Page 22 of Class Act

I put the envelope down and leaned my head against the wall in defeat. “She’s invited me to her dance recital,” I moaned.

“Let me see that.” Meredith snatched it out of my hands and read it out loud to the others.

I really liked Hillary, and I could see that she wanted a relationship with me. However, encouraging that meant the risk of hurting her exponentially when she finally realized that I was not a contender for stepmother status. Her dad and I . . . well . . . the point was that the poor thing did not need another hurt in her life.

“The plot thickens,” Lizzie said when Meredith finished.

Aryn added a breathless, “Oh boy.”

“Yeah.” I agreed.

“What are you going to do?” Ruby asked.

I stood and moved around the tight space, forcing Meredith to tuck her legs up and the others to press against the walls. “I’m not sure. I feel bad not supporting Hillary when it’s so obvious that she’s looking for something. Yet, her dad brings out the worst in me, and I’m committed to avoiding him.” I shook my head. “Why is he everywhere all of a sudden?”

“It seems to me like once you’ve noticed a person out in the world, you tend to see them a lot.” Lizzie shrugged. “It’s the law of attraction.”

“Not quite,” Meredith said. “The law of attraction is a philosophy suggesting that positive thoughts bring positive results into a person's life while negative thoughts bring negative outcomes. It’s not the same as meeting someone new and then suddenly running into them everywhere.”

“Well, that explains it then,” I said while pulling a face. “I’ve been thinking a lot of thoughts about Ford, and it keeps attracting him into my life.”

The others chuckled.

“What kind of thoughts?” Lizzie asked.

I looked at their faces and threw caution to the wind. “Warm thoughts.”

“How warm?” Ruby asked.

“Embarrassingly warm. But he doesn’t want anything to do with dating, and I doubt he’s looking for a friend either. So . . .”

“What are you going to do?” Ruby asked for the second time.

“Not sure. Seems like my options are all lose-lose.” I responded. I moved back over to Ruby’s desk and leaned a hip against it. “I don’t want to hurt Hillary. If I say no to the recital, she’s hurt. If I say yes, she’s hurt later when nothing happens between Ford and me.”

Aryn nodded before saying, “I feel bad for her. She’s looking for some connection.”

“I know,” I said sadly. “And I’m actually really flattered that she’s found something in me that she’s comfortable with. Trust me, if I didn’t think she was also trying to make me into her new mommy, I’d be more open, but I’m afraid she’s set her heart on her dad and I falling in love.”

“Maybe we’re overreacting here,” Lizzie said thoughtfully. “Maybe we’re putting thoughts into that little head that aren’t actually there. What if she’s legitimately looking for a friend, nothing more, and thinks you fit the bill.”

One of my mom’s favorite phrases popped into my head. Be curious. I tried to see it from a different angle. Maybe she was innocent in her desires to spend time with me. Maybe I was overreacting because of my violent attraction to her father and it had never occurred to her to try to replace her mom.

“What about the way she acted at her dad’s party? Trying to build me up to him?” I hedged. “She mentioned that her and her brother’s names start with an H, and so does mine. Just like her mom’s did.” I emphasized the last part, and their eyes grew large.

“Oof,” Meredith shook her head. “That’s not good.”

“She said I’d fit right in because of it,” I added, deflating even more.

“Poor little thing,” Aryn said quietly.

“And she keeps listing all my good qualities to her dad every chance she gets. ‘Isn’t Miss Thomas pretty? Miss Thomas has good manners.’ It’s adorable but awkward, too.” I crossed my arms.

“Again, I’d argue that kids do that all the time when telling their parents about their friends. My nephew was telling me about his friend the other day, all the awesome things he does and toys he has. It could be innocent.” She shrugged.

“If we chase Lizzie’s theory, sometimes kids get attached to an idea, and it’s all they can think about for a few weeks, but then the next shiny thing comes along, and they forget,” Meredith said.

Lizzie’s face brightened. “It’s true. After that high school orchestra came to visit last spring, one of my students was determined to be a flute player. It’s all she talked about for two weeks until suddenly she discovered jump ropes at recess, and then she wanted to be a jump rope champ.”

---