Page 67 of Kiss Me Now
Chapter Twenty-Two
Brooke
Week two of schoolwent better, mainly because I wore pants every day just to make sure I didn’t tuck my skirt into my underwear again. It was a low bar, sure, but I needed an uneventful week after the first one from hell.
As a bonus, the microscope activity went well, and the kids loved doing an actual lab. It bought me some goodwill for the rest of the week. I tried not to worry about how I would top it the next week, and just enjoyed having everything work well. By Friday afternoon, I even managed to settle one rambunctious boy with a single look. The Look. Theteacherlook.
I couldn’t wait to tell Miss Lily about it after school while we worked in the garden.
“You gotthe lookdown on your second week of school?” she repeated. “Impressive, but I’m not surprised. You’re a fast learner.”
“It doesn’t feel like that,” I confessed. “I feel like they’re going to see right through me every single day, like my days are numbered before they figure out I’m not a real teacher.”
“Keep thinking that and they will, honey.” She leaned over from where she was weeding eggplants next to me and patted my hand. “Just remember, you may be an inexperienced teacher, but you’re an experienced human. You’ve lived twice as much life as they have, and that counts for something. Let your authority rest in that, and pretty soon they’ll believe you’re a regular old teacher like everyone else over there.”
“I hope so.” I rose to stretch my back before I tackled the next row. And to steal a glance at the road.
“You looking for Ian?”
“No.” I crouched down and went to work on the row on the other side.
Miss Lily continued like she hadn’t heard my denial. “Don’t know if he’s coming this weekend, to be honest. Says he’s got work. And probably another date.”
Another date?A-n-o-t-h-e-r.
I wanted to follow up on that except I’d gone out of my way to make sure it was none of my business.
“Don’t worry, honey. He’ll see sense eventually. He always does.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’ll realize it’s you he should be taking out.”
“Oh, that’s not what I—”
“Yes, it is.” She was probably trying to save me from telling a lie.
But I didn’t want her feeling sorry for me, so some stubborn part of me lied anyway. “I wasn’t thinking about Ian, Miss Lily. In fact, I have a date tonight.”
Miss Lily scooted around so she faced me again. “Come again?”
“I have a date tonight.” The lie tasted worse the second time.
“With who?” She said it like she didn’t believe me which made me feel like I needed to double down on the lie.
