I ignore his innuendos and refuse to let my mind wonder why he would think that. “What can I do for you this morning, Mr. Connors?”
“Oof last naming me, alright then. I need to change my classes.” He hands me a pop quiz with a large red “F” marked at the top.
“I see. Well, Mr. Connors, if you are wanting to drop a class you will have to set up a meeting with Ms. Bailey. I can’t bail you out this time.”
“Come on! Aren’t you her boss? You can’t just use your authority to put me in an easier class?” He groans as he slides down the chair into a lounging stupor.
“Not that I would do that anyway, but no, I cannot.” I shuffle through my agenda for the day. “You will need to set up a counseling meeting and she will go over your classes with you. She can find alternatives, or she can assist you in study hours.”
“Please don’t make me.” He drops his head back against the wall and points at me without looking. “You got coffee on your shirt by the way.”
I quickly pull my Glendale windbreaker over my stained shirt and take a seat next to Garrett. “Look, this is only the first term. Let’s meet with Ms. Bailey, develop a plan, and fix this. You have one year left to pull it together so you can get into college.”
“That’s not gonna happen. Nobody wants a washed-up quarterback with a bum leg, I’m done.” He crumples up the pop quiz and tosses it into the trash can.Swish.
“Let’s just try, alright? I can still help you and so can Ms. Bailey. We have time.” I pat him on the shoulder. “You have just as much of a chance to get into college as the next guy.”
He gives me a half-hearted smile and stands on his wobbly leg. He towers over me with his six-foot-plus height. “Fine, I’ll figure it out. But if I don’t get in, you have to give me a job here because I don’t know what else to do.” He jokes, but there’s worry in his tone.
“Sure thing. Bill could always use some help.” I give him a wink and shake his hand.
He rolls his eyes at me and starts to leave. “She’s totally into you by the way.” He motions towards Ellie’s closed office door. “You should ask her out.”
“I am not at liberty to date my faculty,” I say, walking back to the other side of my desk—the school policy hovering over me like a dark sad cloud.
“She’s not staying here long though, right?” He winks at me. “Just sayin’!”
“I appreciate your concern, Mr. Connors.”
The kids know when I use their last name I mean it in a finality kind of way. I was hoping the emphasis on his name would remind him of that so he would drop it. I was already aware of the rules and my physical attraction to Ellie was pushing those limits to the max. I didn’t really need Garrett Connors encouraging anything, even if I did want him to be right.
Chapter eight
Ellie
“Hedidn’tmeantoupset you. He just doesn’t know what to say . . . and whatnotto say sometimes.” Emma had been trying to smooth the tension between Steven and I for almost a week now.
“Please just let it go. It’s fine, it’s over.” I was packing up for the day and did not feel like staying late to reiterate howoverthe Steven situation I was. I really was over it, I couldn’t control Steven’s guilty conscience. That was all him.
“So, does this mean you’re throwing a Halloween party? Can I help?!” Kate inserts herself into the conversation.
She was very involved in this situation now, since I told her everything that happened in a hot rage after leaving the house the other night. She’s quickly becoming a strong companion around here. It’s unfortunate I still don’t plan to stay here long term though, she would be a good friend to keep around.
“Yes!” Emma says at the same time I say, “No.”
“No, we aren’t having one,” I say. “The last one was a dud anyway.”
The idea of having a party was the least of my concerns right now. Plus, the last one I had was . . . underwhelming. It was the first annual Halloween party I threw without Liam. Our friends felt conflicted on whose party to go to, so they either tried to attend both or just bailed altogether. These are also thefriendsI haven’t talked to in almost three months.
“Other than everyone here, I wouldn’t know who to invite.” Making it clear I didn’t have any close friends at the moment.
“That’s all you need! We are a blast! And I’m sure Steven has some cute doctor friends he can invite, right Em?” Kate wiggles her eyebrows and shimmies her arms. She’s a saucy one.
“He definitely can. Come on El, it will be fun and you know it.” Emma smiles expectantly at me. “And if I have anything to do with it, no exes of any kind will be at this party.”
I look back and forth between them, both pouting and silently pleading with prayer hands. I know I won’t be able to tell their puppy dog eyes no.
“I’ll think about it.” I smirk.
