“Excuse me….” I’m about to give the older boy a good talking to when a man appears. A suit-wearing man. Something not as common as you’d think in my little town.
“M.J., knock that shit off.” When he looks at me, he smiles. “Oh, well,hello.” He holds his hand out to me. I place mine in his and stare as he slowly bends to kiss my hand. “I’m Max Lang.”
“Miss Harmon,” I say, rather dumbfounded.
“Miss? Is that your first name?”
I blink a few times, trying to figure out if this guy is serious or if he’s trying to be funny. Assuming he’s serious, I reply, “Izzy.”
He chuckles. “Izzy.” He leans in closely, glancing down my shirt. “It’s a pleasure.”
Not for me, it isn’t.
I quickly pull back and cross my arms over my chest again. I knew I shouldn’t have worn a V-neck top. But it’s Open House, and it’s not like it’s low-cut or anything. V-necks are just more flattering on me. It’s like all the magazines say, highlight your best features. Draw people’s attention to that area. And no, I don’t mean my boobs. I’m talking about my face and hair. I’m no Ashley Stewart, that’s for sure, but I’m not a troll either. Plus, my hair is good. It’s dark brown, thick, shiny, wavy, and long. I like my hair.
“These two hellions are mine.” Max points to Marcus and the older boy. “My ex-wife is out of the picture.” He blinks at me expectantly.
What? Am I supposed to say something? “Oh, I’m….”
And that’s when I hear someone yell. I look up to see Nash looking at me. “Max,” Nash says, sounding a little angry. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Max turns to Marcus and the other boy, M.J. “Come on, guys. We’re leaving.”
My attention is drawn back to Marcus when he shrugs, turns, then walks down the hallway following his older brother. Turning around one last time, Max looks at me and winks. “I’m sure I’ll see you again, Izzy.” Max then waves as he follows his kids. When he meets up with Nash, they all take off down the hallway toward the main door.
“Jerk,” I mutter.
“Max?” snickers Rose.
I look over to her and smile, then laugh. “No. Yes.” I’m so glad I get to work with her. We’ve gotten to know each other quite a bit this summer. The day after I was hired, I started setting up my classroom while she was teaching summer school for extra money. We had lunch together every day, and that’s when I filled her in on my old life back here in Honeywell, and since she’s been teaching here for several years, she filled me in on school gossip, who to avoid, and who to trust. I had no idea an elementary school could be such a hotbed of drama. It’s like a soap opera around here, and the school year hasn’t officially started yet.
2
Isabelle
“Hey, Izzy.”I look up from the delicious sandwich my mom made for me today. She’s been packing my lunch every day since school started. I know I should ask her to stop and to do it myself, but she likes to do it, and besides, she makes my dad’s lunch, so the stuff is already out. Besides, there’s nothing better than a sandwich made by someone else. Someone who loves you. Am I right?
Oops, I guess I just confessed my dirty secret. Yes, I’m living with my parents, in my old bedroom with the same old squeaky twin bed as before. I suppose I should be embarrassed; I mean I’ve got a job. I make enough money to rent something in the area, but why? Grace and Bruce Harmon are nice people, and they’re easy to live with as long as I do my chores and don’t sleep “until the cows come home.” That’s meant literally by the way. My parents own a farm. They’ve got beef cattle, grazing land, horses, and crops too.
“Izzy?”
“Oh.” I look up at one of our two first grade teachers. “Hi, Nicole.”
“You were really spacing off.” She laughs.
“Zoning out, yeah.” I smile. “What can I do for you?”
“Can you do an assessment on one of my kiddos?”
What she means is she wants me to have them read with me so I can detect any issues in that arena. I do it all the time. “Sure.”
“Great. You got time this afternoon?”
“I’ve got a planning period from 1 to 2.”
“I’ll send her down closer to 1.”
“Good. Who is it?”
