Updated Apr 8, 2026 • ~7 min read
Chapter 11: Supply Closet
Sienna
Friday morning, Sienna has to teach Harper Blackwell like nothing happened.
Like she didn’t just have her heart ripped out last night.
Like she’s not in love with Harper’s dad.
Like her entire world didn’t IMPLODE less than twelve hours ago.
She stands at the front of the classroom, going through the morning routine—attendance, announcements, reviewing the schedule—and she’s running on autopilot.
Harper is in the third row, same as always. Smiling. Happy.
Completely oblivious to the fact that Ms. Martinez is DYING inside.
“Okay, everyone!” Sienna says, and her voice sounds foreign to her own ears. Too bright. Too fake. “Let’s start with our writing prompt for today.”
She writes on the board: **Describe a time when you had to say goodbye to something you loved.**
The irony is not lost on her.
🔥
Halfway through writing time, Harper raises her hand.
“Yes, Harper?”
“Can I ask you something? Privately?”
Sienna’s stomach drops. Does she KNOW? Did Jace tell her?
No. He wouldn’t. Would he?
“Of course. Come here.”
Harper walks up to her desk, and Sienna’s heart is POUNDING.
“What’s up, sweetheart?”
“Are you okay?” Harper asks quietly. “You seem sad again. Like you were earlier this week.”
Sienna’s throat tightens.
She’s not okay. She’s the OPPOSITE of okay.
But she can’t tell Harper that. Can’t say: *I’m sad because I fell in love with your dad and had to let him go.*
“I’m okay,” she lies. “Just a little tired.”
“Did something bad happen?”
Yes. The worst thing.
“Just… grown-up stuff. Nothing for you to worry about.”
Harper looks unconvinced but nods. “Okay. But if you need to talk, I’m a good listener.”
Sienna’s eyes burn. This KID. This sweet, wonderful kid offering comfort while having NO IDEA that she’s part of the reason Sienna’s heart is broken.
“Thank you, Harper. That’s very kind.”
Harper hugs her—quick and impulsive—and then bounces back to her seat.
And Sienna has to turn away and pretend she’s organizing papers so no one sees her cry.
🔥
Lunch break. Sienna locks herself in the supply closet.
It’s small and cramped and smells like dry-erase markers and disinfectant. But it’s PRIVATE. And right now, she needs private.
She sits on the floor, pulls her knees to her chest, and lets herself fall apart.
She loves him.
She LOVES him.
And she can’t have him.
The sobs come hard and fast—ugly crying, the kind that makes your whole body shake. She presses her hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.
How did she let this happen?
How did she let herself fall for someone so completely OFF-LIMITS?
She should have ended it the SECOND she realized. Should have told Jace immediately instead of being selfish and cowardly.
But she didn’t.
And now they’re both paying the price.
A knock on the supply closet door makes her freeze.
“Sienna?” It’s Ms. Chen, the student teacher. “Are you in there?”
Sienna wipes her face frantically. “Yeah. Just… looking for construction paper.”
“Oh. Okay. Do you need help?”
“No! I’m good. Thanks.”
She waits until she hears footsteps retreat, then takes a shaky breath.
Get it together, Sienna. You have a class to teach.
She stands, checks her reflection in the small mirror hanging on the back of the door. Her eyes are red and puffy. Her face is blotchy.
She looks exactly like someone whose heart just got broken.
But she splashes cold water on her face in the staff bathroom, reapplies concealer, and goes back to her classroom.
Because that’s what professionals do.
They fall apart in private and hold it together in public.
🔥
The rest of the school day is TORTURE.
Every time she looks at Harper, she thinks about Jace.
Every time Harper smiles, she sees HIS smile.
Every time Harper raises her hand to answer a question, Sienna remembers the way Jace’s hand felt in hers.
By the time the final bell rings, Sienna is EXHAUSTED.
She waves goodbye to her students, closes her classroom door, and collapses into her desk chair.
Her phone buzzes.
For one wild, stupid second, she thinks: *Maybe it’s Jace.*
But it’s Maya.
**Maya:** How are you holding up?
**Sienna:** Not well.
**Maya:** Coming over tonight. Wine and ice cream. No arguments.
**Sienna:** Okay.
**Maya:** Hang in there, babe. I love you.
**Sienna:** Love you too.
Sienna locks her phone and stares at the classroom.
Student work on the bulletin boards. Harper’s essay about wanting her dad to be happy.
God, the IRONY.
Harper wanted her dad to be happy. And Sienna made him happy—for three perfect weeks.
And then she ruined it.
🔥
That night, Maya shows up with wine, ice cream, and a pizza.
“Comfort food trifecta,” she announces, dumping everything on Sienna’s kitchen counter. “Now talk. Tell me everything.”
So Sienna does.
She tells Maya about Back-to-School Night. About Jace’s face when he realized. About the fight in the conference room. About the way he looked at her—hurt and angry and BETRAYED—when he walked away.
“He said he loved me,” Sienna finishes, voice breaking. “Right before he said we had to end it. He loved me and it didn’t MATTER.”
“Oh, babe.” Maya pulls her into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”
“I screwed up. I should have told him sooner.”
“You were scared.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
“It’s a REASON. There’s a difference.”
Sienna pulls back, wiping her eyes. “It doesn’t change anything. He’s Harper’s dad. I’m her teacher. We can’t be together.”
“Can you request a transfer? Move to a different school?”
“In the middle of the year? That would look suspicious. And besides, I’d have to explain WHY. And then everyone would know.”
“What if you just… didn’t tell anyone? Kept seeing him in secret?”
“Maya—”
“I’m JUST SAYING. If you both want this—”
“We can’t. It’s unethical. I could lose my job. He could—” She stops. “Harper would be caught in the middle. And she’s the most important thing.”
“More important than your happiness?”
“She’s a KID. Kids come first.”
Maya sighs. “You’re right. I know you’re right. It just SUCKS.”
“Yeah. It really does.”
They eat pizza in silence for a while. Then Maya asks: “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Keep teaching Harper. Keep seeing Jace at school events. Pretend I’m not in love with him.”
“That sounds awful.”
“It is.”
“For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing. Telling him. Ending it.”
“Then why does it feel so WRONG?”
“Because your heart doesn’t care about ethics. It just wants what it wants.”
Sienna’s eyes fill with tears again. “I wanted HIM. I wanted a future with him.”
“I know.”
“And now I have to watch him move on. Maybe date someone else. Someone who ISN’T his daughter’s teacher.”
“Don’t torture yourself with hypotheticals.”
“Too late.”
Maya squeezes her hand. “You’re strong. You’ll get through this.”
“I don’t FEEL strong.”
“Fake it till you make it.”
Sienna laughs—a watery, broken sound. “That’s your solution to everything.”
“Because it WORKS.”
They finish the wine. Eat the ice cream. Watch a terrible rom-com that makes Sienna cry even harder because the couple gets their happy ending and she WON’T.
And when Maya finally leaves around midnight, Sienna lies in bed and stares at the ceiling.
She thinks about texting Jace. Just to say… what? I’m sorry? I miss you? I love you?
None of it would change anything.
So she doesn’t text.
She just lies there in the dark, missing someone she can’t have.
Mourning a future that will never exist.
And trying very hard not to fall apart completely.
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