Page 61 of How We Fooled

My mom was right when she compared us to a military couple. I get to see her every day, and I get to stare at her the entire time since she’s my teacher. Almost sounds like a win-win—almost.

“You ready, my guy?” Ben says, slapping his arms on my shoulder pads as I finish putting on my shoes.

I stand up, more pumped now that I have the first day behind us. “Hell yeah. Let’s do this!”

After practice, I hop in my truck and dial Liza’s number before I even exit the parking lot.

“Hi,” she answers timidly.

“Melissa, how was your first day?”

“Um, good. Do you have someone in the truck with you?”

I laugh out loud. “No. Do you really think I’d call you with someone in the truck?”

“Well, you called me Melissa …”

“I was just trying to be playful. I told you I changed your name in my phone. That way, people can guess all they want on who Melissa is, and it will never be tracked back to you if anyone ever sees my call log or text messages. You should probably do the same, just in case.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. What should I call you?”

“Nothing lame, okay?”

“You mean I can’t put Fabio or Romeo?”

“Don’t you dare. That screams fake name. It has to be something believable.”

“How about Jake?”

“Jake it is. So, tell me about your day.”

“You tell me. Did I come off as weird or annoying when I taught?”

“Why would you even ask that?”

She sighs. “You just never know. I don’t want to sound like I’m trying too hard or think I’m still young enough to be cool when I’m not.”

“You are absolutely cool. The coolest teacher at the school, for sure. Did people actually ask you to prom or if you had a boyfriend?”

“Yep. Two prom and three boyfriend questions in the first period alone. That’s why I thought it would be funny to start class off that way, just to get it out of the way and move on with our day.”

“It made me happy that you said you still had a boyfriend.”

She pauses, and I give her the time she needs to think about how to respond. “I didn’t know?—”

I cut her off, “I do. I’m still your boyfriend, and I promise to be more someday. We will make this work. We might be on a bit of a pause, but that’s only physically. If I get to see you every day and talk to you like this, then I’m totally okay with that.”

“I am too. We just can’t get caught.”

“We won’t. How could we? Change my name in your phone, and there you go. I promise I’ll be a good boy and I won’t try to kiss you at school.”

“But we can’t be seen anywhere together. If someone sees us …”

“I know. And though I hate it, I agree. These towns are too small. We’ll keep our distance. I just need to hear your voice, and I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah. I think we can make this work. You can’t tell anyone though. Not your parents, my aunt and uncle, your friends—no one.”

“I promise. This will be our little secret.”

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