Page 17 of Max Bannon

“Brenda said you got stung and still showed up. That makes you one of us now. I’m Ms. Melton. Fifth grade. Call me Joy.”

“Tessa Swindle. Fourth grade. Former brain surgeon.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Oh,” Joy said, totally unfazed. “We’ve all had weird jobs before this. Coach Grady used to be a bounty hunter.”

Grady, a burly man in a windbreaker and cargo shorts, nodded solemnly while chewing on beef jerky. “Only in three states.”

“I feel so safe,” I said, setting my lunch down and eyeing the fridge like it might grow teeth.

A younger teacher popped a yogurt container with a spoon and leaned over. “I’m Lexi. Kindergarten. I once had a five-year-old hand me a cricket and tell me it was his emotional support pet.”

“That feels weirdly on-brand for this place,” I muttered.

“You havenoidea,” she said.

Joy Melton flopped into a seat across from me. “So, how’s it going so far? You regretting every life decision that led you here, or just the last three?”

“Honestly?” I smiled. “I think I might love it.”

Joy raised a brow. “Give it a week.”

“She’ll last,” Lexi said. “She looks like the kind of person who brings color-coded pens and snacks that come in matching containers.”

“Idolove a good storage bin,” I admitted.

“Yep,” Joy said. “You’re one of us.”

As I bit into my sandwich, I heard a suddencrashfrom down the hall, followed by distant screaming and someone yelling, “WHERE’S THE HAMSTER?!”

Everyone in the room paused.

“Five bucks says it’s 2C,” Grady muttered.

“Ten says Charlie ate the class pet,” Lexi added, already grabbing her yogurt to-go.

We all jumped up.

“Welcome to the team, Tessa,” Joy said over her shoulder. “Hope you don’t have a rodent phobia.”

I sighed and grabbed my lunch.

I’d survived doing brain surgery. I could survive this.

Probably.

9

Max

Ihadn’t meant to get involved with her.

That was the truth I didn’t say out loud—not to Frasier, not to myself, and definitely not to Tessa. But there it was, staring me in the face the second I walked back into my home after she left for school.

The place felt too quiet without her.

And I hated that.

---