“Yes, we will.”
He was almost out of the classroom when the other English teacher, Alexa Rae, popped her head in the doorway. “I see Mr. Riker came to collect his dollar from you, too,” she stated.
“The Wasps get one win, and here he comes,” I replied as he ignored us.
She lifted a fist in the air. “Go Monarchs!”
“Go Monarchs!” I returned.
By the time I got home from work, it was after six. I was hungry, tired, and ready to go to sleep. I ate quickly, showered, and was climbing into bed when I got a phone call from Lamar.
I wiggled my toes under the covers. “Well, hello,” I answered cheerfully.
“Well, hello to you,” he returned, sounding just as cheerful. “What are you up to?”
“I just got in bed.”
He laughed. “I knew I needed to try to catch you before eight! Something told me to call now instead of waiting to get home.”
“Well, I’m glad you did because I was just about to text you.”
“How was your day?” he asked.
“It was eventful. I mean, mostly it was a regular day. But two kids were fighting in my classroom, so it was hectic.”
“Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah, it wasn’t anything too wild… it was open-hand slaps and hair pulling. But it was startling to me because it hasn’t even been a full week of school! So now I’m having to write incident reports and converse with the parents about the suspension.” I shook my head. “Just extra work.”
“Extra work at the school leaves less time for you to write your book.”
“I know.”
“You gotta find a way to make time for it,” he stated. “You should always make time for what’s important to you.”
“You’re right.”
“And selfishly, I want to know if the private investigator finds what she’s looking for.”
My heart thumped in my chest.He remembered.
I hadn’t realized how silent I’d become until he said, “Thatiswhat it’s still about, right?”
“Yeah,” I answered softly. Warmth washed over me. “I just… You remembered?”
“Of course. I can’t wait to read it. And according to Aunt Addy, you have less than four months to get it done.”
I put my hand to my chest and closed my eyes. “I’ll get it done.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “How are you? What are you up to? How was practice?”
“Practice was really good. They put me to work. My body is tired.”
“You have tomorrow off, so you can actually get some rest.”
“Oh yeah…”
We talked for twenty more minutes before we said good night. I plugged my phone into the charger and just stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. I didn’t know why him remembering what my story was about had hit me the way that it did. But the way it made me feel momentarily short-circuited my brain.
I can’t wait to see him this weekend, I thought as I drifted to sleep with a smile.
