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“Really. I’m, uh, I’m spending a year on exchange, teaching in the UK.”

“That’s wonderful, just the kind of experience we’re looking for. We’re talking about a September start anyway, so that should fit in with your plans.”

“I see,” Ava said.

“So? Can I put your name in the hat?”

She blew out a breath. Whitebridge wasn’t forever. It couldn’t be forever. The only reason she was reluctant to say yes was because she’d kissed Hope Perkins, and that was a foolish reason to turn down an opportunity like this.

Yes, she was interested in Hope, but Hope herself had pointed out that they weren’t getting engaged or anything.

Plus, it wasn’t like she was signing a contract. It was a statement of interest, that was all.

“Sure,” she said, as calmly as she could. “Why not? And thanks for the heads up, Stan. I appreciate it.”

“Not a problem. We’d love to have you on board, Ava, you know we would. Say hi to the folks over there from me, and don’t drink too much of that tea, I’ve heard it gives you gall stones.”

“I’ll remember that,” Ava said with a grin. “Bye, Stan.”

She hung up, put her phone back on the night stand, and snuggled back down into bed.

But she didn’t go to sleep. Too many thoughts were running through her head for sleep to come.

AMY LITTLETON SAT on the very edge of the desk, her legs crossed. “I don’t know if it’s that easy,” she said.

Hope rolled her eyes. “We can’t just sit around and wait for the council to make a decision. That’s giving up.”

“But it is their decision to make,” Ava put in.

“Still though,” said Hope. “We have to do something. This is our school. It needs saving. We can’t let it just slide through the cracks like this. What about all our kids? What, we’re going to put them on buses and ship them off to a whole other town?”

“They wouldn’t be going to Mars,” Amy said. “Besides, whichever school or schools stay open, they’re sure to hire on at least some of us. They’ll have extra kids, so they’ll need extra teachers.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” said Ava. “If their numbers are as low as ours, they might not. There are twelve kids in my class but I’m allowed to have thirty. The key stage 2 kids have no class size limit at all.”

“Look at you, knowing your key stages,” said Amy. “But you’re right, I suppose.” She sighed.

“The first thing you should do is get the parents involved,” Ava said. “Look at Hope, she’s already upset at the idea of sending Alice off somewhere else. You can bet that the other parents will feel the same.”

Amy nodded. “Makes sense. We could get some kind of petition going, send it to the council.”

“The only thing that’s going to change the council’s mind is more kids,” said Hope.

“For someone called Hope you seem to have little of it today,” Ava said.

“Sorry, didn’t get much sleep.”

Ava felt her stomach twitch. She wondered if Hope hadn’t been sleeping for the same reasons that she hadn’t been sleeping.

Mila had said she should let the walls down, let herself be vulnerable, be open to things. What she hadn’t mentioned was that in doing so, Ava would unleash some kind of lust monster.

Now that she’d committed to seeing Hope as something other than an irritation, it seemed like she couldn’t see her as anything other than a temptation.

“Alright, I’ll get working on a letter to the parents,” Amy said, hopping off the desk-edge. “I’ll send it to you two tonight and you can let me know what you think.”

She scampered off to her own classroom and Ava was alone with Hope for the first time all day. For the first time since they’d decided that they were going to… take things slow.

“Didn’t sleep much myself,” Ava admitted.