AllFreeNovel
Share Us
AUSTIN
“That smells good.” I breathed in again and tried to place the tangy, tomatoey scent that filled Kayla’s office. “Is it lasagna?”
“Yeah.” Kayla’s cheeks pinked. “Leftovers from Mia’s.”
“Nice. When’d you go?” I sat and unzipped the top of the little insulated cooler I’d brought my lunch in today. Nothing as tasty as Mia’s, but the cheesy rice and hamburger mixture was a staple meal when it was my turn to cook.
“Last night.” She paused and cleared her throat. “With Luke.”
“Oh.” I looked down at my food and frowned. How was I supposed to handle that? I’d taken her out on Saturday and apparently botched the attempt to explain how I felt about her so badly that she’d agreed to go out with the youth pastor again. Maybe it’d been set up before? “I’m surprised you didn’t mention that when we were talking about our week on Saturday.”
“He called Sunday afternoon.” She set down her fork. “If it’s weird, I don’t have to talk about it.”
“No. Of course not. It’s fine. How was it?” I really didn’t want to hear about her date. Except…maybe I did. Maybe there’d be an inside scoop—some insight into how to win her heart that I was missing. I pried the lid off the container holding my food and scooped a bite.
“Okay.” She shrugged and picked her fork back up. “He doesn’t seem happy with his job.”
“That’s too bad. What makes you say that?”
Kayla ate for a minute. I recognized the line in her forehead as an indication that she was organizing her thoughts before she spoke. She poked at her lasagna. “He spent a lot of time talking about it. I guess the parents still compare him to Kyle and get upset when he tries to do things that aren’t the way they used to get done.”
“Luke’s been here more than a year. That seems odd.”
She laughed. “Come on. How long did it take before parents stopped asking you why you let kids use calculators in some of your classes?”
I grinned. “Still waiting on that. All right, that’s fair. Change is hard, I guess, all around. You don’t think he’ll leave, do you?”
“Nah.” Kayla took a bite. She chewed, swallowed, and reached for her water bottle. “I didn’t get that impression. But the whole Mexico trip may get canceled.”
“What? No way.”
She tipped her head to the side. “Like you care.”
“Hey. I was planning to volunteer. You talked me into it.” Especially if she was going to keep going on dates with Luke. I wasn’t letting her go to Mexico with him for a week. Not when I could tag along and be part of the trip.
“Yeah?” She brightened. “That’s great. Well, maybe it is. If the trip’s on.”
“What’s the problem?”
Kayla shook her head. “Parents complaining about there not being any touring.”
“Which is not the point of the trip.” I sighed. I could feel Luke’s pain. Parents were my least favorite part of being a teacher. “Poor guy.”
I could have bitten my tongue. I didnotwant to feel bad for Luke. At the same time, I understood his frustration. “Hopefully he’ll be able to work it out.”
“Yeah.” Kayla looked in her lunch bag and pulled out a baggie of cucumber slices. “Have you done any more thinking about the after-school center?”
“Thinking, yes. I’m not sure what the first step is. How do I get the ideas out of here”—I tapped my head—“and translate them into a functional thing?”
“Pfft. Please. It’s a word problem. Think of it that way, and let’s break it down into parts. At least we know money isn’t an issue, Mr. Billionaire.” She opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a notepad, then reached across her desk for a pen.
I rolled my eyes. She didn’t tease me about the money very often. I appreciated that. I’d worked hard—all of us had—to keep it semi-quiet. So far, it seemed we’d been successful.
“What, now?” I scooped another bite of my lunch and studied her face. “Wouldn’t it be easier to do after school? You could come over and we could work on it. I’m making dinner again tonight. It won’t be fancy, but I won’t poison you.”
She laughed. “There’s an invitation.”
My face burned. “I could order in.”
