Page 41 of The Teacher

“What’s this?”

“It’s an apple.”

“I know what it is, Skipper. Why are you bringing it to me?”

“You know, the cliché. Bring an apple for the teacher and all that.”

Sandy rolls her eyes and shakes her head. She really wants to laugh, and now she’s really having to hold it in. She doesn’t want to give me the satisfaction of laughing at my stupid joke. It’s cute. “I really have to go in now. Nice chatting, Skipper.”

I reach out and take her hand before she gets the chance to head inside the classroom. “What about that date?” I ask.

“What date?”

“The date you promised me.”

She huffs. “I didn’t promise you anything, least of all a date.”

“Don’t play games with me, Miss Finn. You won that stupid drinking competition last night, so you get to choose what our next date’s going to be.”

“I didn’t promise you one, though,” she says with a smirk. She likes teasing me. “I just said I’ll choose what the next one would be if it did happen. I get to choose if one does happen.”

I sigh. She’s hard to bargain with, and that’s why I like her. Tough as nails. She likes a fight, and I’m gonna give her one. “Well, what would it be, if you did choose and if it did happen?” I ask.

“Fine,” she replies. “Wait here.”

She disappears inside the classroom for a moment. I can’t see what she’s doing. I wait outside in the hallway like a doofus, hands in my suit pockets. I wonder if she’s even going to come back when she reappears at the doorway. She pushes a piece of paper in my hand.

A detention slip.

A piece of paper you give to a misbehaving student with the time and place for an after-school detention. Great.

“Does this mean I’ve been naughty, Miss Finn?” I ask her. “Does this mean I’m in trouble?”

Sandy doesn’t reply. She turns around and heads back into the classroom. I swear I see a hint of a grin on her face as she turns.

When she’s gone inside, I look down at my hand, down at the detention slip.

It has her handwriting on it. A set of coordinates and a message written in cursive.

Meet me here after school today. For detention. Be on best behavior.

Miss Finn

Oh, the cheeky girl. Alright, I’ll play your sneaky games.

As I head back down the hallway, I do a little dance, and I don’t care who sees. I know I’ve got her.

14

SKIPPER

Sandy’s waiting there at the beach when I arrive. I park my car next to hers and get out, taking in the view over the clear blue water and raging waves. Below the parking lot, the golden sand of the beach stretches on for miles around.

Sandy leans against her car, sunglasses on and wearing a wetsuit.

A wetsuit?

Wait, we’re actually going into the water?