Dax
Matt texted me to let me know he’d made it into town shortly after noon. He’d also asked what in the hell was going on, because there was no food in my fridge, no beer, and the house looked almost exactly the same as it had when he’d rolled into town to help me move my furniture. With everything that’d been going on in the weeks since we’d originally made plans for him to visit, I hadn’t filled him on all the finer details of what’d been going on in my life.
Been busy. Talk more later.After typing out the response, I turned off my phone and shoved it into the top desk drawer. No doubt, he’d have plenty to say about what I’d been busy with.
He knew about Michael and me, but I don’t think he realized I wasn’t being overly dramatic when I told him we were getting close faster than I would have liked. I’d admitted to him that I was worried there wouldn’t be any substance to our relationship because I’d allowed Michael to set the pace. He seriously sucked at moving slow, and I sucked at being the strong one and telling him we couldn’t move at lightning speed.
The afternoon sailed by. The entire school ended the day early with the Heartland Days parade, which it seemed brought the entire town down to the square despite the fact that it was the middle of the day and many of the residents should have been at work. Jagger sat next to me, as he usually did.
As we waited for the grand marshal and color guard to turn down the side of the square where we were sitting, I looked up and saw a gentleman glaring at me. His expression softened when he looked down to Jagger sitting next to me, then his lips puckered tightly as he said something to the woman sitting beside him. She lifted her eyes from the book she’d been reading and smiled brightly when she saw Jagger.
“Do you know those people?” I whispered into Jagger’s ear. He nodded, and moved even closer to me, to the point he was nearly sitting in my lap. “Who are they? They keep looking over here.”
Maybe it was wrong to bring him into this, but something felt off. “That’s my other grandma and grandpa.”
Okay, so that explained part of the odd glances the old man was still shooting our way. “Do you want to say hi to them? I’m sure they could come and sit with us.”
I actually wasn’t sure at all if that was okay, but I didn’t want anyone to accuse me of actively trying to keep Jagger from saying hi if he wanted to, and plenty of the other kids had fallen out of step on the way down here as they said hello to people they knew. I figured it was just part of living in a small town.
Jagger shook his head. “No, thank you.”
His demeanor had changed. The sparkle that was almost always in his eyes had dimmed, and he fidgeted with the laces on his shoes. He seemed scared or intimidated by their presence, and I kicked myself, wishing I’d just let it lie. Maybe he’d have gotten caught up in the excitement of the parade and never noticed them. I tried to do exactly that, for both of us, but couldn’t stop myself from wishing I’d pressed Michael to tell me more about why he wasn’t a fan of his in-laws.
As I worked to corral my students after the last float had driven past, I kept a close eye on the couple across the street. As expected, they crossed and headed directly for Jagger.
“You’re getting so big,” his grandmother praised. I watched as she contemplated crouching down to his level, but apparently she decided she couldn’t risk getting her light blue dress slacks dirty. Instead, she hovered over him, trying to not look offended when Jagger cowered behind me. “Oh, sweetie. I wish your daddy would let you come and see us more. You don’t have to be frightened.”
True as that might be, no way in hell was I going to let this woman embarrass him in front of his classmates. He already had a more difficult time than he should because kids didn’t understand that it was perfectly fine for him to only have one parent at home. Because yes, this was a bit of a Stepford community, where it seemed no one got divorced even if that meant living with someone they hated.
“I’m sorry, but I really do need to get the children back to their classroom so they can get ready to go home,” I informed them, laying on an extra layer of sweetness to hide how badly I wanted to yell at them that it was obvious Jagger wasn’t interested in talking to them. The kid had proven to be a good judge of character so far, so I had to trust that he had his reasons. Maybe Michael wasn’t as off-base as I’d accused him of being, because there was definitely a vibe I didn’t care for oozing off of these two.
“Then we’ll follow you back to the school,” Jagger’s grandfather informed me.
“I’m sorry, but I really can’t allow that,” I told them. My eyes darted around the crowd trying to find someone to help me out here. I was confident that I was doing the right thing, but I wasn’t a fan of the confrontation I felt building. I caught Justin’s attention and his eyes narrowed as he shook his head. It appeared no one was a fan of Erica’s parents. Unfortunately, he was almost as busy as I was. “I’m sure you understand. It’s school policy.”
For the first time, I was grateful I’d read through the thick packet of information they’d sent along with my job offer. At the time, it’d seemed unnecessary, but I was glad I could recite every single regulation if questioned.
“Oh, of course.” The man backed off. “Well, then I suppose we’d better let you get to it.”
I felt his beady eyes boring into the back of my skull as I led my students down the walk. He was pissed that I’d dared to challenge him, probably even more so that I’d had the audacity to tell him he wasn’t going to get his way.
“Thanks, Dax,” Jagger whispered as he slipped his hand into mine. I quickly reached out for the student on my other side, and the three of us led our class back to the two-story brick building at the end of the block.
The kids were out of control as I tried to get them packed for the weekend. More than a few were hopped up on sugar, despite the instructions that they weren’t to eat any of the candy from the parade without their parents’ permission. The final bell sounded and all of us teachers seemed to breathe a sigh of relief having gotten through the madness of the week. Whoever thought it was a good idea to have the homecoming game the same weekend as Heartland Days was a fool.
“You going to the game tonight?” Justin asked once the halls cleared out.
“Probably not,” I told him. I wasn’t much of one for school spirit. When I’d been in school, I’d gone out of my way to avoid the hoopla and craziness. I’d never been to the homecoming dance or prom, mostly because I wasn’t about to ask a girl to go simply to satisfy the masses. Luckily, I had a good out. “My buddy came into town for the weekend. We’re probably gonna lay low tonight.”
“Bring him with,” Justin suggested, gaping as if I was the idiot for not thinking of that. “Come on, you have to go. I know it’s your first year here, but everyone goes to the homecoming game. By the time the players come out on the field, it’ll be standing room only. You don’t want to be the lame teacher they talk about for years because you were too good to support the local kids, do you?”
Shit. Justin had a point. Either that, or he was playing on the insecurities I’d felt earlier in the year about not wanting to be the outcast because I was new to town.
“I’ll talk to him, see if he’s up for it,” I offered. I wasn’t going to make any promises, and secretly hoped Matt would rescue me by saying it was a stupid idea.
“Cool. I’ll give you a call when I’m heading down. Parking can be a pain, but I know a spot.” With that, we went our separate ways.
Because of how busy the weekend was supposed to be for the entire town, Doug had come by to pick up Jagger. I considered telling him about the incident at the parade, but decided Michael needed to be the first to know. Like Justin, he’d asked if I was heading to the high school, and when Jagger gave me his puppy dog eyes, I knew I was sunk. One way or another, I was going to have to convince Matt that spending Friday night watching high school football was fun. He’d probably offer some dig about how small-town it was. He’d be right, but this was my home now, and it was time for me to accept everything that went along with that.
