Page 14 of Wanting You

Thursday morning, Chloe stopped at Books & Beans to pick up her order of goodies for the meeting. She’d called Billie Monday night and told her what she needed, otherwise she’d end up wiping out their bakery case.

“Hey, Chloe,” Jade said when she walked in. “Your sister’s boxing everything up for you. How’s classroom setup going?”

“Amazing!” she gushed because…well…it was. “I think I outdid myself this year. I’ve coordinated everything in the room so the theme is consistent. I swear, I could get a job working for Disney at this point.” Grinning, she added, “Principal Kincaid thinks I can teach all about how to turn the classroom into a creative and inviting space at the next retreat!”

“That’s awesome! Good for you! Do you have any pictures?”

“Of course!” Pulling out her phone, she tapped on her photo app and then handed it over to Jade. “I’m telling you, the only thing missing are the students. Tuesday can’t get here soon enough!”

Jade chuckled. “Silas is not feeling as excited as you are about school starting next week. We finished all of our back-to-school shopping last night and he’s been groaning ever since about how he wants just one more week of summer.” Laughing some more, she shook her head. “And if he got that, he’d want another, and then another, and it would be endless!”

“Aww…I hate that he feels that way, but I know it’s completely normal. Once kids reach the age where they’re almost done with elementary school, they start getting like that. And this is a big year for him. Fifth grade, his last year at Sweetbriar Elementary, and then moving on to middle school and the unknown. Who’s his teacher this year?”

“Mrs. Allen. She emailed a welcome video to all her students and I thought it was very sweet. Silas was only mildly impressed, but I’m hoping once he gets to school on Tuesday and sees all his friends—and most of them are also in Mrs. Allen’s class—he’ll have a better attitude.”

“He definitely will,” Chloe assured her. “I’ve known Mrs. Allen for years; she’s a great teacher. I met the new fifth-grade teacher and she seems very nice too, but I can personally vouch for Mrs. Allen.”

Nodding, Jade poured her a cup of tea and handed it to her while they waited for Billie to bring her order out. “There are a lot of new teachers this year, huh? I know they brought those trailers to use as classrooms for the fourth and fifth graders. Mrs. Allen did a tour of hers in her video. I have to admit that I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect, but I understand it was necessary.”

“They’re portable classrooms—or modular buildings—and I get it, but they’re actually nicer and newer than most of the ones in the school. Plus, the ones we’re using have eight classrooms and a couple of bathrooms. I believe they’re only using six of the rooms for actual classes and the other two will be used as a teachers’ lounge and an office. It’s a great option for us until they figure out when they can realistically renovate the school.”

“I suppose. What about the new teachers? Have you met them all? Are they nice?”

Chloe inwardly groaned. “Um…most of them are,” she said and cringed at her negativity.

“Most of them?” Jade asked with a hint of amusement. “Are you telling me there’s somebody you don’t like already? I didn’t think that was possible! You get along with everyone!”

“Yeah, well…”

“Okay, come on. Out with it. You have to tell me what this person did to make your face scrunch up like that.”

Ugh…did she really want to get into this right now when she was feeling so happy?

“It’s nothing,” she lied. “Just…the new kindergarten teacher isn’t the one I had been communicating with. She ended up taking a teaching position elsewhere. So they hired this…guy, who is kind of…I don’t know…icky.”

Jade’s eyebrows went up. “Icky? I’m sorry, but did you really just describe another adult as icky?”

Sighing loudly, she said, “I know! It’s the only word that came to mind! He has a very high opinion of himself and was kind of abrasive when we met. I offered to help him since he was coming into all of this late, and he acted like my offer was beneath him!” She took a sip of her tea before continuing. “And then…then he accepts part of my offer and took some of the extra decorations I made and has kept his classroom door shut since!”

“O-kay…”

“And I’ve knocked on the door just to see if he needs anything, but he just steps outside so I can’t see in! I mean…how childish is that? This is his first year teaching! You’d think he’d appreciate some input, but does he? No! Such a jerk!”

“Icky and a jerk,” Jade said carefully. “This is going to be interesting.”

“Who’s icky and a jerk?” Billie asked as she stepped up to the counter and put several boxes down. She smiled at Chloe. “A dozen assorted muffins, six slices of marble pound cake, six slices of lemon pound cake—and I did them both gluten-free so Dave Scholl can eat them—plus a dozen pieces of caramel crumb cake, a dozen oatmeal raisin cookies, and a dozen croissants.” She let out a dramatic breath. “Do you think that’s enough for everyone?”

Chloe couldn’t help but laugh. “It better be! Luckily, Susan’s handling the coffee, tea, and juice; otherwise, I’d need ten extra hands to carry it all!”

“I know Sweetbriar Elementary isn’t a big school, but there are enough teachers that could lend a hand,” Billie said before shaking her head. “Now who’s icky and a jerk? You never told me.”

“Um…”

“The new kindergarten teacher,” Jade replied instead. “According to Chloe, he thinks he’s a bit of a hotshot, even though this is his first year of teaching.”

“Ah…young and cocky. Got it,” Billie said as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “He’s fresh out of college, Chlo. Cut him some slack. He’ll find out soon enough that he’s got a lot to learn.”

“He’s actually two years older than me,” she murmured, and when both Jade and Billie stared at her expectantly, she knew she had to explain herself. “Okay, so after the whole awful first meeting, I went home and…you know…did a little research.”

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