Page 14 of Love Lessons

chapter seven

kendall

“Alexa, shuffle Red, Taylor’s Version.”

I sat my water bottle and keys on my desk as “I Knew You Were Trouble” began playing on the speaker. Before long, my kindergarteners would be asking Alexa to make fart sounds—but right now, Taylor Swift was helping me mentally prepare for the first day of school.

I’d arrived early, giving myself plenty of time to make sure everything was in order. This was my third year of teaching—my third first day of school. I’d learned the hard way that doing any actual teaching the first week would be a waste of my time. Instead, I planned to spend this week establishing routines and getting to know these kids.

I made my way around the room, setting up morning stations—open-ended activities like magnetic tiles, LEGOs, and such. I was in the middle of dumping the pieces of a floor-sized dinosaur puzzle on the rug when there was a light knock at the door.

When I looked up and saw Heath, I couldn’t help the way my face contorted into a grimace.

“Don’t look so happy to see me.”

“What do you need, Heath?”

He confidently strolled toward me, and the overwhelming smell of his cologne almost making me choke. “Just wanted to say I’m sorry we didn’t get to chat after the staff meeting last week.”

That was intentional. The second our meeting was over, I’d bolted out of the room to avoid him.

I carefully spread the gigantic puzzle pieces out with my foot and took a deep breath. “I don’t really have anything to say to you, so—?”

He crossed his arms. “Look, I just came in here to talk real quick so we could start the year off on the right foot. It doesn’t have to be all tense and awkward.”

I rested my hands on my hips. “It’s not.”

“Okay, then.” He looked around the room for a moment, his eyes eventually finding their way back to me. “I miss you.”

“Don’t,” I said, holding up my right palm to signal for him to stop. “Don’t you dare come in here and start that ‘I miss you’ bullshit with me. You broke up with me, remember? I’m trying to have a good first day, and I’m not about to let you ruin it.”

“Kendall, just—”

“Nope. Get out of my classroom.” I walked toward him with my hand still extended, expecting him to get the message and turn to go. But he remained frozen in the dead center of the room, so it appeared I was going to have to use physical force. With one hand on his arm and the other on his back, I nudged him toward the door.

“Are you serious right now?” He let out an annoyed laugh as I pushed him. His body was solid, but thankfully, he shuffled his feet toward the door.

“Have a good year, Heath.”

He let out a defeated sigh once we reached the hallway, and I removed my hands. “Yep,” he said, hanging his head. “You too.”

As he disappeared down the hall, I cursed him under my breath for trying to ruin my morning. But I forced every thought of him from my mind, choosing instead to focus on getting things ready for the day. When I was finished, I had a couple minutes left to sip my iced coffee and listen to “State of Grace” in peace before the bell rang.

“Alexa, stop,” I said, making sure my yellow-gold shirt was tucked perfectly into my plum dress pants as I walked across the room toward the door. This outfit was my subtle way of wearing the school colors—I’d even painted my fingernails the same shade of purple as my pants.

I stood just inside the room, awaiting the students’ arrival. And just as I looked down to pick a dog hair off of my pants—that damn menace—I heard the first student approaching.

And it was Finley Reed, skipping into the room just ahead of her dad, who was carrying her backpack. Her brown hair was done up into two adorable buns, and the “KINDERGARTEN ROCKS” shirt she was wearing was almost the same shade of yellow as mine. I grinned. “Good morning, Finley! How are you?”

“Dad, look, Ms. Devin and I match,” she hollered, planting her feet beside mine so Mason could get a good look at the two of us.

He held his lips together tight to suppress a smile as his eyes traveled up my body until they found mine. “That’s right, you’re both wearing yellow, aren’t you?”

Finley put her hands on her hips and beamed up at me. “I know all the colors,” she announced. “So you don’t even have to waste your time teaching me that.”

Mason and I laughed. “You sound really smart, Finley,” I said. I turned to greet another parent walking in, a mom with a pale, redheaded boy whose name I couldn’t remember from meet-the-teacher night. Mason helped Finley get her backpack into her cubby, and after a moment, she was getting started on the dinosaur puzzle on the rug. Mason stood nearby with one hand in his pocket, his other hand clutching a packet.

The Room Parent packet.

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