Page 40 of Connectio

“School teachers are not like they were when I was young,” Will says.

“Yeah?” I giggle as we enter the reception area, unable to hold it in any longer. “How so?”

“They didn’t talk about sex.” He lowers his voice, his warm breath caressing my ear. “And they certainly weren’t as hot as you are.”

My heel gives way and I fall sideways, landing in his arms.

“Easy there, sweetheart.”

Pythons or not, his arms are warm and strong, safe and lifesaving, because I most certainly would’ve fallen flat on my face had he not caught me. Damn heels!

“Th-Thank you.” My eyes meet his stormy grey ones before he helps me upright.

“No probs.”

“Right.” Smoothing down Carly’s ridiculous skirt, I make eye contact again for the shortest of seconds, his eyes now brighter, more amused. “I’ll see you around.”

“You will.”

I nod. “I will.”

“No.” He pats his chest. “I Will.”

“Huh?”

Carly cracks up laughing from behind the reception counter.

I look between the two of them. “I don’t get it.”

“Me Tarzan, you Jane,” she says.

Will gives her the thumbs-up.

Shaking my head at them as I push through the door that leads to my classroom, I cringe as Oliver falls into step beside me.

“See?” he says, gesturing to Carly and Will. “Same cloth.”

* * *

Despite adjustingmy skirt and being incredibly uncomfortable and frustrated for a good part of the morning, every time I catch my reflection in the window, I decide I kinda like what I see. Yeah, I look “different,” but it’s a good different, an empowering different, and something I might wear again sometime.

Just not at school.

And definitely not on a sport day.

“Rightyo, Grade 2s and 3s,” Oliver announces, “please put the dodgeballs back into the bags and line up with your partner. The bell is about to ring for lunch.”

I hold out the large net bag as child after child pops a rubber ball inside.

Oliver does the same then tosses both bags over his shoulders. “You’ll have to push the trolley,” he says, nodding to the metal shelving cart stacked with cones and hula-hoops.

He already set up the equipment prior to our sport lesson starting, so I hadn’t carried a thing.

“Um…” I glance down at my heels, unsure as to how this is going to happen. “Surrre.”

Oliver glances at them too. “Why on earth would you wear those to school?”

“I… I don’t know.”