Page 11 of Defined and Defiled (Ghostlight Falls)
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“Okay class, I will see you next week! Remember to think about what you'd like to do for the stained glass project!”
Cami smiles at me as I reenter the classroom holding Richard.
“All yours, Ms. Sumner.”
“Cami, I was wondering if you'd take Richard, or um, my book, with you? We can meet up when I meet you for drinks later.”
I hand Richard over to Cami. He's wrapped in my special edition Thrice Night duskjacket, his face covered by the hero's shirtless torso. Her brow crinkles and her smile wilts a little.
I push on before she can say anything else.
“I can send you what Id like drawn if youd like. Id just feel more comfortable if you held on to him for me. I may be a little late joining you but when I do drinks are on me.”
Cami takes Richard into her arms, and I have to force myself to not rip him back.
“It's going to be okay.” I say.
“It will.”
Cami agrees, and squeezes my shoulder before rolling her cart out of my room.
I make a mental note to look up how many free drinks it takes to make your coworker forget you're a weirdo.
When I return from dropping my last kid off at the bus line, Mike is already waiting by my desk.
He's fiddling with the sleeve of Sophia's jacket which she forgot to grab again, even after my chat with her mother. I want to rip it from his hands, it unnerves me to see him touching my student's things after knowing what he did to Richard.
Mike ignores my disgust as he always does and smiles at me.
“Are you ready to go?”
I scan Mike's face for answers. Maybe the Mike we saw in the yearbook was his young dad . That doesn't account for Richard recognizing his voice though.
“Not yet. I still have some stuff to finish up here.”
Mike finally lets go of Sophia's sleeve and puts his hands in his pockets. He rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet and glances around the room.
“Anything I can help you with?”
Again, I'm puzzled. Mike was never my favorite, but surely he'd never hurt anyone right? He stuttered asking me out just a few days ago. That doesn't scream coven shenanigans to me.
“No, thank you.”
I really do have a lot to do. I always do. The student's test from today needs to be graded, though I plan to rope Richard in to help with that, and I still need to plan the pizza party the kids earned for scoring so high on their benchmark test. I'm just not sure how long any of it can stall Mike.
His eyes dart to my reading nook and then back at me,
“I like what you did to your hair today Shirely. Looks nice.”
I reach up and touch my hair where the red strands are coming out of my messy bun.
“I wear it the same way almost every day.”
I protest.
“Yes, and you always look nice. I can't wait to return this book and take you out.”
I never recall agreeing to this date Mike seems set to take us on. He moves his attention away from the reading nook and towards my desk.
“Where did you leave it? I can just return it to the basement and pick you up when I'm done.”
I ignore Mike's question.
“You know, I've never really gotten the chance to talk to you one on one outside of maintenance needs.”
Mike looks startled before smiling.
“I'd love to get to talk to you more Shirely, when we go out tonight we can-”
I interrupt Mike.
“As I've always said, why wait?”
Mike's smile tightens.
“What would you like to know?”
“How long have you been working at the school?”
Mike's smile drops for a second before he puts it back on, worse for wear.
“Gosh, it feels like forever.”
“How long is forever exactly?”
Mike watches me closely.
“You know, we really should be returning that book.”
I know I shouldn't be pushing him like this. It's too soon, and I'm alone but I keep thinking about his fingers on Sophia's sleeve, how he'd also rested his hand on Richard's shoulder in the AV club picture.
“How long have you known Principal Bailey?”
Mike's smile is long forgotten now.
“What are you really asking Shirley?”
“What did you do to Richard Diction?”