CHAPTER 9
THEO
“Are you ready, buddy?” Nina asked, twisting back in her seat to look at Jack. Jack was sitting in the back of Theo’s car on his booster seat, his new backpack on the seat next to him. His hair was neatly combed, and he wore jeans and a white T-shirt with yet another superhero on the front.
“Yeah, Mom,” he said, nodding. “I’m ready.”
Theo pulled up in front of the school and put the car in park. The day before, the three of them had stopped by to fill out paperwork and have a tour of Jack’s classroom. Jack had spent the rest of the day talking about how excited he was about attending his new school and meeting all his new friends. Now, though, he seemed a little subdued, and Theo realized he was nervous.
“I wishIwas going to school here,” Theo said.
“Really?” Jack asked, leaning forward.
“I do.” Theo unbuckled his seatbelt and twisted back to look at Jack. “I wish I could go to a class with a superhero like you. Your classmates are pretty lucky.”
Jack beamed, and Nina gave Theo a warm smile that made his chest tighten. She was dressed simply today in a pair of jeans and a knit sweater with a high neck. Her long, black hair was pulled into a bun. She looked pale and nervous despite her smile.
“Shall we go in, then?” Nina asked.
“Okay.” Jack unbuckled his seatbelt, and they all got out. The front of Holyoke Academy, a brick building covered in climbing ivy that looked more like a college campus than an elementary school, was buzzing with parents and kids. The semester had started a few weeks ago, so most people already seemed to know each other.
“Jack?” A young man with glasses came over. They’d all met him yesterday on the tour — this was Jack’s teacher, Ryan. All the teachers here were called by their first names, which seemed strange to Theo, but perhaps this was how things were done now.
“Hi,” Jack said, a little shyly.
“I love your T-shirt.” Ryan beamed down at Jack. “I also brought your buddy. This is Sam. He’s going to help show you around today, and if you have any questions, you can ask him.” He gestured to a boy Jack’s age, who gave him a big smile and a wave.
“Hi! I’m Sam.”
“Hi,” Jack said.
“Want to go to class?” Sam asked. “You can sit next to me.”
“Okay.” Jack smiled, and the two boys started off towards the building without looking back. As they left earshot, Theo heard Jack ask, “Do you like superheroes?”
“Ilovesuperheroes!” Sam replied enthusiastically. Nina’s shoulders visibly relaxed, and Theo smiled at the sight.
“Do you have any questions for me?” Ryan asked.
“I think we’re good,” Nina said. “Thank you. And thanks for giving him a buddy.”
“No problem,” Ryan smiled. “All of Sam’s older siblings went to Holyoke Academy, too, so he’s very at home here.”
“Perfect.”
“I’ll see you at pick-up.” Ryan waved and headed off. Theo took the opportunity to scan the crowd of parents and kids, looking for Charles Ackley. He was nowhere in sight.
“You must be new.” A woman with bright red lips and a pantsuit came over and held out a hand to Nina. “I’m Amanda Peters. My son, Scout, is in kindergarten.”
“Our son, Jack, is in kindergarten, too,” Nina said.
“Oh, how lovely. Come, I’ll introduce you to the other mothers.” Amanda took Nina’s arm and pulled her away. Nina shot one worried glance back at Theo, who hid his smile. He found it endearing that she was nervous about networking, but easily handled the difficulties of life as a single parent.
Theo turned and started talking to a small cluster of dads who were also dropping their kids off. It was easy to join their conversation, and within a few minutes, he’d found out that oneof the dads owned a successful tech company and another was CFO of a prominent pharmaceutical manufacturer.
Even without Charles Ackley, it was clear that the drop-off line was a goldmine of potential connections, just like Theo’s friend Alexander had told him. Even Alexander was there, dropping off his daughter, and he gave Theo a quizzical look followed by a friendly wave before hurrying off. Theo made a mental note to catch Alexander up on his cover story as soon as possible.
After about fifteen minutes, all the kids were inside, and the parents started drifting away. Theo made notes of the people he wanted to talk to more — and started forming a plan to rearrange his days so that he could always come to drop-offs and pick-ups. Nina returned to where he’d been standing.
