Updated Apr 8, 2026 • ~8 min read
Chapter 10: Ms. Martinez
Jace
Jace is running late.
Traffic was terrible, and he spent twenty minutes looking for parking, and now he’s speed-walking through Oakwood Elementary’s hallways with Harper skipping beside him, completely unfazed by their tardiness.
“It’s fine, Dad! We’re not THAT late!”
“We’re ten minutes late.”
“That’s like, barely late.”
“Harper—”
“Dad, RELAX. Ms. Martinez won’t care. She’s super nice about stuff like this.”
Jace takes a breath. Harper’s right. It’s fine. It’s a casual meet-and-greet, not a court appearance.
Besides, Sienna’s not even here yet. They were supposed to meet in the parking lot, but she texted fifteen minutes ago saying she was running late too. She’ll meet him inside.
They reach Room 12—Ms. Martinez’s classroom—and join the cluster of parents milling around outside. Through the window, Jace can see a woman at the front of the room, arranging papers on the desk.
“Come on!” Harper tugs his hand, pulling him through the door.
The classroom is BRIGHT. Colorful posters on the walls. Student work displayed on bulletin boards. A reading corner with bean bags and bookshelves. It’s warm. Welcoming.
Harper leads him toward the front, where Ms. Martinez is greeting parents.
Jace can only see her from behind—dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, blue dress, gesturing animatedly as she talks to another parent.
“Ms. Martinez!” Harper calls out.
The woman turns around.
And Jace’s entire world STOPS.
Because standing in front of him, wearing a professional smile that immediately FALTERS when she sees him, is SIENNA.
His Sienna.
The woman he’s been dating for three weeks.
The woman he’s falling in love with.
Is Harper’s TEACHER.
No.
No no no no no.
“Dad, this is Ms. Martinez!” Harper is saying, beaming. “Ms. Martinez, this is my dad!”
Sienna’s face has gone PALE. Her eyes are wide, horrified, PANICKED.
This can’t be happening.
“Mr. Blackwell,” Sienna says, and her voice is shaking. “It’s… it’s nice to finally meet you.”
Her hand extends automatically. Professional. Robotic.
Jace shakes it, because what else is he supposed to do? His brain is SHORT-CIRCUITING.
Sienna is Ms. Martinez.
Ms. Martinez is SIENNA.
She’s been Harper’s teacher this ENTIRE TIME.
“Nice to meet you too,” he hears himself say.
“Isn’t she great?” Harper is still talking, oblivious. “I told you you’d love her!”
Jace can’t speak. Can’t THINK.
Sienna’s eyes are pleading. Desperate. But he can’t process what she’s trying to communicate because all he can think is: *SHE KNEW.*
She’s known. For how long? Since when?
Since he mentioned Oakwood Elementary last week. That’s when she got weird. That’s when she started canceling dates.
She’s known for A WEEK.
And she didn’t TELL him.
“Mr. Blackwell?” Another parent is trying to get past him. “Excuse me.”
Jace steps aside, numb.
“Why don’t you find a seat?” Sienna says, and her voice is TOO bright. TOO cheerful. “I’m going to start the presentation in just a few minutes.”
“Okay!” Harper bounces toward the desks. “Come on, Dad!”
Jace follows her in a daze. They sit in two of the small student chairs—knees to his chest, just like at the parent-teacher conference that DIDN’T happen because Sienna faked a family emergency.
Because she KNEW. She knew and she HID.
He watches Sienna at the front of the room, greeting more parents, smiling, pretending everything is FINE.
But her hands are shaking. He can see it from here.
Good.
She SHOULD be shaking.
🔥
The presentation starts.
Sienna stands at the front of the classroom, talking about curriculum and goals for the year and upcoming projects. She’s good at this—engaging, enthusiastic, clearly passionate about teaching.
Harper was right. She IS great.
But all Jace can think is: *She lied.*
She lied to him. For A WEEK.
They went on a date. They KISSED. She let him fall for her while knowing the entire time that this could never work.
Halfway through the presentation, Sienna’s eyes meet his.
She looks away immediately, but not before he sees it: guilt. Regret. PAIN.
Good.
He hopes she’s in pain. He hopes she’s SUFFERING.
Because right now, that’s exactly how he feels.
🔥
After the presentation, parents mingle. Harper drags Jace over to see her desk, showing him her work displayed on the bulletin board.
“See? That’s my essay about family! Ms. Martinez said it was beautiful!”
Jace looks at the essay. Harper’s handwriting, careful and neat:
*My dad has been smiling at his phone this week. I think he’s dating someone. I hope she makes him happy.*
His throat tightens.
