Page 14 of Taking Sides

“Noooo.” I fight a smile. “But I was going to text you later.”

“What do you need?” Her eyes still crinkle with laughter as she shakes her head.

I hurry over to my desk. It still feels surreal. My desk. It isn’t much. Scratched and dented with three drawers—two of which stick—and behind it a heavy wooden chair that looks like it’s been here since the dawn of time but is surprisingly comfortable.

Currently, said desk is covered in books and papers. The rest of the room is in order, but my desk is chaos.

Sloane follows behind me. She’s the high school librarian and my only real friend among the staff. I came in as a long-term sub last fall. I did my best to get to know the other teachers, but there are cliques even in education circles. Nearly all the other sports coaches are men, and while Grady has never made me feel less than, I get the sense some of the others think my only qualification is my family connection to hockey. And the other math teacher is a seventy-five-year-old woman who has been here for fifty years and has seen “a lot of you young ones come and go” as she put it. It was clear she wasn’t looking to get to know another teacher who might leave. And since I wasn’t sure if I’d be back, I didn’t take it too personally.

But here I am. My very own classroom and a contract for an entire year to teach two classes of Geometry, one period each of Algebra I and Algebra II, and my favorite: Statistics. And of course coaching the JV hockey team. It’s going to be a busy year, but I can’t wait for it. It feels like something of my own for the very first time.

“Do you think we can get a copy of this?” I ask, handing her my personal copy of my favorite statistics textbook.

“Just one?”

“I’m not teaching from it, but I’d love to have resources available for the kids to look through or take home if they want.”

“Okay.” The right side of her mouth lifts higher in an amused grin.

Do I think most of the kids are going to be looking for extra reading material? No, but even if only one student enjoys it, it’ll feel worth it.

“Anything else?” she asks.

“You know me too well already.” I reach for the second stack containing a variety of math-based books—everything from hearty textbooks to fun cartoon-style books. Something for everyone. Hopefully.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she says without taking them from me. She places the first book on top. “Email me the list.”

“You’re the best.” I put them back on a corner of my desk as my phone pings from somewhere in the room. I move a few pieces of paper around searching for it. “I owe you.”

“You can buy me a coffee sometime.”

“Done.” I give up on finding my phone for now.

“I should be done here in a few hours.”

“Oh, I can’t tonight.” My stomach flips. “I have a date.”

“Really?” Her voice lifts as her smile grows. There’s a shyness to Sloane that makes her excitement always feel more genuine. “Who are you going out with?”

“This guy I met . . .” I trail off, then wave my hand. “I don’t want to say too much yet. I’m not sure it’s going to work.”

“Sounds promising,” she says with another quiet laugh. “Cute?”

“Probably the hottest guy I’ve ever met,” I murmur. My stomach is liquid heat as I picture him.

“Oh, really?” Sloane’s eyes widen as she waits for me to say more.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure why he asked me out. We’ve barely talked.”

“Your general awesomeness doesn’t take long for people to notice.”

I chuckle, but I don’t know that I’d bet on Conrad thinking I’m awesome. Through most of our interactions, I thought he hated me.

“I haven’t been out on a date in forever,” she says almost dreamily. “Where are you going?”

“MVP.”

Her brows lift in surprise, then she hums a light sound of disapproval. “Not the most original spot, but I guess it’s better than . . .” She trails off. “Someplace worse.”