“No, first you tell me about your job. Where will you be next year?”
“I’ll be back at Silver Leaf Elementary, where I student-taught fourth grade. But I didn’t exactly get the job that I was after,” I said.
“What does that mean?”
“I’ll be working at the school, but in the cafeteria,” I explained. “I’ll serve food to the kids.”
“Like one of the lunch ladies? In a hair net?”
“I won’t actually cook anything.” I hesitated. “But yes, I have to wear a hair net.”
He seemed very confused, but at least he wasn’t laughing like my sister had. “Why won’t you be teaching?”
“There weren’t a lot of people leaving for other jobs or retiring at the end of the last school year. I looked around the area, as far as I could conceivably drive myself every day.” There had been a position three hours away, but I didn’t think my car could handle it. “I applied for everything that made sense but I don’t have any experience and my last cooperating teacher didn’t do me any favors. He didn’t think…anyway, at least I have something.” It was part-time and not what I’d wanted, but it was something.
Everett looked less than convinced. “Why can’t you go somewhere else? Michigan’s a big place and you got your BA in Elementary Education, so you should use it.”
“What did you get your degree in?” I asked.
“Sociology.”
“And now you’re a quarterback rather than a sociologist. Is that what would you have done?”
He shrugged. “The plan was always football. I didn’t ever do well at anything else and I don’t have other options.”
“You do,” I disagreed. “I bet you’d be great at sales, for example.” I would have bought anything he was selling.
“Luckily, I won’t need to try that, since I’ll be the Woodsmen QB. I had a great offseason and I talked to the quarterbacks coach today. He’s aware of what went on when I played for the Juniors and he said he was impressed. I can do it again,” he promised me.
The waiter brought our plates then, my BLT and his quinoa with grilled chicken and extra vegetables. He had explained that he was eating carefully.
“I’ll find a teaching job,” I said. “Sometimes people leave mid-year, but I can wait until next fall, too.” It seemed very, very far away from this summer, though. ‘I was lucky to get something. Lucky.”
“Right. It just sounded like you put in a lot of work and effort if you’re not going to teach—”
“Mostly, people don’t get what they want,” I interrupted. “That could even turn out for the best, even if it’s not what you were expecting.” I really hoped that he would end up as the Woodsmen starting quarterback, though, and that he wouldn’t have to try to come to terms with something less.
He interpreted my words differently. “Are you talking about my custody suit? I know you didn’t want me to win that.”
“I was concerned, but I think I told you that you were the person who knew best about it, not me. What’s happening?”
“Not much right now. Eris filed a ton of shit and we have to work through it all. Her problem is going to be money.”
“Isn’t that everyone’s problem?”
“She’s not going to be able to keep paying her lawyer,” Everett explained. “Her career has stalled. She asked for emergency support from me.” He stopped. “I don’t really want to get into this.” He looked both frustrated and angry when before, we’d been having such a nice time. Well, I definitely had, and one of the things that my sister had recommended was to make sure that he also enjoyed our dinner so that when he thought about me, I would be a happy memory.
“You’ll be the Fun Girl in his mind. Everyone wants to be with the Fun Girl,” she had explained while fixing my lashes.
Fun. I needed to be fun. What did that look like?
“They’re running new sewer lines to my apartment building,” I commented. “For a few days, we won’t be able to use…never mind.”
At least he didn’t look angry anymore. Just perplexed.
I tried again, this time aiming to be a Normal Girl. “Did you see your family while you were home?”
“My parents and I went out to dinner.”
