Page 29 of Clued in to Love
“What do you think about doing a book gift exchange? I thought I could wrap a bunch of fun holiday reads like gifts, and then the entire class could do a white-elephant-style gift exchange.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“It’s not too cheesy?” William chuckled. “Cheesy.” His cheeks turned pink.
“What’s funny?” Darby squinted, wondering if she had missed something or was too old for the latest joke.
“Nothing.” William focused his gaze on Darby’s collection of poetry posters on the far wall. “It’s my partner for the scavenger hunt. She owns a catering business called Yes, Cheese.”
“That’s clever. You know what they say about people who use puns.”
“No. What do they say?”
Darby brushed powdered sugar from her fingers. “That they are incredibly intelligent and quick-witted. It sounds like you have a good partner on your hands.”
William finished off the apple fritter. “I don’t doubt it, but she hates me, so there’s that.”
“How could she possibly hate you?” Darby scrunched her forehead and narrowed her eyes.
“She’s under the impression that I’m part of some kind of evil empire.”
Darby laughed out loud. It took her by surprise when she found herself enjoying a moment. It almost felt like she was cheating on Jim, which she knew was ridiculous. Jim would want her to be happy. “You might have your work cut out for you then.”
“Yeah. I’ll say.” William stood up.
A head peered into Darby’s classroom. “Mrs. Reynolds, Mr. Graff, sorry to bug you, but do you want to donate to help support foster kids?” Olivia Henry held a clipboard in her hands.
She was a senior and an all-around outstanding student. As president of the ASB and head of the National Honor Society, Olivia tried to create meaningful change. It was a refreshing shift. In years past, some student council members were only interested in serving as résumé builders for their college applications. Not Olivia. She was passionate about community.
“Come on in,” Darby said with a wave.
“Come to the dark side. We’ve got doughnuts.” William raised his eyebrows and gave Olivia a grin. “You get the reference, right?”
“Uh, yeah,Star Wars—duh.” She approached the desk. Olivia was petite and wiry with long hair and oversized glasses that rotated almost daily. She didn’t fit in one group but tended to flit between groups effortlessly. “NHS is fundraising for local foster care kids. Our goal is to provide long-term access to moresports, activities, and even international exchange programs for students in foster care.”
Darby watched her give her pitch, admiring her commitment. She could already tell that Olivia was destined for great things.
“There’s always a lot of interest in fundraising around the holidays,” Olivia continued, tugging on the strings of her rainbow-striped hoodie. “Which is great. Foster kids deserve gifts and a special holiday, too, but our goal at NHS is a longer-term program that would have ongoing funding.”
“Smart.” William offered her the box of doughnuts. “How do I donate, and do you want some sugar to start your morning?”
Olivia declined a doughnut. “We’re hoping to get teachers and staff to donate a skill or even something fun for a teacher auction. I thought maybe you could donate an essay critique, Mrs. Reynolds. Everyone is freaking out about writing our college essays, which could bring some good cash. Or maybe like an afternoon tea and book club for readers. We want these to be experiences. Not stuff. There’s much more value in a shared experience. Our goal is to fund this program through the next ten years. We assembled a scavenger hunt team to try and win the fifty thousand dollars. Our stretch fundraising goal is a hundred thousand.”
“That’s so impressive.” Darby added her name to Olivia’s form, thinking how much Jim would love that students were participating in Passport to the Holidays to help those around them. “I could offer both if that would be helpful.”
“Amazing. Wonderful. Yes.” Olivia’s toothy smile stretched across her petite face.
“I’m in, too. If you want a lowly sub,” William said.
“Sure, Mr. Graff. I was wondering with you if there was any chance you might host a special event at your house. Maybe like a dinner for a group of students or something like that?The Graff estate is pretty bougie around here, so I think that’s another auction item that will get a lot of interest. We could really hype it.”
“Count on it.” William put his name on the list.
The first warning bell rang.
Darby needed to finish prepping for her first class. William and Olivia both left, and Darby began placing graded papers on desks.
Another knock sounded on her door and she looked up in surprise. She was quite popular this morning.