Harper wrote this three weeks ago. Right after Jace met Sienna.
Right after Sienna became Harper’s TEACHER.
Did Sienna read this? Did she KNOW, even then?
“Mr. Blackwell?”
He turns. Sienna is standing behind him, hands clasped tightly in front of her. Professional mask barely holding.
“Could I speak with you? Privately?”
“Sure.”
He follows her out of the classroom, into the hallway. She leads him to an empty conference room and closes the door.
For a long moment, neither of them speaks.
Then Jace says: “You knew.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When you told me about Oakwood Elementary. When you said Harper was in fifth grade.” Her voice is barely above a whisper. “I put it together.”
“That was A WEEK AGO, Sienna.”
“I know.”
“You’ve known for a WEEK and you didn’t tell me?”
“I tried! I tried to tell you at dinner, but you kissed me and I—” She breaks off. “I was a coward. I’m sorry.”
“You’re SORRY?” Jace’s voice rises. “We’ve been DATING. I introduced you to the idea of meeting Harper. I was falling for you, and you KNEW the whole time that this was impossible!”
“I didn’t WANT it to be impossible!”
“But it IS!” He runs a hand through his hair, pacing. “You’re her TEACHER, Sienna. Do you have any idea how inappropriate this is?”
“I KNOW!” Tears are streaming down her face now. “I know, okay? I know I screwed up. I should have told you immediately. But I was scared, and I was selfish, and I—” Her voice cracks. “I’m in love with you.”
The words hit him like a PUNCH.
She loves him.
She LOVES him.
And it doesn’t matter.
“I’m in love with you too,” he says quietly. “That’s what makes this so much worse.”
Sienna’s sob is audible. “Jace—”
“We can’t do this. You know that, right?”
“I know.”
“This ends. Now. Tonight.”
“I know.”
“And you’ll still be Harper’s teacher. I’ll still be her dad. We’ll have to see each other. Interact. Pretend we’re STRANGERS.”
“I know.”
“So what the hell were you THINKING?”
“I was thinking—” She wipes her face roughly. “I was thinking that maybe, just MAYBE, we could figure it out. That maybe love was enough. But it’s not, is it?”
“No. It’s not.”
Silence.
Jace looks at her—really LOOKS at her. Red eyes, tear-stained cheeks, hands trembling. She’s devastated.
So is he.
But this can’t work. It CAN’T.
“I need you to understand something,” he says slowly. “Harper is my PRIORITY. Always. And this—us—it puts her in an impossible position. You’re her teacher. She LOVES you. If this got out, if people found out—”
“It would ruin everything. I know.”
“So we end it. Clean break. You’re Ms. Martinez. I’m Mr. Blackwell. That’s it.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
They stare at each other, and Jace wants to cross the room. Wants to pull her into his arms. Wants to kiss her and tell her they’ll figure it out.
But he CAN’T.
Because she lied.
And because Harper comes first.
“I’m sorry,” Sienna whispers. “For all of it. I’m so sorry.”
“Me too.”
He turns and walks out of the conference room.
Doesn’t look back.
If he looks back, he’ll break.
🔥
Harper is waiting by her desk when he returns.
“Dad! Where were you?”
“Just talking to Ms. Martinez about your progress.”
“And?”
“And you’re doing great.”
“I KNOW. She tells me all the time.”
Harper grins, and Jace forces a smile in return.
Across the room, Sienna is talking to another parent. She looks composed. Professional.
But when their eyes meet for just a second, he sees the truth.
She’s as destroyed as he is.
🔥
They drive home in silence.
Harper chats about school, about her friends, about how cool it was that Dad got to meet Ms. Martinez.
“Did you like her?” she asks.
“She seems very good at her job,” Jace says carefully.
“She’s the BEST. I’m so glad I got her as a teacher.”
Yeah.
So is Jace.
(Except he’s NOT. Because if Harper had a DIFFERENT teacher, Jace could keep seeing Sienna. Could keep falling in love with her. Could have a FUTURE.)
But that’s not reality.
Reality is: Sienna is off-limits.
And Jace is heartbroken.
🔥
That night, after Harper is in bed, Jace sits in the dark living room and stares at his phone.
No texts from Sienna.
Good. That’s good.
They agreed. Clean break.
But god, it HURTS.
Two years after Meredith died, he finally let himself feel something again. Finally opened his heart.
And now it’s broken all over again.
He pulls up Sienna’s contact. Hovers over the delete button.
Can’t do it.
Instead, he just… sits there.
Numb.
Alone.
Missing someone he can never have.
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