"What was the impact of World War 2 on the U.S economy and workforce?"
An uncomfortable silence filled the room.
"Miss Haliday? Miss Haliday!" Lily's history teacher shouted her name from the front of the room.
"Oh, sorry, I'm here," Lily said, as she snapped out of her daydream. She lifted her hand to indicate that she was present and several snickers could be heard throughout the classroom.
"Yes I know you're here Miss Haliday. I took attendance 20 minutes ago. I was asking about the effects of World War 2 on the U.S economy."
The entire class stared at Lily and she felt red hot with embarrassment. She'd been thinking about it again, thinking about what she and Ford had done. She hadn't been able to focus on anything else: not her father when he had asked her to pass the butter at dinner right after Ford had gotten dressed, kissed her on the top of her head and left, or when Violet had offered to help with the dishes when she had noticed that the water was overflowing in the sink and she certainly hadn't been able to focus when she was with Grant, whom she'd thankfully only seen once since she'd had sex with Ford.
"Sometime today Miss Haliday," Lily's teacher laid on the sarcasm thick as she waited impatiently for her response.
"Oh, right," Lily sat up in her chair, brain scrambling for a response. "Well, I think one of the effects was..."
Oh shit, oh shit, Lily thought to herself. If she had read chapter 27 like she was supposed to then she would know the answer to the question but she hadn't read it because, oh that's right, she had been too busy thinking about Ford's dimples and Ford's eyes and Ford's body. Oh sweet Jesus, his body....Lily shook her head, trying to focus.
"One of the effects was definitely that it impacted things in like a good way."
Lily mentally cringed at how stupid she sounded.
"That's a given Miss Haliday, but could you be more specific."
Just then a student entered the room with a note for the teacher which bought Lily a few moments to hurry and try to compose her answer. History was not a class she was doing well in and she needed the participation points to bring up her grade.
"Well Miss Haliday," her teacher began, after reading the note. "Looks like you've been saved by the bell, so to speak. You have a call from your father. You can take it in the office."
Lily tried not to smile as relief rushed over her. She quickly gathered her things and headed out the door, but as she walked down the hall, her relief was replaced by panic as she couldn't figure out why on earth her father would be calling her at school: that had literally never happened before.
Lily's pace quickened and she threw open the door to the front office.
"My dad called," she said, handing the note to the administrative assistant.
"Here you go honey," the woman said as she chomped on a piece of gum. She was always chewing gum, in the most obnoxious way, like that annoying girl from Willy Wonka who turns into a giant blueberry.
Lily took the phone from the woman's hands and held it up to her ear trying not to panic.
"Dad?" Lily practically blurted out loud.
"You don't have to shout. I'm not deaf."
"Dad?" Lily asked. She was confused by the tone in his voice. He sounded different.
"Try to sound a little less confused or lady chomps-a-lot is going to catch on."
That's when Lily realized it wasn't her father on the line. It was Ford. But why was he calling her and where was he calling from? Lily looked at the administrative assistant who was eyeing her suspiciously.
"Oh daaaad," Lily said in an overly loud tone. "I didn't recognize your voice at first. You sound really sick," she said as she pulled the cord as far away from the woman as possible. Her fib seemed to fool the woman enough for her to lose interest and she went back to clacking away on the computer.
"Ford?" Lily whispered, cupping her hand over the phone. "What are you doing? Where are you?"
"Coach stepped outta his office for a meeting so I thought I'd give you a call."
"You're gonna get in trouble," Lily smiled. She secretly loved the fact that he was taking a risk just to speak to her.
"You're worth it," he replied and Lily's grin turned into a ridiculously huge smile that she couldn't wipe off her face.
"Lils?" he asked, unsure if she was still on the line.
"I'm here," she said softly, as the lady at the front desk was eyeing her again. She tried to tone down her smile.
"Wanna get in trouble with me?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Meet me in the theater after class."
Now Lily's face was beet red and her heart raced at the thought of what he was implying.
"I can't, I..."
"Tell me you haven't thought about it every second since I left that barn?"
It was arrogant, but true. Lily's face was now full on crimson and she felt hot. She looked around to see who was listening. The woman from the front desk had stopped typing and was focused on Lily, trying to hear what she was saying.
"I haven't," Lily said quietly. She bit her nail trying to hide her expression.
"Liar," Ford laughed and Lily tried to suppress a giggle. Now the lady was rising from her chair and making her way around the desk.
"I don't know what to tell ya dad," Lily suddenly spoke in a comically loud voice to deter the woman from coming closer. "I can't miss school to come home and take care of you."
"I know one way you could come and take care of me," Ford teased.
"You're sick," Lily replied, trying not to grin.
"Then come make me feel better," there was a seductiveness to his voice and it drove Lily crazy. He was messing with her on purpose. He knew this was all happening in the office and that someone would be watching. He was enjoying this.
"You love making me squirm, don't you?"
"You can say that again."
Lily almost dropped the phone. She had walked right into that one without seeing it somehow. The woman from the desk was just a foot away from Lily now.
"Well, I gotta go dad. Got a big test next period," she said loudly.
"Meet me in our spot," Ford repeated.
"Yep, uh huh dad. Sounds good. I'll see you there. Err, I mean, at home, I'll see you at home."
The woman from the front desk stood in front of Lily, one hand on her hip, and the other held out, palm up, indicating that Lily should give her the phone, all the while chomping on her gum.
"That was my dad. He's sick, really sick," Lily said as the woman looked on incredulously. "He's always been a little bit of a wuss when it comes to that stuff." The woman looked at her and didn't say a word, so Lily continued to ramble. "You know how those tough guy types are: they can wrangle a horse but the second they get a little sniffle it's like the end of the world," Lily laughed awkwardly while shaking her hands in the air. She wasn't sure if the woman was buying her story.
"Oh honey, tell me about it," the woman finally spoke. "When I'm sick, I still have to cook dinner and do the dishes and put the kids to bed, but when my husband is sick, oh Lordy, it's like the whole world is ending. He can't even be bothered to get up off the couch to get the remote."
"I hear that," Lily said, even more awkwardly. She couldn't believe the woman had believed her lie and she couldn't believe she just uttered the phrase "I hear that."
"Well I better get back to class," Lily said pointing towards the door. She wanted to get out of there before the woman asked more questions. She didn't want to keep lying. She wasn't sure how long she'd last.
"Have a nice day, honey," the woman shouted at Lily as she stepped out of the office just as the bell rang. Thankfully she'd missed the rest of class and successfully avoided another embarrassing moment in front of the entire class, but then she realized she'd probably just have another embarrassing moment in her next class and the next one after that. As long as she couldn't stop daydreaming about that day in the barn, she was doomed to fail all her classes.
That's when Lily thought, maybe she should go see Ford in their secret meet up spot. Maybe if she saw him again she could stop obsessing over what had happened. Maybe it was just because it was her first time. Maybe it wouldn't seem like that big of a deal, Lily thought to herself, if it happened...again.