Page 8 of Teach’s Hayride with the Baller

“He's an ass," I muttered, wishing my heartbeat would regain its usual momentum. My lips still tingled from that kiss and my hands were cold without his wrapped around them.

My sister shrugged, taking a bite out of the hot dog. "I don't know. It looked like a good kiss. I approve."

"Well that's that, then." I rolled my eyes, pretending to focus on the game but only really watching one player.

"What do you mean?"

Zach ran back on to the court, pulling his letterman jacket off and tossed it at one of his teammates who laughed and threw a comment back at him as he jogged backward. Their banter and the jacket flew back and forth until it went wild and hit his coach full in the face. The grey headed man came up frowning as he peeled the sweat-laden material from his face. Zach held up his hands in supplication and backpedaled quickly.

I pressed my hands over my mouth, trying to suppress the giggles that interrupted my sister’s tirade on what constituted a good first PDA.

Aurora shook her head. "Dumb as shit, but hey, his heart seems to be in the right place. Can you live with that?"

Could I? Zach did seem to have his heart in the right place and I'd heard that reference from more than one person in Broomcorn. But I wasn’t all too sure about the first part of that assessment. The heart part though…that was what really mattered. I shrugged and liberated a handful of popcorn from my twin.

"Maybe I will go on that date after all," I mused.

"Atta girl," my sister commented as a siren blared, cutting off all conversation.

Zach turned, waved at me and landed himself a ball in the face.

I clutched my popcorn and didn't try to analyze why my heart pounded twice as fast as its usual pace right through the overtime clock.

Much.

CHAPTER FOUR

HAZEL

The last child hunted under his desk in my classroom after the 3:55pm bell. Liam’s brown head bobbed about as I packed the last of my things and tried not to look out the window that overlooked the parking lot. Part of me knew that Zack would be waiting there, but I didn’t want to see him because that would mean I would rush and…

Hello, anxiety, my friend.

“Did you find him?” I called, shuffling papers that didn't need reordering. Him being Ruddy, the lost brown and white splotched hamster.

Actually, I was grateful for Liam and his Houdini pet. I could look for that creature all afternoon if it meant staying in the safe confines of my classroom and not heading out to the fair with Zack.

“Not yet,” Liam called, clambering beneath the next set of desks.

“Is he back in his hutch?” I perched on the edge of my desk, not joining the search yet. I should. I really should. But the classroom door was shut, and Ruddy wasn’t going anywhere.

More scrabbling.

“No.” Liam sounded despondent.

“Okay.” I put down my papers and knelt to check under my desk. “Let me help.” Then the chair. Drawers. Did hamsters climb? They seemed to be significantly bigger than the guinea pigs we had back in Oz.

“Thanks, Miss.” Liam crawled under the cabinet at the back of the room. “Do you think he got out? The door is open.”

“No, I kept it shut.” I turned my head, butt in the air as I stared under the desk and found the door standing ajar. “Shit.”

Hamster Escapee Alley was indeed open. I could see the hallway that led to the stairwell. How long had that been open? I was sure I shut it carefully after the last student. Maybe Ruddy had run off after all. It looked like our classroom search just expanded to the rest of the school.

“That’s a bad word.”

“I’m sorry, Liam. It is—” Wait, what wasn’t Liam’s voice.

Cringing, I straightened, expecting to lose my job in the first week.