“I can’t talk,” I said quickly. “Bye, Andy!”
Andy stood there, glowering at me as I ran off towards my classroom.
Thankfully, the kids were just starting to file in as I took my place at the head of the class. Ruth raised an eyebrow at me.
“Sorry,” I mouthed. “Bad traffic.”
Ruth nodded.
As I called the class to order, I couldn’t quite get Andy’s words out of my mind. What had he been talking about? Hot and cold? I wasn’t even sure what that meant!
The day, thankfully, seemed to speed by. I was afraid of running into Andy, so I stayed in my room for planning and lunch. It was pouring rain, and the kids were so restless by three-thirty that they were practically bouncing off the walls. I was more relieved to see them dismissed than usual, and my stomach was in knots by the time I left school.
At home, Angela was making a batch of sangria. She poured some into a glass and held it out towards me.
“Rough day?”
I rolled my eyes and took a sip. It was good, and I closed my eyes as I savored the fruity tastes bursting on my tongue.
“It was okay,” I said. I shrugged and carried my glass into the living room before flopping down on the couch.
“What
happened?” Angela narrowed her eyes. “You nervous about tomorrow?”
I blushed. “Yeah,” I said. I wrinkled my nose. “I dunno. Someone I work with said something kind of odd to me.”
Angela snickered. “Oh, girl,” she said. “Like what?”
“It was Andy,” I explained. “You know, that guy I had coffee with last week.”
“He totally has a thing for you,” Angela said.
I laughed. “That can’t be true,” I said. “I think he’s just bored and I’m there, you know? Like he wouldn’t approach me if we didn’t work together every day.”
Angela shook her head. “You’re so naïve,” she said. “He totally wants you.”
My stomach twisted into a knot. “Well, whatever, he told me I was hot and cold with him.”
Angela laughed. “See, girl? He’s totally got it for you, and he’s mad that you’re not draping yourself all over him.”
“Ew!”
“Well, it’s true, he probably wants to sleep with you,” she said smugly, taking a long sip of her drink. “He probably senses there’s some other dude in your life. Men are like that. They can practically smell competition from a mile away.”
I flushed hotly. “Mr. March isn’t anything like Andy,” I said. “And that’s a good thing – definitely.”
“So, why’d you ask him to coffee if you don’t really like him?”
I bit my lip. “I felt guilty.”
“June!”
“What?”
“That’s such a dumb reason,” Angela said. She rolled her eyes. “You can’t do that! It just leads guys on.”
“Well, I felt bad that he asked me out and I said no, so I thought I’d make things right by asking him out.”