Ms. Sparks cleared throat. “You what?”
Dotty straightened her shoulders. “Okay, everyone, I took a mystery item from each teacher’s room and attached a number.”
Gasps scattered around the room.
Her eyes widened in shock. “Nothing bad, I promise. You’ll see. Here.” She nodded her head toward the table. “I’ll put the items on the table. Everyone, take a paper and try to assign each numbered item to its owner.” She rushed to the table and laid out the items and stood to the side. “Let’s see how well everyone knows each other.”
Everyone glanced at the table, but no one moved.
“We don’t do games,” Ms. Sparks whispered angrily toward Dotty.
It’s true, we never had games in the past, and this group of people didn’t take change easily.
Dotty tugged on her sweater.
I didn’t want to play a stupid get-to-know-you game, but I couldn’t let the woman just stand there. I nodded at Craig and turned to set down my cup. When I turned back around, Faith was already halfway across the room. All eyes followed her, and her cheeks flushed pink with the attention, but she held her head high. Looks like my charity wasn’t fast enough to beat Faith’s.
Faith grabbed Dotty’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“What a fun idea!” She reached over and picked up a paper and pencil. “I’m sure all of us know less about each other than we think.”
I knew very little about Faith, and I was definitely ready to learn more.
Dotty put her hands up and clapped. “Oh, I forgot, the person who gets all the answers the fastest wins a prize.”
That seemed to break the trance everyone was in, and the rest of the staff rushed to the table, grabbing papers and pencils. All except Ms. Sparks, who had her arms folded across her chest and her lips in a scowl.
Chapter Fifteen
FAITH
Bonus points, I didn’t trip or vomit. I hated being the center of attention, but apparently I hated people being unkind more. I clutched my paper and pencil and pretended to stare at the different objects along the table. But, I was actually just calming my breath and stopping my hands from shaking. I rolled the ring on my finger.
I normally didn’t like work parties. Everyone else knew one another all their lives, and they sat in their normal groups of four or five and gossiped. I never felt like I belonged anywhere. I loved Dotty’s idea of shaking things up.
After a few minutes, I stepped away from the table that was now surrounded by people and made my way over to Dotty.
“This is a great idea.”
She rubbed the back of her neck. “You think so?”
“Yes. I feel like an outsider since I didn’t grow up here.” I realized Dotty was in a similar situation. She knew these people better than I did, but she wasn’t exactly a part of them either. “It shakes things up nicely.”
Her bright eyes met mine. “Right! I thought this would help us form differentconnections.”
I pointed over to where elementary and high school teachers were colliding and wandering around, no longer in clique groups. “It looks like it’s working.
Dotty clapped her hands in front of her. “It is, isn’t it?” She leaned close and whispered, “Aunt Helen told me no games. That everyone would hate it.” She grimaced.
Jim was trying on a clown’s nose, and the surrounding group laughed. “Well, looks like maybe she was wrong. I’m proud of you for going against her.” I shuddered. Helen Sparks intimidated me, like a lot.
“Yeah.” Her shoulders relaxed.
“Hey, do you want to go to Merritt’s tomorrow?” I wondered why I hadn’t hung out with Dotty before. “My roommate Rose and I are meeting there for brunch.”
Her eyes lit up. “Yes!” Her cheeks flushed. “Um, I mean, if you’re sure?”
I laughed. “Of course! You will love Rose, and Marissa might come too.”
