Love at First Spark

7| August: Parent-teacher Night

We stepped away to the side to have more privacy.

"So anyway, in the spirit of staying professional, I haven't had the chance to be a normal twenty-six year old. Ever since Linda and I split, things have just been hard. And it sounds like we could both use a chance to be young and free and...friendly." He added the last word as I raised my eyebrows."Anyway, I know this great Italian restaurant and—"

"Braden." I tucked my hair behind my ears and an edge creeped into my voice. . "That's not...I-I can't. You know I can't. This is what I'm talking about as 'too much'. We can't—the rules..." I couldn't figure out how to articulate what I wanted to say. It seemed there was no good way for us to be friends without slipping into date territory.

He put his hands up in defense. "Yeah, too fancy. I know. Staying professional." He tilted his gaze up to meet mine. "Why don't we set up lunch sometimes? Take my card, you already have my cell number. If anything changes, or if something comes up with Lucy. Don't hesitate to call, ok?" He took a card out of his pocket and scribbled something onto the back.

Callahan & Sons Construction

Hesitantly, I took the card from him. Our pinkies touched briefly and for a moment, there was a spark.

"Welcome, everyone!" The principal's voice boomed over a microphone. "I'm Victoria Mullins, Principal here at Williams Preparatory School. I am so pleased to see so many wonderful new faces among us tonight. I will begin by calling up each grade level's teachers, and parents with children in those grades will follow them to their classroom. Now let's kick off Parent-Teacher night!"

All while the principal spoke, I glanced around to see how many parents showed up for my class. As my gaze wandered through the crowd, it stopped cold on a familiar face.

A face belonging to a woman with dark hair pulled back, a Prada handbag on her shoulder, and eyes that bore deep into my soul.

Daphne squeezed my arm, and I jumped.

"Woah. Are you ok?" she asked.

I tore my eyes away from Linda Callahan and forced a smile. "Yeah, fine. Let's go meet the parents."

***

The night went smoother than I'd anticipated. Braden caught my eye several times throughout the night, and each time I felt my cheeks flush.

"As you can see, our class has spent a lot of time working on these wonderful little projects you see throughout the room," I said. "Feel free to look around and let me know if you have any questions about our classroom. It was great meeting you all tonight, and I hope to see some familiar faces at our PTA meeting next week!"

Several parents came up to thank me for my time before heading home to relieve their babysitters. Others stayed to mingle a bit longer.

Soon, everyone had left—or at least I thought I was all alone until I heard a pair of heels clacking against the floor, the sound growing louder with every step.

"Miss Calla—Freeman," I said. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Linda quirked an eyebrow. "I saw you getting pretty cozy with Braden earlier. Anything I should be concerned about?"

I stumbled backwards. Did she suspect something? For someone only a few years older than me, she certainly had intimidation down to a T. "N-no. There's nothing going on."

She pursed her lips. "Let's ensure it stays that way." Linda took a step forward. "I'm the president of the school's board, you know. I'd hate for them to have to find out that such a..." she gave me a once over just like she'd done the day we met, "young and promising teacher fooled around with a parent. They might begin to question whether you can actually do your job."

Heat rose to my cheeks and my heart jumped in my chest. Where the hell was she getting her information? She acted like I was a child!

"I'm twenty-three and more than qualified to be a teacher," I tossed at her. "Braden has nothing to do with my abilities to work at this school. You have nothing to be worried about either because there is nothing going on with me and Braden."

Linda clucked her tongue. "The minute that dumb act of yours wears off, you'll realize he's just mooching off of you because he's bored without me. You are nothing more than a plaything. Soon enough he'll toss you away without a second glance. Believe me, he's done it before and he'll do it again."

Before I could inquire anymore about what she meant, she turned up her nose and spun on her heel, walking out the classroom door and leaving me dumbfounded in the wake of her heels echoing off the cinderblock walls of the school.

Oh boy.

I took a deep breath. Braden had flirted with me tonight and Linda must've picked up on it.

Clearly.

It's not like we were being subtle at all.