literally smile at your phone every time she texts.”
“She sends funny stickers.”
“You’re cooked.”
Bonnie stared at the ceiling dramatically.
This was bad.
She had originally planned to casually seduce the hot gym teacher.
Not develop feelings.
Feelings were disgusting.
Friday afternoon arrived with disaster.
Specifically, rain disaster.
The sports field became unusable halfway through practice and students ran everywhere screaming while teachers tried maintaining order.
Bonnie stood underneath the corridor hugging a stack of sketchbooks to her chest.
“I hate rain,” she muttered.
“You say that every time it rains.”
Bonnie turned.
Emi stood beside her holding two umbrellas.
“How are you everywhere?” Bonnie asked suspiciously.
“I’m a PE teacher. We can move in the speed of light.”
Bonnie laughed.
Emi handed her one umbrella.
“For you.”
“Oh.”
For some reason Bonnie suddenly felt warm.
Which was ridiculous because they were literally standing beside cold rainwater.
“You don’t have to walk me to my car,” Bonnie said.
“I know.”
Emi still opened the umbrella anyway.
The two of them walked side-by-side through the parking lot while rain poured around them.
Students passing by kept staring.
Mostly because Bonnie and Emi apparently looked like the leads of a school romance drama.
Bonnie secretly agreed.
Halfway there, Emi suddenly spoke.
“Can I ask you something?”
Bonnie looked at her curiously. “Mm?”
“Why were you staring at me so much when I first transferred here?”
Bonnie nearly tripped over a puddle.
“What?”
“You kept looking at me.”
“You noticed?”
“Of course I noticed.”
Bonnie suddenly felt embarrassed for the first time in weeks.
“That’s…” she tried to think quickly. “That’s because your hairstyle looked gay.”
Silence.
Then—
Emi burst out laughing.
Actually laughing.
Head tilted down slightly, shoulders shaking.
Bonnie stared at her in betrayal.
“You think this is funny?”
“That’s the reason?”
“Yes!”
Emi kept laughing.
“Oh my God,” Bonnie complained. “Stop laughing at me.”
“I’m sorry,” Emi said, still smiling widely. “It’s just… nobody has ever called my hair gay before.”
“Well it is.”
“My barber is a fifty-year-old uncle.”
“That means nothing.”
Emi laughed again.
And Bonnie realized something horrifying.
She liked making Emi laugh.
Way too much.
The rain continued pouring around them as they finally reached Bonnie’s car.
Bonnie unlocked it but didn’t get in immediately.
Neither did Emi move away.
For a weird second, everything suddenly felt quiet.
Then Emi smiled softly.
“See you on Monday, Bonnie.”
And Bonnie’s brain completely malfunctioned.
Because for the first time since they met…
Emi looked at her like maybe she was seeing Bonnie properly too.