He shook his head, like he thought he’d been an idiot for not even considering the possibility. “Anyway, thank you again for your help, and it’s nice officially meeting you, Kyle.”
Despite seeming like a relatively laid-back guy, he had a nervous tension about him. I tried to decide if it was from his hectic morning, the misunderstanding, being new to the school…or something else. Of course, it was a lot to figure out for a guy I barely knew.
“Nervous for your first day?” I pried.
“Nervous? Who, me? Yeah, a little bit,” he said, but I knew such an admission could only come from someone who was confident enough to cop to their insecurities. I sure as fuck didn’t know many teachers like that, and I was intrigued.
“I’ll get it together, though,” he went on. “Worst-case scenario, I know where to find the hand dryer in the downstairs bathroom, right?”
We shared a smile, and I caught myself staring at that pretty face, admiring him until he glanced around like it was becoming awkward. Hell, it probably was getting awkward.
But at least I knew that, even though I wasn’t particularly excited about British Lit, I would have something pretty to look at throughout fourth period.
He glanced at the clock behind him. “I don’t want to make you late to fifth period.” He turned back to me, avoiding my gaze. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Kyle.”
“See you then, Big Man.”
He must’ve known I was teasing him about being so much shorter than me, but once again, he didn’t appear bothered by the remark, only offered a pleasant smile like a cool guy, not some stuck-up asshole teach.
I headed out of Mr. Warner’s classroom, smirking like an idiot.
Maybe my senior year wouldn’t be so shitty after all.
3
James
I mashed my thumb on the touchscreen before tucking my tumbler under the dispenser. The soft hum of coffee grinding in the cappuccino machine was music to my ears. I’d finished my last cup at the beginning of fourth period, and my energy was already waning.
“Better make it a double.”
I glanced behind me to see Kendra, another English teacher at the school, holding her own mug, waiting patiently for her own caffeine boost. Kendra and I shared a free period, which had helped us become fast friends over the course of the first week. We finished making our coffees before finding seats in the teachers’ lounge to chat with other faculty members who had some time to relax at nearby tables.
“Figured out which is your nightmare class yet?” she asked, something that was easy enough to spot in the first few days, let alone the beginning of the second week.
“Thankfully, I’ve got some good kids this year. I’m surprised since I was thinking it would be trial by fire my first year at a new school, but everyone seems to be going easy on me.”
“Don’t worry too much,” Kendra said with a wink. “Maybe they just need to warm up to you before they really start driving you over the edge.”
She went on to tell me about her problem class, which I guessed was why she’d brought the subject up to begin with. But truly, I was grateful my classes had turned out to be as easy as they were. No real troublemakers, not even Kyle Forsythe, whom I’d had concerns about after our exchange. Even he’d turned in his assignments on time.
Had I not always been so concerned about the other shoe dropping, I would have allowed myself to relax and see how everything unfolded, but considering how turbulent the year before had been, I knew better than to let my guard down.
After dumping about her class, Kendra and I shifted to school and town politics and gossip, the sort of debriefing I desperately needed since I was out of the loop on all things Wyachet related.
Being in a new town was intimidating as fuck, but when it became overwhelming, I assured myself I had time to figure it all out. One day at a time, I kept reminding myself, as I had so many times before.
After the school day came to an end, I headed home.
Sheila had attempted to call during school hours, when she knew I was working, so I wasn’t in any hurry to call her back. Instead, I tried to push my awareness of her to the back of my mind as I made my way through downtown Wyachet. That old life was behind me now. This was my future.