Grace sat quietly in the car for a few minutes, hands resting on the steering wheel. With a slow breath, she fixed her hair using the rearview mirror. She looked neat and composed, as always.
"Let's just focus on the lesson. Nothing else", she told herself.
She dabbed perfume gently on her neck and wrists, the scent of vanilla and amber rising softly into the air, before stepping out of the car.
Eli was already waiting for her.
The moment their eyes met, the calmness she had gathered just moments ago scattered into the wind. She smiled faintly, without meeting his gaze for too long, and took a seat beside him.
"You're early today," she said softly.
"Yes," he replied, his voice carrying the same quiet gentleness as hers.
Grace always did things slowly when she felt uneasy.
Finding it hard to meet his eyes, she handed him a question, a difficult one, designed to demand focus and time, just as she always did when she needed space.
Her eyes drifted to the window, to the garden outside. The front yard was lush and green, every blade of grass gleaming under the light, something about it steadied her.
When she looked back, pretending to observe his work, her gaze lingered. Eli was completely absorbed, his brow slightly furrowed as he wrote.
Her eyes traced him carefully, from his hair down to the curve of his neck. The silence between them gave her permission to watch, to feel.
Then she noticed it, a small heart-shaped birthmark on the right side of his neck.
"I'm finished… I think."
He looked up at her, his tone gentle, uncertain, almost apologetic. Their eyes met for the first time in minutes.
Grace froze, caught between admiration and something she couldn't quite name.
That hesitation in his voice, that small trace of innocence, felt like a whisper tugging at her composure.
For a heartbeat, she forgot about the lesson, and remembered only him.