Chapter 18: Chapter 18

At the end of the day, she sent each of her students out the door with hug, handshake, or high-five, their choice, and then took the three students in her class who were walkers down to meet the other students who walked home. Her after school duty for this semester was to help them all get safely across the street. The crossing guard was already there, but it never hurt to have an extra pair of eyes. Once they were all safely headed home, Ru breathed a sigh of relief. Two weeks down, more to go than she cared to count.

“So, how’s it going?” Hannah West asked as they walked in together. Hannah had walker duty for third grade.

“Great,” Ru smiled. “I’ve got the best class.”

“Yes, you do. You’ve got some of mine from last year.”

“That’s right,” Ru nodded, approaching one of the side entrances to the building. She let Hannah get a step ahead of her so she could unlock the door with her key card. Hannah’s long red hair looked a little more frizzy this afternoon, and Ru wondered what kind of a class she might have. “You had Ira, didn’t you?”

“I did,” she replied, smiling. She popped the door open and held it for Ru who thanked her as she stepped inside. “He’s a good kid. Just needs a little more time than everyone else, extra attention, and some patience.”

“I love him,” Ru said, meaning every word. “I’m really excited to see what he can teach me this year.”

Hannah patted her on the shoulder. “That’s such a great attitude. We need more teachers like you.”

“Thank you,” Ru said, blushing a little at the compliment. Hannah had been teaching for at least twice as long as she had been, and it made her proud to have someone so seasoned say something like that. “How’s your class?”

“Uh… challenging,” Hannah admitted. “But we’ll get there.”

“I’m sure you will,” Ru reassured her. She saw Cutter down the hallway and waved at him. He looked tired, even from here.

“Now, that’s a teacher I wouldn’t mind mentoring,” Hannah said, winking at her.

Ru couldn’t help but giggle. “I think he’s getting lots of help from teachers in all grade levels.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Hannah said, her voice teasing. “Seriously, how do you concentrate in Jane’s boring meetings sitting across from—that.”

“Uh, I don’t know,” Ru replied. “I mean… we’re friends, so I don’t really think about him the way everyone else does, I guess.” She meant it even though she did have her moments. She wondered why he was still standing in the hallway, and as they approached the turn where Hannah would veer off toward the third grade hall, she assumed he was waiting for her. Probably to remind her that cars take keys.

“Well, you have a good weekend, hon,” Hannah said, patting her on the arm.

“You, too,” Ru said. The fact that she would have all weekend to relax and unwind made her smile. Just her and Piper with no commitments to her mother or anyone else.

Cutter was still standing in the hallway between their doors. “How was your meeting?” he asked as she approached.

“It was good. We came up with a lot of helpful strategies.”

“That’s great. I guess if I have any meetings like that coming up, someone will tell me?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “You’ll get a message on your calendar, and you can confirm your availability.”

“Cool.” He had a strange look on his face, and Ru wasn’t quite sure what was going on. He opened his mouth and then closed it.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, uh, can I talk to you in your room for a moment?” he asked.

“Sure,” Ru replied, wondering what this might be about. She walked into her classroom, proud that her students had cleaned up so nicely, and turned to face him. “What’s up?”

“Well, I was, uh, just wondering… if you’re not busy….”

“It’s Friday!” Candice shouted, sticking her head into Ru’s doorway. “Yay!”

“Yay!” Ru echoed, though not half as enthusiastically. She raised her fist in the air and pumped it a few times. Secretly, she hoped Candice would leave so Cutter could finish his sentence. What in the world was he going to ask her? It couldn’t be what she thought it was going to be when he’d first started the sentence—could it?

Candice invited herself in and began to talk about how difficult her class was this year. “I mean, I only have twenty-two, but I swear to God, they’re all the bad ones. It’s like having forty. And I’m constantly telling them to keep their hands to themselves, you know?”

Ru did know. She also knew Candice needed to get out. “Well, I actually have to hurry and get out of here today because I have… an appointment.”

“You do?” Candice asked, looking surprised.

Ru realized she couldn’t really lie to her because Candice knew everything. If she really had an appointment, she would’ve told her. “Yes… with my mom. I have to hurry home and call her. You know how she is.” She hated lying to her friend, and she hated using her mother as an excuse. But it might be the only way to get Candice out the door. And she really wanted to know what Cutter was about to ask her.

“Seriously?” Candice said, her voice squeaky. “That mother of yours. I swear to God, you’d been better off if you’d been adopted by a pack of wolves.” She started to walk toward the door.

Ru ignored her comment. Not many people knew she actually was adopted, but Candice did. She glanced at Cutter, and if the remark seemed odd to him, his face didn’t reveal it. “Have a great weekend, Candice,” she called as she stepped over to her desk and started gathering up her things, trying to make her exodus believable. She had planned on getting out the door quickly today, since they could leave as soon as the kids were gone on Fridays, but she wasn’t in quite the hurry she was pretending to be.

“You, too,” Candice called. “Come on, Cutter.”

“I’ll be right there,” he called, swiveling to look at her, though his hands were still shoved deep into the pockets of his khakis and he didn’t pick up either foot.

As soon as Candice was gone, Ru set her purse down on top of her desk. “I’m sorry. You were saying?”

“Don’t you have to go?” The way he asked the question let her know he was in on her ruse.

Shrugging, Ru said quietly, “She likes to talk about how awful her class is and how lucky I am that my kids are good. I really don’t need to hear it again.”

He chuckled. “I think your kids are good because you have routines and procedures in place, something the rest of us are still struggling with.”

“Thank you,” Ru said, emphatically. She crossed the room so she was standing a foot or so from him. The scent of his cologne wafted through the air. He smelled like sandalwood and the deep woods. It could’ve been intoxicating if she’d allowed herself to think about him as anything other than a friend—a good friend. “Anyway….” Was he ever going to finish his question?

“Right. So, uh, tomorrow night—are you busy? Do you want to have dinner or something?”

Ru felt her jaw drop open and realized she probably looked like an idiot. Every fiber of her being wanted to say yes, but he was a colleague. She couldn’t possibly go on a date with him.

“I mean, I have some things I’d like to talk to you about, and I don’t really think work is the best place for it.”

Her eyebrows shot up, and she could see his face morph, as if he wasn’t even sure what he’d just said.

“Not… I’m not… it doesn’t have to be a date. I just… wanted to get to know you better.”

Ru began to giggle. She couldn’t even imagine someone like Cutter asking her out, and now he was doing such an abysmal job of asking her—whatever he was asking her—she wasn’t sure what to say. “Uh, yeah. Of course,” Ru replied, nodding her head. “I don’t usually date coworkers, but then, until now they’ve pretty much all been women.” They both laughed at that. “But… I mean dinner and talking? Sure. I can do that. That sounds… good.” Now she was the one who sounded like a moron. She decided to close her mouth.

“Great,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’ll call you in the morning and you can tell me what time and your address, okay?”

“Sure,” she replied. “Sounds good.”

“All right. Well, have a good night.” Cutter smiled at her, took two steps backward, spun, and headed out the door toward his own classroom as Ru called out that she hoped he had a nice evening, too.

Turning back to her desk, she couldn’t help but smile. No, it definitely wasn’t a date, but the idea of seeing Cutter outside of work, of spending the evening with him, was more than a little exciting.