Page 52 of Kiss Me Now
Chapter Eighteen
Brooke
True to Ian’s word, when I walked into Bixby’s on the second day of school, Taylor smiled from behind the counter and said, “I hear we’re doing a caramel macchiato and an éclair. Great choices. Coming right up.”
I smiled as I nibbled on the éclair on the drive to campus.You didn’t have to buy my breakfast again, I texted Ian when I parked.
I really, really did. Sorry again.
I’d reassure him when he came to visit Miss Lily again this weekend that he had more than atoned. I climbed out of the car and prepared for an even better second day of school.
Day Two did not go better.
It was hard to imagine it could go worse than spider-infested Day One, and in fact, the day had looked much more promising until lunch time when Noah Redmond popped his head in.
“Offer still free to eat my lunch in here?”
“Only if you promise to amuse me with witty banter.”
He winced. “Ooh, sorry, I just came off a freshman PE class, and all I have is ‘your mom’ jokes.”
“Then come in here and eat but don’t tell me any of those. Unless there were some good ones?”
We had a good lunch while we traded war stories from our first two days on the job.
“The kids are nice enough, but I don’t think they’re taking me too seriously,” I concluded.
“Well, I actually taught before in Charlottesville, so maybe I have the added advantage of three whole years of experience to help put things in perspective?” He said it like he was asking permission to share his insights, and I liked that. Miss Lily was one of the few people who could barrel right into dispensing advice without asking because that’s what eighty years of good living earned you. I liked that Noah didn’t assume he should just start spouting his opinions.
“I’d love to hear your thoughts,” I said.
“I guess the main thing I figured out is to give up trying to get it perfect.” He smiled at whatever expression he saw on my face. “Not so easy for you?”
“No. Not so easy.”
“I get it. The good news is that eventually you start to do each thing better. In the meantime, the one thing that matters most is if the kids can tell you like them. I don’t mean that you want to be their friend—they’ll take advantage of that like you wouldn’t believe. But if they sense that you sincerely enjoy them, they’ll remember that far longer than—” he flicked a glance at my bulletin boards “—say, taxonomy.”
I gasped. “How dare you? Dear King Phillip Came Over For Green Spaghetti. Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species. They willneverforget.”
“You’re right. I’m vastly underestimating their monkey brains. But I’d invite you to come hang out during one period of freshman boys PE and tell me you’re still convinced that your memory trick is going to stick in there, much less words like phylum.”
“Fair enough. Hey, I’m going to run to the ladies’ room, but feel free to hang out. I’ll be back in a few.”
“Sure.”
The high school was set up in two main buildings, each with four long corridors where classrooms were loosely situated by subject. I was the last classroom in the science wing, but luckily, the faculty restroom for our whole building was just at the other end of my hall. I passed kids sitting in small groups eating lunches, some from brown bags, some from cafeteria trays. They chattered with each other and paid no attention to me. I remembered that feeling: that teachers only existed during class and not between bells.
I finished in the restroom and washed up, giving myself a thorough once over in the bathroom mirror. I got the sense that Noah wasn’t in a relationship, and while I felt more of a friend vibe with him than anything, I still wanted to look presentable in case I ever changed my mind. I verified that I didn’t have anything embarrassing stuck in my teeth, and no drips or spills on my shirt. It was fitted without being tight, and I re-tucked it into my knit skirt with its cheerful polka dot print and headed back to my classroom.
By the time I reached my door, a few kids called after me, “Hi, Miss Spencer.”
That was nice.
Or at least it was until I heard a giggle after one of the hellos.
