Page 1 of I Think He Knows?

Chapter One

Wow. Life is full of surprises. I never dreamed I’d have seventeen children at the young age of twenty-nine. Yes, seventeen. And they are all little angels—most of the time. Being a kindergarten teacher never crossed my mind when I was younger. I always thought I’d be the president of a cosmetics company or a stylist or a journalist. But here I am—sitting on the colorful reading carpet in my classroom at three o’clock covered in glitter and peanut butter. One of my little angels, Maxwell decided to play with his peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of eating it today. Unfortunately it got everywhere, and all I can smell is peanut butter—bless his heart. Who knows how long the smell will linger in my classroom?

On the other hand, the glitter mess is all my fault and was a terrible idea. I had a moment of bravery and got a bit overzealous with the craft idea. I thought I could maintain full control of the situation, but it got out of hand fast. I will be finding glitter until the end of time.

I stretch out on the carpet and stare up at the florescent lights in the ceiling. Despite being exhausted most days, I enjoy my job. My best friend, Eliza, says being a teacher is my true calling and I agree—although today I’m having a few doubts.

I hear my door open and glance over to see my friend Jess dragging herself into the classroom. She’s also a kindergarten teacher here at Eastern Lake Elementary.

“Hey, Serena,” she mumbles before plopping down on the carpet next to me. She sits cross-legged, and I can’t help but notice her hair is falling out of her ponytail and she looks like she’s been hit by a train.

“It was a day,” she pauses and leans her head to the side, staring at me. “Did you use glitter?”

“Yeah,” I trail off.

“Why? That was a rookie mistake.”

“Ha. I thought I could handle it,” I say softly. “I found a cute project on Pinterest and took a chance.”

She shakes her head disapprovingly and then makes a face.

“Why do I smell peanut butter?”

I let out a deep sigh and tell her about the other events of my day.

She smiles. “Two of my little kiddos spent the day throwing things at each other—it started with crayons and then escalated. Normally those two play so well together, but today they were mortal enemies. I’m sure they’ll be buddies again soon, so I’ll keep them separated until they reconcile.”

“Of course they will,” I agree.

I love how children can get over their little spats so quickly…if only adults had the same forgiving nature.

“Anyway, has Coach Cam stopped by today?” she asks with a wicked smile.

I shake my head and let out an exasperated sigh. Coach Cam is the head PE coach here at the school and my soul mate. Well—hopefully. I’ve had an immense crush on him since he started here over two years ago, and I think he knows. Of course, as of right now, we are just friends. We’ve hung out a few times outside of work, and there’s some undeniably good chemistry between us. However, much to my dismay, things haven’t escalated beyond friendship.

“I talked to him at lunch,” I tell her.

“You do that every day,” she reminds me. “How long are you going to wait on him to make the next move? It’s probably time for you take the lead. Clearly the man might need some more nudging.”

She sounds like Eliza.

“You’re probably right.”

She smiles proudly. “Ah, I love hearing those words.”

I giggle and sit up. “I was thinking about stopping by his office this afternoon.”

“That’s a good idea,” she exclaims. “Ask him about his day, and while you’re talking to him, you could find out how his friend Leo is doing.”

I raise my eyebrows. Leo is one of Coach Cam’s good friends. He dated my friend Eliza for about five minutes, but that’s a story for another day.

“I could ask him about Leo—I’ll just tell him you were wondering if he’s currently involved with anyone.”

She gives a thoughtful look but doesn’t object.

“Anyway, do you have your program planned for Celebrate Our School?” she asks.

Ah—that’s a very clever way of changing the subject.

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