"You live on a farm?" I ask. Tractor Guy immediately pops into my mind. The flash of his face pops into my mind and crap. Nelson is Tractor Guy. I'm ninety percent sure of it.
"Born and raised. Been working on it since I was seven." He sounds proud of that fact. I'm not sure why he's here then. You don't need certification to work on a family-owned farm. I don't say that. Instead I just nod.
"Fresh eggs sound amazing. Especially in this economy."
The class laughs at my joke and despite wanting to ask so many follow up questions to keep Nelson talking, I change the subject. I get the projector going and pull up the first slide. I've been teaching this class at night for the last two years, working at one of the two local high schools during the day. I pretty much have all of this memorized by now, so I can talk to them instead of just reading.
I see Nelson taking notes in a notebook throughout the whole class. His head barely lifts. Some are typing on laptops. Others are just sitting and listening. I walk back and forth, clicking through slides and making sure the students stay somewhat engaged. I ask a few questions throughout, wanting to make sure that they are listening. I call on a few, my way of testing myself to remember their names. When I call on Nelson for the final question, I notice a girl and guy at one of the back tables that roll their eyes when he takes a second to answer.
We finish up ten minutes early and I ask if there are any questions. No one raises a hand or speaks up for a few seconds, so I dismiss them for the day, reminding them there will be a quiz Thursday morning. All but Nelson are out of the classroom within sixty seconds. He glances at me, and I only see it because I'm already looking at him. I can see… something.
"Did you have a question about what we went over?"
"No, I think I got it all in my notes. The quizzes, though, are they going to be on paper or online? I'm only asking because I ordered a laptop, but it won't be here for a few more days and… I'm not the best with technology."
"They're paper," I say. I see the relief in the way his shoulders slump. He nods twice. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." He honestly looks adorable with the backpack on, both straps over his shoulders. I need to get this little crush in check. I'm not about to go after one of my students, even if he is everything I dream about. I don't even know if he swings the same way or not.
"You wouldn't happen to live on the farm off Ruthers Road, do you?"
His eyes widen with surprise. "I do. How do you know that?"
"I thought you looked familiar. I saw you on the tractor Friday evening." I definitely ogled your arms in that black shirt and drove by more than once Sunday hoping to catch another glance. Not creepy or stalker-ish at all, Bennett.
"Wow, didn't think people paid that much attention to the person driving, but yeah, that was probably me."
I hear a faint vibration and watch as Nelson pulls his phone off a clip on his hip. I smile and look down to shuffle some papers to hide my amusement. No one my age or younger would be caught dead with a hip clip. He mouths an apology and walks out of the room, saying hi to someone named Joyce. My inappropriate crush deflates; it's probably his wife or girlfriend, since I didn't clock a ring.
I gather the rest of my things and head out to my car. I only have the one class this summer, which will be easy on grading at least. My own phone starts ringing as I make it to my car. It's my Mom. I groan and debate for a few seconds if I should answer itor not. In the end, I know she's just going to call again in a few hours if I don't answer now.
"Hey, Mom." I connect the phone to my car stereo and start to pull out of the parking space.
"Hey, Ben." I cringe at the name. I hate it, my name is Bennett. "How are you?"
"I'm good. How are you and Dad?" I don't make it a habit to talk about myself a lot with any of my family.
"Dad is off to some meeting at the Cali office this week," she says. "I just came from brunch with the ladies and they were asking how you're doing."
"I'm doing good," I repeat. "Still in the same apartment, driving the same car, working at the same job." I haven't told anyone in my family that I quit the high school job and gone full time with the college, but it doesn't matter. They made it clear that they didn't care what I did once I turned down the business. There is silence between us as I drive onto the main road.
"Your brother is getting engaged next month," Mom says out of the blue. That is actual news. I'm surprised that he's actually going through with it. Veronica isn't his type, at least in my opinion. "We were going to plan an engagement dinner. Could you make it home?"
"I can't," I say without hesitation. Mom scoffs.
"You don't even know when we were thinking of doing it."
"I'm teaching a summer class, so I won't have time to take off." I turn down one more road and enter my neighborhood. I love that none of the houses look the same here. There are some yards that are trimmed and look magazine ready, while their neighbor has toys and bicycles thrown about haphazardly. I love those yards, knowing that there are happy kids around. My sister just had her second kid and I miss my niblings so much. The apartments are on the far end of the neighborhood, so I pass by these yards almost every day and everyday it makes me wonderif I'll have a family of my own one day. "I'm just getting home, Mom. I'll talk to you later, okay? I'll text Finnigan."
Yes, my parents named us Finnigan and Bennett, Finn and Ben for short our whole lives.
"Okay. Stay safe, Ben."
I end the call and pull into my parking spot. I try to keep conversations short, otherwise Mom has a way of saying things that put emotional burdens on me. Even from states away, the manipulation is there. Dad does it, too.
I reheat leftovers from yesterday's dinner and head to the bedroom. I have a TV in there. I've always needed the noise and light of a TV to go to sleep. I've tried the white noises and dim lights, but they don't help. I love my sitcoms most.
I do text Finnigan and tell him that Mom called me. I don't congratulate him, though, in case Veronica is around or snoops through his phone. I really didn't see them making it to the engagement stage. Veronica comes from a wealthy family as well and she's very materialistic. Taking lavish vacations, designer everything. Finnigan definitely enjoys the finer things in life as well, but he's smart with his money. He's a contract lawyer, a good one, despite the nature of his job. I admire his work, but not the way he's sold his ethics to our Dad.
