Right With Me - Stacey Lewis Page 0,22
to shape young kids' minds? They were wrong.
Mitchell’s daughter is one of the last girls to walk into the room and she runs right over to throw her arms around my waist. I instinctively hug her back, enjoying the feel of her warm body against mine as I take a couple of calming breaths.
“Hey, Ms. Lucas,” she shrieks, voice shrill enough to shatter glass. “Look! This is my new outfit,” she pulls the hem of her dress to show me, “and I got a new backpack too.” Turning, she shows me the colorful bag on her shoulders.
I run my hand down her hair, smoothing the wild brown strands. “Very pretty. I love your dress.” My agreement makes her smile get impossibly wide. Before I can tell her to take her seat, she turns her head and sees Sophie sitting at her own desk and shrieks her name too. She runs over to her and they start comparing each other’s bags but take their seats when the bell sounds.
My first day goes by entirely too fast, and before I realize it, it’s already time for the kids to pack up to go home. They’ve got so many papers to take with them and I don’t envy the parents a bit for the cramps they’re going to have in their hands later.
After dropping off the bus riders, I lead the rest of the class to the front of the school where the car pick up line starts and wait with them to meet up with their parents.
I walk each student over to their cars and greet the parents quickly before they drive away. When it’s Sophie’s turn, Stacey is the one in the driver’s seat and she’s grinning when I open the door.
“Hey Sophie,” she greets her daughter as she gets into the car. “How was your day?” Sophie immediately starts telling her about her friends and all the books she’s found on the shelves in my room. I had to pry her away from them when it was time to go home. If she was allowed, I think Sophie might sleep here just to be close to them.
Once Sophie’s settled into the back seat, her attention turns briefly to me. “Hey Hailey, how was she today?”
“She was great,” I assure her. “I’m going to love having Sophie in my class this year. She’s going to be a great help when it comes to picking out books for our class to read.”
Stacey beams at her daughter before turning her attention back to me. “That’s great. I know she’s excited to be in your class, especially since she has Evie to play with too.”
Evie’s standing beside me making faces through the glass at Sophie and giggling when she returns them. Stacey’s face is soft as she watches her daughter and it warms my heart to see a parent look at their child that way. So many kids don’t have that, and I’m so glad Sophie does.
After waving goodbye, we go through the next few cars, and then a familiar truck pulls up. Evie gets so excited when she sees her dad, she starts to vibrate. Me on the other hand, I’m shaking, but not from excitement. I have to shove my hands in the pockets of my dress—and who doesn’t love a dress with pockets? —to keep my anxiety from being noticeable.
Ignoring him is difficult, especially when he reaches across to open the door for Evie to climb in. I watch as she pauses on the console to give her dad a hug and a kiss before continuing into the back seat. As soon as his attention isn’t focused on her, it turns right to me.
“Well hello, Ms. Lucas.” His eyes look my body up and down, and I can feel the blush popping up on my skin. Bright red with a pale yellow dress isn’t a good look for anyone, trust me.
I’m not sure why him saying my name with such formality affects me this way, but god, it’s way more attractive than it should be. I have to clear my throat in order to greet him back. “Hi.” I consider saying “Mr. Anderson,” but that just makes me feel silly, so I don’t.
“I like your dress.” The grin on his face makes me blush harder, but I manage to thank him in spite of it. Words are hard when you’re as embarrassed and out of sorts as I am right now. “How was the first day?”
Finally, his focus is more on