“I just got in an hour ago,” she says, stroking Skyler’s hair.
“Oh,” he says. There’s hurt in his eyes. It’s hard for him to be around my mom. He loved her, loved me, and she acted like she’d grown out of him. “Uh, I was going to see if you could watch Skyler, Kaylee. I’ve got something I have to go take care of.”
“As much as I’d love to spend some time with my brother, I think Mom would love some time with him even more,” I say, my tone harsh as I look at her. She can hear every accusation and her eyes war between anger and hurt.
“Of course,” she says, hugging him tight and looking down at him. He looks up at her with cautious adoration. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Missed you too, Mom,” he says, but he doesn’t sound so certain.
Mom may not have known what the heck she was doing with me, having popped me out just weeks after she graduated high school, but she was at least always there, until the very end of my high school days. But Skyler? He barely knows this woman.
“I’ve got some papers to grade,” I say, my voice chilly. “I should really get back to work.”
“Of course,” Dick says. He crosses my tiny apartment and gives me a quick hug. He presses a kiss to my forehead and gives me a sad smile before looking at Karen. She just gives him a blank look and he walks out. Finally, Mom takes Skyler by the hand and starts for the door.
“See you later, little man,” I call to him. I feel bad for basically ignoring my brother.
“Bye,” he says quietly. I can see on his face that he’s uncertain. But I also saw the love he had in his eyes when he first walked in and saw Mom.
“I’ll call you?” Mom says as she looks over her shoulder. “Maybe we can go out to dinner?”
“Yeah,” I say, because I can’t be mean to my own mother. Even when she deserves it.
____
“You forgot to call me back.”
I look up from the papers I’m trying to quickly grade before the bell for first period rings.
Drake stands in front of my desk with a brown paper bag in one hand and an extra-large coffee in the other.
“Ah, I’m so sorry,” I say, letting my face drop into my hands. I’m exhausted, my head isn’t in the papers, and I am dreading the day that is sure to be a long and hard one. “I just—”
“Hey,” Drake says and I hear him set the food and drink on my desk. His hand touches my arm and I peek up at him. “It’s okay. It was pretty obvious you were having a bad day.”
“It was perfectly fine until my mom showed up after how many months of absence? Without a word of communication? And then Dick brought Skyler over and it was just…” I fail to find the right words. I want to scream, or hit something.
“Hey,” Drake says, placing a hand on my cheek. I put my hand over his. My eyes lock on my desk, and the point halfway between him and me. “You survived it. Can I make it better?”
A smile starts to form on my face, but it’s too tired and too frustrated to make it all the way. “You brought me food.”
“Well, how about a date tonight? Sort of,” he says. I finally look up at him. “Tonight’s the homecoming football game. Lake’s starting. I wondered if you wanted to come with me?”
At just looking into his eyes, something in my soul lightens. I instantly feel less weighed down, the sour taste my mother’s visit has left in the back of my throat vanishes. “Only if we go out for Chinese after.”
A smile breaks on his face and he gives a little huff of a laugh. “You’ve got a deal, Miss Ray.” He leans forward and presses a kiss to my forehead just as the warning bell rings.
I can hear the pounding feet on the stands, the trumpeting of the marching band, and the excited voices of students the second I climb out of my Mini. I had to park out on the street, clear across the school and on the other side from the stadium, the lot was so crowded.
I fight my way through students and parents and finally see the entry way to the stadium.
Leaning against the wall to the school waiting for me, is Drake. His hands are stuffed into his pockets, his ankles crossed.
I smile the second I see him. And he smiles when he sees me.
I swear my body will explode from all these things he makes me feel. I can’t contain myself. I bound forward, closing the space between us, and press my lips to him.
“So I guess we’re done hiding this from everyone?” he chuckles against my lips as his arms slide around me.
“I don’t care anymore,” I say as I shake my head. I hug myself tight to him.
“Oh, Mr. McCain!” someone calls from behind us. “Already snagged the new teacher!”
I turn to see some senior leering at us. He and his buddies smile and laugh.
“Nothing I want you to see here,” Drake calls. “Move along gentlemen.”
They hackle for a moment longer and finally go into the stands. It’s nice that the students respect Drake enough to give us space, even with the teasing. It’s easy to tell Drake is a well-loved teacher.
“You know the crap we’re going to get if we really do make this public,” he says, looking down at me. Despite his cautious words, his arms around me don’t loosen one millimeter.
“Let them bring it on,” I say, leaning into him again, letting my lips hover a breath away from his. “So long as we don’t get fired, I don’t give a damn.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear before,” he chuckles.
“That’s how much I don’t care,” I smile.
He presses a soft kiss to my lips, brushing my nose with his. “Okay. We should probably talk to Principal Riker about it though. He may accept it a bit more if he doesn’t feel like we’re going behind his back.”
“Meet me at his office at seven-thirty Monday morning?” I say quietly.
“I will be there.”
Hand in hand, we walk into the stands.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Good morning, Mr. McCain,” I say Monday morning. He and I walk side by side, having arrived at the school at exactly the same time. The morning is chilly and misty. The school grounds are quiet and just starting to get light.
