Page 5 of Caught Stealing

It’s not a lie. He might be the only one who tries.

“I’ll tell you what. Since you were the only one to approach me with concerns about your work, I want you to take this home and work through the problems with the textbook. Bring it back in the morning.” I flip through the quizzes and hand his back along with the assignment. “I’ll talk with your parents about our student tutoring program, okay?”

Fisher frowns but accepts my offer. “Thank you, Miss Clarke.” I know that look. It’s the same one I get from every athlete whose schedule is already booked solid. There’s hardly any time for studying, but plenty of time for sports. I get it. They’re kids and they need to be outside, exercising, having fun even at their age, but they also need to pass their classes. I make a note to call his parents and set up with a tutor for later this week before setting my sights back on erasing my whiteboard.

A knock on my doorframe distracts me from my monotonous work. “Hey, wanna walk with me to the dungeon to return this archaic piece of junk?” Destiny, my next door teacher, pops her bubble gum and pats the rolling cart holding a television set that is easily older than we are combined. It still works though, which is why the school won’t buy new ones.

“Why would anyone willingly go into the dungeon? It smells like rotten French fries and hasn’t been dusted in twenty years.” I shiver at the thought.

The dungeon is where the school houses all of the equipment teachers don’t want to use but have to, and Destiny swears she once heard voices while pillaging the VHS boxes for a decent copy of Romeo and Juliet. When I say our stuff is old, I mean it. It’s VHS old. It’s big box television old. I’d wager to say it’s rotary phone old, but it’s the only private Christian school that services this part of the city.

I shiver again. “It’s scary down there.”

“Which is exactly why I’m begging you to be my knight in a school uniform and escort me. Protect me, Lottie. There’s a dragon down there.” She whines and brushes her dark curls from her face. When she does, I notice a giant sparkler that most certainly was not there yesterday. When she catches my stare, her smile matches the wattage emanating from the giant diamond ring on her marry me finger.

“What is that and why are you holding out on me?” I plant my fist on my hip and try to mimic anger, but it’s not happening for me. Everyone knows I can’t be mean, which is why I’ll email the assignments to all of the students who failed to pick them up on the way out and give them a second chance on their quiz next week.

“Nathan proposed to me last night!” She holds out her hand to show off her engagement ring.

“Destiny! Congratulations, I’m so happy for you.” Happy, yes. Jealous, no. Well, maybe a little, but her new fiancé plays for the Carolina Predators, a minor league soccer team and I am not a fan of athletes. It has nothing to do with my ex-boyfriend of three years ditching me for another woman—his hockey team’s social media manager—and leaving me alone and depressed.

“Thank you! We’re so excited. I can’t believe I finally found the one.”

“This is amazing. You’re going to make the most beautiful bride. He’s a lucky guy, but he obviously knows it. Look at this thing.” I take her hand and get a better look at her ring. It’s gorgeous. I never thought a diamond set in rose gold would be my style, but I could get behind it for sure.

Some day.

Definitely not now.

This is Destiny’s moment, after all, so no pondering what might have been. It’s been months since the break up, and I seriously need to just move on already.

“Soo…I need to tell you about something else, too.”

Wait, what? Destiny bites her lip and all but shrinks into herself. “Uh…what?” She’s not pregnant. I know that much based on her sharing the same convictions as me. And after an engagement announcement, I can’t think of what else she might surprise me with. Especially not with an expression like that.

Then it hits me. Duh, she probably wants to tell me all about the proposal. And I am here for it. I gather my things in a hurry and figure I’ll grade the quizzes at home over the weekend. I take her bag so she doesn’t have to push the cart and carry her things at the same time. “Okay, tell me all about this perfect proposal. I’m all ears. Hit me like one of those sweet romance novels you love so much.”

Destiny pushes the heavy television while I sling her bag over my shoulder.

“There isn’t much to tell. He took me to dinner and popped the question over desert, but that’s not what I wanted to tell you about. It worked, so I feel the need to pass the secret along.” Her excitement level is still at a thousand, but she seems completely disinterested in giving me the details. Strange.

My forehead scrunches. “What worked? What are you talking about?”

She takes a deep breath and readies her presentation. She’s a speech and debate instructor, so it’ll be good….whatever it is. If it’s a pitch to get me to be a bridesmaid, there’s really no reason. I’m a fool for love—of course, for other people, not me. No, thank you. I’m good with the status quo of being alone.

“Okay, so I met Nathan on a secret dating app that is only passed along by word of mouth. The success rate is out of this world, and since he proposed to me I believe it truly does work. I want to pass it along to you because you deserve a good man after everything you went through with the one whose name we do not speak.”

Oh. No.

If I hurry, I can drop her bag and make it to the exit before she can catch me. I’m planning my escape when Destiny pauses and puts her hand on my shoulder. She knows my ways, darn it.

“Des, I’m not interested in dating right now. You know that. Summer break is a few weeks away, and all I want to do is lay by the pool, read good books, and pretend the men in them are my boyfriends.”

“What if I told you that there are real men out there better than the book boyfriends?” She arches a perfectly manicured brow, her dark eyes glistening again.

“I’d say you probably snatched up the last one. I’m happy for you, but I’m seriously okay with being alone. I’ll die an old maid with ten dogs, thousands of books, and piles of yarn I never learned to knit.”

“Oh, stop that. You’re the sweetest, sunniest person I know. I am not going to stand by and watch you miss out on love. There’s just too much awesome in this little body to keep to yourself.” She motions over me as if I have compartmentalized awesomeness and plan to horde it to the end of time. “The app works, Lottie. I would never recommend it if I didn’t think you could find a great man who will treasure you like the rare gem you are.” She tousles my red hair and grins. “This hair, those emerald eyes, and your adorable freckles are irresistible.”

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