Page 121 of Tank’s Weakness

I wasn’t ready to leave my kids yet, though. I felt like I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, so instead of teaching kindergarten again, I opted to go up to the first grade. I even managed to convince them to give me my same students back.

Connor was a surprise, though. I didn’t expect his parents to allow him in my classroom, especially with the law firm pushing so hard in Acid’s case. I guess Mrs. Croff had the final say, though. She didn’t like how upset Connor was to leave me. She saw a difference in the new classroom. He learned better with me before I was able to establish a relationship with him.

The new teacher would have also figured it out, but Mrs. Croff didn’t want to wait that long. So she told her husband she was putting him back with me. He is thriving now.

So much so that his parents have even donated to the school. They want to be sure that he has everything he needs and to keep me happy. It is such a turn of events. They were so quick to judge me without knowing me before, but now they want to keep me around.

It feels good to be wanted. Especially when it benefits the kids.

“Sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins. A sloth can hold its breath underwater for up to forty minutes to hide from danger,” Connor reads out in his adorable little voice.

“No way. That’s so cool,” Patricia says, awe on her face.

“Is it true, Miss Harris?” Connor asks me.

“Well, why don’t we check?”

I pull down the projector screen and screen share my computer with it. For the next twenty minutes, we research sloths. I love the wonder in the children’s eyes as they learn about the creature.

“The sloth is my favorite animal,” Susie proclaims.

“Mine too.” Johnny looks over at her with stars in his eyes.

I missed this. I missed them.

A knock on the door has us all looking over. Tank is standing there, a smile on his face. The kids love when he comes to visit.

“Miss Harris, your boyfriend is here.”

The kids all “oooh” at Connor’s statement.

“That he is. The bell will ring in a minute, so gather your things and get ready.”

The end-of-the-day routine goes by quickly after that, with the kids peppering Tank with questions until the aide comes to get them.

When they are finally gone, I turn to Tank.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him, walking over to hug him.

“Come for a ride with me.”

I smirk. “That sounds like a demand.”

“More of a request.”

I lick my lips. “Okay. Let me grab my things.”

It takes me a few minutes to get my desk cleaned up and ready for tomorrow. Then I shut off the light and head out of the room.

Lydia steps into the hall, smiling when she sees me.

“Hey, I was wondering if you and the girls wanted to hang out tomorrow night. I really need a wine-down Wednesday,” she says.

“What’s going on?” I ask, trying to hold off my smile as I can feel Tank anxious to get going next to me.

“My landlord is an ass. The pipe burst and ruined the ceiling in the living room. It’s starting to fall, and he still won’t fix it. I am going to have to suck it up and fix it myself. I could withhold rent, but he is cheap as hell, and I can’t afford much more than this. Say goodbye to my Rome trip savings.”

“I have someone who can come do it for you. I’ll give him your number,” Tank offers.