Annabelle blinked at the whiteboard where she'd written, quite clearly, 8 ÷ 2 = 17.
"That's… not correct," she said slowly, grabbing the eraser. "Thank you, Louis. Eight divided by two is four. Obviously. I was just testing to see if you were paying attention."
"Were we supposed to be paying attention?" Gemma asked innocently.
"Yes," Annabelle said, a bit too sharply. Then, softer, "Yes, darling, always."
She corrected the board and tried to refocus, but her thoughts kept drifting. She hadn't seen Raven since the kiss.
Did I do something wrong? Did she hate it? Does she regret it?
The bell rang for break time, and Annabelle practically sagged with relief.
"Off you go," she said, mustering her brightest smile as the children stampeded toward the door. "And remember, no running in the corridors!"
They ran in the corridors.
"Ms. Swift?" Jamie appeared beside her desk, clutching his reading log. "When is Miss Raven coming back? I wanted to show her the chord she taught me. I've been practicing."
Annabelle's smile faltered. "I'm not sure, love. Soon, I hope."
"Did she leave?" Jamie's face crumpled slightly. "Is she gone?"
"No!" Annabelle said quickly. Too quickly. "No, she's just… busy. With the music. For the fundraiser."
"Oh." Jamie didn't look convinced. "Okay."
He shuffled off, and Annabelle pressed her palms flat against her desk, taking a slow breath.
Pull yourself together. You're being ridiculous.
ANNABELLE REPEATED THOSE words to herself all afternoon.
You’re being ridiculous.
Right up until Indra froze during the fundraiser dress rehearsal, too nervous to remember her lines.
"What’s wrong, sweetie?" Annabelle asked, taking her to one side.
Indra looked down at the ground. "I’m scared. Thomas said there was going to be a million people watching just like on the TV and stuff and now I’m scared that all those people are going to be watching and…" She took a deep, shuddering breath.
"It's okay to be scared," Annabelle told her gently, kneeling down so they were eye level. "But you're going to go out there anyway, because you've practiced, and you know your lines, and you're brilliant. Sometimes being brave just means doing it even when you're frightened."
Indra nodded, took a deep breath, and trotted off to the front of the stage, where she delivered her lines perfectly.
Annabelle smiled, but the words echoed in her own head.
Sometimes being brave just means doing it even when you're frightened.
By the time school ended, Annabelle had made up her mind.
Ugh. Sometimes she even annoyed herself with her optimism and positive thinking. Which didn’t mean she wasn’t right. She was right. Very right.
Which meant that right after school, she was going to march over to Raven's cottage and knock on that door until Raven answered. And if Raven tried to hide or make excuses, Annabelle was going to, well, she didn't know what she was going to do, exactly. But she was going to dosomething.
She drove home, changed into jeans and her favorite lavender jumper, and stared at herself in the mirror.
"You can do this," she told her reflection. "You're brave. You're capable. You're…"
