“What?” Angela demanded. “He's nice! And god, he's hot!”
“I know,” I said morosely. “Trust me. I know.”
–
When I woke up the next morning, I knew that something had to change. I couldn't keep moping around, wishing for Thomas to suddenly think that I was the most desirable woman on the face of the planet. I was going to have to take matters into my own hands – and really make sure that I stayed as professional as possible.
Andy was in the break room when I got into work. He was reading the paper and sipping coffee, and suddenly he seemed much more approachable than I'd originally thought. He didn't look up until I'd sat down next to him.
“Hey,” I said.
Andy didn't reply.
“You mad at me?”
Andy shook his head. “No,” he said. He gave me a funny smile. “Why would I be mad, June?”
I blushed and shrugged. “I don’t know. Hey, I was thinking that maybe after school, we could get coffee.”
Andy cocked his head to the side. “Like a date?”
I nodded, blushing harder. See, that wasn’t very hard , I thought as I bit my lip. I just need to learn how to be confident around men. But I didn’t want to let my confidence get the best of me – after all, Andy was nothing like Thomas March.
“Yeah,” I said finally. “I felt bad that I had to say no the other day…I just wondered if maybe we should get to know each other better.”
Andy grinned. “Yeah,” he said. This time, he sounded more enthusiastic. “That sounds great.”
I smiled. “Great,” I said. “Well, I’m going to class now. See you, Andy.”
“Where should I meet you?”
“Just come to my room at the end of the day.” I smiled, then I thought of Ruth. “Actually, no – you know what? I’ll meet you out front, how does that sound?”
Andy nodded. “Cool,” he said. “See you, June.”
I smiled at him one last time, then turned on my heel and walked down the hall.
The day seemed to drag on and on. I couldn’t stop thinking about how I’d boldly (at least, I thought so) asked Andy for a date. I was feeling confident and excited…but part of me wondered if I was really doing the right thing.
To make matters worse, Brett was behaving horribly. He dumped paint on one of the other kids, and he pulled Lila’s hair and made her cry twice in one day. Whenever I closed my eyes, I thought of his handsome father…but that didn’t mean I was going to let Brett off the hook. In the end, after multiple time-outs, I sent him to the principal’s office.
Thomas is going to be angry , I thought as I gathered my things together at the end of the day. As much as I knew that I shouldn’t care, I couldn’t help it. After all, teaching Brett was my responsibility as a teacher. I couldn’t worry about what parents would think – even though teaching in modern times was nothing like it had seemed when I was growing up. Ruth, my teaching assistant, had almost gotten fired last year after disciplining a student for bratty behavior. The kid’s parents had threatened to sue, and it had taken a meeting with the school board in order for them to calm down. The worst thing was, Ruth had been praised for her actions by our principal…but now, New York City had become so litigious that we really had to be careful.
After glancing around my classroom to make sure it was in order, I walked down the hall and out the main entrance of P.S. 151. Andy was waiting by the steps, sitting with his legs splayed open and a tattered paperback in both hands. He looked cuter outside than he ever had in the break room, and a nervous thrill of excitement made my stomach twist and cramp.
When Andy saw me, he grinned. “Hey, June,” he said. “You wanna go to the diner around the block?”
I frowned. “It’s so nice outside,” I said. “I was thinking that maybe we could go somewhere with outdoor seating?”
Andy grinned. “Yeah, sounds good,” he said. He stood up and stretched. When he came closer, I realized he was a full head taller than me. “Where to?”
I shrugged. “There’s a little café a few blocks over,” I said.
Andy nodded. “Don’t think less of me,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “But I might have to get a beer instead of coffee. Today was fucking rough.”
I nodded. “Tell me about it,” I said as we began walking in the direction of the café.
Andy chuckled. “Oh, yeah? You too?”