“Good night! Good night!” I said to all of them as they either smiled or looked at the ground nervously. “Didn’t you hear? It’s opposite day!”
One young girl beamed up at me. “I hope you have a bad day!”
“That’s the spirit!” I said back, my blood buzzing with the high of knowing this was what I was supposed to do. Teaching was my passion, my call to the world, and it didn’t matter that someone thought I bought my way into their hearts and minds. I loved what I did.
“You have the funnest class,” a young boy said, stopping just outside my door. I made sure to shake all their hands before they entered, and I nodded.
“We have lots of fun while we learn.”
He went inside with the rest, where I had large nameplates cut out from my Cricut letting them know where their cubbies were and their desks. I might’ve gone a bit overboard by giving them each a packet of stickers and supplies, but seeing them use the cool pencil and show it off to their friends brought me joy.
“Yeah, we’ll see whose class they enjoy more,” a low voice said, making me whip my head to my left. Christopher leaned toward me, a smile still on his face as his students walked into his class.
“Is this another challenge, Mr. Callahan?” I asked between clenched teeth. I didn’t want to scare my students on the first day with a scowl, so I kept my smile wide. “My former students have siblings, and they know how my class is.”
“Yeah, I know how it will be too. All flash and flair from materialistic items you got fromgrants.”
He bent down to help a student tie their shoe, and my heart lodged in my throat at how gentle and patient he was. This was the glimpse of the man I connected with all those months ago, not the jerk who almost made me cry, twice. My muscles tightened with how unfair it was that I didn’t get to see this nice side anymore.
Before I could say anything else, a new bus arrived and another wave of students flooded the hall with little voices. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and Maggie caught my eye across the hall and waved.
Ready or not, the school year had started.
Hours later, my throat was drier than a desert, and my feet ached. I moved around constantly when I taught, and after three months of being lazy, I lost all my stamina. I heated up another cup of tea in the teacher’s lounge, and while I waited for it to warm, I plopped in a chair and rubbed the bottom of my foot. If I had access to money, I’d splurge on a pedicure, but between Christopher’s words and the fact my best friend and brother laughed at me, it sobered me up.
I didn’t need a pedicure. I could put my feet up when I got home and take a bath. That would workandwouldn’t cost a dime.
That damn phrase. It was starting to rule my life.
After putting my shoes back on, I got my cup of tea and made my way back to the room to pick up for the night. My class was messy, and I always felt guilty leaving crap all over the floor for someone else to sweep up, so I spent ten minutes doing it before I left. I was halfway done when a high-pitched laugh made me stand up straighter.
There was no way that laugh belonged toher.Plenty of people laughed with a high tone and were a bit nasally.
I blew out a breath and focused on the last half of the room, ignoring the way my blood pressure spiked and blood rushed to my ears. All thoughts of her were shoved into a box in the back of my mind that I never allowed myself to think about or open. She was out of our lives, and that was it.
But that laugh…I chewed on my lip for a second and set my broom down. I just had to make sure I was imaging it. I took a few steps outside my door, and voices carried over from Christopher’s classroom. Walking in there would be too weird, too sketchy. I needed a reason to go in there.
Buddy teacher. That’s right. I could ask him about today, how attendance went, that sort of thing. The laughter rang out again, and with a fake smile that stretched across my face, I walked into his room like I belonged and stopped dead at the woman sitting on the edge of his desk.
My blood turned to ice, and my vision blurred.
It washer.
The woman I paid ten thousand dollars to leave my brother.
Chapter Five
My body seemedto stop working. My lungs wouldn’t suck in air, and my feet were glued to the white tile on the floor. Samantha Sullivan shouldnotbe here, in my school, talking to Christopher.
She should be anywhere else, conning men into giving her money and breaking their damn hearts. Time seemed to slow down when her gaze moved from Christopher’s smile to mine. She was always heart-stoppingly beautiful, but the malice and thrill in her eyes gave her away. She was ecstatic at my panicked expression.
“Is there a reason you’re staring at me in my doorway?” Christopher asked, his tone laced with irritation.
I willed my mouth to move, to say something,anything,but all physical abilities left, and the longer the silence stretched on, the worse it got. Samantha ran her tongue over her bottom lip as her eyes lit up with amusement, and she seemed to wiggle with joy. Never had the sight of someone sent a rage so deep. I could almost taste how much I loathed this woman. “I-I came for a question.”
“Then ask it or leave,” he fired back, his shoulders stiff and broad, andwhy the hell is Samantha in his classroom?
I had to warn him, somehow.
