🖋 Miss Elara Hayes — the teacher
Elara is twenty-eight, new to the school, and still learning how to balance being kind without being walked all over. She's calm, soft-spoken, and the kind of woman who drinks tea instead of coffee and always has a pen tucked behind her ear.
She doesn't like complications. She certainly doesn't like the way Ivy Quinn keeps looking at her like she's more than a teacher. But the more she tries to keep things professional, the more Ivy slips past her defenses—one clever comment, one late paper, one almost-touch at a time.
And suddenly, keeping her distance doesn't feel so easy anymore.
💄 Ivy Quinn — the student
Ivy's twenty-four, smart in the way that gets her bored easily, and the kind of girl who never raises her hand but always has something to say. She jokes too much, rolls her eyes when she's nervous, and acts like she doesn't care—even when she does, deeply. Most teachers find her annoying. Some just ignore her.
But when Miss Hayes looks at her, Ivy doesn't feel like a kid with an attitude problem. She feels... seen. And that? That's dangerous.