Rain Check?

~3~

 *Unedited...still on vacation.

Dempsey's POV

 "Did anyone guess correctly?" Ethan asks as he drops a small piece of notebook paper on my desk at the end of the day.

  Pulling my rolling chair back, I take a seat in front of many small pieces of paper, all filled with guesses about where I took my fall break vacation. "Well, buddy, I haven't gotten to even look at the first slip yet," I say, releasing a sigh while pulling the slips closer to me. 

  Ethan rejoins his group, taking his seat once more. "My uncle was gonna help me with my guess, but then he got a phone call." He rolls his eyes and turns away from me, looking back at his group. "Superheroes are busy people," he tells his small group as they begin copying their homework down in their planners. 

  I unfold each paper and read through the guesses. While most are inventive, none are correct. "Sorry friends! Looks like no one guessed correctly."

  "Aw, man!"

  "We need better hints!"

  "Just tell us already!"

   My mouth opens but quickly closes at the sound of the dismissal bell. "You've got til Friday to try and guess the correct answer." They grumble and groan as they line up. 

  Just as the last kid begins to walk towards carpool, Ethan comes running back to me. "Miss Abrams! I almost forgot!" He reaches into the outer pocket of his bookbag, handing me an envelope. "Mom told me to give this to you, said she mentioned it Friday night at the game."

  I take the invite from his hand, smiling. "Thanks, Ethan. Have a fun afternoon!" I call out as he runs back to catch up with the rest of the carpool group. "Walk!"

  "Whatcha got there?" Sawyer asks, bumping her hip into mine. She nods towards the invitation.

  I open it up, hoping it actually wasn't the invite Carly mentioned after the game. "How inappropriate would it be for me to attend an Halloween party put on by a student's family?"

  "Depends," she starts. She glances around to see who is close by. "How loaded do you plan on being by the end of the night?"

  I frown and roll my eyes. "Not even a little bit."

  Sawyer pulls open the office door, ushering me in before herself. "I'm sure it's fine. Whose family?"

  "Ethan's actually. I met his mom after the game Friday night, along with what felt like his entire immediate family," I chuckle out. I grab a cookie from the tray labeled "Teachers" that sits next to a stack of insurance pamphlets. Doctor's offices aren't the only ones that have reps coming in and out of their buildings. 

  "She teaches at the high school, right?" I nod in agreement, trying to keep any crumbs from escaping my mouth as I chew. "I'm sure it'll probably be pretty laid back then, just a lot of teachers getting together to drink and complain about the stressors of our days." 

  "Sounds more like your scene than mine," I admit as we walk back out of the office. "Anyways, I'll think about it."  

  It's what I tell her, but I'm pretty positive my mind is already made up. So much so that I drop the invite into my teaching bag without a second thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Friday afternoon finally comes and my body is utterly exhausted. I lock up my car on the side of the road in front of my townhome right as my phone rings. I fumble through the bag, trying to locate it before the person hangs up. With no such luck I finally just answer the call through my watch.