“Good morning, Miss Ray,” he says while giving me a side look and a smile.
Drake holds the front door open for me and we step into the silent halls.
“So, what do we do if he’s not okay with this?” I ask quietly. My heart is racing and threatens to beat out of my chest. My palms feel sweaty and I swear my vision is failing. I’ve just barely gotten this teaching job. If I screw this up this early and get fired, no other school is going to ever want to hire me again.
“We’ll run away together and live somewhere far, far away,” Drake says in a tone that sounds dead serious.
It brings a little bit of a smile to my face. But I’m still scared out of my mind.
The walk to the office feels very long and all too short at the same time. Suddenly, finally, we are outside the doors. Drake stops and turns to me before he opens it.
“Whatever happens in there, I want you to know it’s been worth it,” he says seriously. He takes my hands in his and my heart is now in a dead sprint. But unlike just a moment before, my vision is crystal clear and all I can see is this incredible man who has made my life amazing. “I have zero regrets.”
“Me either,” I say, a full-fledged smile cracking on my face, and the words are so true. It means everything that Drake cares enough to risk this, and that I would do the same for him. I lean forward and he meets me half way, his lips assuring me that even if I do lose my job, this is right where I am supposed to be.
“Come on,” he says, backing away reluctantly. He opens the door and we both step inside.
Principle Riker is sitting at his desk, scrawling something on the pages before him. He doesn’t look up when we come in, but he does wave us in to sit down. With shaking hands, I sink into a seat across from him. I may look like I still belong in high school, but for the first time in years, I feel like I’m
in high school again. Sitting before him, about to confess to him that I’ve done something wrong.
Drake and I sit before him for two very long minutes before he finally puts his pencil down and looks up at us.
“Good morning,” he says with a smile that I can’t tell if it is friendly or annoyed. I’m not sure about much of anything at this moment.
“Morning,” I mutter quietly.
“Thanks for meeting with us, Sam,” Drake says. His voice sounds nervous, but at least it’s working. Unlike mine. “I know it’s early and you’re busy.”
“Not a problem,” he says, even though he’s looking back down at his papers, gathering them up and stacking them into a neat pile. “I always have time for my teachers.”
“Well,” Drake says with an uncomfortable courtesy laugh. “We appreciate it.”
“So, what’s this about?” he says, setting the papers aside and folding his arms on the desk.
“Uh,” Drake says, that surprised, caught red-handed look of his crossing his face. “We, uh, Miss Ray and I wanted to talk to you about something personal.”
“He and I are dating,” I suddenly blurt. It takes me half a second to realize I actually vocalized the words and that I didn’t just say them in my head. I slap my hands down around my mouth.
Drake looks at me in horror for a second, and I just stare back at him wide eyed. And then Drake breaks out into a very awkward sounding chuckle.
“Uh, yeah,” he says even more uncomfortably, looking back at Principle Riker. “That’s what we wanted to meet with you about. Kaylee, Miss Ray and I, we’ve recently started up a personal relationship and we wanted to make you aware of that.”
I’m quite sure I still have a look of complete humiliation on my face. Sam has a look on his own face that I’m not sure if it’s boredom, annoyance, anger, or complete disinterest. He looks from me to Drake, and back again.
“I think so long as the two of you know how to keep your personal interest out of the school and off school grounds, you two know how to be adults,” he finally says after what must be the longest thirty seconds in the history of mankind. “Keep it to yourselves and I don’t really care what you do outside of class, so long as you never reflect poorly on Woodinville High School.”
“Really?” I say, my voice high-pitched and breathy.
Now both he and Drake laugh. Sam nods his head. “Really.”
I slouch back into my seat, which I’ve been perched on the edge of up until this point, and heave a huge breath. I prop my head up with the heel of my hand and rest my elbow on the arm of the chair.
“You look like you’ve been dreading this conversation, Miss Ray,” Principal Riker teases.
“I have,” I admit with a chuckle. “I really didn’t want to get fired.”
“We’ll have none of that,” he says kindly. “Not when we’ve been getting such good feedback from our students about you, and such good grades from your classes.”
A smile pulls on my lips and I sit myself up again. “Thank you.”
“Yes,” Drake pipes in. “Thanks for understanding. We’ll keep this on the down low.”
“I expect you to,” Sam says with a nod of his head. He is serious and stern, but I can see the corner of his lips trying not to smile. I wonder if he has ever felt the way I do when I’m with Drake. Maybe Sam has. Maybe that’s why he’s giving his blessing. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some things to take care of.”
“Of course,” Drake says and he and I both stand. Without another word, we walk out of the office.
We don’t get more than half a dozen steps away when Drake wraps his arms around me, picking me up clean off the ground and twirling me in a circle. I barely manage to contain the delighted squeal that wants to erupt from my lips.
Our eyes lock and he sets me down slowly. My lips ascend to his and linger for a brief but sweet moment.
Drake holds me close, in danger of breaking the deal we made just moments ago, but that look on his face tells me he doesn’t care one bit. His eyes stare into mine and I feel all those beautiful emotions he evokes in me wake to life.
“How’d I ever have a life without you?” he whispers. He brings his hand up to brush his fingertips lightly over my cheek.
“I don’t think we were ever supposed to exist without each other.” I close my eyes and press my forehead to his chest.
We get to stand like that for five blissful seconds before Drake’s phone dings with a text message. We step apart just as the first two students come through the front doors.
“Ugh,” Drake grunts as he looks down at his phone. “Again?”
“What is it?” I ask, concern on my face as we start walking in the direction of our classrooms.
“About three weeks before school started my ex and I broke up,” he says, sliding his phone into his pocket and looking forward. “Diana and I were together for about six weeks. It was pretty rocky the whole time. She’s been texting me on and off the last few weeks. She just said she wants to talk.”
Jealousy instantly roars up in me and my entire body stiffens.
Drake must notice because he grabs my hand and pulls me to a stop. “I don’t want to talk to her. Things are and were done over a month and a half ago. You really, really don’t have to worry about this. And I’m sorry I didn’t say anything about it before. I just figured she’d go away.”
I take a deep breath as Drake drops my hand because he has to. I nod my head and try to calm the million angry fire ants that have suddenly replaced my blood. “Yeah. Sorry. I just instantly got a little possessive there.”
This brings that lopsided smile to Drake’s face. “You have no idea how bad I want to kiss you right now. You’re cute when you’re jealous.”
“Shut up,” I say, giving a big shove to his chest. He rocks back, off balance, but that’s the extent of my damage. “Get to class, Mr. McCain.”
CHAPTER NINE
The first week of October rolls in, bringing cooler weather, changing leaves, and rain every third day.
Finally, after trying to get ahold of Armando for a week, he knocks on my door one Saturday afternoon.
“Where have you been?” I say with a glare as I let him into the apartment. “I’ve been calling and texting. Has work really been that bad?”
“Oh, Kaylee,” he says wistfully as he dramatically flops down on my couch. “I’ve had the most amazing eight days of my life.”
I do a melodramatic intake of breath and sit on the coffee table in front of the couch. “You met someone!”
“I did,” he says with a sigh as his eyes slide closed. “His name is Anthony. He’s sweet, and sophisticated, and beautiful. We’ve just had the most wonderful week together.”
“No wonder you never answered any of my calls or texts,” I tease him. “You were otherwise preoccupied.”
“Was I ever,” he says with a shake of his head, his eyes still closed.
“Picture?”
He reaches into his pocket and opens his eyes a small slit while he scrolls through, looking for a picture. Finally, he turns the phone and hands it to me.
The man is attractive. He’s got redish-brown hair done up in a dramatic faux hawk. Freckles dot his cheeks and he smiles with brilliantly white teeth.
“I take it you’re happy then?” I hand his phone back to him.
“More than that,” he says as his eyes flash wide open and he stares up at my ceiling with a foolish grin on his face. “I think I’m in love.”
“I’m happy for you,” I say, smacking his arm lightly. “You deserve to find someone perfect.”
Armando looks over at me and finally sits up. He drapes his arms across the back of the couch and crosses his legs. “How about you, Ray of Kaylee? Have you found someone perfect? Have you found your Prince Eric?”
The idiotic grin spreads from his face to mine and instantly I feel warm inside.
“It’s so bad and so good at the same time,” I confess. “I’m just so deliriously
happy when I’m with him. It’s been the best four weeks of my life. Easy.”
“Are you saying you’re in love?” he taunts.
I didn’t think it was possible, but my smile grows bigger. “I won’t say it for the first time unless it’s to his actual face. But…”
“As if he can’t already tell,” Armando grins. “Sweetheart, you’ve been glowing nonstop since you met that man. If you’re not in love with this man, there is absolutely no hope for the rest of us to ever know what that word means.”
My phone dings and I look down to see a text from my mom.
Please, she says. I have to go out of town again in five days. Can we please meet and talk?
She’s been texting and trying to call. She keeps asking me to meet her. She says she’s sorry for our fight the other day. And lately she’s been saying I need to forgive her and move on from all this.
Like it’s no big deal.
I sigh and look up at Armando. “What do you think? Do I act nice and talk to my mom?”
Armando’s nose crinkles. “Absolutely not. That woman needs to learn what her priorities are.”
“Yeah,” I say as I look back down at my phone. “I don’t think she’s going to get that though until someone very specifically spells it out for her.”
Fine, I text back. Meet me at Stanolli’s at seven.
We both stare at our food and silently eat. We’ve said little more than hi and how are you since we arrived at the restaurant. We ordered, got our food, and now we’re avoiding any real conversation.
I’ve never really been close with my mom. She was always there, but she didn’t really see me. She always took care of my needs, I was an idea that needed to be constantly addressed. But me, actual Kaylee? I was invisible.
I’m still not sure she’s seeing me. I’ve upset her and she wants to set this right. But am I more than an idea that needs to be addressed? Does she see Kaylee sitting in front of her? A girl who believes in fairy tales, who gets flirted with by students every other day, a girl who loves summer time and rocking out to any good song that comes on the radio in her car?